Disclaimer: This review reflects my personal experience and opinion with the book "Kill Joy." It is important to note that I did not read "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" before attempting to read this prequel.. While I respect the effort put into creating any piece of literature, I regretfully could not finish reading this particular book. Please note that reading preferences may vary, and this review is solely based on my own tastes.

"Kill Joy" by Holy Jackson promised to be a thrilling and suspenseful novel, but unfortunately, it fell drastically short of my expectations. The premise seemed intriguing, and I initially had high hopes for an engaging and captivating story. However, after struggling through the first few chapters, I decided to abandon the book altogether.

I must emphasize that my lack of familiarity with "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" may have influenced my perception of "Kill Joy." Consequently, I may have missed out on crucial references, character connections, or overarching themes that could have enhanced my reading experience. However, as a standalone work, "Kill Joy" did not manage to hold my interest or convince me to continue.

Holly Jackson has done it again. This was a great little story to revisit the characters without a new case. It was nice to see Pip before she started her crime solving.

this was such a fun little prequel moment! it was nice to see pip and her friends just hanging out and having fun, no actual murders. there wasn't really any character development or a super strong plot, but that was about what i expected from it.

Huge Holly Jackson fan, so this was exciting to be approved for I felt like it was a good follow up to a good girls guide to murder and I definitely would recommend if you like her first books.

4 stars!

This prequel to AGGTM series was so cute. I loved the murder mystery party setting and it was fun to try and solve the "murder" along with Pip. It was also nice to see the group in a less stressful setting - especially after the events of the last book because omg - and it reminded me of how much I love Pip and how I can't wait to reread this series again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I finally gave in and read this series and Kill Joy is just novella perfection. Pip is one of my fave ya characters (cant wait for the show) and this book was perfect.

I am a big fan of the good girls guide to murder books. I love the character of Pip and I was excited to read more about her!

This is the. Prequel to the first book in the series. The theme is a murderer mystery party, but it really sets up Pips capstone project in book one. It gives you a little more background on Sal & Andie.

It was a fun and quick read. I really enjoyed it.

This was super fun and short. I'm happy to know that I will love the main character. I loved the game and slight mention of what's to come in the first full novel. I really enjoyed my time and I can't wait to get to more of this authors books.

Great quick read! Love the insight into the characters and story!! Wish it was longer but I know it’s a novella

Kill Joy did the trick in giving me reunion with a character I once loved, but thought was done: Pippa Fitz-Amobi. The best aspect of the story was that in it, Pippa was pre-podcast-career, so she was not yet hurt or jaded by the events of the murders and crimes she would eventually document. I am sure I am not alone in being disappointed by the ending and underwhelmed by the mystery itself. I mean, it sounded fun to go along with Pippa to a Murder Mystery dinner, but it was not a very compelling story. That said, I did enjoy the novella and would always be welcome to spending time with Pippa again. As a die-hard fan of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Kill Joy was pretty tame, but enjoyable.

I just finished ‘Kill Joy’, a short ‘prequel’ to ‘A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder’. This novella takes place over one night, as Pip (the main character from AGGGTM) participates in a murder mystery dinner party with her friends.

I found this novella to be distinctly okay. It was a straightforward, quick read, but in my opinion, it’s probably only worth picking up if you were super obsessed with AGGGTM and only care about getting some extra content involving the characters. As someone who just enjoyed AGGGTM a medium amount, I was fairly underwhelmed. The main problem IMO was that the story seemed to lack any real stakes (unlike AGGGTM). I expected it to be a little more exciting, given that it's being marketed as a thriller/mystery, but the only real excitement here came in the form of bait-and-switches like: “Pip was scared! There was a man’s shadow in the window!…But it was just her friend”. In sum: I don’t regret having read this novella, but it’s not one that will stick with me.

Though I loved the good girls guide to murder series this novella just didn’t hit the same. It felt slow which was odd for a short book. I’m dnfing for now

3.2 /5
Anxiety .5/5
Spice 0/5
Borrow (buy bargain borrow or burn)

Up until the end this was a solid 2.5 for me
If it wasn’t so short, I would’ve totally DNFd.
It just felt bland, boring, and unnecessary. I might have read the out of order (this is the first book I’ve read in the series) so maybe that’s it?
Idk I’m still planning on reading the rest of the series though.

Yes, yes, yes!!!!! I absolutely adored this book. She really can tell a story. I love the way this one keeps you excited- you just want to keep turning pages.

I really enjoy Holly Jackson's fast-paced Good Girls series. I have recommended it to my highs chool students. and all have really enjoyes it, as well. I plan to recommend this title to them, too. I will purchase a copy for the classroom library.

i love any chance i get to see queen pip and the gang but this just didn’t feel very necessary to me. i think going back in time before pip is the girl we know now was cool since we got to see how her magical brain works!! the mystery was fun to follow but ultimately a bit hollow. not a must-read, but if you want something quick and familiar this is here!

LOVE this series and loved getting a peek behind the curtain at how everything began. I wish we had a novella to tell us how the story ended though!!! I want an epilogue about Pip and Ravi.

Quick and entertaining read! Loved getting a backstory on Pip and how she came to choose her project. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a murder mystery game and this just made me wanna do it more. Even though nothing happened, I was still really on the edge of my seat and am definitely sleeping with a night light on because the scene in the basement creeped me out justttttt a bit 😂 so jealous of people that get to read this before the series now but thank you Holly for a last slice of Pip!

This was a fun little prequel novella and gave us a chance to see where Pip's mystery solving mind started. It was fun to revisit the characters and know where their lives were going before they did, but without any stakes of a real murder. I would definitely recommend for fans of the series.

Definitely not my favorite book in the series, but still just so fun to reunite with these characters and see where the idea for the podcast started. I didn’t like all the fake jump scares, but enjoyed all the chatter from the secondary characters.