The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

thegoodaughtercoverTitle: The Good Daughter
Series: No
Author(s): Karin Slaughter
Publisher: William Morrow
Format: ARC
Original Release Date: August 8th 2017
Pages: 511
Genre(s): Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense
ISBN13: 9780062430243

Aficionados of thrillers have heard plenty of great things about Karin Slaughter. Author of Pretty Girls, the Grant County series and the Will Trent series, her ability to write captivating stories filled with wonderful characters and breathtaking mysteries is undisputed. The Good Daughter is her most recent novel that delivers a character-driven family drama centering around two women who have been struck by tragedy at a very young age.

Notice how I refrain myself from calling it a thriller? The Good Daughter reads much more like a story gravitating around the relationship between two sisters, between two daughters and their father, and between these sisters and their significant others. The mystery thriller element is not absent. It only felt like it was left in the background in order to serve as the fuel to the fire that will ultimately bring these two women to reflect on their lives and their blood-tied relationship.

In The Good Daughter, we’re savagely thrown into a brutal life-threatening event for both Samantha and Charlie Quinn. Alongside their mother, they are visited by unwelcome guests who have nothing but harmful intent written all over their foreheads. Following this chapter, Karin Slaughter continues to be ruthless and kicks off this book’s story with another tragedy that occurs 28 years later. Told through Charlotte’s point of view, she demonstrates her ability to quicken the pace while unveiling the story in slow-motion. How? Don’t ask me. Find out for yourself.

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The story also has two other interlude chapters that repeats the tragedy that these girls have lived through early in their lives, while either changing the point of view to Samantha instead of Charlotte, or by adding additional information that were not disclosed before. Crucial to the story, this strategy might seem unnecessarily repetitive to some, it does wonders in keeping the readers hooked and wanting for more. The story then jumps back to present times and switches the point of view over to Samantha in order to build furthermore the case that is left lingering throughout the book.

There are some really well-executed plot twists along the line, but somehow I saw them coming. Not to say that I’m some genius who sees everything five steps ahead, but I feel like the very nature of this book made me think about the best options the author could select in order to deliver a fantastic story and those are what ended up happening. Readers can be assured that everything in this story develops at a steady and captivating pace, whether it’s the mystery behind the case or the relationship between all the main characters.

The Good Daughter was an interesting thriller with its focus on different family dynamics, notably between these two sisters. With dialogues that could go on forever, Karin Slaughter does a marvelous job in bringing these two to life and creating authentic personalities that have been heavily scarred, physically and emotionally, by the past. Their coping mechanisms and fragile emotional states are explored with finesse and offers a nice glimpse into themes of depression and revenge.

If you haven’t tried anything by Karin Slaughter yet, this wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

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Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sending me a copy for review!

You can order your own copy now!

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Amazon (USA) – Amazon (Canada) – Chapters Indigo – Book Depository

MY OVERALL RATING: ★★★★☆

Have you read it yet? Do you plan to? What do you think about The Good Daughter?

Share your thoughts with me!

Till next time,

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

65 thoughts on “The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter”

  1. I’m glad you liked this one! I love Karin Slaughter. I got to go to one of her book tour stops for this one. I was hoping there would be more books with these characters in the future, but when I asked her she said “I think they’ve been through enough, don’t you?”

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    2. Honestly, meeting authors is pretty awesome, especially when you enjoyed their books beforehand! And wow, that’s an epic response. 😮 Did you know there is however a prequel story with these characters called Last Breath though? I’d be down to try that one out someday!

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  3. Wonderful review, Lashaan! I haven’t read anything by Karin Slaughter before and was going to ask where the best place to start would be if ever I were to pick one of her books up.

    And then your last sentence answered that for me 😊

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    1. Thanks man, I appreciate it. Hahahh yep! Although I would have had a hard time saying any other good starting point for her novels since I haven’t read her other books. I did have Pretty Girls on my TBR before I even read The Good Daughter though. That might be another nice place to start if you ask me. 😀

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  4. “There are some really well-executed plot twists along the line, but somehow I saw them coming. Not to say that I’m some genius who sees everything five steps ahead, but I feel like the very nature of this book made me think about the best options the author could select in order to deliver a fantastic story and those are what ended up happening”

    Sounds like you’ve built up enough of a reading repertoire so things aren’t so surprising anymore. I’m kind of sorry you are already there. Now the jaded, cynical hatred can begin to grow, like a black rose rising from the dung heap of life 😀 hahahahahahaaa.

    Actually, that is a great place because now everything isn’t new and you can begin the wonderful process of comparing. I love comparing books. It also helps make them a richer experience as so many authors have built their works, however tangentially, on older works. I had no idea how much stuff was taken from Lovecraft until I read his works. Now, I see his influence EVERYWHERE.

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    1. Bahahaahahahah I swear, your comment made me laugh. I actually started having this jaded, cynical not-surprised feeling a couple thrillers back and just told myself that maybe its just the authors I was reading that weren’t exploring anything new.

