Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

29 reviews

ellahooper's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Grief, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Dementia, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Cancer, Cursing, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

I gave this book two stars. This book covers the story of a young woman named Pip who is investigating the death (murder) of a fellow student, Andie Bell, as part of her capstone project for high school. The books presents this story through 3rd person narration as well as through first person journal entries that mark Pip’s progress throughout this capstone. 

Overall, the text is well-written and we’ll-situated within the young adult genre. It was fast-paced and easy to read. 

Still, there were several areas of the text that didn’t sit right with me, which can be summarized as:

Topic/Plot

The general plot of the book is not one that resonated with me, and I’m not sure that it’s one that Jackson handled with care. The idea that a high school senior could or should investigate a recent murder as part of a capstone project is puzzling at best. We already live in a society in which murder victims (and their families) are passed off as entertainment, and this book feeds into that. In fact, there is more emotional weight given to the death of an animal than to the death of Andie Bell. 

The weight of the murder and the humanity of the victim are never examined in depth, nor does the main character have her behavior challenged in any meaningful way. In fact, she is awarded. 

This ends in a crescendo when Pip covers up a hit and run accident because “her friends have suffered enough” and tries to help the murderer escape because “it wasn’t fair”. None of this is checked or examined. It’s a bit ironic that Pip ends by saying “we have to do better” considered she covered up/tries to cover up two serious crimes.

The Protagonist

I did not care for the protagonist very much. Typically, this isn’t a requirement for me, but it was clear that Jackson’s intent was to have readers like Pip. I found her to be very shallow and defined by privilege; a privilege that goes unchecked.

That the author wants us to view Pip positively despite her covering up or attempting to cover up two separate and very serious crimes cemented my opinion on this. Given the writing and the lack of push back on Pip’s character, I find it hard to believe that this was intentional.

Diversity 

The book has some characters of color, but is overall written with a (privileged) white gaze. Minor discussions of race are superficial and barely integrated, despite the fact that the prime suspect in the murder is a man of color. I felt like this was a missed opportunity to provide a young adult text that examined such intricacies. There are also moments of micro-aggressions against minoritized populations that are passed off as humorous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, Animal death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Car accident, Rape, and Cultural appropriation

amndaj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Terminal illness, Animal death, and Suicide

valley's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

This book kept me on edge and i read it in just four days, staying up late so i could finish it. I liked how no character was portrayed as "pure evil", their emotions, feelings and reasons for what they did were explained well.

Tho Max can frick off, because what he did has no reason other than him having no regard for others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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: Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Vomit

miandi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Terminal illness

emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

savgulick's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Terminal illness

megan_deathe's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! The first section was a little slow however when it really started going it was actually quite tense. I had no idea where the ending was going so I read it in about 8 hours. The layout of the book was really unique as you have some sections in normal story format, some in the characters personal notes for her project and then other extra bits like interview transcripts, this really helped me immerse into the story. I loved the two main characters Pip and Ravi and I didn't find their dialogue over the top like in some YA books. Overall it is a very strong book and I'm excited to read the sequel 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Terminal illness