apitzathepie's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
renwar96's review against another edition
5.0
I love Joy Fielding's books. She keeps you guessing the entire time. The females in this book have very strong and different personalities and clash quite often. Melanie was so snarky that it was annoying at some points, but Robin finally started to dig her heels in and stand up to her, which I liked. Without giving anything away, the end really got me.
amyma's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, I was surprised by this one, I did not guess at all what the outcome of this one was. The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding is a suspense mystery that had me thinking about it when I was not reading it, I needed to know what happened. This is the story of a likely home invasion that leaves a step-farther, mother, and daughter in critical condition. Robin, the main character, has not had contact with her family for six years, but this event brings her back home to Red Bluff from Los Angeles. As far as the characters were concerned, I really did not care much for any of them. Robin annoyed me with her relationship with Blake, her fiancé. I felt Blake was a genuine good guy, yet Robin just could not see that. Robin's sister, Melanie, was just a miserable human being. Cassidy, the step sister of Robin and Melanie, seemed such a bizarre character to me. She is twelve, but the way she acts and things she says do not go with that age at all. This all aside, the book had me hooked from the beginning, the storyline grabbed me quickly. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.
kit666's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
Alles in allem ist es ein okayes Buch. Ich kannte leider den Englischen Titel bereits. Dadurch konnte ich das Ende bereits nach einem Drittel des Buches erraten. Die Story an sich war aber ganz gut. Die Charaktere waren zwar etwas eintönig, doch ich war selten von ihnen frustriert. Mir gefiel die Darstellung von Landon nicht sonderlich. Autismus ist so vielseit, wird aber in so vielen Romanen gleich beschrieben.
Ich habe wirklich gehofft das es noch einen großen Twist geben wird, aber naja.
Der Auftritt der Oma (Holly?) war so unnötig. Ich fand nicht dass es zur Geschichte beigetragen hat, außer um etwas mehr von Cassidys Persönlichkeit zu zeigen. Das hätte man sicher auch anders lösen können.
Eine Frage habe ich allerdings noch: Warum hat Landon Robin angeschriehen, als sie Cassidy sagen wollte, dass sie mit nach LA darf?
Tldr: Es war einfach zu lesen, aber sehr vorhersehbar.
Spoiler
Der englische Titel ließ einem leider nicht viel zu Raten übrig, da es dann eigl nur noch 3 Verdächtige gab. Melanie war mir wahrscheinlich am sympathischsten, einfach weil sie am meisten Sinn ergeben hat. Von Robin war ich irgendwann einfach genervt. Sie ist ein sehr langweiliger Charakter. Das Cassidy und Kenny involviert sind, war eigentlich fast sofort klar. Sogar wenn man den Titel nicht kennt. Absicht war wohl zuerst Alec und Landon zu verdächtigen, aber sie wurden so geschrieben dass es einfach offensichtlich war man soll sie verdächtigen. Dieses typische "schaut mal, die passen dich perfekt in das Täterbild" mit einem anschließenden "Haha! Sie sind es nicht!". Wenn man ein paar Krimis oder Mystery Romane gelesen hat, ist einem dieses Muster bewusst.Ich habe wirklich gehofft das es noch einen großen Twist geben wird, aber naja.
Der Auftritt der Oma (Holly?) war so unnötig. Ich fand nicht dass es zur Geschichte beigetragen hat, außer um etwas mehr von Cassidys Persönlichkeit zu zeigen. Das hätte man sicher auch anders lösen können.
Eine Frage habe ich allerdings noch: Warum hat Landon Robin angeschriehen, als sie Cassidy sagen wollte, dass sie mit nach LA darf?
Tldr: Es war einfach zu lesen, aber sehr vorhersehbar.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Murder and Ableism
merlin_reads's review against another edition
2.75
This one was a little hard to rate for me so I just went with the middle 3. This was my first book from Fielding so I had zero expectations going in and overall, it was just okay and extremely predictable.
Robin hasn't talked to her sister in about 5 years - actually her entire family. When I say this family dysfunctional, I mean they are like up there with the worst of them. But when her sister calls to say their father has been shot, Robin heads back to Red Bluff to figure out what happened.
So I will say, this book was extremely easy to read. I flew threw it in about a day and a half. And despite all the issues, the underlying mystery of who attacked this family was compelling. I wanted to know who did it and if my theory was right (spoiler alert: it was). And while Fielding can write an interesting case, it was the personal connections that weren't all there.
Robin, the MC, was a mess. It's ironic that she's a therapist considering she has more issues than probably most of her patients. Then there's her sister, Melanie, who was possibly one of the worst characters I've ever read. She was mean for no reason. Oh wait, sorry her reasoning was jealousy. She was jealous of her sister so that gave her the right to be both emotionally and physically abusive to her sister. It was hard to root for either of them because Robin was so passive that there was just nothing there and Melanie just walked around insulting everyone. They were both every unlikeable to me.
Then there was the mystery itself. It was extremely obvious to me what happened immediately. I actually thought that maybe the author was throwing us off by being sneaky but nope, it was just that obvious. And it's not the predictability that bothered me, it was how it ended up being presented at the end.
Overall, this was an okay mystery but nothing to write home about.
Robin hasn't talked to her sister in about 5 years - actually her entire family. When I say this family dysfunctional, I mean they are like up there with the worst of them. But when her sister calls to say their father has been shot, Robin heads back to Red Bluff to figure out what happened.
