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A review by preciselypaperbooks
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
3.0
!! SPOILERS BELOW !!
This book is much darker compared to the first two books, and it makes sense considering what Pip has been through. I was genuinely scared by some of the things that happened in the first half (like the stick figures & the printer going off omg), and I thought the build up to the reveal was so intense and done well. Though, I was surprised that the kidnapping was done so early in the book. Something else I reallyyy liked about this book was how it linked all the books together with little clues and callbacks. Some of the events that happened in this book really did come full circle (this phrase was overused a little in this book lol).
Where this book let me down was part II, which I thought was too long and kind of boring because after it was revealed that Pip was going to frame the murder, it felt like reading a step by step guide of what was happening. Additionally, the writing was slightly repetitive at times.
I understand the themes that Holly Jackson was trying to explore: the themes of morality, the theme of what justice actually is and what role the legal system plays (or does not) in it. I liked how this book highlighted what it means to be "good" or "bad"... it really isn't that simple to sort everyone in these two finite categories. However, I don't think it was executed well. I especially didn't like the ending. The part with her interrogation with Hawkins was a small redeeming part of the second half. I was holding my breath when Hawkins revealed that her headphones were at Jason Bell's house & Pip realized that her headphones were going to be his trophy. Definitely got chills from that.
And again my issues with the first two books are still consistent in this one: 1) everything falls into place sooo easily & conveniently 2) the characters are not fleshed out.
Everyone loves Ravi sooo much but I really do not feel that his character is developed well at all. Any development we got from him stopped at the end of the first book. I really felt like he had little to no personality in this book and pretty much just went along with whatever Pip was doing which I personally felt did not match his characterization from the first book.
Pip's development across the series was interesting to follow, especially because of all the things that she has been through. I think Holly Jackson did a great job at showing how those things affected Pip and how she can't go back to being the person she was. So, the change in Pip's mindset/actions makes sense. However, I really have a hard time believing that Pip, who is suffering from PTSD from having seen Stanley shot, was willingly able to kill Jason with a hammer. And on top of that, she was willing to involve and potentially implicate all of her friends and family. Didn’t she mention in the previous book that she knew she had harmed some people’s lives during her original investigation and didn’t want to do that again? So while I do understand that the Pip in this book is not the same Pip we knew in the first book, I felt like the change in her character went too far.
I really did want Pip to get her own form of justice and revenge, but I wish it was shown in a better and more believable way.
I think my favorite book was the second one, followed by this one (because I actually was really engrossed in the first half!), and the first one was actually my least favorite... I think my ranking may be an unpopular opinion lol.
This book is much darker compared to the first two books, and it makes sense considering what Pip has been through. I was genuinely scared by some of the things that happened in the first half (like the stick figures & the printer going off omg), and I thought the build up to the reveal was so intense and done well. Though, I was surprised that the kidnapping was done so early in the book. Something else I reallyyy liked about this book was how it linked all the books together with little clues and callbacks. Some of the events that happened in this book really did come full circle (this phrase was overused a little in this book lol).
Where this book let me down was part II, which I thought was too long and kind of boring because after it was revealed that Pip was going to frame the murder, it felt like reading a step by step guide of what was happening. Additionally, the writing was slightly repetitive at times.
I understand the themes that Holly Jackson was trying to explore: the themes of morality, the theme of what justice actually is and what role the legal system plays (or does not) in it. I liked how this book highlighted what it means to be "good" or "bad"... it really isn't that simple to sort everyone in these two finite categories. However, I don't think it was executed well. I especially didn't like the ending. The part with her interrogation with Hawkins was a small redeeming part of the second half. I was holding my breath when Hawkins revealed that her headphones were at Jason Bell's house & Pip realized that her headphones were going to be his trophy. Definitely got chills from that.
And again my issues with the first two books are still consistent in this one: 1) everything falls into place sooo easily & conveniently 2) the characters are not fleshed out.
Everyone loves Ravi sooo much but I really do not feel that his character is developed well at all. Any development we got from him stopped at the end of the first book. I really felt like he had little to no personality in this book and pretty much just went along with whatever Pip was doing which I personally felt did not match his characterization from the first book.
Pip's development across the series was interesting to follow, especially because of all the things that she has been through. I think Holly Jackson did a great job at showing how those things affected Pip and how she can't go back to being the person she was. So, the change in Pip's mindset/actions makes sense. However, I really have a hard time believing that Pip, who is suffering from PTSD from having seen Stanley shot, was willingly able to kill Jason with a hammer. And on top of that, she was willing to involve and potentially implicate all of her friends and family. Didn’t she mention in the previous book that she knew she had harmed some people’s lives during her original investigation and didn’t want to do that again? So while I do understand that the Pip in this book is not the same Pip we knew in the first book, I felt like the change in her character went too far.
I really did want Pip to get her own form of justice and revenge, but I wish it was shown in a better and more believable way.
I think my favorite book was the second one, followed by this one (because I actually was really engrossed in the first half!), and the first one was actually my least favorite... I think my ranking may be an unpopular opinion lol.