Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Good Girl, Bad Blood

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

93 reviews

tvintrs's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This was a brilliant follow up to 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' - just as engaging and fast paced, with a whole new mystery to follow along with Pippa and co. However, I believe there's enough context added from the first book that someone could read this quite easily without having read AGGGTM first, which is always impressive for a sequel.
As before, the story and the mystery were engaging and well paced. I could not put this book down and finished it in one sitting. Pippa really grew on me in this book, helped I think by her circle of friends, and particularly Ravi, who help to make her likeable. Also as before, I love that this story uses mixed media alongside typical storytelling, pulling us along with Pippa as she documents her evidence and types up her interview logs. It really helps you feel part of the story and keeps the engagement high.
The only thing keeping this book from a full 5 stars for me is just that in comparison to the first book, the mystery felt a little more lacking. I kept expecting more and then sat in shock for a little while at the sudden and quick end

when Stanley is killed. I will say though, that this was done pretty perfectly. The way the text rolled through Pippa's thoughts as she realised he was gone, the way the gun sound pervaded her every thought was done just so well, but it did feel like the ramp up was very sudden.

However, that is my only tiny criticism and as a standalone book I don't think I even would have processed that as a problem.
If you enjoyed the first book, definitely give this one a go. If you enjoy mysteries, also give it a go. There's a really good feeling you get inside when you realise you have put the clues together for yourself and discovered something important just before the characters do.
A brilliant sequel,

and particularly happy there were no animal deaths this time!

. Looking forward to reading more of Holly Jackson's writing in the future.

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kendrashea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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trislima's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.25

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november22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Overall I liked the book. The story didn't grab me as quick as aggtm. I felt like the first chapters were purely written to link book 1 and book 2. Which is fine. Nothing wrong with. I actually enjoyed that because it answered the questions that I had after book 1. That said, it didn't feel like something new. New as in a new book. A new plot. That came after

pages or so. Again, I did enjoy reading those pages but it was not what I expected when I picked this book up.

The book wasn't bad at all. The characters are well written, the plot has unexpected twists and turns and the ending shocked me. It is an easy to read fast-paced book, just like aggtm.

[I will say that - if you haven't read a good girl's guide to murder or if it's been a while since you have - you don't have to worry about remembering all the details from the 1st book. Yes. If you read the first book you'd recognize the names and you'd have a bit more context. But - and this is something that I really like - you don't have to read book 1 before this book. There are some references but they are briefly explained. I'm currently in the process of reading the books back-to-back but you definitely don't have to do this. You could pick this book up a year after reading book 1 and you'll be fine. ]

The ending did feel a bit rushed. Nonetheless, it did surprise me. It was thought out well. It's quite difficult to write a series. Especially if the first book was written as a stand-alone. This book, the 2nd book in the series, surprised me a lot. To me it's a good sequel to the first. The development of the different characters is well-written and basically no loose threads were left. Though, I do have some nosy question. I guess that those will be answered in the next book🤔

I also missed ravi a bit. He was absent for a reason but it felt a bit off as pip solved the andir bell case with him. It seems like he was often used to dismiss, engage or calm pip (feelings) down. I wish that he was more his own character like in book 1. He was written really well though. It just seemed like he existed for her in this book and that was a bit of a bummer.

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shoshi824's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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pvp_niki's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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saumyagupta's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Loved loved loved reading this book. Pip's behavioural changes throughout the book leading to the book's climax was shocking but looking at it back, it isn't out of character. The way Holly Jackson has connected all the three books together is insane

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