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A review by hollyheartless
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this
I will say I’ve loved this trilogy as a whole, I’ve loved how it’s developed and how the character development (especially in Pip) has been a crucial point over the three books and that Jackson’s writing style has adapted over the course to match this. Starting as an innocent and curious Pip slowly becoming darker and darker and picking up a hell of a lot of emotional trauma and baggage along the way.
However, I do feel like this book has left me with some questions and issues.
(Spoilers ahead)
I can’t get behind Pip actually killing Jason, I feel like it didn’t suit her character at all. I get the logic behind it and how she was tired of a government that had failed her and rightly how terrified she must have been but surely when she’d escaped there was a better solution? Even if she did go back, surely just knocking him out in some way or even breaking a bone so he couldn’t escape and then keeping him there until she could get someone would make more sense.
Then, not only did she kill someone, she got all her friends and our sweet innocent loveable Labrador boy Ravi involved in the cover up. It just felt so selfish of Pip to even risk any of them getting caught because of her. And then after all of this, she then goes and cuts off everyone who helped her anyway because it was ‘safer for them’ I cannot forgive and forget that description of Ravi’s cries. I honestly feel like this book made me dislike Pip’s character which, if that was its intention, then it worked but I can’t imagine why. Also the book itself felt unresolved, I needed like another chapter that just kind of went into how life went on beyond this point or maybe a meet up of everyone. It just felt a bit anticlimactic to end this high intensity trilogy with just a text.
Overall, I have loved this series but I do honestly feel like the plot quality did drop between books
I will say I’ve loved this trilogy as a whole, I’ve loved how it’s developed and how the character development (especially in Pip) has been a crucial point over the three books and that Jackson’s writing style has adapted over the course to match this. Starting as an innocent and curious Pip slowly becoming darker and darker and picking up a hell of a lot of emotional trauma and baggage along the way.
However, I do feel like this book has left me with some questions and issues.
(Spoilers ahead)
I can’t get behind Pip actually killing Jason, I feel like it didn’t suit her character at all. I get the logic behind it and how she was tired of a government that had failed her and rightly how terrified she must have been but surely when she’d escaped there was a better solution? Even if she did go back, surely just knocking him out in some way or even breaking a bone so he couldn’t escape and then keeping him there until she could get someone would make more sense.
Then, not only did she kill someone, she got all her friends and our sweet innocent loveable Labrador boy Ravi involved in the cover up. It just felt so selfish of Pip to even risk any of them getting caught because of her. And then after all of this, she then goes and cuts off everyone who helped her anyway because it was ‘safer for them’ I cannot forgive and forget that description of Ravi’s cries. I honestly feel like this book made me dislike Pip’s character which, if that was its intention, then it worked but I can’t imagine why. Also the book itself felt unresolved, I needed like another chapter that just kind of went into how life went on beyond this point or maybe a meet up of everyone. It just felt a bit anticlimactic to end this high intensity trilogy with just a text.
Overall, I have loved this series but I do honestly feel like the plot quality did drop between books
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault, Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Rape, and Drug abuse
Minor: Vomit