Title: Good Half Gone
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
First published: March 19th 2024
Publisher: Graydon House
Finished reading: March 8th 2024
Pages: 312

“Memories of Piper should make me smile but they hurt instead. Once I start thinking about her, I can’t stop. Piper’s case is so cold it has freezer burn.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Graydon House in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

I knew that I wanted to read Good Half Gone as soon as I read the blurb. I have a weak spot for a remote setting, and Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane sounded like such an ominous backdrop for this story. I’ve enjoyed the writing of this author in the past, and I’ve been looking forward to try this book ever since it landed on my kindle. What I didn’t expect was that I somehow ended up having mixed thoughts instead… I’ll try to explain why below.

First of all I have to say that I still love the premise behind Good Half Gone. The story is told with the help of a dual timeline structure, where we switch between the present and flashbacks to the past. The flashback chapters relate both to the disappearance of the twin sister Piper and how this affected Iris both during the immediate aftermath and the years after. The present chapters don’t explain too much about her background; instead focusing on her ‘mission’ to work at the Shoal Island Hospital and uncover the truth. I slightly preferred the present chapters over the flashbacks, mostly because of that same remote island setting.

I think that part of the reason why it went wrong for me has a lot to do with the fact that there are simply too many timeline switches. While we do stay with the same character, the constant back-and-forth almost gave me a whiplash and it also slowed down the pace considerably. There were also so many details that didn’t seem important to the plot at all other than being used as a filler, and it kind of distracted from the main story for me. In fact, I was surprised that Good Half Gone wasn’t nearly as tense and suspenseful as I thought it would be during most of the plot… Only to go completely overboard with that final 20%. Seriously, there is unexpected and shocking plot twist, and there is whatever Good Half Gone ends with… I usually don’t mind over the top, but this ending just didn’t make sense at all for me, and it really put a damper on things.

Like I said, I still love the premise and the remote island setting was extremely well done. It makes for such a great backdrop, and it’s probably one of my favorite parts of the story (if you count out how things ended). It was also intriguing to learn more about the twin sisters, what happened back then and the way the story shows us how prejudices can prevent the authorities from taking action in time… My heart went out to Iris as she tried to convince the police what happened, only to be completely ignored. That said, I wasn’t a fan at all of the appearance of the romance angle, as it again distracted from the plot. I never felt any chemistry between the two characters either, which made it even harder to accept the distraction.

All in all Good Half Gone ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for me. Fantastic premise, slower than expected, atmospheric and ominous remote setting, over the top and unsatisfying ending. Some good, some bad, and overall still a solid thriller if you can look past the issues I mentioned.

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