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thepetitepunk's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
The Good Girls has a compelling premise. Emma Baines ends up dead a few years after the supposed suicide of Lizzy Sayer. Unlike Lizzy, however, Emma was a good girl--well-behaved and qualified to win a prestigious scholarship. Ruled as a murder, there's three main suspects behind the death of Emma: Claude, a troublemaker known for sleeping around; Avery, a cheerleader with strict parents; and Gwen, a competitive student who was also aiming for the same scholarship as Emma. Although all three girls claim they weren't behind the death of Emma, it's clear they know something that others don't.
This was a difficult book for me to rate because some parts worked so well and some parts didn't. The pacing at the beginning was strange. It was both boring and slow, and it took me an unreasonable amount of time to push past the first chunk of the book. However, towards the middle, things really picked up and had me hooked until the very end. I think part of the reason this book was so difficult to get into was the POV style. There are alternating third-person point of views--Emma, Claude, Avery, and Gwen--along with diary entries and police records that were mostly told in first person. While I do understand that the intention of this narration style was most likely to convey the different sides of this story and keep the readers on their toes about which characters are actually suspicious, it was a bit much at the beginning. There were way too many facets of the story for me to keep track of so I didn't feel like I had a good understanding of who was who until maybe the middle of the story. However, despite the confusion, I ended up really loving all of the main characters. As I mentioned before, it wasn't easy to tell the characters apart at first, but once the book delved deeper into the individual stories and personalities of these girls, I appreciated how such different characters could somehow still be linked together.
The themes of feminism and victim blaming were well done. Often times, I think the endings of thrillers are most at risk for being the weakest part of the story but I actually thought the ending was the strongest part of The Good Girls. I wish the beginning/part of the middle wasn't so slow and confusing because I'm sure this will put some people off from finishing the book, which is a shame since the ending is so powerful. Overall, I have some mixed thoughts but I do think it got better as the book progressed.
Trigger warnings; murder, mentioned suicide, eating disorders / body image, drug use and selling, underage drinking, pedophilia, rape, grooming, sexual assault, slut shaming, victim blaming
3.5 stars
The Good Girls has a compelling premise. Emma Baines ends up dead a few years after the supposed suicide of Lizzy Sayer. Unlike Lizzy, however, Emma was a good girl--well-behaved and qualified to win a prestigious scholarship. Ruled as a murder, there's three main suspects behind the death of Emma: Claude, a troublemaker known for sleeping around; Avery, a cheerleader with strict parents; and Gwen, a competitive student who was also aiming for the same scholarship as Emma. Although all three girls claim they weren't behind the death of Emma, it's clear they know something that others don't.
This was a difficult book for me to rate because some parts worked so well and some parts didn't. The pacing at the beginning was strange. It was both boring and slow, and it took me an unreasonable amount of time to push past the first chunk of the book. However, towards the middle, things really picked up and had me hooked until the very end. I think part of the reason this book was so difficult to get into was the POV style. There are alternating third-person point of views--Emma, Claude, Avery, and Gwen--along with diary entries and police records that were mostly told in first person. While I do understand that the intention of this narration style was most likely to convey the different sides of this story and keep the readers on their toes about which characters are actually suspicious, it was a bit much at the beginning. There were way too many facets of the story for me to keep track of so I didn't feel like I had a good understanding of who was who until maybe the middle of the story. However, despite the confusion, I ended up really loving all of the main characters. As I mentioned before, it wasn't easy to tell the characters apart at first, but once the book delved deeper into the individual stories and personalities of these girls, I appreciated how such different characters could somehow still be linked together.
The themes of feminism and victim blaming were well done. Often times, I think the endings of thrillers are most at risk for being the weakest part of the story but I actually thought the ending was the strongest part of The Good Girls. I wish the beginning/part of the middle wasn't so slow and confusing because I'm sure this will put some people off from finishing the book, which is a shame since the ending is so powerful. Overall, I have some mixed thoughts but I do think it got better as the book progressed.
Trigger warnings; murder, mentioned suicide, eating disorders / body image, drug use and selling, underage drinking, pedophilia, rape, grooming, sexual assault, slut shaming, victim blaming
galacticallz's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 7/10
Overall I liked it, the message it portrayed is a very important one that I think the book expressed pretty well. The characters were all likable as well as interesting and I loved the sapphic relationship. I wished there was more to it because it was kinda thrown out of nowhere about who the “study buddy” was - it was obvious to me so that made up for it. I thought it was going to be about the suspects working together to solve a murder but I was wrong. I went into it with the wrong headspace so it felt slow and as if nothing important was happening. The ending was incomplete to me but I did enjoyed the mystery element of it.
Overall I liked it, the message it portrayed is a very important one that I think the book expressed pretty well. The characters were all likable as well as interesting and I loved the sapphic relationship. I wished there was more to it because it was kinda thrown out of nowhere about who the “study buddy” was - it was obvious to me so that made up for it. I thought it was going to be about the suspects working together to solve a murder but I was wrong. I went into it with the wrong headspace so it felt slow and as if nothing important was happening. The ending was incomplete to me but I did enjoyed the mystery element of it.
notmaiareading's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book but not a fun read, I went into it thinking it was another ya mystery thriller and it was that for about 50% of the book. The other 50% was a jarring novel about SA and believing girls. It got particularly jarring when the girls were sharing there stories to the police and the police were outright telling them they were lying, it was honestly disgusting yet unfortunately realistic.
cecinamo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really liked the story idea and the sapphic couple, but overall the book dragged a bit at some points. It was still an enjoyable read and an interesting mystery!
The book did have a lot of heavy topics though, like rape, assault, murder and homophobia.
The book did have a lot of heavy topics though, like rape, assault, murder and homophobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Biphobia, Cursing, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, and Toxic relationship
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3/5
I found reading this book really interesting in the format it was in but I also felt like it dragged on sometimes.
I found reading this book really interesting in the format it was in but I also felt like it dragged on sometimes.
kvreadsandrecs's review against another edition
2.0
Literally skimmed that last 2/3 of this book. It was not good. The story was poorly woven, the characters too stock, and it’s way too easy to figure out. How was this on a suspense thriller list?
lxmns's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
katie1031's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 rounded
Unfortunately while this book in theory is right up my alley it didn't keep me invested the way I hoped. The characters were decent, the plot was fairly solid, but the writing felt lacking. I kept having to back up the audiobook because I was spacing out and not listening, the writing itself couldn't hold my focus
Unfortunately while this book in theory is right up my alley it didn't keep me invested the way I hoped. The characters were decent, the plot was fairly solid, but the writing felt lacking. I kept having to back up the audiobook because I was spacing out and not listening, the writing itself couldn't hold my focus
ancsanna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
cravebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
there was so much potential, but the disruptive storytelling and the constantly switching POVS made the story fall flat