Holly Jackson
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (#1) by Holly Jackson
Released: May 2, 2019
Pages: 383
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Overall: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting & World-building: 3/5
Emotional Investment: 5/5
"The people you love weren't algebra: to be calculated, subtracted, or held at arm's length across a decimal point."
HOLLY JACKSON, girl what are you doing to me? Murder mysteries shouldn't make me want to cry, but here we are.
Quick Summary: Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. It's common news, the case closed five years ago. But Pippa Fitz-Amobi, having lived in this small town all her life thinks otherwise. So for her senior project she decides to prove Sal's innocent. With an entire town of people against her, and secrets everywhere is the killer still out there and getting ready for their next kill?
So first of all this murder mystery has everything. We got the actual mystery, we got a stressed-out, overly academic protagonist, a group of close friends, humour, and a little dash of romance. This quite literally the perfect package if I do say so myself. This wasn't my first time reading the book, but it's crazy how many details you pick up when you reread. Pip's entire personality became more clear to me in this book, because we are the same person. I am also a school-focused individual who doesn't know who they are outside of homework. The only difference is that I procrastinate like crazy, and I don't have any small town murder I can solve.
I really liked how the plot of this book was delivered. Like the transcripts and maps and different forms of interviews, Pippa collected alongside the actual narration of the story. It kept the book interesting and different. I don't think there was a single slow portion to this book. Everything was there for a purpose and was all connected in ways it took my brain a few minutes to hand. The one thing I realized might have been a little bit of a stretch was how she found the murderer. Just that conclusion I could have never jumped to, but after it was explained it totally matched. What I really enjoyed was how everything wasn't cut and dry. There were a lot of bad people and a lot of good people, and good people who did bad things, and bad people who did good things. It's very complex and I appreciated that. One good person was Cara. She deserves the world.
So our gal, Pippa partners with Ravi, Sal's younger brother. They have the cutest little relationship. They share ideas, and have inside jokes, and are truly the purest people I know. Ravi has been through little shit and my heart for his entire family. Also, we love the representation. I'm Indian and reading about another Indian character in a not brown setting was refreshing and very nice. Also, Pippa's stepdad is Nigerian, and she has a half-brother named Josh. The family relationship in this is also so pure. They are so supportive and a comforting tool for Pippa when the stress and pressure of life gets too much.
I had a strong feeling Max was a garbage person from the beginning by the way. He just gave off sketchy vibes. I don't want to dedicate an entire paragraph to him but he made me so mad. Naomi also made me mad for other reasons. She was traumatized, yes, but she was so passive and literally did two horrible things and knew they were bad but was like yolo. She said she felt guilt and I know I should feel sorry but I really don't. Maybe that makes me a bad person oh well.
Lastly, I have a theory that the last book (book three) coming out this August is going to show us more of Daniel de Silva. Hear me out, the second book (which I read once but will reread and review) included a character from this book who was a side character. There is too much about him that I want to know more about. He seemed sketchy.
So this is my formal request for everyone to read this book ASAP. This will truly occupy a good chunk of your time and it will be so worth it. I'm going to reread the second one too and I can't wait till that mess of a review is shared.
Quotes
"But sometimes remembering isn't for yourself, sometimes you do it just to make someone else smile."
"Your efficiency offends me."
"Real men wear floral when trespassing."
"If a villain can be made, then he can be unmade."