This book revolves around a woman, Della, whose brother is a convicted serial killer. One day, Della gets a new student in her class that reminds her of her brother in a very unnerving way. Although she is sure the new student is disturbed, no one else notices a thing.
This novel is told entirely from Della’s point of view, but the chapters switch between past and present. I liked the story and the characters. It was hard for me to rate, just because I kept expecting a twist and I had 4 or 5 options that I thought of! But there was not a big surprise, so I was disappointed. Still an enjoyable read, but I didn’t love it.

Wow , what a great book . Kept you guessing with the before and present stories going on . Loved this book ,totally believable characters . I would love another book with the same character in it , maybe a series going forward. Highly recommend

My first book by the author and a very interesting story overall.
The beginning of the book made me think that this story is not going exactly where I was expecting but shortly I get to understand the mystery.
The chapters are told from then, the years of her childhood teenage and now, her life as a wife and a teacher.
Going back to her childhood life, when she supposed to have a normal relationship with her family and brother, Della is revealing some horrifying moments and events that her brother made her live. All these memories are coming back when a new girl is attending her class but something is not quite adding to her stories.
It was an interesting read with compelling characters and some unexpected twists.

This book is amazing. The characters are so twisted that it gives you the chills !

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!!

Della has a good life, something which has struggled and worked hard for after putting away all the evil from her past behind her. She is a loving wife and a dedicated English teacher.

But when she welcomes the new student, Zoey to her class, she knows that something's not right. She sees through Zoey's pretence and tries to warn others that Zoey is not as charming as she looks but rather is pure evil. When none of them believe her, Della decides to take matters in her own hand and find evidence to prove her claims.

This is one of the books which keeps you on the edge and you keep waiting to know what happens at the end. An exciting read.

This was as good as her first book!
Most of the time we read books about murder from the antagonist’s POV. In this novel, we read it from a family member’s perspective. .

I love how the story was told between Della’s past and present which have a few similarities that’ll make her lose it (or almost?) It was fast-paced and I love how the story progresses, I usually get annoyed by the main character but this one is quite pleasant and engaging that makes the reading more enjoyable.

Thank you @netgalley and @mirandasmithwriter for providing me an ARC of this book. Looking forward to more books from this author. She’s really good! 🙃👍🏻👊🏻

This is one of those painless little popcorn reads.

While there’s not a ton of character complexity – everyone does exactly what you expect when you expect it and how you expect it - it still manages to be a suspenseful book. You have enough danger, characters you actually like, and a nicely creepy backstory adding to an atmosphere that has you biting your nails as you hope certain characters will be okay.

Super-fast read, a plot that keeps moving, and pure entertainment.

Will I remember it tomorrow…likely not. But I still enjoyed it yesterday!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Amazing read. I haven’t been able to put this one down and have read from start to finish in just one sitting.
This is engaging, has kept me guessing and been completely unpredictable.

This was a really good read for me , really easy to get into and I was hooked form the start . Della is a teacher with a troubled past , her brother a serial killer who had tried more than once to hurt her . When a young girl transfers half way through the school year and joins Della's class , she senses the same darkness in Zoe that was present in her brother , although no one else takes her seriously she is convinced she is right . What ensues is a bit of cat and mouse between them both . A great read and I will look forward to more from this author . Thank you

[Thanks to @netgalley and @bookouture for this ARC!]

#GoodGirl is the story of Della, a teacher with a dark secret from her past. When a new student, Zoey, joins her class she becomes convinced that the girl is just like her brother - a clever psychopath. However, she has a hard time convincing those around her that Zoey could be responsible for all the bad things suddenly happening in the school.

Overall this is a great book. The story pulls you in and you want to keep reading because of the constant tension present - will Della be branded mad or will the others finally see the truth? The way it is structured, with chapters in the present and in the past, reminds me of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places.

The main question that comes up - nature or nurture - is very interestingly developed. There is no finite answer, although I believe the author could have delved a bit more into it.

The writing style seems a bit simple at first, but it definitely does not subtract from the reading experience. And aside from some minor inconsistencies (Della has no social media, but wants to plan her trip on Pinterest) and moments when the main character feels a little too pushy suspicious (especially because she is suspicious of a teenager), the book leaves an excellent impression.

I simply couldn't put it down! 🤩

The book has a slow start but a wonderful premise and storyline. As a teacher, I sometimes think of my students as being terrors, but this takes it to a new level. I, typically, like for books to start with action, and it opens with a strong start, then tapers off a little. Despite the slow start, it's a pretty quick read, and I think it does a great job of weaving the past and present.

