A review by paperbacks_and_planners
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

5.0

I received an ARC copy of this from Delacorte Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Summary
For Pip's senior project, she plans to solve her town's famous cold case - the murder of Andie Bell. Andie was a beautiful, popular high school senior who was supposedly killed by her boyfriend Sal. And when Sal's body turned up in the woods with a confession, the case was closed. But Pip doesn't think that's what happened. And she's determined to prove it - even when she starts receiving scary, anonymous threats.

Overview
➸ POV: 3rd Person from Pip's POV

➸ Pip Fitz-Amobi: High school senior - 5 years after the death of Andie, Intelligent, Driven, Applying to Colombia, Looked up to Sal, Examining cold case for senior project

➸ Content Warnings: Murder, Suicide, Racism, Animal harm/death, Bullying, Rape, Stalking, Drug/Alchohol abuse, Psychological & Emotional abuse

My Thoughts
I completely regret not reading this sooner! I've had an ARC copy of this mid January and for one reason or another never picked it up. But holy cow did this book take me by surprise! I was completely blown away by this story.

First - if you have the chance/ability, I highly recommend picking up the audiobook for this! It has a full cast for all the interviews/multimedia portions and I was blown away by the production quality. Hands down of the best audiobooks I've ever listed to. The audio enhances the story and brings each character and interview to life.

What I loved most about this book was how layered and engaging the story was. This book weaved so much into a seemingly simple mystery novel. There was commentary on bullying, abuse, racism, and so much more. But it's inclusion was so seamless yet impactful. Holly Jackson is an incredible writer and I plan to read absolutely everything the release.

From page one, this story gripped me. I was pulled in not only by the plot and mystery but by the intricate and vast array of characters as well. Every character in here was extremely flawed but so realistic. You know people like each person in here. The plot was always moving and every sentence, scene, and interview was important. I flew through this, desperate to discover the conclusion!

One of the signs of an amazing mystery/thriller to me isn't my inability to guess the twist, but my never once contemplating theories. I was so invested and engaged with this story I never had a moment to sit back and guess whodunit. I was in the story, anxiously watching it all unfold.

Overall this story blew me away. I'm so glad the author wrote more in this world because I'm desperate to be back with these characters! Holly Jackson is definitely an author I plan to watch in the future, I could very well see them being a new all-time favorite author of mine. Read this book! You will not be disappointed.