My review for this trilogy is quite lengthy so, I decided to mash them all up. Here goes nothing.
⚠️ SLIGHT SPOILERS !!! ⚠️
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder REVIEW!!
In the first book, we are introduced to our main character, Pipa Fitz Amobi, otherwise known as “Pip”. She is your typical straight-A student, a very intelligent, and diligent woman. To add more to that, she’s also a true-crime fan. In this book, she was a year 12 student (if I’m not mistaken), and they had to do this project called the “EPQ project” (forgot what it was exactly called but all I remember is EPQ so just go along with it please 😭) where they can research or investigate anything or anybody. Pip, being the true-crime fan that she is, decided to re-investigate a closed murder case that occurred in their town 5 years ago. She is very determined to prove that Sal Singh (don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler LOL), the accused, is not the actual killer of Andie Bell.
Long story short, this EPQ project turned into something more. A lot of adults and officials were involved, and people’s secrets were unveiled. I gave the first book a 5/5 because it is THE perfect introduction to a trilogy. And even if it weren’t a trilogy, it is still a mystery-thriller book.
In my 17 years of existence, I only read a few mystery-thriller books, and half of them I barely even enjoyed because you can just tell that the authors are trying so hard to make it as thrilling and mysterious as possible even though the details don’t make sense anymore. But with this book, every little detail connects, and every little detail makes sense.
Good Girl, Bad Blood REVIEW!!
Moving forward to the second book. To tell you honestly, it took me a while to get invested with the plot of this book — I don’t have any specific reason as to why, but maybe because I was still hungover with how good the first one was. Anyway, in this book, Pip decided to create a podcast surrounding the Andie Bell case that she worked on.
In this book, she took a vow to herself and her loved ones that she won’t be investigating any cases anymore, because, in the last book, her loved ones were the ones who suffered for the consequences that she took and she didn’t want that happening again.
But what will you do when one of your closest friends needs your help with finding their missing brother? Of course, Pip agreed to help. She decided to include this mystery that she was solving on her podcast, and decided to ask her listeners for help.
My description for this book and even the blurb of the book do not give the book enough justice, it sounds uninteresting but I swear this book is good. I did not expect to cry while reading a mystery-thriller book.
As Good As Dead REVIEW!!
Lastly, we have As Good As Dead, the third and final book. This one is pretty connected to the second book, it mostly focuses on Pip’s mental well-being considering the traumatic events that transpired in the previous book. Aside from that, Pip also has a stalker. This time around, she investigated what was happening with her, and who was stalking her. I’d like to say this book has 2 plots (???).
Anyway, I rated this book 3/5. Don’t get me wrong, I found the plot of this book very intriguing and it did keep me at the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, the ending felt very flat to me. It was so unlike Pip to do that. But maybe Holly Jackson opted for that ending since Pip did change (you can notice the subtle changes with Pip as you go through this book). The ending was not for me. It’s kind of sad tbh that I didn’t like the third book as much as I liked the others.
OVERALL REVIEW!!
Overall, I rate this trilogy 5/5 stars ⭐️!!
I don’t know what Holly Jackson put in this trilogy to make it so addicting. Who would have thought a thriller trilogy will put me on a rollercoaster of emotions, but it did. With all 3 books, I was invested, I wept, I was thrilled, and I was also disappointed. I’d also like to commend Holly Jackson for being a consistent writer. Despite me not loving the third book as much as the others, Holly Jackson did not fail to deliver intense and intriguing plots with every single book.
I wasn’t able to mention Pip and Ravi buuuut I love Pip and Ravi’s dynamic so much 🥹 I love how Ravi knows just what to say to Pip so she can be focused again or what to say when she needs comfort. Ravi best boy 🫶🫶 I love Pip too! She’s an intelligent human being and I admire how determined she is with every little thing she does — may it be school or solving mysteries.
They included a lot of visuals in the books and it made me love the trilogy even more !! It truly felt like I was solving the mysteries alongside Pip.
Reading this book was one hell of a rollercoaster ride — one that I would like to experience over and over again.