And we’re back in the Good Girls Guide to Murder world with Kill Joy! This prequel novella follows Pip as she joins a 1920s themed dinner game with friends at Reginald Remy’s house (aka Conner’s house) to help solve a “murder.” As the group works to solve the murder (a la Clue), Pip becomes more and more engrossed with the characters and mystery. Which leaves her (and the readers wondering), is this the start of a new obsession? Could this lead to her solving another murder (or two)?

I normally don’t enjoy novellas, but I actually really enjoyed this one! It was short, but it packed a powerful punch. It was fast paced, exciting, and filled with intrigue. I was right on the edge of my seat as Pip scoured the clues at this murder mystery party. It honestly made me want to go back and reread the entire series all over again, and maybe host a murder mystery party of my own.

Holly Jackson is one of my favorite thriller authors and this novella is definitely deserving of praise and a place on your shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House for the advanced reader copy!

A prequel to the AGGGTM series - Pip and her friends attend a murder mystery party! Lighthearted and fast, I had a hard time remembering the characters that each of her friends were supposed to be (although there is a list at the beginning). Still, I enjoyed it like I have all of the other AGGGTM series but definitely not needed to enjoy the rest of it, I don't think it really added anything to the series.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

after finishing AGGGTM two years ago, I was so sad it was over and desperate to learn more about pip’s story - so I was absolutely delighted when I saw holly jackson’s latest novella in the series pop up!!

a fun and easy story, it was wonderful to be back in pip and ravi’s world! there wasn’t really any meat to the bones of the story, but as a novella, I didn’t really expect any different.

holly jackson’s writing is pure addiction and once I start one of her books, I CANNOT PUT IT DOWN! it’s a problem? but a good one to have 😅😅

while I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from pip’s actions in as good as dead, this one softened the blow a bit

a big thank you to hojo, netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: argentina malbec

I absolutely loved this series and was so excited to dive into this novella. Pip is as tough and strong as ever in this one. The setting of a murder mystery dinner was perfect for introducing Pip to crime and seeing how she solves a mystery. I loved how fast paced and full of action the story was. It also had the perfect ending to set up to the start of the series.

Kill Joy is the latest from Holly Jackson and is a prequel of The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. In this prequel, we are introduced to the character of Pip via a murder mystery game with her friends. Pip takes the mystery very seriously and is starting to hone her crime solving.

I read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder almost a year ago, and I really enjoyed it, but I am forgetting whether all of these friend characters make it into that book. I’m thinking most, if not all, do.

If you have been to a murder mystery, this novel unfolds much like those games: people are each given a character, there are several phases to the game where certain evidence should be revealed, and clues are dropped. As the reader is just following Pip’s perspective, the reader gets all of her character’s background information as well as sees the clues left for all participants as close to the original format as possible. Just like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, you can play along, which is immensely fun. The murder mystery takes some mental stamina, but it’s not impossible to figure out, which I enjoyed.

I only encountered one slight struggle with the book. There were seven characters, each with their real name and their character name in the murder mystery, which made fourteen names to keep track of. I had to write myself a little cheat sheet of their real name, character name, and how they were related to the deceased. It was a bit much to process right off the bat. If you had recently read about these characters in the rest of the series, it would likely be easier to keep track of all the names.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this novella and would recommend it for young adult and adult mystery readers alike!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

If you like Good Girls Guide to Murder, you'll love this mini foray into the ever intimidating mind of Pip. A fun night of friends, food, and murder and YA fun.

In this prequel to the Good girls guide to Murder Series follows Pippa, who along with her friends is invited to a murder mystery Party. There they are given clues and try to figure out who murder the fictional Reginald Remy. Will they find out how did it?

I Read all three books in the Triology and enjoyed them, so it was fun being back with these familiar characters. The idea of this novella was fun and implemented well. Short stories just aren’t my favorite, since we don’t have much time with characters.
If you want a quick read where you get to spend some more time with Pippa, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve always wanted to to participate in a murder mystery game so I absolutely loved the premise of this novella.
This was an excellent introduction to Pippa Fitz-Amobi and her competitive streak and a fun setup for the rest of the series.
I feel like Holly Jackson has a gift for writing realistic YA. A problem I often have with this genre is that it either feels too young or too old but she absolutely captures the high-school vibe without venturing into too adult or childish territory.
Some parts of the mystery did feel a bit contrived which is the only reason I knocked off 1 star.
This was a fun, quick read that I recommend to anyone who enjoyed the good girl’s guide to murder series or loves true crime!

