Beautiful Bad

[b:Beautiful Bad 39873226 Beautiful Bad Annie Ward https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532556337i/39873226.SY75.jpg 61678543]I would like to thank Netgalley and all parties involved in my arc of this novel. While I enjoy all sorts of books thrillers like this one have been my go to genre in the past year or two. The story centers around Maddie who has a lapse in memory, her husband and her long-time friend Jo. Maddie has long periods of taking care of her son on her own while her husband, Ian, travels to dangerous places all over the world for his job. Maddie had a recent accident while camping that left her with severe scars and issues with her memory and anxiety attacks. She wants to regain control of her life and begins attending writing therapy close to her suburban Kansas home. During these sessions, a scary picture of dysfunctional relationships starts to unfold. Past events in Maddie and Ian's lives seem to be building to a scene at the beginning of the book of a woman calling 9-1-1 and a young child screaming in the background.Most of this book is told in the first person from Maddie's point of view. It starts with the 9-1-1 call and then alternates between events in the recent past leading up to the phone call, glimpses of Maddie, Ian, and Maddie's former best friend, Jo, from many years ago, and finally what happens after that call. The technique works well for this story. It sets up suspense that lasts through the whole book, worrying about the circumstances of the 9-1-1 call and what happens to the characters. Which made me as the reader want to read faster and keep turning pages. Maddie, Ian, and Jo are all broken in their own way. Little by little, we see what has made Maddie and Ian the people they are today. Ian's alternates between being moody and broody to charming and flirtatious. Maddie seems fearless and fragile at the same time. Under different circumstances, their romance could have been beautiful, but their past experiences continue to get in the way of their love. There are times I have liked and disliked Maddie and Ian. Jo, however, is hard to like throughout the book, even when she is at her most vulnerable. Jo plays an important role in the story, but I never could warm up to her.I appreciate the suspense and the tension that build as the story progresses. Everyone and everything aren't what they seem and I was very surprised when things are revealed at the end. “Beautiful Bad” is a well-written psychological thriller that I enjoyed. I am from Macedonia so reading little bits about Bulgaria was a very nice touch for me. I will be reading more books from Annie Ward in the future.

“The perfect marriage leads to the perfect crime.”

First of all, who the hell came up with that tagline? It's a good tagline, don't get me wrong, but it has nothing to do with the book in question. Did this person read the same book I did? “The perfect marriage?” If anyone has an argument for why Maddie's and Ian's relationship could be viewed as anything but toxic, I'd love to hear it. And there has to be more to your stance than “Well, he's hot!”

Moving on, I don't read much in the way of thrillers, but I'm trying to branch out some here. For me, Beautiful Bad was a mixed bag, full of surprises I didn't expect from the author, and some elements I grudgingly trudged through. Briefly, here are my thoughts:

-I liked that Beautiful Bad dealt with questions of psychology. I wasn't 100% convinced with the psychological ailments shown in the story, but they added to the story.

-Though it may have been a bit hard to follow at times, the shifts in POV and time allowed for the story to unfold at just the right speed.

-It kept me guessing. I thought I'd had it all figured out a couple times—my ideas were far more convoluted than the actual solution (not sure if that's a good thing or not)—but the conclusion surprised me.

-Most surprising to me (being a lit snob and all) was that some of the writing was quite good. This was particularly true when Ward was pushed invoke emotion. My own flaw, for sure, but I wasn't expecting this from a thriller.

-I had a very difficult time accepting these characters and their relationships. I didn't buy any of it. There just wasn't any personal or relational development that gave me a firm impression of who or why. Ian and Maddie, Maddie and Jo—what do they all see in one another? My biggest critique would be that I wish this had been developed more in place of all the details surrounding where everyone ate.

-Because I didn't have a firm grasp on the characters, I also found the motivation for the violence at the center of the story was difficult to accept.

Despite my mixed feelings, I'm glad I gave this novel a chance. I don't feel the characters were given proper development, but I see a lot of potential in the writing; and it certainly gives me a psychological thriller I can recommend without much trepidation.