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A review by elisasifaa
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
5.0
There will be a small mention of spoilers within this review, but I will clause them specifically so everyone can read it. Trigger warnings at the end!
I am so annoyed at myself that I took so long to read this book. It has been on my shelf for a better half of a year, and I always pick something else when looking for a book to read. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a fantastic murder mystery novel about a seventeen-year-old who investigates a five-year-old closed case in her small town.
As a small-town girl, I understand her curiosity and thought process regarding the case. A young girl vanishes without a trace or a goodbye letter, and a couple of days later, her boyfriend commits suicide which the police took as an admission of guilt (amongst other incriminating things). However, the police just closed the case without investing it further. He was the killer- end of the story. It didn't matter that he had an alibi or that her body was still missing. They were satisfied with their investigation and closed the case.
The book starts slow, as we get introduced to the characters, the case, and the story, but just over 20 pages in, I was hooked and determined to finish the book within the day. I really love how all the evidence is portrayed in the book, as we see hands-on what Pip is working with and can determine our theories as the story moves on.
The story has a swift pace and takes place within a few days. There are a lot of twists and turns, and some are so mind-blowing that I needed to reread a couple of pages to understand the lead-up to the twist fully. I suspected one of the bigger twists as I connected it with a series I watched a couple of years ago. However, after just a couple more pages, I thought, "oh wait, that's absolutely crazy, no way," but alas, I was correct. - More discussion with A LOT OF SPOILERS in this clause -
The main character of the series is actually the dumbest girl I've read for a long time. Let me explain that because Pip is a brilliant girl who studies all day and probably has an insanely high IQ or something. Howeveeeeer, the girl continuously puts herself into very dangerous situations without thinking it through or just plainly having the mentality that she will be fine. Shocker! She won't be fine because she is going into the house of a) a murderer, b) a drug dealer, c) someone that can and probably wants to hurt her, and d) she literally chases someone that threatened her through dark woods?!? Girl, you have a death wish.
This book highlights the importance of friendship for me. The way that Andie is portrayed makes her seem like a horrible person, and how her friends describe her is just kind of "we were friends because she was popular" and "I couldn't not be friends with her." Also, the secrets between the friend group absolutely splintered their friendship, but they couldn't stop hanging out, or it would be suspicious. That would break me. Pip's friendships with her girlfriends and Ravi made my heart glow. Especially in the end, after everything happened.
I wholeheartedly recommend this series to everyone.
I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before reading, as it deals with heavy topics that might trigger some. Also, minor spoilers are within the trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings include (but are not limited to)
I am so annoyed at myself that I took so long to read this book. It has been on my shelf for a better half of a year, and I always pick something else when looking for a book to read. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a fantastic murder mystery novel about a seventeen-year-old who investigates a five-year-old closed case in her small town.
As a small-town girl, I understand her curiosity and thought process regarding the case. A young girl vanishes without a trace or a goodbye letter, and a couple of days later, her boyfriend commits suicide which the police took as an admission of guilt (amongst other incriminating things). However, the police just closed the case without investing it further. He was the killer- end of the story. It didn't matter that he had an alibi or that her body was still missing. They were satisfied with their investigation and closed the case.
The book starts slow, as we get introduced to the characters, the case, and the story, but just over 20 pages in, I was hooked and determined to finish the book within the day. I really love how all the evidence is portrayed in the book, as we see hands-on what Pip is working with and can determine our theories as the story moves on.
The story has a swift pace and takes place within a few days. There are a lot of twists and turns, and some are so mind-blowing that I needed to reread a couple of pages to understand the lead-up to the twist fully. I suspected one of the bigger twists as I connected it with a series I watched a couple of years ago. However, after just a couple more pages, I thought, "oh wait, that's absolutely crazy, no way," but alas, I was correct. - More discussion with A LOT OF SPOILERS in this clause -
Spoiler
I connected a similarity to Pretty Little Liars, as Alison was dating Ezra (Alison is a high school student and Ezra a teacher at said high school) and saw a similarity between our beloved history teacher and Andie. Also, now that I think of it, the random ass girl in the attic has a connection to PLL as Alison wasn't dead like everyone thought she was.This book highlights the importance of friendship for me. The way that Andie is portrayed makes her seem like a horrible person, and how her friends describe her is just kind of "we were friends because she was popular" and "I couldn't not be friends with her." Also, the secrets between the friend group absolutely splintered their friendship, but they couldn't stop hanging out, or it would be suspicious. That would break me. Pip's friendships with her girlfriends and Ravi made my heart glow. Especially in the end, after everything happened.
I wholeheartedly recommend this series to everyone.
I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before reading, as it deals with heavy topics that might trigger some. Also, minor spoilers are within the trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings include (but are not limited to)