A review by coziebookclub
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

 β€œπ‘―π’†π’š, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆.” π‘Ήπ’‚π’—π’Š 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 π’•π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•π’†π’“ π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’”. β€œπ‘° π’ƒπ’†π’π’Šπ’†π’—π’† π’šπ’π’–. 𝑰 π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’‚π’π’˜π’‚π’šπ’” π’ƒπ’†π’π’Šπ’†π’—π’† π’šπ’π’–, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’•π’†π’—π’†π’“ π’Šπ’• π’Šπ’”. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 π’Žπ’š 𝒋𝒐𝒃, 𝑢𝑲?”

β€œπ‘°π’•β€™π’” π’”π’„π’‚π’“π’š, 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’π’π’˜ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’π’π’† π’Žπ’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’• π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 π’šπ’π’–, 𝒐𝒓 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† π’šπ’π’– 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’š 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏. π‘΄π’š π’π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† 𝒐𝒏𝒆. π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’‚π’“π’ˆπ’†. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 π‘°β€™π’Ž 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’šπ’π’–.”

This book was a very "full-circle moment" for Pip and everyone involved. I found myself being heartbroken for Pip again and again throughout the book. She is very obviously struggling with PTSD and trying to find ways to cope, distract, and function as she is losing herself in all the trauma. Out of all the books, I fell in love with Ravi more in this one because he could see just how much she was in pain and was her anchor whether or not he was present. I know not many people enjoyed the outcome of Pip's choices when it came to Jason and Max, but I think it was very fitting what had happened. We saw her in the previous book starting to spiral and face the darker parts of herself, and with everything Pip found out in this book, I think it was a huge epiphany that things had been set in motion before the Andie Bell case. There was always darkness lingering and festering in her town before things came to light and Pip acted with that resentment, pain, and betrayal overpowering everything she knew. Humans are not saints and doing what is the "right thing" may not always be the easy choice which is what happened. I enjoyed peeling back layer by layer of this last installment and despite seeing Pip in such a challenging position and my heart breaking for Ravi in the end of the book, I'm glad there was a small, final ray of hope. My only complaint is that I wish I got to see Ravi and Pip truly be happy and find their way to each other again after the trial. I'm so sad to say goodbye to this series and will always love the crafting of each character and storyline. 
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