Book Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood

Good Girl, Bad Blood

By Holly Jackson

Length: 416 pages

Genre: Young Adult (YA) Mystery, Crime Thriller, and True Crime

PLOT:

“Good Girl, Bad Blood” is the second book in the Good Girl’s Guide To Murder trilogy and the sequel to the book “A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder”.In the first book, Pippa Fitz-Amobi, the protagonist, successfully solves a five-year-old murder case of Andie Bell and releases a true crime podcast that goes viral. Despite her enormous success and popularity, Pip decides to leave her detective days behind. However, when someone close to her goes missing and the police refuse to act on it, she is forced to reverse her decision. The book also features a subplot that delves into the trial of Max Hastings from the previous book.

CHARACTERS:

Since the book is a sequel, it shows how the characters deal with the aftermath of Pip’s investigation in the first book. The characters are well developed and realistic. Pip is determined, persuasive, observant and highly likable. I liked that despite being a side character, Cara's coping with her dad’s arrest is dwelled on to a considerable extent. The author explores both the positives and negatives of Pip’s podcast and how people had varying opinions on it. Overall, the characters added depth to the story and made it more engaging to read.

WRITING STYLE:

The book is written from a third person perspective. It incorporates various contemporary elements like podcasts, interviews, pictures, case notes, messages and emails. The chapters are about 8-10 pages long and most of them end with a cliffhanger to maintain the suspense throughout this page-turner. Holly Jackson’s fast paced writing and constant twists kept me hooked. The writing was smooth and simple and it still left room for interpretation by the readers.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE FIRST BOOK:

AGGGTM is a classic whodunit whereas Good Girl Bad Blood is a mystery of a missing person. While the former centered on a cold case, the stakes are much higher in the latter. Personally, I enjoyed the first book more in comparison to the sequel because I prefer classic murder mysteries over other true crime stories. As a standalone, this book has an engrossing mystery but when compared to the first one, the thrill isn’t the same

OVERALL REVIEW

Overall Good Girl, Bad Blood is a fast read with an interesting plot and well written characters. The clues, the lies and the constant twists kept me at the edge of my seat. The final plot twist made my jaw drop and the ending left me speechless. In my opinion, this book had one of the most emotional climaxes in the trilogy. The characters really allow the readers to connect on an emotional level. It’s definitely worth a read if you enjoy YA mystery thrillers. I would definitely recommend this unputdownable book to anyone in a reader’s slump.

To me, this book is 4.5/5 stars