The Good Girl

Mia Dennett, a twenty something urban girl, goes missing. After a few months, when she is rescued from her kidnapper, she does not respond to the name Mia but claims that she is Chloe. The doctor finds out that she is Mia/Chloe is pregnant, but she does not remember how that happened. Twisted, eh?

I can’t say I liked this book from the first page. I came very close to quitting it but somehow managed to read a few chapters. The story is narrated from the perspectives of Mia, Colin, Eve and Gabe. The narration also switches from before the incident and after the incident. So initially, it was difficult to stay interested. But I had a feeling that there was something more in here. And I was right. Somewhere after almost 12-14 switches between “before and after” and putting every character’s perspective in place, I started getting a hang of the plot. And it became slightly interesting.

Mia Dennett is a not so favorite child of the renowned Judge James Dennett and a homely and lovable Eve Dennett. Due to differences with her parents, she starts staying away from them. And then she goes missing. Just vanishes into thin air. When she reappears, Mia has become Chloe. And Chloe does not remember anything about the last few months or about being kidnapped. The story moves simultaneously in two parts: in one part, Mia and Colin, her alleged kidnapper, who are oblivious to the chaos in the media over Mia’s disappearance and struggle to survive in a brutal weather and minimal survival resources; whereas in the Eve and Gabe’s part of the story, they struggle to gather clues which could somehow lead them to Mia. They are not even sure whether she has been kidnapped or just wandered off. In the last few chapters, the story becomes thrilling. However, at the end of the story when the actual plot is exposed, I was partially surprised and partially disappointed. I felt the storyline itself was better off without that last twist.

I was put off initially by its plausible similarity with The Gone Girl but I don’t think that is justified. Both are comfortable in their own places. While I completely disliked The Gone Girl, I can’t say I regret picking up this one.

If you have a higher patience quotient and like suspense thrillers, you might actually enjoy this one. For me, it was an average read.

Source: ezinearticles.com