First off, there's Celia, ardent lover of cozy mysteries. She wakes up one morning to find herself in a strange house, decorated with furniture she never would have chosen, married to a guy she doesn't recognize, with a child yelling at her to finish fixing their lunch. What? She doesn't even want kids!
As her day unfolds, she's able to piece together that she is married to Pete, has a daughter named Stephanie, and runs Zinone's Italian Family Restaurant. Oh, and she's a hardcore runner, according to her "best friend" Jennifer. Except that she hates running. Huh?
Apparently, she is in a bit of a war with Mrs. Corrigan, the cranky old lady who lives in the pink house right next to her restaurant. Rats, she says. Blames it on the restaurant's dumpster. But Celia can't be bothered with this mean lady when she is trying to figure out what her day typically looks like and not let on that she has no idea who she is or who anyone else is. That's well and good until Celia finds a body in her dumpster and she's the number one suspect. It's like something straight out of one of her cozy mysteries, but how is that possible? To complicate matters, every time she has an inkling of a past memory, she has a screaming migraine that comes on suddenly. What on earth is going on?
Then there's Allie, and today is her 21st birthday. All she wants to do is hang out with her best friends, Cam and Madison, at the beach cottage Cam's parents borrowed from their friends. What should be a perfect girls' weekend turns into a nightmare when Cam and Madison decide to bring their respective boyfriends, Brad and Steve. What's worse is that everyone in the car except Brad, who is driving, falls asleep after drinking Steve's mystery cocktail, and when they wake up, they are at some cabin in the woods. For a slasher fan like Allie, this is literally her worst case scenario.
For starters, Brad is acting like a jerk, which is pretty standard for him. He picks on Allie relentlessly, makes her feel like the odd man out, and turns everything she says around to make her look like she is being super negative. Of course, Steve is Brad's best friend and also his yes man, so she can't expect any help from him, and her friends seem to be turning against her as well. What a birthday weekend this is turning out to be.
But then there's a weird noise outside while Allie is trying to fall asleep and miserably failing at it. Scratching and then knocking on the bedroom window in the room shared by Allie and also Steve and Madison. At least the other two were awakened by it too. Soon they realize that this house not only lacks window locks, but also door locks. Oh no, uh uh. Allie had already decided to hike out of here at day break, but now she is even more ready to flee. Then a crash outside reveals someone has slashed Brad's tires and destroyed the windshield on his BMW (because, of course, he drives a BMW) and now they are stuck here. With God only knows who or what threatening them from outside.
When blood starts flowing and bodies start dropping, Allie knows it will be up to her if she and her friends are to survive. After all, she knows all the rules and has been watching horror all of her life. But what if this killer isn't playing by the rules?
Finally, there's Maggie, who wakes up to find herself in a room with a number of other confused women, all wearing matching t-shirts with numbers on the back. Running the show is a small group of roided-out dudes, one of whom is fond of using a cattle prod if someone so much as steps a hair out of line. She and the others are shown that the men have kidnapped not only them, but a hostage, someone dear to them that will be killed if anyone fails to do what is asked of them. For Maggie, it is her beloved little girl, Paige, someone for whom Maggie would do anything. Unfortunately for Maggie and the other ladies, they will be pushed to the limit in a game of survival where opting not to participate means instant death, for them and their respective hostages.
Maggie finds a kindred spirit in Sanya, another strong woman of color like herself. There are others, such as a woman known only as Number 2 based on her t-shirt number, but she is clearly an entitled winner in actual life and has no compunction about steamrolling over anyone to win the competition, because winning equals freedom, if they are to believe Mr. Cattle Prod. There are others, such as Beth, a timid asthmatic who can barely keep up, and Roni, who seems selfish and whiny. Maggie can't help but try to assist the other women around her, especially when they soon realize that the jungle they are expected to traverse is filled with mines, and that's only the first challenge. But whatever is happening to her right now is nothing like the dystopian survival books she adores. There are no shortcuts and she will be expected to do horrible things, but it will be worth it to ensure Paige's safety and survival.
One thing I really enjoyed about Good Girls Don't Die is that each chapter starts off with a subreddit conversation between users on a particular book genre, such as cozy mysteries, slasher/horror and dystopian survival, for example. Most of the users are serious fans, discussing their faves and all of the ins and outs of the genres, but there's always this one dude who just takes the oxygen out of the conversation, every time.
Good Girls Don't Die is a great romp for any book lover. I tore through this book in two sittings, not just because it is an easy, breezy read, but also because I just couldn't put it down until it screamed to its conclusion. If you've never read Christina Henry, this is a great place to start, but be warned. She is absolutely habit-forming. Highly, highly recommended.
