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Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land



Deliciously scary, the novel revolves around 15 year old Annie, the daughter of a serial killer of children, as she is settling into her new life living with psychologist Mike, his wife Saskia and daughter Phoebe, with the pseudonym Milly. A competent misfit, Milly is bullied at school and the tyranny doesn’t stop when she gets home, with jealous and temperamental Phoebe exerting power over what is to her, a never ending line of foster siblings. Land is cleverly suggestive, and does well not to be too graphic as she drip feeds us information regarding her mother’s crimes, which increases the tension and horror. Similarly, the unreliable narrator technique is expertly deployed as she carefully and expertly explores the relationship between mother and child, and what happens when that relationship is black, perverse, dark and withered. It explores the genetic element in addition to psychological – was Milly born bad, made bad, or bad at all? There is suggestive foreshadowing throughout, and despite my history with friends as a serial ending spoiler, I am fiercely protective of this one, and the book would be best enjoyed as a whole if you are kept guessing. I changed my mind about Milly multiple times whilst reading as Land dangles you between sympathy, love, despair and fear of the character.

Land’s literary voice is believable yet disconcerting. There were a few plot holes that I am not sure reflect reality – the suggestion of substance abuse being invisible to a psychologist, and the fact that a child would be placed to live with her psychologist and blur those lines, but a certain amount of poetic license must be granted. This book is undeniably a gripping page turner; the whole story is intoxicating. Conversely, it could be said that Milly’s account is disjointed in places and can be hard to follow at times, with short and clipped sentences, however for me this merely added to the frenetic energy that the book possessed. On the other hand, I found the “teenage language” utilised at times a little contrived, and her relationship with Morgan as tedious and unbelievable. Furthermore, I think it should be considered the “chav” stereotype with the Morgan character, as an example of the demonisation of the working classes, and I do believe her character and stereotypes could be rethought.

I am reluctant to finish without stating that you absolutely must read this book immediately. Although not a genre I would typically choose, I have been forced to purchase multiple of these books to give to family and friends, as I have not wanted to part with my copy – it is one of the best books I have read for a very long time, to the extent that I wanted to re-read as soon as I had finished.  Despite the aforementioned technique of Land drip feeding us very little information about the past and her crimes in a suggestive rather than graphic fashion, I would nonetheless not recommend this book to all audiences, as many would find this aspect difficult reading.

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