Reviews with content warning for Murder - Asesinato para principiantes

This was so much fun! I absolutely flew through it in basically one sitting—the quick pace and production log inserts paired with short, action-packed narrative chapters made it go down incredibly easy, as well as an enticing mystery where it was enjoyable and satisfying to see all the parts fit together. Pip is a fun narrator, although the “good girl” shtick wasn’t really played with (which might have actually been a boon; I don’t know if I could have stood her being referred to as a “good girl” incessantly for the sake of the title). The investigation included Pip and Ravi actually doing a lot, which is always great to see in a murder mystery—and a good amount of what she was doing included nitty-gritty bureaucratic stuff like scanning old Facebook pages or utilizing Rights to Information acts to gain access to old interviews. It added a touch of realism, even if you know many of the clues just fall a little too perfectly into place. I loved the ending and some of the answers we got.

I don’t think this is a thicky plotty mysterious procedural masterpiece, but I also don’t think anyone was asking for it to be. It was a sharp, exciting YA mystery with a likable cast of characters that tied itself up nicely without being trite. Some of the “social awareness” parts were laid on a little thick, like the Jackson suddenly realized she needed to acknowledge how racism and bias might play out in the book and scrawled out a few paragraphs to make sure she was covered, but I’m not going to begrudge that too much. Super enjoyable time.

Content Warnings

abception's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

OK, I see the hype.

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luvbooks_13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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dawnilton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book reminded me of Pretty Little Liars. The setting, case, characters - everything was so similar to PLL. The only reason why this book feels different than PLL is because of our main characters and since the book is written from the main character, Pip's POV it felt different. It really felt like a A+ student getting too attached to a cold case and bringing all different kinds of trouble that comes with it.
Plot wise, all the typical murder mystery things happens in this book - false leads, alot of messed up people in a small town, death threats etc. But this book shines with the creativity of the writing styles - we had diary entries, interview transcripts, hand drawn diagrams that Pip drew. It was just really fun to read.
Like I mentioned earlier, Pip was the reason why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I loved her character and nervous rambling quirk haha. I have to talk about Ravi because he was so pure, nice and loyal. His character was everything I didn't think I needed in a character.
The ending of this book was a little disappointing to me. I just hoped that the ending wouldn't be like PLL -

that Andie Bell was actually alive. But the fake Andie really threw me off. I didn't really enjoy that twist. It felt kind of forced to me and like it was just done for the sake of having another plot twist.

But the last reveal - I didn't see coming. That was crazy.
So overall, it was a nice thriller, murder mystery book. It wasn't something ground breaking or different. But it was still an enjoyable read.

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mikaylacamp's review against another edition

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informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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zam_ahaana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book genuinely broke my brain. The plot twists at the end?? They hit you like a TRUCK. I had CHILLS in the reveal. 10/10 book, I WISH I could re-read it for the first time again.

Content Warnings

annaae's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

seven_land's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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