Take a photo of a barcode or cover
samanthacreamer 's review for:
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have to start by saying that I feel like Holly Jackson did an incredible job weaving together the different mysteries and storylines of all three books in this series. I appreciate that everything ended with all of those mysteries cleared up, and I guess you could say "resolved". I genuinely didn't see parts of this coming and was caught off guard, which to me is the mark of a good mystery writer.
That said, I found this book difficult to get through. In the earlier books, I was able to follow the story and was intrigued. Throughout this one, I just felt gradually more and more sick and frustrated. In the first two books, it was more believable that Pip’s friends and family were concerned but trusted that she was handling things okay. In this book, it was obvious she was broken, and everyone around her just enabled it and let it happen. Minimal effort was put into supporting her in a healthy way or helping her help herself. That distracted me from the entire plot of the book, and I found myself not caring about what happened in the story.
I think maybe a younger me would have appreciated this more, but adult me found it exhausting. I feel like the ending concerned me for a book marketed to teens. The "resolution" of the book seems intended to make readers believe everything ended okay, and it seemed entirely too wrapped up in a nice little bow without addressing any of Pip's trauma or consequences for her actions. There's no clear indication throughout this book that Pip's actions are not justified or correct; in fact, it seems to be made clear that all of the adults around her are rightfully deemed incompetent, which just cements her confidence in her actions as the right ones. I think teens being justified in being reckless and self-destructive because no one who is supposed to be a responsible adult is useful in any way is a dangerous message to give to teens who are young enough to be impressionable and receptive to this sort of messaging. I finished this book concerned about how many of my 12-14-year-old students have read and enjoyed this series.
That said, I found this book difficult to get through. In the earlier books, I was able to follow the story and was intrigued. Throughout this one, I just felt gradually more and more sick and frustrated. In the first two books, it was more believable that Pip’s friends and family were concerned but trusted that she was handling things okay. In this book, it was obvious she was broken, and everyone around her just enabled it and let it happen. Minimal effort was put into supporting her in a healthy way or helping her help herself. That distracted me from the entire plot of the book, and I found myself not caring about what happened in the story.
I think maybe a younger me would have appreciated this more, but adult me found it exhausting. I feel like the ending concerned me for a book marketed to teens. The "resolution" of the book seems intended to make readers believe everything ended okay, and it seemed entirely too wrapped up in a nice little bow without addressing any of Pip's trauma or consequences for her actions. There's no clear indication throughout this book that Pip's actions are not justified or correct; in fact, it seems to be made clear that all of the adults around her are rightfully deemed incompetent, which just cements her confidence in her actions as the right ones. I think teens being justified in being reckless and self-destructive because no one who is supposed to be a responsible adult is useful in any way is a dangerous message to give to teens who are young enough to be impressionable and receptive to this sort of messaging. I finished this book concerned about how many of my 12-14-year-old students have read and enjoyed this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder