Title: As Good As Dead (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3)
Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: YA Mystery / Thriller
Publication Date: September 28th, 2021
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
“Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?
Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.
Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle . . .and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears. . . ” (Goodreads)
To say I am disappointed in this book would be an understatement. Although I gave it 3 stars, that was me being generous as the first 50% was thrilling. The last half just wasn’t it…I honestly skimmed through some of it because I didn’t like the direction of the plot and the character development that was happening. This last book is definitely the darkest of the three. It’s not a problem, but I just fail to understand that this is actually how it all went down.
Since this is the third book, there will be spoilers. You have been warned.
My frustration lies with Pip. She was a great character and I loved her in book one and two. In book two she started to understand that she had an obsession and it was unhealthy. It was like solving crimes was her fix. By the end of book two she witness a horrible thing and book three brings on PTSD and drug abuse. It sucked seeing Pip struggle through everything but it also made her human. It showed that she was vulnerable and even her morbid fascination wouldn’t be enough to subdue the pain. I don’t understand how all of that turned her into a killer and how every decision she made just didn’t feel like her anymore. It was a whole new character and I just didn’t like who she had become.
My first complaint is the killing of Jason Bell. Even though the author tried to take us off the scent, I knew it was him. I did like the suspense of it all though. I don’t care that she killed him but I do care about the way she went about it. To believe that she needed to dispose of the body and not call the police was dumb. I don’t get how she thought no one would believe her self-defense. That’s more believable than what actually transpired. She could have literally said that she got free and he came back as she was escaping and he tried to grab her so she killed him. The facts of her having Andie’s email and knowing where all of the trophies of his kills were was evidence enough to prove he was a bad guy. He even took her headphones as a trophy. To go on and get her friends involved was just dumb. I always liked Ravi but this book made him a lovesick idiot. I just couldn’t take it.
I don’t think its fair that she would frame someone her and many others didn’t like. The whole point of her podcast was to bring light to cases and find the real person to blame instead of the innocent ones who were. To bring in The Innocent Project and then blame someone for something they didn’t do because they were found not guilty of another crime is just not the way to go about getting justice. It made me feel like everything Pip was just gone. I really didn’t know this character at all.
One of the things I hate the most about books is an open-ended ending. I got no satisfaction out of this one. I seriously sat there and thought, “Is this really it?”. Obviously the reader can come to conclusions, but just spell it out for me!
What would I have liked to see instead of the killer instincts from Pip?
I would have liked more about her PTSD and the trial that was to come from Charlie Green. I would have liked to see her go through therapy and rely on her friends to help get her through the tough times. I would have liked to see her kick the habit. I would have liked to seen anything but something that still doesn’t make sense. The only thing that does make sense, even if it is small, is that I guess you could say it all goes back to the title of the first book and the name of series. We definitely got a good girl’s guide to murder even if we didn’t think it would go there.
Overall, this was good for the first 50% and the last half gets the axe from me. I could go on with my feelings about this one but I will rest my case as I don’t want this to get too long, lol. Would I still recommend the series? Yeah, I would. Book one and two are wonderful. I’d say skip this one, but you may end up liking it more than me. To each their own.
Title: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
TheGeekishBrunette 