A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Review - Book #1

 Man, oh man, when I tell you that I feel like the absolute last person on Earth to have read this book! I'm usually weary when it comes to reading books that are popular on BookTok. It's not that I have anything against the suggestions from BookTok, but I feel as though the suggestions themselves are such a toss-up between books that are genuinely enjoyable versus books that are being promoted for profit and have not actually been read (or perhaps they have been read but despite the content being well-written or not are still being promoted?). I know that may be a controversial take, however it's just something I have observed. But I digress.

Before I read this novel, I read Five Survive by Holly Jackson around late June not knowing it was her newest work. I was pleased with the fast-paced and overall heart-racing writing in that book and all of the characters. So going into A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, I had some pretty high hopes and I honestly couldn't wait to see what all the hype was about.

I want to start off by giving a very brief summary of the novel before I begin my honest review of the book:

Pippa Fitz-Amobi, Pip for short, is a senior in high school who uses her capstone project to solve a local murder mystery involving another teen girl named Andie Bell. What starts out as innocent, quickly turns dangerous as Pip starts to uncover ugly truths behind the murder and everyone involved.

Just like with Five Survive, Jackson does an excellent job with pacing. I noticed that the author sprinkles in tiny clues throughout the book about who the murderer is, but does not make it too obvious. It's something I started to notice towards the later half of the book and I kind of had this aha! moment. Nothing ever seemed confusing or hard to follow either, which I feel like is a huge factor when it comes to Mystery and Thriller novels. Like I said, this book was easy to follow and consistently kept me on my toes. I also liked that the ending was straight to the point and Jackson didn't try to throw me off the scent, which Mystery and Thrillers have a bad habit of doing for added shock factor. I found myself consistently rooting for Pip and even wishing at times that I could point out clues that she may have missed. I enjoyed reading Pip's capstone entries for her project. I felt like those entries made me more intrigued with the case and how Pip was going to go about solving it. 

Another thing I loved in this book is the relationship that blossomed between Ravi and Pip. It was so cute and innocent, and we are able to see Ravi's character develop from someone who is closed off to someone who is so funny and adorable. Every interaction they had together made me smile! I also enjoyed the moments when Pip would confront Max and her ability to put him in his place. I will admit, none of the other characters really stuck out to me that much except for Pip and Ravi.  

A few similarities I found between Five Survive and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is that both involve a strong female lead. The novels are centered around a friend group basically being picked apart because of some underlying secret amongst them. I am new to Holly Jackson's writing, so it was nice to see that both of the books that I chose to read by her involve young women who are smart, powerful, and overall badass.

The ending of the book felt satisfying, and I found myself wanting to know more about Pip and how her life will continue when she goes off to college. I can't wait to read and review the second book in the series, Good Girl, Bad Blood.