Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

274 reviews

ara_beg's review against another edition

funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Hmm difficult to rate this book. I think it would have been amazing as a movie, but I found it a tad too long in the book format. The last 100 pages were interesting, and although I guessed who

one of the

“bad guy” was quite early on, when it came down to it in the book, the explanation was a bit rushed. Despite this, I think it was well written with a likable and funny set of (main) characters. The authors way of writing dialogue and describing certain small details in the every day life of the characters made me smile a lot. So yeah, I (mostly) enjoyed reading it, but definitely think it was too long. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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jellie_bean520's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

The first time I read this, I got bored and dnf at 30% of the book. I honestly didn’t really know what to expect and got bored. I was also in a reading slump so that contributed to my boredom.

After countless recommendations, I decided to pick up the book again, knowing what to expect. This book is less of a thriller but more of an investigation into a mystery. Pippa interviews countless people and has a journal with information. She creates a “murder board” and connects the dots.

I think some people might think this is boring or “slow paced” because it’s basically a series of investigations and only starts to make sense near the end (in Part 3). I definitely did the first time I read this, but when I re-read it, I enjoyed the interviews and investigations.

Some plot twists were pretty predictable while others surprised me. The ending wrapped up nicely and it made sense.

The characters all felt really well developed and had a distinct personality and clear intentions. The ones in the wrong

(as in the killers, Jason bell, Max Hastings etc)

are morally gray and extremely flawed. I mostly understood why they did what they did. Basically nobody is purely evil or purely good.

I would definitely recommend for people who like a lighthearted murder mysteries and police investigations (lighthearted compared to other thrillers). It also has a side romance between Pippa and Ravi, but it’s definitely not focused on that.

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restupkin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

This was good. I’m a little worried about saying this but I was underwhelmed. The amount of positive reviews and intense love for this book, did in fact set my expectations very high. Sadly it didn’t live up to the fame for me. FOR ME. Don’t get me wrong the story was interesting, so were the characters. BUT I didn’t feel any strong attachment to any of it. Which surprised me. I felt like this book was for a younger audience? At some times it felt cringey and childish. Even with the strong subject matter. But it is YA so I’m not entirely surprised.

All in all, it was good. Fun plot with good twists. Enjoyable characters and a nice ending. Just not my favorite read. Which is fine, it was a good like pick me up.

Will I continue the series? I’m not sure. Maybe if the chance ever comes up. But for now it seems unlikely.

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rainbowdragonz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.25

This was a good mystery and it had me on the edge of my seat. But it's not one I think I'll reread once now I've finished. I will however be getting the sequel.

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esv_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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izzyreads13's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I personally thoroughly enjoyed this book. Based off of my rating scale it does not reach a 5 just because I feel as though 5’s for me are usually things I can reread and this being a mystery book doesn’t hit that mark for me. However, that does not take away from how good this book actually was.

It keeps you guessing and questioning things at every chapter and even though I felt myself getting a little bored at the 50% mark due to no real discoveries being made I can proudly say the push to continue this book was truly worth it. The characters are lovable, the plot twists keep you on edge, there’s a bunch of “mouth wide open” moments and honestly, I really really enjoyed it. This was my first mystery book and it was more “light hearted” in the sense that the murder itself isn’t that grand, it’s not gore filled in any sense and it’s really good (imo) to ease into if you’re coming from a different genre (for me that being fantasy & romance). It opened up a new side of the book world and I’ll definitely look into the rest of the books in this trilogy.

I liked the way everything rounded out to make sense in the end, I felt as though nothing was missing, nothing left unanswered and it was a really satisfying end to a “keeping you on edge” book.

Like I previously mentioned there was a point where I wasn’t sure how I was feeling because the mystery itself didn’t seem to be going anywhere but trust when things start moving and being pieced together they really do start moving! I’d strongly recommend this book to anyone looking into wanting to stray mystery and any fans of criminal minds looking to solve a mystery because it really is one that you can follow and possibly find out on your own if you’re REALLY attentive. Either way the reveals of everything really do come together in a satisfying and fulfilling way. Overall, I couldn’t recommend this book enough, happy reading!

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