Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

218 reviews

kaynova's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i have so many mixed feelings about this book. there are elements that i truly enjoy and others i was deeply disappointed about.

i was happy to see a darker side of pip in this last book, it really shows how investigating murders has affected her mentally, emotionally, and physically. unfortunately, i think the author made her ptsd underwhelming at times and in other times, it felt like a plot device.

she kills jason bell YET she is not traumatized by it. like i get it, he kidnapped her and tried to murder her, so she shouldn't feel empathy for a vile man like him, but if she could get triggered and in her head about what happened with the characters in the last book, her murdering someone should amplify that.

her drug abuse was never resolved, because let's be honest that was a drug codependency, so she can go back to normalcy but again, it was NEVER resolved. she told ravi and that was it. never mentioned again and i was saddened by it. this book was meant to be heavier yet the author didn't resolve some of the darkness forming inside of pip.

which brings me to my next point, some things were very much underdeveloped to me in this book. like you cut ties with everyone you love IN THE MIDDLE OF INVESTIGATION AFTER YOU AND US, THE READERS, BELIEVE THAT THE CHIEF HAS HIS SUSPICIONS! wouldn't that be more reason to continue the facade that everything is alright? i get what holly jackson was doing because pip has ptsd and going through that, so she's not thinking clearly, but what in the actual fuck? i was like you're making yourself look guilty; you obviously haven't paid attention to true crime podcasts if you forgot to not look guilty! i was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoyed about this, but not as annoyed as i was with the murder.

now, unlike a lot of the reviews, i didn't mind pip murdering

jason bell, the true DT killer

because the first book title is "a good girl's guide to murder". it never explicitly said how to solve a murder or hide a murder, it said a GUIDE to murder. jackson literally reiterates multiple times in the book this is A FULL circle, so we know how to uncover a murder mystery to actually doing a murder. i don't get the disappointment or anger from this, but i will say this: pip had AMPLE evidence to pin the DT killer and send him to prison. BUT NOOOOOOOO, she had to murder him because she wanted to stop the cycle. girl, *shakes my head*, i get it, the police system has failed you numerical of times, but this was stupidity at its finest. you did all of that to make sure the DT killer gets locked up in case you die, yet you have to clean all of that up to not be framed for a murder YOU committed. i was livid and almost DNF, but i had to see this through the end.

and what a disappointment the ending was. i'm going to say this once and i will not explain: PIP DOES NOT DESERVE RAVI! that man loves her, literally life AND death, and she thought so stupidly to break up with him. girl he helped falsify evidence for you, so YOU won't go to prison. i hated it. pip was always impulsive to me, that was her personality trait, but gosh, it was worse here and a lot of times, i was like she's not making any logical sense, someone send her off to college already so she can stop fucking up.

now reading this back, my feelings aren't as mixed as i thought. i kind of upset with this book, but i enjoyed the series for what it was.

Content Warnings

tinysierra's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

As Good As Dead felt a lot darker and more intense than the previous books.

I don’t think it’s my favorite out of the trilogy, but I thought the ending was a decent conclusion.

The text message at the end…. Ahhhhhh. I think it was a clever way to end the book

Content Warnings

jlily_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

lilly8938's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

most intense book in this brilliant series
But:I think the plot was predictable 😅Still a 5⭐️ read tho
The way Ravi only took 3!!!! Minutes to text her is so cute!They‘re definetly made for each other and I was sooo scared for her the whole time.
If she doesn‘t get in prison they‘re definetly gonna stay together!
Thanks Holly
For this incredible,incredible
Series ❤️

Content Warnings

serendipity421's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lozzo_bozo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

siennaflynn's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

wishyouweresober's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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

4.75

1. Again with Holly putting drugs into her books- I COULDN'T PHYSICALLY PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.
2. Give Pip a break, please and thank you.
3. This book physically hurt every part of my body and I literally was so sad in the end that I couldn't even feel emotions anymore-
4. I loved it...Holly can't write a bad book.

Content Warnings

mollymoo1234's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Just omg omg omg , I could not put this book down ( I think I need a fourth one ) but a definite must read and like the first two may be triggering for some but omg so good 🤭and also * slight spoiler ( come back after you’ve read it ) “ Hey sarge remember me ?” *
Your welcome 🤗 😉
Enjoy xx

Content Warnings

reka111's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

The review contains spoilers!!!

I recently finished the book and my jaw is still on the ground and I am trying to pick up the pieces of my heart with more or less success.
First of all, before we get into anything serious, I would like to note that this was an incredible journey for my soul, which it needed for centuries and past lives. I mean really, just like the poppy war opened my eyes and took me to a terrible world where you either become a monster yourself or you don't survive alone.
I mean, Pip might have taken the title A Good Girl's Guide to Murder a little too seriously this time.

──────────────────

PIP

Pip Amobi-Fitz you will always be famous to me, with every flaw and broken soul. Now that we've got that out of the way, let me start by saying that I don't blame her, not at all, not for one minute, and never will, because she did what she had to do to save herself from the darkness that awaited her. How could she be blamed? How could she be condemned for making the world a better place?
Obviously taking the life of a living being is a terrible thing, but for Barney I don't see it as such.
An eye for an eye, a soul for a soul. She just settled the bill he owed for months. Plus, I think she brought justice to Andie, brought justice to Becca and the other dead girls, brought her wildest nightmares to life to give them dreams in a broken world. Some would say that she is guilty and that she is weak, but in fact Pip is incredibly strong, right from the beginning - when her life was not in danger - and she remained strong until the end. She went through way től much during this book that would make others break and she still held on to the light (the PTSD parts were real). Pip is my cornerstone, my teammate, and now that everything has come to an end, I think it's time to let her go.

RAVI

Oh my life, my love. Ravi deserves so much, so much more than what fate has given him. Even so, he is a real supporter, a loyal friend and a dream from which I never want to wake up. Now, honestly, what boyfriend would help hide a corpse with you? Save you again and again? Well, I have an estimated number and it's close to zero.
Ravi was perfect from the first minute to the last, he made me believe that you can always find the light, that you can fix what was broken no matter what. In short, if your partner won't help you hide a body, girl, run, because you only deserve a Ravi.

THE OTHERS

I can't cover everyone, but Naomi, Cara, Nat, Jamie and the others have become the top of my heart. They are true friends, even a big family, who are bound together by common trauma and past across time and space. They all got the closure they needed, which I'm more than happy about because they damn well deserved it.

Jason & Max got what they deserved and that's why my heart is truly soar with happiness.

──────────────────

THE PLOT/ETC.

I loved every minute and every line, although the whole murder and the planning (or hiding it) was a bit far for me, but I'm not complaining because the pace wasn't that bad.
Okay, but the ending broke my heart, in a way that I never thought it could break into so many pieces. Ravi is my everything, my sun, my moon, my heart, my faithful star, who never left Pip, not even at the lowest point, not at the very end when everything became so dark, he brought the light back into her life (after a year and a half ) but still, it means so much for me.

──────────────────

RECOMMENDATION

I recommend that everyone read this series at least once in their lifetime, because it's worth the hype, it really does, it takes you to a place similar to ours and grip you until the very end!

Content Warnings

More...