This is a cute prequel to the GGGTM series. I enjoyed the murder mystery and the quick hit of "Pip." The characters were a bit flat, but I still enjoyed it and I know my GGGTM fans will want to read it as well.

5 stars

It was really cool to see Pip and her friends before the events of the AGGGTM series. It was also nice to see where Pip got the inspiration from and her thinking for the game.

This was such a good prequel! It did a lot to introduce Pip and show readers how her mind works. There was also some great set up for the rest series. I really enjoyed getting this extra insight on Pip and her friends!
I think it’s best to read this one after at least the first or second book though as it’s helpful to have more details from those stories.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love Pip and the three books she has starred in.
This book was a bit of a let down for me, but perhaps it’s because I had high expectations going into it. I think if you know what you are getting into when you read it then perhaps you will enjoy it more.
Kill Joy tells the story of what inspired Pip to do her capstone project exploring the truth about what happened to high schooler Andie Bell. It involves a night with friends having a murder mystery dinner party. Pip goes all out and gets very serious about trying to figure out the make believe murder mystery. This is where she learned that she has a passion for detective work and that she happens to be good at it. Without giving away too much, the ending describes the ultimate event that leads her to choosing her capstone project. It’s a nice prequel to the series and Pip’s personality shines through in this story, it just fell a little flat for me.

When A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder came out, I was obsessed. As the series progressed, our characters, who we had come to love, delved far away from who we thought they were. There was an abrupt shift and that in itself was a let down. I was hoping this novel would help me gain some understanding as to how the characters took such a shift, but rather I found it to be a a bit cheesy that cemented my original thoughts about the characters. I wish this prequel had come out after book 1, it would have been more well received on my end if that was the case. But knowing what I know and how this series ends, this book coming out post series makes it just lost in limbo.

This one was a 3 star for me, and I am shocked.

Honestly it was just ok and I LOVED the agggtm series waaayyyy too much. Pip was kind of unlikeable in this novella. 😓

but it was super fast paced, a really easy read, and I would recommend it if you like the agggtm series and want a little bit more of that world!

Thank you to Net Galley, Holly Jackson, and Random House for this advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review 💫

Kill Joy is perfect for die hard fans of the Good Girls Guide to Murder series. It follows Pip before the events of the first book at a murder mystery birthday party. But this time, the murder is part of a game. Several of her friends from the series are in attendance, most notably Cara, Conner, and Jamie. Readers will notice hints for plot lines to come in many places in the book. If you aren’t a huge fan of the series, I don’t think you would enjoy this book as much. Even as a big fan, I struggled to get through some of the chapters because of the pacing. People new to Holly Jackson: definitely start with AGGGTM, not this one. Come back to this after book two or three if you really love the characters.

PIPPA MY BELOVED. Pip Fitz-Amobi means the world to me because I literally grew up with her over the course of the pandemic. Pippa and I are one and the same in so many ways (minus the events of As Good As Dead). This was the perfect little fun lighthearted Pippa story to get back into her world without things getting too dark. I adored every second, and cannot recommend this book enough!

I was able to read this for free thanks to Net Galley, although that does not affect my opinion of the actual book. I absolutely love Holly Jackson and the series about Pippa, so as soon as I discovered this prequel novella, I was stoked. Because this was just a novella, it was pretty short and truthfully, I don’t think it was really necessary as it maybe mentioned one helpful thing about what would come in the next three books. It was fun to read about Pippa again though, and to take part in the little murder mystery party. There just wasn’t anything memorable about it.

We start this novella with a welcome letter, inviting our FMC to a murder mystery party and a short introduction to all of the suspects. As the story progresses we slowly get more information and secrets on everyone in attendance along with a number of scares along the way.

While this wasn't exactly what I expected, it sort've read like Knives Out, the murder mystery game. A great look at what started it all for Pip's senior project.

Thank you to Holly Jackson, NetGalley, and Random House for the eARC of Kill Joy!

AGGGTM is one of my favorite series of all time, so I was more than thrilled to have just a little more Pip in my life! Such a fun murder mystery party that leads right into why Pip chose Andie Bell’s case for her capstone project.

Overall, great and quick read! Highly recommend if you enjoyed the series.

As a fan Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, I was excited to finally read this prequel novella which I hadn't been able to get my hands on previously! A great one take novella featuring all of our favorite characters as they embark on a murder mystery game and gives us perspective into Pip's decision to use a certain muder case as the focus of her senior capstone project. This novella was short, but I loved being able to get a little peak of life prior to AGGTM for Pip and her friends. Definitely a fun read!