Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

496 reviews

singalana's review

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

nukie19's review

adventurous dark 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Drug use, Confinement, Death, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

carlaa_aa's review

lighthearted mysterious tense

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Death, Drug use, and Death of parent

lriveraf22's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Loved the book. It kept me hooked the ENTIRE time. Trying to plot out the murder as they did was so fun. The balance between revelation and character build was quite nice.

It only gets points off because of the ending. The love story between Ravi and Pippa felt rushed and weird. Age gap is old, how they developed felt odd… it felt to far-fetched for me. But maybe that’s what book #2 is all about…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Death of parent, Animal death, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Violence, and Mental illness

sienna1508's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I really loved this book and at the end I couldn’t put it down! Don’t spoil yourself ;)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Fatphobia

lazulisky's review

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

em_no_el30's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Self harm, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Racism

shannonharper_x's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm desperate to start the second book! The twists and tension in this book kept me so on edge and  it was so fun to follow along in the investigations and piece together the clues myself. Even then, the constant twists and turns of new information was unexpected and rerouted my train of thought!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Dementia

juan_jc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Rape, Body shaming, Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, Drug use, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Adult/minor relationship

the_embodiment_of_chaos's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Grief, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, Alcohol, Racism, and Body shaming