“But sometimes remembering isn’t for yourself, sometimes you do it just to make someone else smile. Those lies were allowed.”
I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH 🫶
I had the sudden urge to reread this series after reading a different murder mystery book and realizing that I am so good at reading those types of books quickly, so I was hoping and praying that they would get me out of my terrible reading slump, and since I just reread this entire series, I'm really hoping it worked 😭🤞
This is also such a good series to reread if you first read it a long time ago, because going into this I remembered nothing except for the basics and who the murderer was, but it was almost like reading it for the first time all over again which is such a good experience.
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The Plot
All of Holly Jackson's books have wild plots 😭 even in this reread I was gasping and feeling so confused and then almost crying.
Murder mysteries always have a way of making me super stressed or tense or nervous but this trilogy is something else when it comes to that, there's just this certain undertone to them that make me so wrapped into the story-line that I forget about the real world and literally everything spooks me 😭
I love that this book isn't super predictable. During my first read I was so confused, but I had so many guesses as to who the murderer was, or who any other suspects for any of the other small plot-lines were, but I never guessed who it was, which is always a good feeling. Though I get a good feeling when I get it right too, so either way, it'd have been great 🤪
Still never getting past a certain event in this book. That scene has always stuck with me 😒
“Pip wished she was strong enough, but she’d learned that she wasn’t invincible; she too could break.”
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The Characters
I know that we only really begin to see it in this book but Pip is an actual like psychotic genius or something. She is so smart and such a good detective, and she can solve mysteries in the amount of time that it would take for me to even start collecting the clues. Excluding that, she is also just such a relatable character, like if you disregard the fact that she solves murders and stuff then she's just a normal, relatable teenage girl! 🤷♀🤷♀ way better than me though, I wish I was more like Pip (only in this one though) she's also like crazy brave, I would not be able to do ANY of the things she did.
Ravi is my KING. I've always loved him, he's just so adorable and friendly and EVERYTHING. He's so loyal and seeing him try so hard to prove his brother's innocence is just so amazing, just showcasing his determination and passion. I also ADORE the fact that he's not afraid to show his emotions; like I've read a lot of books about stone-cold guys who don't show emotions, like their grumpy and blah blah blah but Ravi is definitely not the grumpy one, I'd say Pip is more of the grumpy one if that's the case, but Ravi tries hard to be sunshine and rainbows and I love it 👑🫅
FUCK MAX HASTINGS
I love Pip's friends (except for two people), they're just so fun and have a wide range of personalities 😃
Yeah I didn't really care for them much, except I did really love Cara.
“They were each other’s crutch to lean on when life got too much to carry alone.”
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The Relationships
Now, there wasn't really much of a romance but it's kinda quite obvious where one "friendship" is headed, so you've been warned if you don't wanna see.
I loved Pip's relationship with her family, it felt real and authentic, and they were all so cute, as well as her friendships, they were all just so loyal.
All of those are insignificant in comparison to Team Pip and Ravi, my dream team. They mesh so well together that it's actually insane. They are the ONLY romance I have ever accepted in murder mysteries, which is saying a lot because I actually despise despise despise romances in murder mysteries, so these two are waaay up on a pedestal that even I can't reach right now.
Also, the nickname Sarge is the cutest thing ever.
“We’re a team, remember. You and me.”
AH
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Overall, this was probably the last time I can ever read this book "for the first time" because I usually remember everything after the second read, which is unfortunate, but whatever
I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH
5 stars
(note: and if this stupid show isn't available in the US I'm gonna scream my head off.)
“Maybe laughter was one of the very first things you lost after something like that.”
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reread
either Pip is some sort of genius or the cops in that town are actual idiots. i think it's both
anyways i'm on a roll, two books in one week is great for someone who hasn't read since december AND i read this in 2 days
rtc 😜
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Y'ALL I HEARD THEY'RE MAKING A SHOW OUT OF THIS, THIS BETTER NOT BE A JOKE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I NEED PIP AND RAVI HELP
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Holy cow, I did not expect that ending. I definitely did not guess the murderer, nor did I guess literally anything in this book. I really enjoyed the plot and the murder mystery aspects of it. Great book, and I cannot wait till I get my hands on the next books in this series!