Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

455 reviews

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Dividing books based on the age of the protagonist has always felt a bit arbitrary to me: this book is young adult, but deals with some rather heavy topics, even more so that a lot of the thrillers directed at adults. 

This is Holly Jackson’s strong debut thriller. Five years ago a schoolgirl was murdered. Everyone knows who did it, and the case is closed. Pippa chooses the case as her final-year project and starts to dig deeper to what really happened. 

The characters in this book are mostly teenagers and the adults in their lives. The characters feel well-defined and authentic with their complex problems. The main character Pippa doesn't feel especially memorable, but on the other hand this gives more room for the story. I liked the family dynamics of the main characters, they were so wholesome. 

The book is told in mixed media format: there are notes, texts and diagrams as Pippa collects evidence in an attempt to solve the case. 

I found the book to be very entertaining, relatively fast-placed and at least I couldn't predict what had really happened that night five years ago. 

If you're looking for utmost realism in your books, be warned. As some reviewers have pointed out, Pippa does get into rather dangerous situations and there seem to be no repercussions for her actions. You'd think the police might have something to say about the way she acquires information.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abortion, Vomit, Body shaming, Racism, Stalking, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Murder, Grief, Bullying, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Violence

lavenderprince01's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Omg! This book was so good!
When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and discussing it with my friend who had read it
It was so tense and stressful in the best possible way

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Racism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Animal death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, and Self harm

cicireadsinthedark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

lazulisky's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Animal death, Sexual assault, Racism, Murder, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Grief

bookishdiya's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

rcarr14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

katrinaschaffede's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The book was very interesting and I liked the way it was formatted with the epq's. The only thing I found tedious was how the eventual reveal was written over so many chapters. It was a little bit too drawn out and then a sudden finish at the end.

After we found out that Elliot killed S, I felt we should have been told faster how Andi Bell was killed as it seemed like the tone was 'oh well happy days' and only Ravi and Pippa cared which is highly unrealistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Addiction

sjepp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book is bussin. Took me a minute to get into it. I haven’t been on a fiction kick in a hot minute, but I can honest to goodness tell you I was hooked after page 67. When Pip shares her four theories of the murder, I knew I’d finish the book before the day was over

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Medical trauma, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked it. A good feel to the book and I enjoyed the twists and turns as you accuse different people and you try to work it out. I wasn’t amazingly keen on the ending - I feel like it was a bit of a let down but I did enjoy it. Not sure I’d pick up book 2 hence why not 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

oopsie_daisyyy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Blood

Minor: Blood, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt