Find out what Mumsnetters thought of Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land

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This week we're introducing you to debut author Ali Land and her psychological thriller, Good Me Bad Me.

Annie's mother is a serial killer. The only way the 15-year-old can make her mother stop is to get the police involved – but out of sight doesn't mean out of mind. Despite having a new identity, the secrets of her past won't let her sleep.

We ask all winners to share their thoughts about the book on this discussion thread. However, you don't have to win a free book to take part in the discussion - you're welcome to grab a copy of Good Me Bad Me and post a review on this thread.

Everyone who posts detailed feedback on the book by midday Tuesday 7 March will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Love2shop voucher.

This giveaway is sponsored by Michael Joseph

Just got an email to say I've won a copy - thank you for cheering what has been a rather rubbish day so far! Looking forward to it arriving

Just received an email to say that I've won a copy. Really looking forward to reading this! Thanks, mumsnet!

My copy of this has arrived in the post today, looking forward to getting started, thank you!

I have received my copy yesterday and started straight away. It's quite a page turner and I had to force myself to switch of my light eventually, just to make sure I would still get some sleep.

I just received the book. Many thanks and I look forward to reading this.

Zipped through this one super quick. Fairly simple prose style, and the plot was easy to follow. Found that it gripped me enough that I read it entirely in just a few days.
Though I must say I do look for a little more in my thrillers- I like to have my mind lead astray, and feel tricked at each twist and turn whereas in ´Good Me Bad Me´ I felt that I knew what would happen.
I enjoyed Milly´s perpetual tussling with her conscience and found myself willing her to do something ´bad´. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

Gripping!
Read in 2 days - couldn't put it down!
You are immediately drawn in by the characters and want to know more. So well written that we are spared the details, however, as the reader you can easily join the dots. I found myself holding my breath and wanted to shout at the same time.

It says Ali land worked in mental health & you can see this through the book.
It was a real page turner. Easy to read but so uncomfortable in places.
The book starts dramatically with 15 year old Annie telling a policeman all about her serial killer mother, & then being taken into temporary foster care.
She has a new life & new name (milly) but struggles to escape the scars left by her upbringing & mother.
She put into a foster family with a teenage daughter that resents her being there, bullies her at school & makes her feel uncomfortable & unwanted at home. she struggles to fit in she battles away the voice of her mother telling her to be evil.
I don't think you can help but have huge sympathy for milly. She has both a heartbreaking & yet terrifying voice. Ms land has captured a girl that is on one hand strong (she told the police on her mother, who despite everything & even though she knows is evil, she is still deeply connected to ) and on the other is so very damaged.
its a book that you can't help but race through. I will definitely be looking out for more by this author
thank you for the chance to read it

Couldn't put it down, consequently I read it in just a few days. I liked the way we were drip fed information and although I suspected I knew a few things, it was ever so slightly different to what I thought. I liked the way it built up and culminated in the way it did. I also liked the characters and felt drawn into them. A good book, easy to read but really interesting for a fiction novel.

Good beginning, interesting to see things through the girls eyes. Milly is an interesting character. Lot of focus on bullying in the book and a twist towards the end. Not my usual sort of thriller, but I liked it none the less.

I had a spare half hour this morning, so I picked this book up with the intention of just getting started. I haven't been able to put it down. I am so very impressed by the writing, the tension and the immersion in the story. All totally believable, so much so that I have no idea where this is going, a relentless drip feed that makes me want more!! I'm off to jump back in 😁

Started this book this morning and found myself gripped from the start. Think the character of Milly is interesting and look forward to seeing how she develops as I read on. Not my normal genre of book so pleased to get opportunity to try something different.

Many thanks for the chance to review this book.

Wow. Where to start? I was utterly gripped by this story from the first page. Loved the way the story was so very dark without loads of gore.

The main character Milly was so very complex. On one hand I felt incredibly sad for her, and then just pages later I was really unsettled by her. All of the characters were really well written. Milly's mother, who we never get to meet, is skin crawlingly evil. I'd love to think that Ali Land might write the prequel to 'Good me Bad me', telling the story of what happened berween Milly's mother, father and brother Luke.

I loved the way this story didn't rely on a huge 'reveal' or twist at the end. It's hinted at from very early on how the character of Milly will develop, and what does happen at the end didn't surprise me in the least. To me this is one of the strengths of the book. The horrors of Milly's life are revealed throughout the entirety of the story. The darkness of her character is known from early on and it creates spine tingling tension as you wonder whether the good or bad in her will win out.