      Honestly, I still read thrillers thinking that they’d be a nice crime novels, but this “new” genre that came to life after books like Gone Girl sort of makes me wonder why I don’t stop… I also always wondered why the protagonist always had to be a woman… Sure, they might be easier to play with with their emotional instability and all, but we could make some interesting protagonist for psychological thrillers too! I’m sure that might change the game a little. 😀

      I hope this feeling is only for psychological thrillers though… I don’t want to start feeling it for fantasy novels!!! It’s way tooooo huge for it to already be “fully-explored” by me. And man, I can totally see the Lovecraft issue. Would still love to try some Lovecraft just to see how much of an influence he has on modern writers though. Same could be said on Tolkien huh? Haven’t read his highly-praised books yet so that helps in letting me enjoy my fantasy novels so far. 😀

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  5. Thrilled to see your thoughts on this one. I have eyed it a few times but was not certain. Thrillers seem to be very hit or miss with me lately. I do really love the idea of a story that is centered around the dynamics of a family though. Most thrillers or mysteries I encounter that focus on family seem to appeal to me rather easily. So I will be probably snag this when given the chance 😉

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    1. I agree with the whole hit and miss thing. I’m starting to see too many patterns and not being impressed enough with the major twists nowadays. Hopefully there are authors out there who will find a cure to this and TRULY be the next game-changer for psychological thrillers. If you want family drama in your thrillers, this is definitely a good one to pick up. It has PLENTY of it! 😛

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  6. I so far own every book that was written by Karin Slaughter and always thinks she does an excellent job. She certainly isn’t one to shy away from violence (in fact some of her scenes are very brutal ) but I do really enjoy her style of writing. I am running a bit behind on her books (I still have to read the last three), but this one certainly sounds like a winner. I think that the more we watch and read, the faster we sometimes see a plot twist coming. I see that happening with myself as well. Anyways: great review! Glad you enjoyed it 😀

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    1. Wow! I did not expect to hear that from anyone! 😮 Actually, I don’t think anyone here has that many of her books actually!! That’s truly impressive and it sounds like you’re a die-hard fan of her work! Yep, in The Good Daughter, there are some truly violent scenes that she describes with so much rawness. The reading fast hypothesis is pretty interesting though. Although I’ll never be able to qualify myself as a fast reader hahaha Thank you so much for reading, Michel. I truly appreciate it. 🙂

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      1. Well, the fun thing is: most of the books I read are either horror, sci fi or fantasy. But she is pretty much the only author that I read that doesn’t fall into either of those categories. I just really like her writing style, and I have been a fan of her work ever since I read her first novel. Haha, it doesn’t really come as a surprise that there are violent scenes in her latest novel. It has become one of her trademarks really. Lol, while I am not a fast reader either: I can be, but I just have way too many other hobbies that keep me from reading fast 😀

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      2. That is exactly why I was surprised cause you definitely looked like someone who read fantasy, scifi, horror, comics and mangas hahahah Oh I totally understand that. I too am unable to sit for hours still and just read… I alternate and do so many other things too. I guess that doesn’t help to be at the same rhythm as some of our fellow readers out here huh 😛

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  7. Big big fan of Karin Slaughter and loved Pretty Girls. She really can’t write anything I don’t like so I’m pretty confident I’ll like this one as well. One of the things I really like is that she opens with a chapter and then she jumps to the past or present and it’s only at the end that you know how you got from that one point to the other and it’s so cool that you know and understand it all suddenly. It’s good to know this story is excellent and the thriller element supports the characters. I have this novel and I’m very excited to read it!

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    1. Oh yay!!! I had Pretty Girls on my TBR and have yet to try it out. Would love to see how it is compared to The Good Daughter though. Yeeees! She actually uses the past and present quite cleverly too. Even in the writing, she repeats things in such a brilliant way that it just you go like: “Ohhhh, nice one!” 😛 Hope you do enjoy it when you get around to it though! Thanks for reading, Inge. I appreciate it. 🙂

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  8. Seriously interested in reading this one. I’ve just read Pretty Girls a couple of weeks ago and I have to say, I never thought I would like books around this genre. Pretty much feeling violated because I was so scared but definitely hooked badly.

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    1. She really does all her violent scenes very gruesomely! I have Pretty Girls on my TBR and am excited to see what it’s like. I have the impression it wouldn’t be so heavy on the family drama compared to this, so it might actually make me adore it a bit more. 😮 Hope you do enjoy The Good Daughter if you ever get the chance to read it though!! 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Meggy! I was surprised too that it was much more heavier with all those relationships compared to the very mystery/thriller part of the story. Not to say that the mystery/thriller part was absent though. It was there and it was well done! Hope you enjoy her books when you get the chance. 😉 Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate that so much. 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much, Nadine! 😛 I do hope you’ll enjoy it as much or more than I did. Yep, I was a bit sad when I realized huge chunks of the books would just be focused on the sisters, their relationship and their development. The thriller portion is still fun though, especially if you don’t see the twists coming! 😉

