While the Holly Jackson book “A Good Girls Guide to Murder” has been out for a while, Netflix just released a TV series about the teenage girl that solves the murder of Andie Bell. I have been wanting to read this book for a while, so when the series come out, I told myself to finish it before we return to fall classes. Well, this book turned out to be on the list of my favorites.
I’m going to base my review on different categories:
1. Mystery
2. Characters
3. Layout
Spoiler warning!
1. Mystery
Like I said before, I’m a person that is interested in watching things like true crime or crime TV shows, so not being able to guess the ending of this book was so fun to me! As I said, this review has spoiler warnings, so please read the book! The mystery leading to not only one murder but two was something that I didn’t see coming. Not only do we realize Sal’s innocence, but we find out there were two victims as well: Andie Bell and Sal Singh. The twists and turns kept the book very interesting. We find out who Andie truly was in her life, along with learning the lives of many other characters on the way.
2. Characters
Not only is the mystery of the murder in captivating, but so are the characters. First, I’ll talk about the main character, Pip. Pip is a motivated girl, focusing on her grades and essays to get into college. The book starts off by depicting Pip as your everyday high school student but slowly adds more to her character. She grows to care more and more about the case to the point of needing to find all the answers herself. The growth and drive of this character makes the reader attached to her investigation and her life as the main character. Next, we have Sal’s brother Ravi, and his journey of clearing his brother’s name. Not only is Ravi an amazing character with so much love for his family and brother, him and Pip’s relationship adds another dimension to the book. Lastly, we have Andie Bell. While she is the victim of the murder in town, her character seems to be one of the most interesting. As the book goes along, we get to dig deeper into her life and realize who she truly is.
3. Layout
The book’s story is incredible, but so is the layout of the book, including charts, maps and brainstorms of Pip’s investigation. This layout allows the reader to understand Pip’s plan and put themselves in the story, trying to connect the dots. I feel it makes the book so much better when you can put yourself in the character’s shoes!
I really love this book! There are two other books in the series, so I’ll have to check them out! If you are a mystery and book lover like me, this is definitely a must read!