Book Review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a YA/teen mystery This Book won many awards like “BRITISH BOOK AWARD’S CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020“. The book follows a teenager, Pippa, Pippa solves a cold murder mystery as part of a school project. An edge-of-the-seat mystery that will have you biting your nails as you guess who the real killer is, read the genre, publication history, book review and favourite quotes of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson in this post below.

About A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson:

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Review:

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a murder mystery thriller. about a girl named Pippa and she decides that for her senior project. she is going to reopen and just kind of investigate this case that happened five years ago in her town at her school with these two seniors. one was named Andy Bell and the other one was named south st.

so these two were a couple and on one night Andy went missing and Sal was the primary suspect for like her capture for a little bit people just thought that maybe she ran away but then people were speculating that maybe she had died.

because she had been away for a few days and on she went missing on a Friday and on that following Tuesday sau committed suicide. there are a lot of content warnings for this book so definitely be sure to read reviews before you go ahead and do that I always feel like I’m going to miss them but I’ll try and like you know list a couple now but like I said just to be thorough I would recommend reading reviews.

because I’m really really bad at like picking up on what might trigger people um but definitely sexual assault rape drug use death of a pet so the following Tuesday it is rumored or not rumored but it is decided that Sal I say decided because that is how the case was ruled but that’s all committed suicide hip our main character.

however thinks differently she doesn’t think that Sal committed suicide. and she doesn’t think that Sal was the one to kill Andy. so she is reopening this case reinvestigating it and just trying to figure out what really happened. because the police made a lot of jumps with a lot of speculative evidence and she just doesn’t believe in her heart that Sal would have done this to someone. especially someone that he was in a relationship with because she knew Sal growing up and she just doesn’t think he’s capable of that.

pretty vague that is just the beginning and so much more happens but it’s mystery-thriller so I can’t really tell you much more than that other than this book is absolutely amazing there was a little bit of mixed media it’s not entirely a good chunk of it is text. but she has capstone project in entries in here as well as interviews and I would like to flip to show you but I don’t want to accidently spoil something.

so yes absolutely amazing there is a minor romance in here and I say minor because yes the two characters interact quite a bit but it is not the forefront of the plot it definitely doesn’t take it over by any means so if you like that it’s definitely in here definitely slow burn and it’s more friendship. than anything there are like romantic flirty moments but it’s just two people getting to know each other which is what a relationship is but it’s not like I’m kissing and constantly thinking like oh my goodness it’s not like that.

it wasn’t annoying that definitely takes a backseat to the main plot so so to talk about what I liked throughout this book without spoiling anyone I did really really like the romance between Pip and the other character. it just was really really sweet. and I like how it definitely developed a friendship first and we got to see the friendship from the very beginning of where they like were relative strangers. and then you know they became friends and then it evolved into something more.

I just really really loved that but Wow pip is like pretty privileged she stands up for everyone I think the thought is really really amazing she’s really supportive and she calls people out pip is just like the person that I tried to be on a daily basis without like going in investigating murder cases. um but she’s really really ambitious and she stands up for what she believes in if she thinks that you’re wrong she’s gonna tell you she’s not afraid that doesn’t mean that she’s outwardly like cruel to people.

but if people are being offensive she will call you out for it and tie that you’re wrong and why and I just like think that that is really really admirable and I really loved pip as a main character. that’s another thing is I have not cared this much about a cast of characters and such a long time but I was so scared for our characters and I cared so much about what happened to them and just like mmm. I loved that I loved them so much and I cannot wait for the sequel.

mostly just because I’ve gone Pip and I can’t wait to see like where this goes this book was really really scary for me but I am a huge wolf but it was kind of refreshing because this is a young adult mystery thriller a lot of young adult mystery thrillers as of late have it really scared me and haven’t really been thrilling. I’ve just kind of been bored by them and so this one definitely scared me.

I was reading this really late at night oh I think because I was sleep-deprived um I cried and I would just like cry out of fear a couple of times throughout this book. there were also some really sad moments and I just think that the author did a really good job of voguing the emotion that she wanted out of the reader especially like me. another thing that I forgot to mention that I really really liked about this book was the humor in it.

so while it is pretty thrilling and scary at some point like I said at least for me there is a good amount of humor in it and I just really really appreciated that. the characters banter is so so funny to me and definitely my sense of humor so loved that. this was such a quick read I read it in only a couple of sittings and it’s like a 400 page book but overall 5 out of 5 stars absolutely obsessed with it.

okay now for the spoilery section and just kind of my thoughts while reading and my experience um so this was one that I had never really intended on picking up which is super interesting well not never but I was really apprehensive to I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it I don’t know I just got a vibe that’s like was kind of off-putting to me. and I was like I don’t know like everybody else likes it but I don’t know that I will be one who does. and I saw it for a decently good deal and I was like you know what I’ll pick it up no harm no foul.

