The Good Girl

Author: Mary Kubica

Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery

Originally Published: July 29th 2014

Format: Kindle (384 pages)

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Synopsis: I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when they’re scared. But I will.

Mia Dennett can’t resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar.

But going home with him might turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life…

My Rating: ★★★

This is a tough review to write. I went into this novel just after reading Mary Kubica’s most recent release Don’t You Cry. I absolutely loved that novel and did not hesitate to give it 5*s. I went into this book with very high expectations after really loving Kubica’s writing style and characterisation. This book didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I did still like it.

The Good Girl follows the disappearance of Mia Dennett and we explore her disappearance and life after through a series of different viewpoints. The chapters don’t follow a strict timeline but once I got used to this it wasn’t too confusing. I thought this was an effective way to tell the story as I enjoyed reading Colin’s chapters and discovering what had happened to Mia; especially as she could not remember.

I felt that the pace of this book was quite slow and as a result it took me longer to read than I anticipated. I didn’t find it to be particularly thrilling and I didn’t really feel the tension that I usually like to have when reading a mystery/thriller. It was a good story line and the plot was worked out well.

I didn’t feel as much of a connection with the characters in this book as I would have liked and this always has a big impact on my relationship with a book and my final rating. I liked this book and I’m glad I read it but it’s definitely not on par with Kubica’s most recent release. I will still try outPretty Baby as I’ve heard it is better than this one.

What did I love most about the book?

I liked the twist at the end of the book but I would be lying if I said I was gobsmacked. I thought it fit in nicely and I hadn’t previously thought about that particular outcome, I definitely had somebody else in mind!

Memorable Quotes

“I know how betrayal and disillusionment feel, when someone who could give you the world refuses even a tiny piece of it.”

“The goal with teenagers is simply getting through it alive, with no permanent damage.”

Final Thoughts

I don’t think the comparisons to Gone Girl helped at all as I really enjoyed Gone Girl and the many comparisons boosted my expectations even higher. There are vague similarities in the structure of the book, but that was about it for me. A good read with a nice twist.

Have you read The Good Girl? What did you think? 

What are your favourite mystery/thrillers?

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