The Good Son Book Review

Inspired by meeting a woman whose son was in prison for killing the only girl he ever loved, Jacquelyn Mitchard's new novel The Good Son imagines what happens to the family of the imprisoned and the family of the deceased. (Don't confuse this with the Elijah Wood/Macauley Culkin movie of the same name from 1993, though that is a good movie.)


Thea's son, Stefan, served his time and is back home, living with his parents and trying to reenter society. But life isn't easy for a felon, and so many people are not willing to give him a second chance. It also doesn't help that the mother of the girl he killed has organized an anti-domestic violence group that pickets outside of Thea's home all day every day.

But then Thea starts receiving weird text messages from someone who claims to know the truth about what really happened the night Stefan killed his girlfriend. Are these text messages from a crazy person or is the texter for real? And why is a hooded figure following the family and breaking into their house? 

This story will keep you guessing, however, I did have inklings about how it was all going to end about halfway through, and my inklings were correct. Still, it's an interesting story about recovery and forgiveness.

And I liked this novel so much better than the last Mitchard novel I reviewed, so that was definitely a positive!

The Good Son is published by Mira and is now available to purchase. I received a free review copy from the publisher.

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