I got it for a good deal like I may as well try it especially while we’re in quarantine like I’m bored if I hate it I can set it down and pick up something else but now so good it’s now is as good a time as any to give it a try. so went ahead picked it up and I read like the first 200 pages in one sitting. and it was freaking incredible I was absolutely obsessed and then I picked it up and read it in just a couple more sittings and couldn’t stop.

but I will admit after the first 200 pages I was getting really scared anytime that Andy would have to go interview someone new who was like a suspect and I didn’t want her to get hurt because I cared so much about the characters. and I was like no I can’t do this and so I flipped to the end and spoiled myself. but what I think was really interesting is that um I spoiled myself and then I kind of like forgot but because I was going to sleep but before I went to sleep I was like thinking about it like oh like the dad did it like that’s not shocking.

because I saw Elliot Ward and I was like okay like the dad is part of it that’s not shocking like I figured but I was thinking of Andy’s dad. and so then I had like a moment of pure terror where I realized that it was naomi and Cara.  um but where it was Naomi and Cara’s dad and I was like he’s such a nice guy he’s like her second dad how could he do this.

what he was Sal’s teacher are you kidding me and I just got chills there were so many times throughout this book where I just had chills all over my body. I have chills all over my body right now but I had chills all over my body while reading it and I was like no no this cannot be happening it can’t.

and I had a feeling that Andy wasn’t dead and so when we found her in Elliot’s house I was like yes called it knew it knew she wasn’t dead and my working theory was that she killed Sal. and then went into hiding and then we found out the girl that was playing as Andy wasn’t actually Andy and I was like whoa. what are you kidding me I was mind blown absolutely mine thought it was crazy and I just loved the author’s ability to play so many tricks on us.

I just thought that was dope and then what else was I feel like while I was reading this love ravi love ravi so much Robbie and pip are my new favorite like ship of all time. yeah that rhyme that was cool oh that one rhymed again Ravi and pip I will die this is a hill I’m willing to die on. oh my goodness in love if they don’t get married I’ll have a problem.

I just love Robbie so much and their banter was amazing. like when Pip met him for the first time and she was like if I could just have a moment of your time or a few consecutive moments and then she was like and then Robbie brought it up after he made her coffee and she was like I was like I feel you that’s something that I would do yes thank you for being just as awkward as the rest of us this is amazing and I loved how willing Robbie was to help and I loved I was so grateful for him.

checking his like thing and I really liked the use of like the find my friends app in the book I thought that was like really good. and I don’t know not only did it make sense but I also liked that they kept it especially during the duration. so that he would check on her because he knew like that she was going to investigate. and so he wouldn’t like use it as like oh I’m controlling and I need to check on her.

but he used it as like she is likely to get herself into trouble and I am concerned so I’m gonna check where she’s at just to make sure she’s fine. I’ve a bad feeling about this she should be here right now and then he would go save the day like absolutely love that. I absolutely love pip and how considerate she was she is literally the person that I try to be on a daily basis. and I love that.

she’s not afraid to call people out like when she was interviewing Stanley for the very first time. and she was like I’m honestly shocked do you still have a job I was like yes girl yes yes yes that is honestly something that I would say. if I was feeling real sassy on a day but regardless I definitely would have thought it and maybe have been too scared to say.

it like that is me and she was just so funny I absolutely loved it I was so shocked that the sister was the one – I guess kill Andy. she let her die but I mean I don’t know that she’s necessarily killed her if you know what I mean and then she hit her in the Septic. I was like what and then my heart started racing. when she gave pip the tea and then pip like passed out and couldn’t do anything. I was like and then max oh my goodness my working theory was that max raped Naomi and that’s why naomi was so tense.

because that night was really hard for her to think about that was my theory but he’s still a prick and a horrible human being because he did rape her or not hurt but other people. and for that like I hate that so much um but that was my theory was that max was a rapist but he raped me Naomi and her alibi was her like real alibi was that she was being raped by Max. and that’s why I like she didn’t tell the police or pimp the truth about where she was.

I never saw the whole like friends taking Stiles alibi away from him did not see that coming at all that was crazy to me. I just couldn’t believe all the twists.

and I thought that Elliot Ward was to turn out to be this like malicious human being. but he was like wow what he did was wrong a hundred percent no question about it. um he was still like nice I guess and felt really bad about what he had done to Andy and Sal um the fact that he slept with one of his students was nasty.

um, but like he was like I kind hearted I don’t know how to say it like you know how in like most thrillers it’s like gotcha now I’m gonna kill you like he just felt really bad for what he did and he was like yeah we can have a conversation like I’m not gonna hurt you. and he was like genuine about that I wasn’t anticipating that I was really expecting him to be like sinister.

which he wasn’t and I appreciated that because honestly I might my heart was about beat out of my chest I was so mad that the dog died. I thought that that was maybe a little bit unnecessary um that’s like a plot device I wish that was done differently. but I also went raiding that thought that they had killed the dog.

not that Becca had taken it and um like she had what’s the word I’m looking for let it go and then the dog just happened to trip and fall and die. I thought that maybe she had killed it and I was like you’re kidding you’re literally literally kidding. who holds a dog hostage like I just who takes a pet from someone that is horrible. I think that’s everything that I have to say like I’ve said and if it wasn’t obvious already.

I gave this a 5 out of 5 stars. I’m absolutely in love with this book.  yes 5 out of 5 stars my new favorite thriller. one of my favorite books of the year. so far a good girl’s guide to murder by Holly Jackson 

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