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  11. Great review for this book Lashaan. 🙂 I haven’t read anything by Karin Slaughter before but she sounds like an incredible thriller writer, especially because you’d say this wasn’t necessarily a thriller read but a story that’s so much more than that. I’m really glad you enjoyed this book, are you planning to pick up any more of Karin Slaughter’s books, if you haven’t read any others already? 😀

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    1. Thank you so much, Beth!! 😀 Exactly. I feel like she explored even more by doing it this way. After all, she wrote over 15 thrillers before this. I guess it’s not that surprising that it was now soooo character-driven. I’m curious now of what her pure thrillers are like though. Definitely plan on checking out more of her books. I already had Pretty Girls in my TBR before The Good Daughter, so that would definitely be a nice place for visit next. 😀

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    1. Quite the ride! Yep, I just had to mention it. I thought I was in for a pure thriller, but it turned out to be a character-driven story with a mystery filled with plot twists in the background. Definitely nothing wrong about that, it just wasn’t what I thought it was hahah Thank you so much! 🙂

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  14. As I mentioned from my last comment (I hope that went through!), I am a Karin Slaughter fan so I’ve read all her books and this is another good one. Off the subject, do you read David Baldacci’s books? Just finished a new one that was good too. Now you know why I haven’t been blogging.

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    1. That is actually crazy impressive. I just found out one other person has read almost as many books by Slaughter as you too. Wow. Is it safe to say that The Good Daughter is a bit different from what Karin Slaughter usually writes? I honestly feel like this might have been one of those rare times where she focused a bit less on the thriller/mystery and really dug deep into her characters. 😮 I have heard of his books. I see them everywhere too. I haven’t picked up anything by him and honestly I wouldn’t know where to start. Sort of like Harlan Coben. Based on what you’ve read by him (Baldacci) so far, what would be your recommendations for me? 😮

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      1. May I suggest you search his name on my blog and you will see a review and a list of the books I have read by him. He has quite a few series as well as standalones. I must say this last one Endgame is a good one and part of the Will Robie and Jessica Reel series.

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    1. Oh yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed this too! 😛 I knowwww, the book starts off crazyyy! The later scenes were even crazier (the third flashback sequence, to be precise). The way she captures the tragedy…. almost had me in tears!!! Awn, you’re too kind, Dani. Have a great week, yourself. Rest well. 😉

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  16. Excellent review Lashaan! I have been wanting to read this book for awhile now. I’m glad it was an enjoyable read for you despite able to guess what will happen next. Maybe you are a genius after all! 🙂

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  17. I actually haven’t tried anything by Slaughter before but from what you’ve wrote, I can tell she’s a promising author 🙂 I don’t dabble too much on mysteries or thrillers (even if this doesn’t really read as one, so I guess even more reasons to read it) but I love family dynamics and the psychology behind it!
    Too bad that you saw the plot twists coming, though. And I know what you mean, it always frustrates me when I do too, because I’m not the best at figuring things out! 😂 In fact, most publishers should run their books through me before putting them into the world; I’d definitely help filter the worst mysteries ever invented 😂 (and keep them from making a fool out of themselves)
    Awesome review, Lashaan! 🙂

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    1. Hahah yep! I thought I was cracking open a hefty thriller story but it turned out to have a lot of character development and family drama that I didn’t think would be so prominent. The thriller/mystery part was still there though and was still fun! I’d say that I saw at least 80% of the twists coming, so they didn’t hit me as hard, but because they were well-done by the author, it was still quite enjoyable! Hahahahah silly Sophie! I’m sure you ain’t that bad! 😂 Thanks for dropping by!!! You’re too kind. ☺️

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  20. Hmmm good dialogue that you want to go on forever is rare… Sounds intriguing! Such a great review Lashaan! She really puts her characters through the wringer… which in today’s climate is not a bad thing… I feel like well off people love to read people going through terror and poor people love reading people in their situation or worse. 😂

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    1. Thanks Dani! It is indeed rare. I do love however coming across epic fantasy books where the banter is impeccable. Some books do dialogue so well that they make me wish I had those characters as real life friends! 😀 And yep! We sure do love reading about misery/crazy/dark/insane/stressful situations. Probably a bunch of reasons for that. 😛

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  21. Gah! The app ate my comment! Great review Lashaan! It’s unusual to find dialogue so good you want it to go on forever… The author sure puts her characters through a lot! I feel like it’s perfect for today’s climate, readers either are well off and need the drama or are not well off and need the knowledge others have it worse! 😂

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  22. I saw this book the other day, but I didn’t read what it was about. This sounds really good! I’ve actually never read anything from Karin Slaughter, but from what I can see she’s a really great writer. Plus, I’m still all amped up about thrillers/mysteries from just finishing The Wife Between Us. Adding this to my TBR!

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    1. I didn’t know what it was about till I read it hahah I just knew about the author and have always wanted to read something by her. You should definitely try it out, or even her other books if you ever get your hands on those first. Ohhh! I’ve heard so many good things about The Wife Between Us. Amazing how it just continues to impress everyone who reads it. Thanks for reading, Elizabeth! Does that mean you’re out of that #NoReading in December thing???? 😀

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