Yikes. This is one creepy read. It's not overly graphic but it is disturbing. I couldn't put it down but I hope I don't have nightmares about it. Speaking of which, the bad dreams are some of the scariest parts of the story. Just a really good scary book. ( )

Going into this book, you expect dysfunction and psychological damage as Ali Land details a few weeks in the life of a fifteen-year-old girl who is taken in by a foster family after reporting her demented, child-torturing, murdering mother to authorities. Her stepdad doubles as her her therapist and father-figure she has never had throughout the trial process for her mother. However, the demons inside her leave her to question every move she has made and continues to made and even the thoughts she has. Is she inherently "bad" like her mother and doomed for a lifetime of lunacy? Or, has her mom brainwashed her only so much that she still has time to save herself from the evil she sees?

This is a demented, deranged, and unhinged story that you can't step away from. Ali Land nails the notion of the human tendency to attain power over others for self-preservation. She braves the boundaries of evil vs decency. I applaud her courageous and bold undertaking of a very complex character and scenario. I wanted to read this because I have a background in psychology and a minor child abuse and neglect and I guess this just intrigued me that I could not help myself. As I said is it Nature or Nurture that makes us who we are? Who will win the angel on her shoulder or the devil? This reads so well that I really do see it as a movie or a tv movie. 5 stars from me this was awesome. ( )

This is Ali Land's debut and she has certainly came and made her mark in the Psychological Thriller genre.
And a really clever unique spin on the Serial Killer fiction books I have read before. Such an easy book to read, the story flows threw the pages sweeping you along for the ride. I couldn't put the book down so i finished it in less than 36 hours!
The book is about a female serial killers daughter Annie and that it was Annie that turned her mother over to the police.
Annie is now Milly, with a new life and new home. No one knows the truth about who Milly really is but who knows how long a secret like that can stay buried?
Especially as she will have to stand up and give evidence against her own mother!
But the question is "Is she Milly, the new girl with a fresh start? Or is she Annie, the serial killers daughter?
What side wins? Good me or Bad me?
Brilliant book, I have recommended it to anyone and everyone I know who loves to read and even purchased the book as a present for a friend.
Cant wait to see what Ali's next book will be like. ( )

Annie (who gets her name changed to Milly) is the main character. She turns her mom (who's a serial killer of children) in & is put in foster care at 15. She was groomed, abused, & a witness/helper to her mom's child killings. But, was she a participant or not? Milly is put with a foster family (Mike, Sas, & Phoebe) to live with until her she has to testify at her mother's trial. The foster family is as dysfunctional as Milly. A drug hazed mom, the counselor husband, & the bitter vicious daughter. Typical story of bullying and insinuating yourself into a family. The 1st person POV of Milly talking in her head to her mom was hard to follow because it blended into other sentences with other characters. Milly wants to be good. but is she really bad is the focal point of cat and mouse. A convoluted mess and I'm not sure why there are such high ratings ( )

So, this was different. Milly’s mother is a serial killer. She turns her mother into the police and while waiting for the trial to testify against her, Milly lives with a foster family. She adapts to a new high school and a foster sister who is a complete bully. Aside from the trial aspect of the story, I wasn’t too sure where this book was going. While Milly is battling within herself whether she is a good or bad person, I felt like I was on a journey without a destination. As events started to unravel, the story got creepy weird and intense. Ali Land is a good writer and story teller. Hopefully she’s working on her next novel. ( )