Reviews with content warning for Torture - As Good As Dead

This book was so good! I really love Ravi and Pip. This was so crazy, filled with twists and turns. I really recommend this entire series. I really want more of this series!!!

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bookswithlauren's review against another edition

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challenging 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

3.25

I am wavering between a 3 star rating and a 3.5 star rating for this final book in the series.

My favourite thing about this series is how well planned and thought out each and every element is across all three books. There is always a connection, a deeper meaning, something to look further into and it is brilliant. However, this book is definitely my least favourite in the series for multiple reasons.

The first half is a slow burn and I really enjoyed it. We delve into Pip struggling with her mental health following the events from the second book and it is real and insightful. We explore PTSD, Anxiety, Addiction and Depression and how these have also had an impact on her relationships between her friends and family. It was well written and I am glad Pip was not just simply fine after everything she has been through.

There are two twists around the halfway marker in this book, one being the identity reveal for a serial killer and the other being what Pip does about it. Up until this point, I had not entirely worked out any of the twists Holly Jackson had written in her books and I enjoyed this uncommon occurrence for me but in this instance, I did work out the identity of the serial killer quite quickly. I did not mind working out a twist before it occurred, what I did mind was a character we have spent two and a half books getting to know and like acting completely out of character. I feel like the second half of the book had a much darker and far fetched tone and I was not a fan. I still finished the book as I wanted to know how the storyline was being played out but it was not the best choice in my opinion. All the characters we have grown to know and love seem to have a complete change in their morals and beliefs, especially Pip and I did not enjoy it. It made the second half of the book unrealistic and far-fetched to me.

The ending also aggravated me, for Pip to drag her friends into everything, for them to be so incredibly loyal to her and for her to just ghost them, not okay with that and not something Pip would have done. I think this particular storyline would have worked more if Pip's mental health had more to do with it but there was never any connections made between her mental health and her actions.

I still really enjoyed the series and would recommend the first two books to anyone and everyone but I feel this third instalment is a bit like marmite, you either love it or you hate it. I have said it in my other reviews and I will say it again here, the audiobooks for this series are incredible, immersive and impressive. Highly recommend listening over reading for sure!

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gdavis254's review

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4.0

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qcupquake's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As Good As Dead
4.8/5

- first off: i support women's rights but i also support women's wrongs

- WOW OK THAT WAS DEFINITELY SOMETHING
- THAT WAS SO INTENSE

- i'm very proud of myself for figuring out Jason was the DT Killer early on
- I NEED TO KNOW IF PIP AND RAVI GOT TOGETHER AGAINNNNNN
- find someone who's willing to wait 694 days like ravi did
- JASON KILLED BARNEY YOU SON OF A BITCH
- framing it on max that was such a smart move. bitch got what he deserved
- also, ravi was right. pip could've DEFINITELY confessed and blamed it on self defense (WHICH IT WAS)

- ravi singh>>>>> any man ever
- how did holly come up with all this??? did you plan this all from the beginning??
- i read the entire second half in one day and the entire last 40% of it in one sitting
- i didn't like how slow it got in the middle but it was worth it in the end
- my new fav series

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stephann_4's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.0

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elliizzzabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really regret reading this book. From the first page it is obvious that Pip is struggling with some deep trauma from the end of the last book. What she desperately needs is some therapy but instead we get this shitshow.
It's started slow and then it started to get interesting when she was researching the DT killer but then it took a nosedive in the second half. Pip makes a series of truly baffling decisions and drags all of us down into this madness. The whole time I was screaming at the book for her to stop making it all worse.
A lot of the plot felt very forced, as if Holly Jackson wanted it to go a certain way but had to make her characters do stupid things to make that happen. It also felt like it had odd morals

why was it not okay for Elliott Ward to frame Sal but it was okay for Pip to frame Max? Why was it not seen as justice when Charlie killed Stanley, but it was Justice to have Max arrested for a crime he didn't commit? And in the end she got away with it! I thought for sure she was going to get caught and she was going to see the error of her ways but nope! The story fully supported her actions. Maybe Holly Jackson was trying to do some sort of unreliable narrator but it really didn't feel like it. I lost all my respect I had for her - I desperately wanted her to get caught!

Overall, I really wish I hadn't read this book. It made me incredibly angry throughout and has tainted my view of what I had thought before was a pretty decent series.

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my3bb8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

omg this book is so intense, I would have never guessed that Jason bell was the killer and when pip killed him I was so shook. This is definitely the best book in the series, it’s dark, intense and definitely most like a true crime. But I’m very mad about Ravi and Pip breaking up at the end.

but that’s where my complaints end, it’s a wonderful book definitely recommend.

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