Why A Good Person by Kirsten King is one of the most entertaining debuts of the year

What happens when your ex-situationship suddenly dies after you hex him? In A Good Person by Kirsten King, the answer is pure chaos, hilarity, and narcissistic delusion.

This book was absolutely hilarious. Kirsten King throws us headfirst into the brain of Lillian, a millennial antihero who is equal parts self-absorbed, delusional, and entertaining. Reading her inner monologue feels like being stuck at brunch with that one friend who always makes themselves the main character of every story—but in the best possible way, because you can safely laugh without being their victim.

Lillian is convinced she’s not only the hero of her own story but also of everyone else’s. So when Henry—the guy she’s been trying to lock down—suddenly dies, the most unthinkable part for her isn’t the loss itself. It’s that someone else (his actual long-term girlfriend) becomes the center of attention. To make matters worse for Lillian, she gets upstaged by a wannabe social media influencer who sees Henry’s death as her big break. The way Lillian navigates all of this with complete self-righteousness is as cringeworthy as it is entertaining.

One of the most fascinating things about the book is how King writes Lillian with such clarity. At times, Lillian is sharp and insightful when making observations about other people or about society at large. But when it comes to her own actions? She’s utterly detached from reality. It reminded me so much of my narcissistic ex-mother-in-law, who once tried to climb into bed with me while on Ambien. (Seriously, how is Ambien still legal?) Another time, she actually convinced her boyfriend to hack into my Facebook account so she could spy on me. She openly admitted this to the police when confronted and genuinely thought she was in the right. That’s exactly the kind of mental gymnastics Lillian performs throughout this novel—always bending reality to justify her own behavior.

Kirsten King has written a debut that is both wickedly funny and uncomfortably relatable if you’ve ever dealt with a narcissist. A Good Person is binge-worthy, sharp, and absolutely worth picking up if you like your thrillers laced with dark humor and a main character you’ll love to hate.

Have you read A Good Person yet? I’d love to hear what you thought—drop your comments below and let’s talk about this wild ride of a book.

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Pre-order your copy today!

Related Content

• Women behaving badly: A reading list (CrimeReads)
• 7 books about older women behaving badly (Electric Literature)
• Women Behaving Badly (The PhDiva reads books)
• How writing saved me from a narcissist (Women Writers, Women’s Books)
• Guest post!: Overt and covert narcissist villains (Jennifer Worrell Writes)

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.