Mia’s mother was murdered. Her father remarried and had twins. Mia is very bright, but she is also angry and is making bad choices. Drink, drugs, promiscuous sex, and even violence. Finally, her father decides she has gone too far, and sends her to a therapeutic boarding school, Red Oaks Academy. While she is taking lessons, she is also under scrutiny, and she is in twice-a-week individual therapy. She is now classified as a “troubled teen” and is surrounded by other girls who have their own stories of suffering and bad behavior.

This gritty YA novel narrated by Mia is very much about feminist themes — the role of girls in society, acknowledging trauma and abuse, and the stigmatization of sexual behavior. The central scenes are between Mia and her therapist. Mia starts out defiant and closed, but gradually she acknowledges what has happened to her and how she reacted to other people’s reactions. She works through her feelings with some dramatic moments. 

You Know I’m No Good has a lot in common with Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted but is updated for modern culture. It is reluctant to label Mia as mentally ill, but does show that she needs help and compassion. At least part of the problem is gender relations.

Foley’s writing is energetic and Hayden Bishop’s performance in the audiobook is great. Foley smuggles in a bunch of feminist approaches and shows their relevance to Mia’s eventual recovery. 

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online

Categories: Fiction

Keywords: fiction, therapeutic boarding school