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jamon7's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.75
It's been about a year since I read the 2nd book, and several years since I've read the original AGGGTM, but I feel like the characters got weaker with each installment. As Good As Dead felt very plot driven to me, and while I still had residual feelings towards the characters from the previous books (faded by time, naturally), my opinion on none of them really changed. It didn't feel like Jackson wanted to do much with the characters at this point. That's totally fine, I just personally enjoy books much more when I feel strong emotions, which is easiest done through compelling characters. Of course I still thought Max Hastings was the scum of the earth and I liked Ravi and Victor Fitz-Amobi, but like none of these feelings were very strong because nothing had changed. Honestly the character I enjoyed the most was probably DI Hawkins, I found him to be pretty sympathetic.
Jason Bell was a boring antagonist. This book is weird because the big reveal happens halfway through, which at first I was interested in because it meant the twist villain had plenty of time to be evil, but then he's actually not very interesting and then Pip kills him lmao. His motivation for everything is just misogyny, which I'm sure in real life is a realistic motivation, but as the main antagonist in the series finale, I just found it a bit underwhelming. Once he was revealed, he just whined for a few pages about how women never listen to him, and then next time we see him his face is smashed in with a hammer. That was kind of awesome by the way, I didn't expect Jackson to go there and make Pip a murderer, it was a brave and interesting place to take the story.
Of course that posed a big challenge - Jackson had to write half a book to still be engaging, even when the real danger is over and the antagonist is dead. And to be fair, it was all pretty good, it wasn't enthralling but I did enjoy it, the scene where Pip drugs Max was a particular highlight. This latter half played out in fairly predictable fashion, but that may just be because I'm so used to Jackson's style of writing by now. It was pretty obvious that things were going to go basically perfectly, but then something would go wrong and throw everything into question, only for it to all end up okay. That doesn't mean it was bad though.
I have a few more thoughts after reading other people's reviews. Firstly, some people think it was wrong of Pip to frame Max Hastings. Are you hearing yourselves? A SERIAL rapist who shows absolutely no remorse for anything he's done? Life in prison is letting him off easy. Sure it's wrong for Pip to take justice into her own hands, but you can't say Max didn't deserve to go down for it. Secondly, I know everyone loves Ravi, and I love him too, but I agree with those who say he felt a bit off in this book. He was more like a perfectly trained dog than a person imo. Of course it's nice to read him being sweet and perfect, but like from a writing perspective I think he was far too perfect and he like never basically challenged Pip at all. I get that he loved her more than anything but idk. Lastly, Pip could not stop making the worst decisions. I understand that her losing faith in the police and justice system was like the whole point, but COME ON. As soon as they discovered her stalker was showing all the signs of the DT Killer and they found out Billy Karras' confession was very undeniably false, they could have just gone back to the police with that information. The evidence was stonewall, Hawkins couldn't explain it away if he wanted to. They would have kept Pip safe and started investigating the stalker and everything probably would have been fine. Or, as others pointed out, there's no reason not to go to the police after Pip escapes Jason. I totally get that mistrusting the police is one of the core themes of the book, but it doesn't feel totally justified when there are several points in the plot where going to the police is 1000% the right move. The way it is the plot undermines the theme, but if they did go to the police, then the themes are kind of null and void, it's just not great writing. Also yeah Pip constantly going out alone with headphones on while she's being threatened with murder by a stalker is just, what??
I would definitely say this book is weaker than the previous from a personal perspective. I because of the end of Good Girl Bad Blood, I found Stanley Forbes' story to be incredibly tragic, but As Good As Dead didn't really spark any of those feelings for me. There were some tense parts, there was some drama, but overall it felt like the emotional beats didn't hit with enough force to make me feel much about this book, and the characters didn't captivate me either. A pretty solid end to a good series of books though.
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Murder, Misogyny, and Stalking
Minor: Addiction, Sexual violence, Animal death, Drug use, Vomit, Rape, and Violence
carissa_93's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual violence, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
taniasborges's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Violence, Stalking, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence
estelleidekreads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
the first half of this book was so scary i was not expecting a YA thriller to make me scared to turn my lights off.
the second part was the most bonkers plot but i lowkey enjoyed it - almost gave heist vibes ?? it was defo a bold choice & im not too mad about it but some parts were dragged out wayyyy too much.
the last 2 chapters of this books were completely unnecessary imo and they really annoyed me.
pip and ravi were infuriating and acting like they shared a singular brain cell way and had me screaming at them. i get it ACAB yes but after a point you’re just being dumb and self destructive.
Graphic: Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Misogyny
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
grace_reads13's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Stalking, Kidnapping, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual violence, Drug use, Grief, Gaslighting, and Death of parent
sandy_dream's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Misogyny and Drug use
Minor: Sexual violence
aysha_blake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Addiction, Medical content, Torture, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Gun violence
Minor: Infidelity
jackieyvette's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I still enjoy Ravi, Cara, Connor, Josh, Nat, Jamie and all the rest of the characters that surround Pip, but I don't think it was enough to save this book from dropping almost a whole star grade for me.
Also, I am a person who actually really enjoys an open ending, but I actually didn't like this one. It makes sense, but yet again that doesn't mean I have to like it.
Crying score: nope.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gore, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Stalking, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Confinement, Drug use, Blood, Torture, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence
sissiemilia's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Addiction, Violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
vigilante_sh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Sexual violence, and Rape