Book review: The Good Girl

This psychological thriller by Mary Kubica is being promoted for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train. This isn’t my normal genre, but I was curious to read this book after reading about it and finding the plot intriguing. I’d read both Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train.

Despite being outside my normal, preferred genres, I loved both of those novels at the beginning, but both fell apart for me in the final stretch (the latter less than the former). This is why I was so pleased that this novel was so enjoyable from beginning to end.

Without giving away elements of the plot, this book follows the disappearance of Mia Dennet, a young teacher from a well-off family in Chicago.

Her disappearance and the ensuing investigation is seen through the eyes of her grieving mother, the detective following her case, and her abductor. Interestingly, we don’t follow the story through Mia’s own perspective.

I enjoyed how the novel unravels, with scenes from before Mia’s abduction interspersed with later scenes. For me, this kept the pacing interesting and intriguing for the reader.

Since I’m not a regular thriller reader, character development is mostly what keeps me reading these books, and this was another strength in this novel (although, I suppose, true lovers of thrillers could argue this character development slowed down the pacing).

I felt truly invested in the characters and enjoyed following the stories through their differing perspectives. A very quick and enjoyable read.