ARC Review: The Good Girls by Sara Shepard

Title: The Good Girls (The Perfectionists #2) 
Author: Sara Shepard 
Genre: Mystery 
Source: ARC sent by Publisher 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Add it to Goodreads / Pre-order it on Amazon  / Read Jessica's Review

Summary: 
Mackenzie, Ava, Caitlin, Julie, and Parker have done some not-so-perfect things. Even though they all talked about killing rich bully Nolan Hotchkiss, they didn't actually go through with it. It's just a coincidence that Nolan died in exactly the way they planned . . . right? Except Nolan wasn't the only one they fantasized about killing. When someone else they named dies, the girls wonder if they're being framed. Or are they about to become the killer's next targets?

Review:  

"Sara's writing is great, she sucks her readers in with no problem. The story flows and it keeps your attention. That isn't the problem. I have already said it but this is so similar to Pretty Little Liars. Sara Shepard is a commonly known author now, since both of her books (Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game) had become TV shows, but she always sticks with the same murder mysteries, with rich girls who break the law and try to get out of it. It is boring now. I'm over it."
That is what I said in my review of The Perfectionists. The plots too her stories are all similar, but are intriguing and entertaining and even after reading all the books she has read, I have never found boring. (despite what I have said) The Good Girls ripped the rug out from beneath the readers feet as they read, tossing everything they thought they knew up into the air and into a new direction.

The Good Girls picks up right after The Perfectionists ended. Granger is dead and all five girls are suspects. After hours of questioning the are released and are to continue on living their lives. But not everyone is who they appear to be. Sara's books are always hard to talk about, because every little detail can be a spoiler. What I will say is: I didn't see as many similarities to Pretty Little Liars as I did in the last book. The Good Girls had a much different spin on it as Sara's other works, making it easily one of my favorites. 

Each girl has their own thing going on, Mac is struggling with loosing Blake, Julie hiding the biggest secret of her life, Caitlin's torn between both brothers, and Ava is learning to forgive her boyfriend for turning them on and her abusive stepmother. I enjoyed the smaller conflicts because they gave you a deeper look into each of the girls life. At certain times I was more interested in how everything was going to turn out for the girls then who the actual killer was. Sara still had an amazing mix of suspense, mystery and thrills packed into each chapter of The Good Girls

Honestly I am disappointed in how it ended. Sara said that The Perfectionists would only be two books, but I am really hoping for one more now. The ending to The Good Girls is left off open, not giving me (and a few other bloggers I talked to) enough information to leave us content. I still have about five hundred questions. But you do find out who committed the murders and set the girls up, but after you find out even more questions arise. 


Rating:


3 comments

  1. I've had a few reservations about reading this- but you've convinced me enough to go ahead with it! The end does sound frustrating though :(

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  2. **SPOILER**



    What happens to Julie and Parker in the end? I know that Parker is just a figment of Julie's imagination/Julie's separate personality but what actually happens? Did Julie die like Parker and now they're in Heaven together? Or was Parker alive all this time and everyone else never noticed? Julie hugs Parker and eats take away boxes at the end but seriously: figment of Julie's imagination/hallucination again or something else happens?

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  3. I just finished reading this and honestly, I was pissed. I'm a fairly intelligent person but it left my head spinning. So Julie busts out of the mental hospital, and shares Chinese with Parker in a hotel room?? After we're told that Parker has been dead for over a year?? WTH?

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