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adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Fun and tense mystery novel. Definitely a darker YA book with mentions of some heavy topics, all within the scope of a murder mystery. Felt inspired by the Seriel Podcast and other murder podcasts with its unique writing techniques.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism
challenging
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder gets 3.5 stars from me. I really enjoyed the mystery, even though it was a bit unbelievable at times. The characters are great as well and I have a feeling that there’s more going on in the town than we’ve seen in this volume.
Pip has to do a school project and decides to look at the case of Sal Singh who supposedly killed Andy Bell. Almost everyone in her town is sure that this is what happened, but Pip doesn’t believe it and starts to investigate. I was quite invested in the story and the investigation is quite fun. The format with the protocol entries and transcripts incorporated into the text work great as well. Additionally, the story has some quite creepy and really dramatic moments that I also enjoyed a lot. Furthermore, I found it interesting how the book talked about Ravi’s family and what they have to deal with.
Sadly, some moments were just a bit too cliché for me. Of course, someone else would come in while they were sneaking around in the house. The dark secret that they run over a guy with the car was so cliché as well. I also expected that something would happen to the dog but not that it would die . Besides this, it was a bit unbelievable that Pip pretending to be Emma would just work, or that she just meets Becca by chance . I wasn’t the biggest fan of the solution of the mystery, it was just a bit confusing. I also found the aspect weird that a girl pressured her teacher into sleeping with her. I don’t know, the message is just a bit weird since the teacher is the one in a power position
I don’t have so much to say about the character. I didn’t expect the cast to be so diverse as it was, and I especially appreciate that Pip has a stepfather that she likes and that they’re also a mixed family. Pip is okay but a bit “not like other girls”. I furthermore couldn’t understand why she didn’t tell anyone what was going on, she could’ve told at least her parents. I also like Ravi, he’s kinda cute.
In my opinion, the hype for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is justified. It’s a fun book but also can be quite serious at times which I always like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Self harm, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was so much fun! I absolutely flew through it in basically one sitting—the quick pace and production log inserts paired with short, action-packed narrative chapters made it go down incredibly easy, as well as an enticing mystery where it was enjoyable and satisfying to see all the parts fit together. Pip is a fun narrator, although the “good girl” shtick wasn’t really played with (which might have actually been a boon; I don’t know if I could have stood her being referred to as a “good girl” incessantly for the sake of the title). The investigation included Pip and Ravi actually doing a lot, which is always great to see in a murder mystery—and a good amount of what she was doing included nitty-gritty bureaucratic stuff like scanning old Facebook pages or utilizing Rights to Information acts to gain access to old interviews. It added a touch of realism, even if you know many of the clues just fall a little too perfectly into place. I loved the ending and some of the answers we got.
I don’t think this is a thicky plotty mysterious procedural masterpiece, but I also don’t think anyone was asking for it to be. It was a sharp, exciting YA mystery with a likable cast of characters that tied itself up nicely without being trite. Some of the “social awareness” parts were laid on a little thick, like the author suddenly realized she needed to acknowledge how racism and bias might play out in the book and scrawled out a few paragraphs to make sure she was covered, but I’m not going to begrudge that too much. Super enjoyable time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder
Minor: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship
CW: roofies
I feel like a dead dog trigger warning would have been nice but Libby lapsed and after that I didn’t want to pick it back up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
OK, I see the hype.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Drug use, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Dementia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
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
This book reminded me of Pretty Little Liars. The setting, case, characters - everything was so similar to PLL. The only reason why this book feels different than PLL is because of our main characters and since the book is written from the main character, Pip's POV it felt different. It really felt like a A+ student getting too attached to a cold case and bringing all different kinds of trouble that comes with it.
Plot wise, all the typical murder mystery things happens in this book - false leads, alot of messed up people in a small town, death threats etc. But this book shines with the creativity of the writing styles - we had diary entries, interview transcripts, hand drawn diagrams that Pip drew. It was just really fun to read.
Like I mentioned earlier, Pip was the reason why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I loved her character and nervous rambling quirk haha. I have to talk about Ravi because he was so pure, nice and loyal. His character was everything I didn't think I needed in a character.
The ending of this book was a little disappointing to me. I just hoped that the ending wouldn't be like PLL -that Andie Bell was actually alive. But the fake Andie really threw me off. I didn't really enjoy that twist. It felt kind of forced to me and like it was just done for the sake of having another plot twist. But the last reveal - I didn't see coming. That was crazy.
So overall, it was a nice thriller, murder mystery book. It wasn't something ground breaking or different. But it was still an enjoyable read.
Plot wise, all the typical murder mystery things happens in this book - false leads, alot of messed up people in a small town, death threats etc. But this book shines with the creativity of the writing styles - we had diary entries, interview transcripts, hand drawn diagrams that Pip drew. It was just really fun to read.
Like I mentioned earlier, Pip was the reason why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I loved her character and nervous rambling quirk haha. I have to talk about Ravi because he was so pure, nice and loyal. His character was everything I didn't think I needed in a character.
The ending of this book was a little disappointing to me. I just hoped that the ending wouldn't be like PLL -
So overall, it was a nice thriller, murder mystery book. It wasn't something ground breaking or different. But it was still an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse