Ali Land – Good Me, Bad me

A lot of people have been talking about this book lately. It has a memorable cover, which keeps popping up in my various timelines. When I heard the basic premise: a young girl is taken into care after going to the police to hand in her mother, a child serial killer, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be YA, a sensational thriller, or literary fiction (what I was hoping for). At a high level, it’s a mix of those three genres, and much more; it’s its own thing really.

There are a few things going on in with the plot too. There’s the dark background of the awful crimes Millie’s mother has committed but against Millie, and fatally to other children, Milly’s integration into a foster family with their own problems, and her struggle with settling into a posh girl’s school with some horrible bullies. And also as the perfectly descriptive title suggests Milly’s struggle with her own identity and morality. All these elements are finely weaved into a very compelling read.