Title: Good Girls Don’t Die
Author: Christina Henry
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: November 14, 2023
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
A sharp-edged, supremely twisty thriller about three women who find themselves trapped inside stories they know aren’t their own, from the author of Alice and Near the Bone.
Celia wakes up in a house that’s supposed to be hers. There’s a little girl who claims to be her daughter and a man who claims to be her husband, but Celia knows this family—and this life—is not hers…
Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip—but then her friend’s boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. No one else believes Allie, but she is sure that something about this trip is very, very wrong…
Maggie just wants to be home with her daughter, but she’s in a dangerous situation and she doesn’t know who put her there or why. She’ll have to fight with everything she has to survive…
Three women. Three stories. Only one way out. This captivating novel will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Wow. What a wild ride. I didn’t have a very clear idea of what to expect when I picked up Good Girls Don’t Die — but having read a bunch of Christina Henry’s books already, I was pretty sure it would be dark and full of twists… and I was totally right about that.
As Good Girls Don’t Die opens, we’re thrust right into a weird and confusing situation. Celia is in the kitchen making her daughter’s lunch… but she doesn’t recognize the kitchen, the daughter, or even the fact that she has a daughter. Where is she? What’s going on? Her husband wishes her a good day, her best friend calls to see if she wants to go for a run before work… but who are these people? Since when is she a runner? And why aren’t there any books in her house?
Is this really my life? Did I sacrifice everything interesting about myself in order to get married, have a baby, drive a compact car?
Every time a hint of a memory enters her mind (like, hey, I prefer yoga, actually), it’s accompanied by a sharp headache. Still, something tells Celia not to admit that she remembers nothing, so she heads off to the restaurant she apparently owns to start her day.
Things go downhill pretty quickly. The irate old lady next door stops by to confront Celia over a non-existent problem, then the old lady’s nephew — an obnoxious, bigoted cop — comes to accuse Celia of assault. When the old lady winds up dead, guess who’s the prime suspect?
Then there’s Allie, in a situation nothing like Celia’s. Allie and her two friends were planning a girls’ weekend at the beach to celebrate Allie’s birthday, but suddenly not only are the friends’ boyfriends coming along, they’ve also changed the destination… to a cabin in the woods. That can’t be good. (It’s not.) As they stay at the remote cabin, Allie notices more and more details that just don’t add up, and before long, extreme danger comes for all of them.
And finally, there’s Maggie, who finds herself in a bizarre, danger-filled environment with no option but to fight through it, if she ever wants to see her daughter again. It may feel like something out of a novel or movie, but the life-threatening obstacles are all too real.
What do these three scenarios have in common? Well… I’m not telling, because that would ruin all the fun!
Good Girls Don’t Die presents the three main characters’ stories sequentially, in separate sections of the book, and then wraps it all up. Each section is fascinating, twisty, and mind-warping, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be tying your brain in knots trying to understand what’s going on.
I loved how each woman deals with her unique situation, having to figure out what’s going on, who to trust, what the risks are, and — hopefully, how to survive. The characters are each quite different, but they all have the determination needed to keep fighting, even when the odds are decidedly not in their favor.
It’s only in the final, concluding section of the book that I felt just a little bit let down. Without going into detail, I’ll say that the wrap-up felt almost too easy to me, and I wasn’t entirely convinced that the book as a whole sticks the landing.
Still, Good Girls Don’t Die is a trippy, exciting, compelling thrill. I absolutely couldn’t put this book down, and finished it all in one day.
There’s plenty of violence and blood, so be aware if that doesn’t appeal to you. Otherwise, do check it out! Good Girls Don’t Die is fascinating — pick it up when you have time to keep reading. You won’t want to stop.
Bookshelf Fantasies 
This is a definite must-read book for me. I really like Christina Henry’s books. 😀
I’ve loved all the ones I’ve read! I still need to read Lost Boy.
I had the same reaction as you, I loved the story up until the ending. It just didn’t live up to the rest of the book, but still, so much fun😁
I’m always hesitant to say too much that’s spoilery, but I felt like the resolution was almost too easy — but I didn’t mind too much that the ending wasn’t great, because the three sections about the women were so terrific.