​​​Beautiful Bad doesn’t waste any time grabbing the reader’s attention and throwing them into the thick of things.  Right from the beginning you’re made very aware that all is not well in Maddie and Ian’s suburban home.  From Maddie’s worry over her own sanity and questioning whether she should seek some professional help, to ten weeks later, The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call is placed from their home, Annie Ward had my full attention.

The book alternates from different timelines and perspectives.  This offered an in-depth look into the lives of the characters, the nature and development of their relationships, and the events that shaped who they were.  It provided some beneficial background information for attempting to uncover what had actually happened.  This all helped to build my mounting suspicions of the characters.

Beautiful Bad had many of the elements that I enjoy when reading a thriller.  I love unreliable, complicated characters, messy relationships, and trying to figure out what transpired before everything is revealed.  The characters in this book were certainly intriguing, however, I never felt much of a connection to them.  It’s probably best that I didn’t feel a connection to them, though, as they weren’t the most likable or trustworthy characters.

The book started off at lightning pace, but my interest waned during some of the back and forth in the middle section.  I never felt as though I wanted to give up on the story, I just didn’t feel the urge to binge-read it.  With that being said, the last thirty percent of the book pulled me right back in, reinvested me in the characters and their twisted tale, and I didn’t put it back down until the final page was read. 
 

*3.5 Stars

 

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 Suspense/Mysteries