So I will say, this book was extremely easy to read. I flew threw it in about a day and a half. And despite all the issues, the underlying mystery of who attacked this family was compelling. I wanted to know who did it and if my theory was right (spoiler alert: it was). And while Fielding can write an interesting case, it was the personal connections that weren't all there.
Robin, the MC, was a mess. It's ironic that she's a therapist considering she has more issues than probably most of her patients. Then there's her sister, Melanie, who was possibly one of the worst characters I've ever read. She was mean for no reason. Oh wait, sorry her reasoning was jealousy. She was jealous of her sister so that gave her the right to be both emotionally and physically abusive to her sister. It was hard to root for either of them because Robin was so passive that there was just nothing there and Melanie just walked around insulting everyone. They were both every unlikeable to me.
Then there was the mystery itself. It was extremely obvious to me what happened immediately. I actually thought that maybe the author was throwing us off by being sneaky but nope, it was just that obvious. And it's not the predictability that bothered me, it was how it ended up being presented at the end.
Overall, this was an okay mystery but nothing to write home about.
melaniet201410's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty predictable. I figured out the twist pretty early on. I continued merely to see how it would play out in the end.
myrdyr's review against another edition
3.0
A mixed bag of nuts; 3.8/5 stars for the first 318 pages, 2/5 stars for pages 319-343, and 3.7/5 stars for pages 344 to the end. Thanks to Penguin Random House for an ARC of the book. I have got to say I was a bit disappointed with this book because it had so much potential, but a few things got in the way. First off, I think the title was too obvious and made it impossible to have any kind of effective plot twist or to build any real suspense. That said, I actually quite enjoyed the first 319 pages. I felt like Fielding could have done more with Robin's panic attacks and Melanie's general snarkiness, but overall, it was satisfying to read. The climax of the story from page 319-343 was a big letdown; everything seemed so rushed and undeveloped. The denouement from page 344 to the end was ok. As a whole, this book was all right, but upon completion, I felt unsatisfied and frustrated, and it left me wanting more.
jasminjoyful's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
2.0
I came away from this one with mixed feelings. While the story did hold my interest, it is far from the gripping, edge of your seat thriller that is promised in the blurb. The pacing throughout most of the story is very slow until we get to the last handful of chapters, then it picks up considerably. Even with the slow pace, there were a couple of things that did keep me turning the pages. The first thing was the family dynamic. If you looked up dysfunctional, you'd find this family's picture. It was a bit like a train wreck - you don't really want to see, but you just can't look away. The second thing was the identity of the killer, which is glaringly obvious from very early on, but I've been wrong before so I kept going to see if I'd guessed correctly and what this person's motive could possibly be. Honestly, the cliche of a motive was the biggest disappointment for me, but as much as it's been done, it still manages to send chills down a person's spine. Our main character, Robin was likable enough, but her play by play of dreams became a little tedious and she's not very perceptive for a therapist. With the exception of Blake, there's not a single character in this one that isn't flawed in some way - some worse than others, and some of those flaws made the character more likable and for others, not so much. I do have to comment on the sheer amount of dialogue in this one as it was considerable. But as I read, I began to realize that the dialogue could have been cut almost in half if the author had left out the annoying repetition of statements in question form. Once it caught my attention, I couldn't help but notice how often it was happening and it started becoming a distraction. In the end, I did finish the book and the story did hold my interest, but this one was a middle of the road read for me. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either and I can't say that it would lead me to search out other books from this author.
girlwiththepinkskimask's review against another edition
3.0
THE PLOT
Robin and her sister Melanie are not besties, but they're "reunited" after their father and his new family are brutally attacked in their house. As Robin tries to stomach being in her hometown, she's simultaneously getting her Nancy Drew on and trying to figure out why this happened.
MY OPINNI
I actually enjoyed this book. Maybe it was because the other Joy Fielding novel I read, [b:All the Wrong Places|40712004|All the Wrong Places|Joy Fielding|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532458006l/40712004._SY75_.jpg|63239689] was SO bad and my expectations were SO low, that anything a notch above was going to impress me. Since this book was published before the dumpster fire of "All the Wrong Places", I really have to wonder what was going on with the author. Anyways, let me get back to the book at hand.
I guessed the ending before it came together, but it was kinda juicy. It wasn't totally unbelievable; I've read similar stores in the news. There was decent character development. All in all, an easy breezy read but not particularly memorable.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Writing quality isn't distracting, good character development
Cons: Nothing made it POP
Robin and her sister Melanie are not besties, but they're "reunited" after their father and his new family are brutally attacked in their house. As Robin tries to stomach being in her hometown, she's simultaneously getting her Nancy Drew on and trying to figure out why this happened.
MY OPINNI
I actually enjoyed this book. Maybe it was because the other Joy Fielding novel I read, [b:All the Wrong Places|40712004|All the Wrong Places|Joy Fielding|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532458006l/40712004._SY75_.jpg|63239689] was SO bad and my expectations were SO low, that anything a notch above was going to impress me. Since this book was published before the dumpster fire of "All the Wrong Places", I really have to wonder what was going on with the author. Anyways, let me get back to the book at hand.
I guessed the ending before it came together, but it was kinda juicy. It wasn't totally unbelievable; I've read similar stores in the news. There was decent character development. All in all, an easy breezy read but not particularly memorable.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Writing quality isn't distracting, good character development
Cons: Nothing made it POP