Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

374 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

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

cutie_pie_queen23's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

sjepp's review

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

isaile's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual assault, Bullying, Sexism, and Child death

Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Stalking, Violence, Dementia, Racism, and Kidnapping

sharg's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book was definitely one of my favourites from the series. It definitely gets more interesting as the books progress so don’t stop reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexual harassment, and Murder

jen_reads23's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Addiction, Vomit, Rape, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Self harm

fanboyriot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

♡ Cold Case 

♡ Small Clues

♡ Murder Board

The plot was a bit cliché but entertaining enough.  It is unfortunate that the US edition had so much edited out, there are just moments that feel skipped over or some parts that seem missing general.  But in the end it was a good story.

I loved the formatting of this book, all the extra details like the schedules, text messages, were all formatted nicely.  It was an entertaining to read, it had twists and turns, an unlikely friendship, a killer hiding in plain sight, and a school project that turned into solving a murder.

Spice Level: n/a

POV: Third Person

Release Date: 05, January 2021

Rep: BIPOC (Main Character and Side Characters), Lesbian (Side Character)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Grief, Death, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Vomit, Child death, Car accident, Cursing, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Suicide, and Rape