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jamon7's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
2.75
It's been about a year since I read the 2nd book, and several years since I've read the original AGGGTM, but I feel like the characters got weaker with each installment. As Good As Dead felt very plot driven to me, and while I still had residual feelings towards the characters from the previous books (faded by time, naturally), my opinion on none of them really changed. It didn't feel like Jackson wanted to do much with the characters at this point. That's totally fine, I just personally enjoy books much more when I feel strong emotions, which is easiest done through compelling characters. Of course I still thought Max Hastings was the scum of the earth and I liked Ravi and Victor Fitz-Amobi, but like none of these feelings were very strong because nothing had changed. Honestly the character I enjoyed the most was probably DI Hawkins, I found him to be pretty sympathetic.
Jason Bell was a boring antagonist. This book is weird because the big reveal happens halfway through, which at first I was interested in because it meant the twist villain had plenty of time to be evil, but then he's actually not very interesting and then Pip kills him lmao. His motivation for everything is just misogyny, which I'm sure in real life is a realistic motivation, but as the main antagonist in the series finale, I just found it a bit underwhelming. Once he was revealed, he just whined for a few pages about how women never listen to him, and then next time we see him his face is smashed in with a hammer. That was kind of awesome by the way, I didn't expect Jackson to go there and make Pip a murderer, it was a brave and interesting place to take the story.
Of course that posed a big challenge - Jackson had to write half a book to still be engaging, even when the real danger is over and the antagonist is dead. And to be fair, it was all pretty good, it wasn't enthralling but I did enjoy it, the scene where Pip drugs Max was a particular highlight. This latter half played out in fairly predictable fashion, but that may just be because I'm so used to Jackson's style of writing by now. It was pretty obvious that things were going to go basically perfectly, but then something would go wrong and throw everything into question, only for it to all end up okay. That doesn't mean it was bad though.
I have a few more thoughts after reading other people's reviews. Firstly, some people think it was wrong of Pip to frame Max Hastings. Are you hearing yourselves? A SERIAL rapist who shows absolutely no remorse for anything he's done? Life in prison is letting him off easy. Sure it's wrong for Pip to take justice into her own hands, but you can't say Max didn't deserve to go down for it. Secondly, I know everyone loves Ravi, and I love him too, but I agree with those who say he felt a bit off in this book. He was more like a perfectly trained dog than a person imo. Of course it's nice to read him being sweet and perfect, but like from a writing perspective I think he was far too perfect and he like never basically challenged Pip at all. I get that he loved her more than anything but idk. Lastly, Pip could not stop making the worst decisions. I understand that her losing faith in the police and justice system was like the whole point, but COME ON. As soon as they discovered her stalker was showing all the signs of the DT Killer and they found out Billy Karras' confession was very undeniably false, they could have just gone back to the police with that information. The evidence was stonewall, Hawkins couldn't explain it away if he wanted to. They would have kept Pip safe and started investigating the stalker and everything probably would have been fine. Or, as others pointed out, there's no reason not to go to the police after Pip escapes Jason. I totally get that mistrusting the police is one of the core themes of the book, but it doesn't feel totally justified when there are several points in the plot where going to the police is 1000% the right move. The way it is the plot undermines the theme, but if they did go to the police, then the themes are kind of null and void, it's just not great writing. Also yeah Pip constantly going out alone with headphones on while she's being threatened with murder by a stalker is just, what??
I would definitely say this book is weaker than the previous from a personal perspective. I because of the end of Good Girl Bad Blood, I found Stanley Forbes' story to be incredibly tragic, but As Good As Dead didn't really spark any of those feelings for me. There were some tense parts, there was some drama, but overall it felt like the emotional beats didn't hit with enough force to make me feel much about this book, and the characters didn't captivate me either. A pretty solid end to a good series of books though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Murder, Misogyny, and Stalking
Minor: Addiction, Sexual violence, Animal death, Drug use, Vomit, Rape, and Violence
lucy_jan_smith's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Blood, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Drug use, Murder, Stalking, Rape, and Vomit
kiittycatt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Stalking, Violence, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, and Alcoholism
hdoomk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Stalking, Blood, Gore, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape
Minor: Vomit
shadysunny's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The last book of this series took some rather dark turns. But I loved it all the same. The characters have changed a lot from the first book, but between all the darkness, you could always catch glimpses of the "old ones".
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Addiction, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Gun violence, Rape, Stalking, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Vomit
duchess16's review against another edition
4.0
art is supposed to make you feel something. It’s supposed to seep into the inner cracks of your soul and change how you see things. And for that, this book is art. It made me feel things. So many things. Things with names and things I can’t describe. I adore Ravi with every fiber of my being. I hate this book. I hate it and I want to burn it. But I won’t. I’ll put it on my bookshelf. Right next to the two preceding it, and every time I see it I’ll remember the absolute madness that lies within its pages. The terror. The accuracy. The guide. I’ll never forget it as long as I live. I can’t believe it was a year and almost 8 months before they could come back together. I’m losing my mind and it’s all because of this book. Gosh.
