Good Me Bad Me

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The ending not unexpected, could see this coming from what came before, but this worked for me too. SLVIA . . . decades ago, an AI program escaped the NSA Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and has never been re-captured . . . true story. Annie is now living with a foster family with her name changed to Milly. She so desperately wants to fit into this new family but their daughter has no intention of making life easy for her, especially at school. The clever writing keeps us captivated waiting to see if she will retaliate and whether her appeasing words are genuine and consolatory, or a smokescreen for revenge. Sorry to say that for me, this story gave off only minor heebie jeebs—no shrieks or goosebumps here. True, my heebie-jeebie meter might be on the fritz; most people thought the book was plenty creepy. Whatever the reason, I didn’t shudder.

Good Me Bad Me - Macmillan

Good Me Bad Me is an astonishing debut - technically sophisticated and emotionally heart wrenching. So many things are done well - the status jungle of girls school, the psychological dissonance of a dysfunctional family, the internal machinery of damaged children. I thought it was wonderful' Helen Callaghan, bestselling author of Dear Amy As a debut novelist, the author went with ‘write what you know’ as she is a mental health professional, herself. Her expertise was put to good use, and was without a doubt a monumental advantage in portraying the psychology behind Milly’s unbearable angst. Unfortunately Good Me, Bad Me’s ending doesn’t live up to its premise. While certainly disturbing, it’s hardly a surprise given aforementioned teases. The story provides enough clues that the conclusion becomes inevitable. After reading the last passage, I expected there to be more. How could that possibly be the end? It’s so telegraphed. We have this carefully executed narrative where the tension slowly ratchets up only to provide little to no pay-off? Seriously anti-climatic. I just expected…. MORE. I usually prefer character driven novels over plot driven ones. OBSESSION, by Amanda Robson, is one of my favorite new character driven novels. But, after reading GOOD ME BAD ME, I realize I do like a bit more plot and action in a novel. The way the story was told was a bit of a turn-off for me. The short and broken sentences provided the effect of being in the mind of Milly, the teenage daughter of a serial killer, yet this narration ended up becoming overkill and annoying after a while. I also have to mention that the "mean girl" scenarios throughout the novel were over-the-top. I don't enjoy reading about high school girl bullies and this book had a lot of that.Annie's name is changed to Milly to help protect her and Milly is trying hard to not let the bad overtake the good within her, she doesn't want to be like her mother. As a thirty-something manager, John’s self-structure reflected the effects of his early life experience as graphically portrayed in the Interpersonal Circumplex (IC) above. Let me explain. Amazingly, Annie turns her mother into the police. Of course Annie is taken into the foster care system and is now living under the new identify of "Milly" with her foster family. The kind of unreliable narrator who has fascinated readers of The Girl on the Train and other such novels....A gripping tale in the cutting voice of a teen antiheroine.”

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land | Waterstones Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land | Waterstones

There were more trials per condition: 72 experimental trials for the matching task and 90 trials for the categorization task. Not many teenagers have a mom who’s a serial killer. Milly does. She’s 15, and she has just turned her evil mother over to the police. Mommy dearest liked to kidnap kids and kill them. She also abused Milly. The story is basically about Milly trying to figure out whether she is like her mom. It’s also about her trying to fit in, trying to pass for normal. She’s in a foster home with a psychologist father; a stand-offish, absent mom; and a bratty, probably psychopathic daughter named Phoebe (who is Milly’s age). In her head, Milly talks to her murderous psycho mother, and it’s clear that although mom scares the shit out of her, Milly also loves her.Finally, Milly makes a friend at school called Morgan, a reserved girl who doesn’t have any other friends. She doesn’t have an easy home life, and Milly sympathizes with her. Milly wishes she could tell Morgan the truth about her past and what happened to her, but it’s too risky. She doesn’t want Morgan to think that she’s bad or monstrous. I read this book in one compulsive gulp over two days and absolutely loved it. It's raw, superbly controlled and it chills to the bone' Richard Skinner