Reviews

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

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jollyy13's review against another edition

5.0

5/5 stars. Wow.

this book was such a great and anticipated ending to agggtm. i loved the plot twists so much, and all the different topics that this book explored. as usual, i'm going to split this review up into different parts.

characters:

pip - in this instalment, pip was spiraling out to say this least. from the beginning, i could tell that this book was going to be different from the others because of the way that she behaved. i remember comparing her to stevie bell from truly devious for the first two books, but i would say that in this book, they were stark contrasts of each other. that's what made this so different from all of the other ya mystery novels i've read. pip was really always on the edge of her trauma, and ready to act on it -- which is what she did when she finally snapped. she went through some serious character development in this book and reminded me so much of hailey upton from chicago pd, merely because of how she harnessed her emotions. pip's character also goes to show how often people can spiral out without anyone noticing, and i loved how holly jackson included pip's drug abuse as a sub plotline. no one, me included, would've thought that pip was going to literally murder jason bell in cold blood, but this just proved how much she needed saving from everyone, especially herself. (jason bell by no means deserves anything less because he was literally such a narcissistic, mysognistic, and abusive asshole).

ravi - literally such a sweetheart. he was so supportive of pip no matter what she was going through or what she did, and was always by her side. for those reasons alone, he deserves #1 best book boyfriend of the year.

naomi, cara, becca, nat - i loved them sooo much in this book. they've really come a long way since book one and i really hope holly jackson writes a sequel to as good as dead where everyone is happy, pip and ravi are married with three kids and a dog, and nothing bad happens to them again. naomi and cara deserve the entire world, and so do becca and nat <3

plot:
the plot was so intruiging and from the get-go i knew that something big was going to happen. there's no other reason for why book 3 was like twice as thick as book 1 and book 2. the gasp i let out when i finished part 1... i had to put down the book and stare at the ceiling for five minutes before moving on. i guess that's why the first book was called a good girl's guide to murder. IT'S LITERALLY A GUIDE TO MURDER. ok, but to be fair, jason bell and max hasting did have it coming for them and i'm not mad at all of how their storylines ended. no, but actually, the aftermath of the demise of jason bell was actually so well-planned. it felt like i was reading an episode of criminal minds the entire book (and i actually understood most of the forensic stuff that pip was talking about!!). even though pip was struggling with her trauma, i think that she really harnessed that and used it to her advantage. while she did go overboard with the hammer (and i'm not justifying that), it was clear that that moment was her breaking point, and before then she had been walking on eggshells ever since stanley's death. i really liked the tie-ins with andie from book one and the continuation of becca's storyline. there better be a sequel or an extended epilogue of some sorts written asap because i am itching to read more about what happens with ravi and pip.

i cannot wait for the show omg they casted the perfect pip and ravi.

playlist:
- no body, no crime by taylor swift ft. haim (ofc a staple for mystery books)
- vigilante shit by taylor swift (especially part II pip)
- castles crumbling by taylor swift ft. hayley williams (definitely pip's song in as good as dead)
- safe & sound by taylor swift (this doesn't need any explanation)
- i know the end by phoebe bridgers (this is the perfect song for this book)