I hate the language in this book.
I hate the accuracy.
I hate the way she writes as if this is a real human, with infallible logic and choices.
I hate the way she writes black and white.
I can’t stand any of it anymore. But it’s so gripping I couldn’t close it. I wish I’d never picked it up. But it lassoed me in so tight I’ll never be able to put it down. This book truly has tested me in my views of morality, honesty, truth, justice, love, and protection. Plus now I know how to dispose of evidence shall I ever need to. Do not read this book at nighttime. Or outside. Or particularly alone for that matter. Maybe just don’t read it.
I hate the language in this book.
I hate the accuracy.
I hate the way she writes as if this is a real human, with infallible logic and choices.
I hate the way she writes black and white.
I can’t stand any of it anymore. But it’s so gripping I couldn’t close it. I wish I’d never picked it up. But it lassoed me in so tight I’ll never be able to put it down. This book truly has tested me in my views of morality, honesty, truth, justice, love, and protection. Plus now I know how to dispose of evidence shall I ever need to. Do not read this book at nighttime. Or outside. Or particularly alone for that matter. Maybe just don’t read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Cursing, Violence, Drug use, and Physical abuse
paige_turner09's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of the best books I have ever read, the ending ties the whole series together, adding connections to all the books that we thought were finished.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Stalking, Kidnapping, Addiction, Violence, Murder, and Cursing
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
SIX STARS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Gun violence, Blood, Stalking, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Rape, Addiction, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Car accident
laheath's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
I liked the twist of this one, not just a repeat of Pip investigating a case. No, it's not realistic, and
it's occasionally melodramatic as teens can be, but it was a fun read. Although it got dark, it was nice to see someone get what they deserved.
it's occasionally melodramatic as teens can be, but it was a fun read. Although it got dark, it was nice to see someone get what they deserved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gore
Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cursing
hollyheartless's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
2.0
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this
I will say I’ve loved this trilogy as a whole, I’ve loved how it’s developed and how the character development (especially in Pip) has been a crucial point over the three books and that Jackson’s writing style has adapted over the course to match this. Starting as an innocent and curious Pip slowly becoming darker and darker and picking up a hell of a lot of emotional trauma and baggage along the way.
However, I do feel like this book has left me with some questions and issues.
(Spoilers ahead)
I can’t get behind Pip actually killing Jason, I feel like it didn’t suit her character at all. I get the logic behind it and how she was tired of a government that had failed her and rightly how terrified she must have been but surely when she’d escaped there was a better solution? Even if she did go back, surely just knocking him out in some way or even breaking a bone so he couldn’t escape and then keeping him there until she could get someone would make more sense.
Then, not only did she kill someone, she got all her friends and our sweet innocent loveable Labrador boy Ravi involved in the cover up. It just felt so selfish of Pip to even risk any of them getting caught because of her. And then after all of this, she then goes and cuts off everyone who helped her anyway because it was ‘safer for them’ I cannot forgive and forget that description of Ravi’s cries. I honestly feel like this book made me dislike Pip’s character which, if that was its intention, then it worked but I can’t imagine why. Also the book itself felt unresolved, I needed like another chapter that just kind of went into how life went on beyond this point or maybe a meet up of everyone. It just felt a bit anticlimactic to end this high intensity trilogy with just a text.
Overall, I have loved this series but I do honestly feel like the plot quality did drop between books
I will say I’ve loved this trilogy as a whole, I’ve loved how it’s developed and how the character development (especially in Pip) has been a crucial point over the three books and that Jackson’s writing style has adapted over the course to match this. Starting as an innocent and curious Pip slowly becoming darker and darker and picking up a hell of a lot of emotional trauma and baggage along the way.
However, I do feel like this book has left me with some questions and issues.
(Spoilers ahead)
I can’t get behind Pip actually killing Jason, I feel like it didn’t suit her character at all. I get the logic behind it and how she was tired of a government that had failed her and rightly how terrified she must have been but surely when she’d escaped there was a better solution? Even if she did go back, surely just knocking him out in some way or even breaking a bone so he couldn’t escape and then keeping him there until she could get someone would make more sense.
Then, not only did she kill someone, she got all her friends and our sweet innocent loveable Labrador boy Ravi involved in the cover up. It just felt so selfish of Pip to even risk any of them getting caught because of her. And then after all of this, she then goes and cuts off everyone who helped her anyway because it was ‘safer for them’ I cannot forgive and forget that description of Ravi’s cries. I honestly feel like this book made me dislike Pip’s character which, if that was its intention, then it worked but I can’t imagine why. Also the book itself felt unresolved, I needed like another chapter that just kind of went into how life went on beyond this point or maybe a meet up of everyone. It just felt a bit anticlimactic to end this high intensity trilogy with just a text.
Overall, I have loved this series but I do honestly feel like the plot quality did drop between books
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault, Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Rape, and Drug abuse
Minor: Vomit