Book Review: The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

As I was sitting in class with nothing to do, I turned to my comfort activity, reading. I eagerly opened my school issued Chromebook, searching for a good thriller. I wanted to be shocked, at the edge of my seat, and experience the aftershock that comes after reading a perfectly crafted thriller/mystery novel.

With limited options within eBooks, I decided to go for a fan favorite, The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. The synopsis had everything that I was looking for. A triple perspective novel detailing the kidnapping of art teacher, Mia Dennett, the plot sounded promising. And so, I began reading the book, foolishly believing the raving reviews talking about the plot twist that made their jaws drop. 

The premise of the novel is that an art teacher named Mia Dennett goes missing. Mia is the daughter of a successful judge and so the police are immediately on the case. The book is narrated by 3 people. Her frantic mother, Eve Dennett. Her kidnapper, Colin Thatcher. And lastly, the cop assigned to her case, Gabe Hoffmann. Together, their stories interconnect to figure out how Mia went missing, why she was kidnapped, and where she is. 

I have many complaints about the book that I will concisely explain here. 

1. The plot twist was lacking

A major reason I stuck with the book till the end was because of the promise of an astonishing plot twist. This supposed plot twist came during the last two pages, was extremely predictable, and did not justify, properly explain, or satisfactorily conclude the events of the book. 

2. The book contained discriminatory content

Every villain in the book was a person of color and as a first-generation Indian American teen, I was very hurt by seeing this. To portray the only person to color as an exotic villains and the actual abuser as a hero is something that didn't sit right with me. In contrast, every protagonist was of the same ethnic background. Also, Kubica consistently associates ethnic neighborhoods with danger. Why is a neighborhood filled with mostly immigrants considered to be a rotting place that's unsafe for everyone?

3. The book justified kidnapping and glorified Stockholm Syndrome

Kidnapping and abusing an individual are not okay under any circumstances, yet this novel almost seemed to glorify it. The kidnapper, Colin Thatcher kidnaps Mia to "save her" from the big bad villain of the book. He locks her, does not let her out of his sight, does not properly feed her, and constantly carries a gun to intimidate and scare her. Throughout the course of the novel, this character transforms from abuser to the main love interest. It is obvious that Mia develops a case of Stockholm syndrome, but this is supposed to be a great love story that we as readers are supposed to root for.

4. None of the main characters were worth rooting for or well crafted

The book has 3 main characters. The first is Mia, the woman that is kidnapped. I do understand that she goes through some very traumatic events and as a reader, I did want her to escape. However, she is very one dimensional and repetitive. The second main character is the kidnapper, Colin Thatcher. As I mentioned above, he is abusive and rude. His backstory is meant to make readers empathize with him, but no past can justify literally kidnapping another person. The last main character is Mia's mother, Eve. She starts off the book talking about how she barely knows her daughter or bothers to talk to her. After her daughter is kidnapped, she spends all her time crying, which is understandable, but then proceeds to have a short romance with the cop managing Mia's case. I found that to be very off putting.

5. The different timelines made no sense and did not contribute to the plot

The book has two timelines (which is made very clear). One timeline details Mia's kidnapping and the other is Mia's life after being rescued. After reading a couple pages, it's annoying to know that Mia's memories are fragmented, she thinks her name is Chloe, and she gets rescued. This takes away from the suspense of what happens to Mia and does not raise any questions, rather it confuses the reader since the timeline keeps on randomly switching. 

While I could go on and on, these were the main reasons that I did not like this book. I don't think anyone of any age should read a book as discriminatory and one dimensional as this one.

0 stars out of 5