Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

302 reviews

hazydazywaffles's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

It's so hard to put all my thoughts into words. I would definitely say I liked the first 2 so much better. What Pip did at the 60% mark had my jaw on the floor, but not in a good way. SHe didn't have

to kill him. She just didn't. She could have gone to the police, she could have just run, she could have done so many other things. But kill him brutally? No. She was completely blinded by all the pain she's had to endure. It also bothered me how there were so many people she could have reached out to for help with dealing with her trauma. But she chose to shut everyone, even Ravi, out. Plus, the police's complete denial that anything was happening felt like it was done for the plot, not because that would really happen.

I need to go read a happy rom-com or something light after this book. I would say this was my least favorite, considering all the twisting of justice in this book. You can't justify Pip or Ravi's actions to me. Will forever love the first two books but this one is not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Death, Gore, Drug abuse, Murder, and Mental illness

kim_gzt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I didn’t enjoy the second half of the book as much because the whole story pretty much took a 180 but the first part was a tense and I was genuinely scared for Pip in many situations. 

I didn’t like the second part because everything that happens it because she thinks she cannot trust the police and by setting up the whole “How to get away with murder” thing. I also thought Jason being DT was pretty predictable from the start. I was still scared shitless for Pip.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Death, Drug abuse, and Animal death

alyssa_brown's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Blood, Addiction, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Vomit and Kidnapping

ursa_arlo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really like this installment. It starts of slow with Pip dealing with her trauma and starting to suspect she is being stalked; this part is a little jarring as it's very heavy and repetitive, but near the middle, the book speeds up and damn... It is the perfect circular ending to this series.

I was wondering what could possible happen after

Pip escapes from Jason

around the middle of the book but I was pleasantly surprised. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Addiction

_pauline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

loved it but GGBB remains my favourite.

The whole no-contact thing at the end just felt too far-fetched. I get the cover up, it was a little weird since imo it easily could’ve passed/been disguised as self defence, but I get that it was relevant to the plot. but why would she then need to distance herself from people who - unlike Ravi - didn’t even know about it, let alone were involved in it (like her family)? that felt a little forced in order to make the ending more dramatic and open.

Plus

the DT-scene

was a little intense for me at times but then again what did I expect seeing that title and cover (maybe a little too much for YA though? idk).

Still, nothing can keep me from reading every single thing Holly Jackson publishes, and I liked how seemingly irrelevant things from the previous books were resolved (

like the backstory of why Andie was the way she was and why Sal put up with her - I‘d been slightly confused/irritated by that in the previous books but didn’t expect it to be picked up again like that; or the way Barney died, breaking my heart AGAIN

), all without major plot holes or inconsistencies.
And I really liked the portrayal of

Pip’s ptsd, panic attacks, addiction etc as well as everything on sexual assault trials and the criminal justice system.

The best crime/mystery/thriller series I‘ve ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Animal death

cbuchanan's review against another edition

dark tense

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Drug abuse, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Vomit, and Torture

Minor: Vomit, Rape, and Sexism

I really liked the previous books in the series, but this felt like an inadequate ending to the series. (Light, non-detailed spoilers ahead)

about halfway through the book, we learn who the DT killer is, and the turn the book takes from there is jarring. Pip was set up as a brilliant young woman, and the actions she takes don't feel like they track with her character from previous books. It's understandable, but seems highly illogical even with her explanation of her decisions.

Detailed spoilers below:

I loved that Jason Bell was the DT Killer, but I hated everything after Pip escaped and decided to turn back and kill him and then pin it on Max Hastings. I hated Max, he was written to be incredibly hateable and explicitly bad, but setting him up to take the fall for killing Jason just doesn't feel satisfying to me. The decision will haunt Pip forever, and she's already struggling with her mental health after seeing Stanley die in the previous book, so it doesn't make sense to me that she's going to be okay with this for the rest of her life. I'm really disappointed with how this ended honestly, and I wish I'd liked it more.

drjosh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and Rape

kshurtz13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

nele_281's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, Drug abuse, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, and Cursing

violet_viper's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was so good. It was quite dark, but a perfect end to the series. It tied up all the loose ends and came full circle. Easily 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault