Scan barcode
A review by secre
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Good Girl, Bad Blood is everything the sequel to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder should be; it's got the same awesome characterisations and a new mystery to hook you. After putting herself and her family in danger in her last investigation into Sal Singh's guilt, Pip has sworn off investigating. But when a friend's brother goes missing and the police are once more doing sweet sod all about it, Pip once more finds herself drawn into the mystery and again, nothing is going to be simple for her.
As Pip investigates she finds things that just don't seem to make any sense. Jamie is no saint, but his behaviour in the weeks leading up to his disappearance is out and out baffling. Slowly, piece by piece, she starts to put together the weeks before and begin to figure out the knots of tangled threads. Information is teased out and the reader is just as in the dark as Pip for most of the novel, leading to the final conclusion.
There are some niggles with the novel that shorted it of a five star rating. The biggest is the final reveal really could have been teased out and expanded on far more. It's dropped on you in the final pages and it felt wasted as a lot more could have been made of it. Without spoilers, it's a heck of a reveal and felt rushed. There are also a few loose threads that are just dropped; the one that instantly comes to mind is Pip's previous friends turning on her. It's mentioned once and then dropped, without ever being picked back up. Even a simple 'told you so' moment would have been satisfying.
But those are minor niggles in the grand scheme of things and didn't impact my overall enjoyment of the novel, so a solid four stars.
As Pip investigates she finds things that just don't seem to make any sense. Jamie is no saint, but his behaviour in the weeks leading up to his disappearance is out and out baffling. Slowly, piece by piece, she starts to put together the weeks before and begin to figure out the knots of tangled threads. Information is teased out and the reader is just as in the dark as Pip for most of the novel, leading to the final conclusion.
There are some niggles with the novel that shorted it of a five star rating. The biggest is the final reveal really could have been teased out and expanded on far more. It's dropped on you in the final pages and it felt wasted as a lot more could have been made of it. Without spoilers, it's a heck of a reveal and felt rushed. There are also a few loose threads that are just dropped; the one that instantly comes to mind is Pip's previous friends turning on her. It's mentioned once and then dropped, without ever being picked back up. Even a simple 'told you so' moment would have been satisfying.
But those are minor niggles in the grand scheme of things and didn't impact my overall enjoyment of the novel, so a solid four stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Pedophilia