Review: Good Girls Don’t Die, by Christina Henry (Berkley)

When the ARC approval for Good Girls Don’t Die hit my inbox, I put my hands in the air and exclaimed “holy shit” to my mildly terrified husband. To me, a new Christina Henry book is an event. Henry wrote two of my favorite books of the past few years (Lost Boy, and Near the Bone), so she has my undying devotion. 

In Good Girls Don’t Die, three women find themselves in bizarre situations. Celia wakes up with no memory of her life, despite living in a house with people who are apparently her family. Allie is dragged by her friends and their awful boyfriends to a cabin in the woods, with no memory of how they arrived, and a disconcerting lack of noise and bugs. And Maggie finds herself in a Hunger Games/Squid Game scenario, where she has to tackle a series of obstacles to ensure her daughter’s safety. However, the thing that links these women together is far more disturbing than all the scenarios combined. 

Christina Henry’s writing is always a joy; uncomplicated prose, endearing, relatable characters, and engrossing plots. The fantastical world of Good Girls Don’t Die isn’t too far removed from reality, and it reflects the lengths men will go to in order to “punish” women who report them for abuse, or try to retain custody of their children, or flat out reject them. Throughout the book, I was reminded of the Margaret Atwood quote: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”

It was a lot of fun to see this novel unravel, and I found the ending particularly gratifying. I hope this will spark some conversations about feminism, misogyny, violence, and power. 

Huge, huge thanks to Berkley for the ARC.