This was a great novel that I had a wonderful time reading. The characters were well depicted and the storyline flowed seamlessly.

I enjoyed this overall. A quick read, but I felt there wasnt enough strong twists. The suspense and 'bad feelings' Della felt were well executed and the time frames were good to see the background underneath her behaviour.

This novel was FANTASTIC. It is a fast paced psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I was hooked from the very first page, I just needed to know what had happened.

There are so many twists and turns in this story. I actually felt shocked at multiple points in the book which I find rare when reading these days.

I sped through this in one sitting, and cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

I have mixed feelings on Good Girl, it’s enjoyable and full of action but there’s no surprises.

The blurb is the entire story. No twists, no red herrings. Della was a weak character, if you know acting crazy gets you nowhere then why act crazy?

The best parts were set in the past. I would love to read Brian’s full story! (Please?)

Some Days Are Dark was explosive, Good Girl is alright! I would recommend for casual thriller readers looking for a good poolside read. 3.5 / 5

Della loves her job teaching English, but the day Zoey enters her classroom, Della knows she’s dealing with pure evil. She should know, her own brother, a charmer on the outside, was in reality a psychopath. An attack on a student shortly after convinces Della she was right about her student, but will she be any more successful at being believed than she was when she accused her brother of trying to kill her when he was 13? A chilling story of what lies behind the eyes of some of the most innocent looking members of our society

I really liked this twisty thriller about a teacher, Della, with a dark past who recognizes a potential psychopath among her students. This isn't so much a "whodunit" - but just a scary thrill ride as you wait to see if the student is really as dangerous as the person in Della's past. Both the stories unspool together and, even though you might have an idea where both stories are heading, it's truly terrifying when they both come to a conclusion.

This was my first book by Miranda Smith and I will definitely read more. If you like thrillers that explore the minds and habits of psychopaths (guilty!), this is a really well-written, thoughtful and scary read. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Bookouture and Miranda Smith for this introduction to a great new thriller author to watch!

Della had always known that her brother was evil, but no one believed her until it was too late.
Now Della is a teacher, and she wants to put her past behind her.
When Zoey, a new student, joins her class with only a month until the summer holiday, Della appears to be the only one who's not fooled by the new girl's pretence.
Soon a female student gets violently attacked, and Della has strong reasons to suspect that Zoey was the attacker.
When no one believes her, she decides to find the proof herself, determined as she is not to let the history repeat itself...

The story follows Della's perspective and is interspersed with her recap of past events.
It was a very good, entertaining read that got me hooked really fast.
The story was well-paced, kept me interested throughout and never once had me bored.
However, I'm on the fence about the rating.
I definitely enjoyed this book more than the author's previous one (3 stars), so I feel like I should give it 4 stars. But despite the book being very good, I found the ending wasn't shocking enough, and as it is the determining factor, for me, in receiving a rating of 4 stars and above, I'm torn.
In the end, having thought long and hard about it, I decided to overlook the lack of a surprising twist and to go for 4 stars.
It is definitely a book worth checking out.

It was a bit of a slow start so I wasn’t completely invested in the first section of the book. Once I’d got through about 25% that definitely changed. I loved the way each chapter changed from the perspective of the past and the present.

As the book goes on it shows layers and layers of the plot of the book. It’s not really a ‘who done it’ kind of book, I guessed pretty much from the off who the person causing all the trouble was, as it was very obvious. But that’s not to say it was bad for that reason, I found that it really worked. It was just frustrating when no one believed Della!

Throughout the story you are told of the relationship between Della and her brother, Brian when they were younger. Over the years Della and Brian obviously don’t get along and have their issues. But Della has always known about Brian’s dark side, but no one ever believes her...

In the present day Della has, what you would consider, a normal life. She’s a married woman and has the job of a teacher. It isn’t until Zoey joins the school that Della’s life is turned upside down. She see’s something in Zoey... The same as what she saw in Brian all those years ago... But again, no one believes her... Will it be too late?

Overall I enjoyed the book, it was a quick read and different to anything I have read before. I would definitely recommend this book to others!

This is a page-turner if I’ve ever read one! I picked this up when I was having trouble sleeping and literally did not put down until I was finished several hours later (sleeping is overrated anyway!) The main character, Della, was well developed and very relatable for me also working in education. The twists were unpredictable and whoa! Everything about this was everything I love in a great thriller!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the advanced copy and thank you to #mirandasmith for a great read!

A brilliant thriller. Edge of seat keeps you reading the next chapter. One of those books you cant put down