Reviews tagging Terminal illness

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, by Holly Jackson

15 reviews

cheesy_crackers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

This book was really good, I liked it a lot!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

anewton's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A fast-paced murder mystery with a surprise around every corner. Unpredictable characters and plot, with storylines that cleverly intertwine. A very easy read, with drama right up until the very end. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Murder, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Rape, Kidnapping, Drug use, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

cdubbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Bullying, Car accident, and Confinement

introverted_reads's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Vomit, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

ameliaflint's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was really almost perfect. Great story, great characters. The only things were that a., sometimes dialogue was a little cringey and b., ending was not my favorite. I did not have a crazy aha moment like I would have wanted. And also I didn’t love the way the story was told in different mediums. Just not my thing, personally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Terminal illness

annawlsnn's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide, Body shaming, Child death, Murder, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Mental illness, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Racism, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death of parent, Confinement, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Dementia, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Terminal illness

ellahooper's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Dementia, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Cancer, Cursing, Excrement, and Injury/injury detail

phantasmaboo's review

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I gave this book two stars. This book covers the story of a young woman named Pip who is investigating the death (murder) of a fellow student, Andie Bell, as part of her capstone project for high school. The books presents this story through 3rd person narration as well as through first person journal entries that mark Pip’s progress throughout this capstone. 

Overall, the text is well-written and we’ll-situated within the young adult genre. It was fast-paced and easy to read. 

Still, there were several areas of the text that didn’t sit right with me, which can be summarized as:

Topic/Plot

The general plot of the book is not one that resonated with me, and I’m not sure that it’s one that Jackson handled with care. The idea that a high school senior could or should investigate a recent murder as part of a capstone project is puzzling at best. We already live in a society in which murder victims (and their families) are passed off as entertainment, and this book feeds into that. In fact, there is more emotional weight given to the death of an animal than to the death of Andie Bell. 

The weight of the murder and the humanity of the victim are never examined in depth, nor does the main character have her behavior challenged in any meaningful way. In fact, she is awarded. 

Spoiler

This ends in a crescendo when Pip covers up a hit and run accident because “her friends have suffered enough” and tries to help the murderer escape because “it wasn’t fair”. None of this is checked or examined. It’s a bit ironic that Pip ends by saying “we have to do better” considered she covered up/tries to cover up two serious crimes.

The Protagonist

I did not care for the protagonist very much. Typically, this isn’t a requirement for me, but it was clear that Jackson’s intent was to have readers like Pip. I found her to be very shallow and defined by privilege; a privilege that goes unchecked.

Spoiler

That the author wants us to view Pip positively despite her covering up or attempting to cover up two separate and very serious crimes cemented my opinion on this. Given the writing and the lack of push back on Pip’s character, I find it hard to believe that this was intentional.

Diversity 

The book has some characters of color, but is overall written with a (privileged) white gaze. Minor discussions of race are superficial and barely integrated, despite the fact that the prime suspect in the murder is a man of color. I felt like this was a missed opportunity to provide a young adult text that examined such intricacies. There are also moments of micro-aggressions against minoritized populations that are passed off as humorous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, Animal death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Car accident, Rape, and Cultural appropriation

amndaj's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Terminal illness, Animal death, and Suicide

valley's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book kept me on edge and i read it in just four days, staying up late so i could finish it. I liked how no character was portrayed as "pure evil", their emotions, feelings and reasons for what they did were explained well.

Spoiler

Tho Max can frick off, because what he did has no reason other than him having no regard for others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit