Steph Reads: The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

The Good Girl follows the story of Mia Dennett, a young school teacher who comes from a massively wealthy family making her the perfect target for an abduction demanding a hefty ransom. The story takes place through the eyes of Mia and her captor during the time she is living as a captive, as well as after her return switching perspective between the Detective on the case and Mia's mother. Upon her return from being held captive, Mia has selective amnesia which has blocked most of her memories of her time in the Minnesota woods with her captor, making her case all the more interesting and complex.

Kubica manages to pen this story switching between points of view as well as places on the timeline without confusion and is able to reveal a great deal about many characters in few words. Overall I enjoyed the set up of this story as well as the ending, but I felt the middle of the story was a bit lengthy without much development. It was most likely intentional, but just when I thought the characters were getting somewhere in a scenario or conversation, the chapter would end and the point of view would shift to a different character and part of the timeline forcing me to abandon the momentum I had going in a previous scene.

I do think that the ending of this story was worth the wait and well worth the repeated taunt at some sort of fulfillment in the mid portion of the story, but I do think other books (such as Gone Girl and Girl on the Train) do a better job at keeping a more consistent engagement with the story. When people refer to these types of stories as 'thrillers' or 'roller coaster rides,' I would say with this novel I felt a peak at the beginning, one long plateau, followed by a last peak where as with the previously mentioned novels I feel a ton of bumps along with the massive peaks throughout the story's entirety. Again, I think the ending of this book is very well done and made me want to read the story again (seriously, read the Epilogue...my jaw dropped and I gasped on the subway), but be prepared for a bit of a slow burn with this one!

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline11/22/63 by Stephen King
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends by Courtney Robertson
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
The Hypnotist's Love Story by Lianne Moriarty
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Steph Reads: 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn

This book was quite the roller coaster ride. It tells the story of Amy Dunne, an America's sweetheart type of girl who disappears on the day of her 5-year wedding anniversary with her hubby, Nick Dunne. The story is told alternating between the perspectives of Nick Dunne, who is immediately looked upon with suspicious eyes, and Amy Dunne, who we find more information about through reading diary entries dating back to her first meeting her then-future husband, Nick.

I don't want to say too much about the story as I don't want to reveal anything, but this story is wrought with tension, suspicion, and you WILL NOT KNOW who to side with and who to believe.  I found the ending of this novel to be a bit unfulfilling as I got so wrapped up in these characters and what I wanted for their futures, but I was left wanting.  The ending suited the story, however, as things aren't always resolved neatly, and some people are simply not deserving a happy ending.

I would recommend this novel to friends as I thought this was a thrilling and quick read. There were certainly times where I did not want to put this down. Perhaps it was simply because I've never read a book quite like this, but overall I found its uniqueness to be simply captivating.

I also can't wait for the film to be released which is certain to be as thrilling as the book. Catch the trailer here:

Did you read 'Gone Girl?'

xxSJ

Steph Reads: Book Haul!

I picked up some books recently and wanted to share what I'm reading! Grad school is fast approaching which means I have to get in my leisurely reading while I still can!

1) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: This book is about a wife who mysteriously goes missing and all eyes are on the husband as the suspected killer. Told from a couple different point of views, this book is apparently filled with twists and unexpected turns that I can't wait to dive into! I haven't read many suspense or mystery novels in the past so this should be a nice change for me. It's also been adapted into a movie so I need to finish that before the film's release!

2) Splintered by A.G. Howard: I am a huge fan of anything Alice in Wonderland related so of course I had to pick this up. This book is about a distant descendent of THE Alice who inspired Carroll's now famous tales of her adventures in Wonderland. It is up to the protagonist of the story, Alyssa, to fix all the mistakes that Alice made in Wonderland to lift a curse placed on the family during Alice's visit many years ago. Everything in Wonderland is a little bit different and twisted than Carroll's fun tales though...

3) Uninvited by Sophie Jordan: In this dystopian novel, a kill gene has been identified that reveals if someone is destined to be a murderer. These people are ostracized in order to keep peace within the community and the main character of this story, a girl who has everything going for her, finds out via a genetics test that she has this gene. The story follows her becoming an outcast and what happens to someone who knows they are destined to kill.

I am so excited to dive into all of these books! Expect some book reviews in the near future!

xxSJ