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Review: Good Girl Complex (Avalon Bay #1)

  • Writer: Chelle
    Chelle
  • Mar 11, 2022
  • 3 min read
  • Title: Good Girl Complex

  • Author: Elle Kennedy

  • Series: Avalon Bay #1

  • Genre: Contemporary Romance

  • Rating: ☆☆☆

  • Trigger Warnings: cheating, money theft

𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔. 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍.

Good Girl Complex was easy to read and was quickly devoured each day during a buddy read I participated in. However, even though it was a quick read, I was hoping that Kennedy wouldn't use cheating in this book as a means to follow through on the bet Cooper created with his friends, and that Mackenzie would leave her boyfriend before it got to that. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and admittedly, the use of cheating really lost my interest in this world. It was also terribly predictable, with characters and their end goals/reasons for being placed in this world made apparent early on. I guessed all the major plotlines in the early days of reading this, though some happened later than I expected them to, which evened out some of the predictability of this book.


Mackenzie wasn't a character I could gel with. I appreciated Kennedy's efforts to make her more than just a rich girl, but she just didn't hit the mark for me at all. She was awfully repetitive (how many times as the reader did we need to know she didn't want to attend college since she already had a successful business? I understood the first time), and very back and forth in her traits that I couldn't grasp a proper picture for her in my head. Cooper, I had more time for. I enjoyed seeing the bet become the last thing on his mind as he fell for Mac. I also liked how much of his insecurities were expressed. As expected, their romantic scenes were steamy and frequent once they got together. Kennedy always writes smut in this fashion, and I liked that element to their relationship. I do have to admit intimacy vs emotional connection was better balanced in this novel than in others I've read by this author, and I appreciated that.


I didn't enjoy all the withholding of truths and lying. It made this story messy and exasperated me when both characters did so. I also didn't like the use of the word clones, it didn't sit well with me, nor did the attitude of the townies towards Mac for some time. I'm glad that changed as the novel progressed, and I actually enjoyed the friendships and Mac's connection with Evan, Cooper's twin brother, as they got closer. I loved the found family aspect and how both Mac and the twins were let down by their parents yet found familial comfort in each other.


I did like the use of the bet, even if it was fuelled with bad intentions. I just wished it hadn't resulted in the use of cheating, and I had expected more fallout from Mac's ex during this book, who was god awful. In some way, I disliked how it was brushed off for other plot lines, but also relieved that we didn't have to put up with Preston for as long as I'd expected to.


All and all, this is an easy enough read, and if you're not morally against cheating, you might enjoy it more than I did. I am now somewhat intrigued by Evan's story continuing in book 2, and probably will pick it up despite my less than stellar findings of book 1.

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