A fantastic read. I will recommend this book unreservedly and will be definitely adding Ali Land to my list of authors to further explore.

I read this book quite quickly as it was fairly easy to follow and captivating enough to hold my attention. The story had a few twists and turns but generally a bit predictable. The central character had depth but I felt the adults around her were insubstantial and weak, maybe this was the author's intention? However, it seemed like they were taken in by the girl too easily. I just felt that a 15 year old, particularly someone so damaged, would struggle to be quite asclever in her manipulation.

If I'd seen this on a shelf in the library, I wouldn't have borrowed 'Good Me, Bad Me'. Too scary - the comments on the jacket would have put me off (e.g.'beyond tense', 'I doubt I'll ever sleep again'). But I was lucky enough to win a copy as a giveaway and I'm glad I started reading. It's a fabulous book. I read until the small hours last night - the tension is ever-present and it's utterly compelling. I keep guessing what's going to happen, hoping there will be a happy ending for Milly for doubting it very much. I can't wait to get back to it.

I read this book very quickly - it was well written and the story was compelling.

I agree with everything that's been said, it was written in a way that the reader fills in some pretty horrifying blanks in a way that's quite disturbing.

I found the book disturbing and think I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone because it's so upsetting despite being well written. I'm not sure why I found this quite so disturbing as I've read books also violent and horrifying yet somehow different. It was probably the fact that Annie/Milly's mother was a child killer and that Annie ultimately was too and the images the book produced in my mind of the children crying sorrowfully for their mothers was so sad and brutal.

I found the influence of Annie's mother interesting in their relationship and the control she still exerted and probably always will and felt this had interesting parallels with narcissistic relationships even when not so horrific as the one in the book.

Really looking forward to getting stuck into this at the weekend

WOW! this book kept me hooked, I would say edge of seat more like edge of bed, as I would not go to sleep till I read 'just one more' chapter, staying up till the early hours over two nights. Fantastic insight into mental health issues and how vulnerable young minds can be shaped by what happens at home, truly enthralling. Excellent twist at the end too, although I had a sneaky idea before the reveal, but still shocking and unnerving all the same. Thanks for a great book, absolutely enjoyed every scary page of it! Was def worth losing two nights sleep to read it!

Wow I haven't been able to put this book down. It's one of those books that keeps you gripped from the start - I haven't finished it yet but it's completely compelling.

I have to agree with the other comments, a really gripping read, about halfway through and I just can't put it down.

a real thinker of a book. from the off I loved it because the cover was dark,classy yet oddly making me want to delve in quickly
much like the read, because you almost like a movie want to scream in places look away in places and then fast forward till the end in places!
its a puller of so many decisions and morals and contraverial things
do you ever not love someone when they do evil.what if they are your mum!
I loved this book.it had me gripped and questioning my own thoughts and the characters all the way through.

Well, I've finished the book. What a read, I love all genres and this story has something that I haven't read for a long time. It's unique, providing a fantastic insight to an area that I'm sure everyone would love to forget, or pretend doesn't exist. I was impressed by how the story lets you fill in the gaps using your own thought, I was full of dread at the idea that soon my own children will be at the mercy of high school, all the bullying, constant that it was, took me back to high school myself, thank God we didn't have mobile phones. I don't envy anyone doing that right now. I will be passing this book onto my friend to read, with a recommendation, and a warning, it might keep you up all night

I have just finished this fantastic thriller. Right from the start it got me sucked in and there were so many twists and turned in. It got me sitting on the edge of the bed late at night. I think the theme about the trust and manipulatipn is really interesting. I think it had the right balance of dripping out of the information and kept me engaged right to the end. Corker of an ending as well! Definately recommend. Thank you for giving me a copy!

Thank you mumsnet for giving me a copy of this book.
It was utterly gripping - if disturbing - right from the start.
Aligning the 'abnormally' disturbed mind of a horrifically abused child alongside with the 'normal' nastiness of a teenager with apparently minimal middle class problems, and gauging whose behaviour should be punished.... Just wow.
As a parent of teenagers I recognised and appreciated the realism in the to-ing and fro-ing between the girls - it made for uncomfortable reading.
This is one of those books that will resonate for some time after it's finished.

Would highly recommend - but not for the faint hearted!

Ooh, this is a good one, isn't it! I'm about 4/5 of the way through, and I'm glad I don't have to go to work until 11.30 because I need to finish it before I go (who cares about housework anyway?!). I'll definitely be spreading the word about this one!!