Cover Image: Kill Joy

Kill Joy

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Member Reviews

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this short murder mystery novella! It perfectly leads into A Good Girls Guide to Murder with all the same intriguing aspects. The theme of a 1920’s murder mystery party with the small group of friends held my attention the entire time and I found myself right along with them trying to solve Reginald’s murder! It’s definitely a must read for fans of the series!

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Thank you NetGalley!

I love this series and this small novella was so much fun to read especially as a fan! Holly jackson’s writing style is awesome as always and the plot was so intriguing and well done! It was so easy to read in couple hours. And I recommend to everyone who love this series!

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"Kill Joy" was an absolutely delightful novella that brought us Pippa Fitz-Amobi's "origin story" prior to the events of the "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" trilogy. Here we see Pippa, at the tail end of her junior year, reluctantly attending a murder mystery party when she'd rather be home deciding on the topic of her senior capstone project.

Throughout the evening we see many of the characters from the original trilogy and get a peek into why the Sal Singh/Andie Bell case was so pervasive in the town's collective consciousness. It was really interesting to see the detective instincts come alive in Pip and to see the thought process that led to the selection of her capstone project, and ultimately the Good Girl's Guide to Murder podcast.

I am sad to see that this will be our last story featuring Pip, but this was such a great story to go out on! I recommend "Kill Joy" and the entire GGGTM series to fans of Maureen Johnson's Stevie Bell books and Karen McManus. Special thanks to NetGalley and to Delacorte Press for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "Kill Joy" in exchange for an unbiased review. An absolute delight from start to finish!

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I thoroughly LOVED this!! Wow I missed these characters so much!! Seeing Pip solve a murder mystery in one night was brilliant and I adored the twist at the end. It had all the tension that the rest of the series promises.

Reading this before the AGGTM would make sense but for me after reading the whole entire trilogy this was a perfect opportunity to revisit this cast. Holly builds such a fun atmosphere while adding in some scary moments to have you hooked. The mixed media element was perfect and I loved how it was formatted into the book.

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I loved this book! What a great prequel to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It was a short and sweet novella but gave a little more background to Pip and her life. It also sets up the storyline in AGGGTM. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

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A quick and fun YA read...a 'prequel' of sorts. This also includes Girl's Guide which I've already read so a very quick read! Despite it's brevity, the author is able to paint vividly the cast of characters.. definitely encourage you to read the rest of her books as such a great premise!

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I loved the trilogy so I had really high hopes for this novella. I LOVE IT!! Holly never misses. I loved how it gave backstory into what led Pip into picking her senior project. The murder mystery party was so fun to read about.

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Have you ever done a murder mystery game?

I haven’t but it sounds so fun and right up my alley. There’s a theater here that used to do a murder mystery dinner but that stopped due to Covid and I don’t think it started back up.

Pippa is not in the mood for her friend’s murder mystery party – especially since it means dressing up in traditional garb from the 1920’s. However, once the game begins, she finds herself drawn in and trying to figure it all out before the game is up.

This was a fun novella of only around a hundred pages. It the same cast of characters from The Good Girls Guide to Murder and set right before Good Girl, Bad blood with this one being a prequel of sorts. I haven’t read either of these, but this novella was a fun introduction for me. Even though this one was short, it only took place over a couple hours, so it worked. It was well developed and thought out. The writing was on point and worked wonderfully. I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to read the others in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley (@netgalley), the author, Holly Jackson, and the publisher, Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I love holly jackson! and I was so excited to get this arc from net galley! it’s a prequel to a good girls guide to murder and basically sets up how Pip chooses her senior project!

I loved the theme of a dinner murder mystery with her friends before summer started I was truly invested in it as much as pip was even if the ending had a slight twist! the party felt like they were solving a real murder! the detail holly jackson puts in her writing is truly amazing! this was a super easy fast paced read!!!

available 2/28/2023!!

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I'm super excited to have the opportunity to finish the whole A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series! Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for allowing me to read this novella!

Summary: This story is before Pip's investigating / podcast days. It's simply Pip hanging out with her best friends one evening playing a murder mystery game. This is what inspires Pip into loving investigation work, and it gives her the idea to use the Sal Singh/Andie Bell investigation as her senior capstone project.

The murder mystery was very fun! It makes me want to do one with my friends. The ambiance of the evening, music, weather, and other elements added to the creepiness of the game. If you are a true fan of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, then you will appreciate this novella; hanging out with Pip and her friends solving a mystery.

I give this story 4 stars. I really enjoyed it and appreciated the opportunity to read this!

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy to read and review. All of these thoughts and comments are my own.

I really enjoyed this story. I think it really helps establish Pip and her character. I loved the murder mystery game they played and how well put together this book was to set in place the rest of the series, especially with how it ended.

4 stars.

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I'm familiar with the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, but I've never read it. I might have to now. This was slow to start. It was difficult for me to learn the multiple characters' names, and even more difficult for me to learn the cast of characters they were playing. By the time that all began to make sense, I was sucked into the murder mystery. Pip is a hoot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

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If you enjoyed A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, this will be a must read!

Kill Joy acts as a prequel of sorts to the series. It takes place over the course of one evening as Pip and her friends play a murder mystery game and serves it purpose setting up the premise for book one. The characters are familiar and well written as always, with their personalities intact from the early books and their actions fitting perfectly with who they are.

It was fun to spend an hour with Pip and her friends again,

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s- Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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i absolutely loved revisiting the world of agggtm and getting to meet some of my fav characters again in this prequel!

the prequel takes place right before the first book, a good girl’s guide to murder. maybe a week or two before! it also gives us an insight as to how the series starts off, like the ending of the prequel helped understand how book 1 came to be!

i also loved how we got some foreshadowing in the book for the first and second book in the series in small and big ways that definitely aren’t easy to find unless you’ve read the series before the prequel!

i also loved the vibe of the book, with it being set as a murder mystery party, since it made me try and figure out the mystery as well with pip and the others, even though the book is less than 150 pages!

honestly a great prequel, and the characters stayed true to who they were and what their voice was like in the series, which i was worried about before starting the book!

i highly recommend checking this prequel out if you enjoyed the series!

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This is the perfect bite-sized mystery on its own, and as a prequel novella to the rest of the series, it's a fantastic "introduction" to the characters, the story we follow in the first book, and shows what Pip's life was like before solving crime and expertly kicking butt. I've always wanted to go to a murder mystery party like this, so it was cool to live vicariously through Pip for the night!

My radio review of this novella will be broadcast at 3:30 PM, Central Time this Friday, January 27th at 88.7 FM (WPCD).

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A murder mystery party? What could be more fun?! Taking place in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Universe, it’s a novella that I would say takes place before the series so you don’t need to read the books before diving into this one. Pip is not in the mood for a party, especially not a murder mystery party being thrown by her friend but she can’t say no. So Pip is now going to a party dressed in a 1920′s fancy dress and once the games begin she is sucked in. Pip starts playing the game but becomes very invested and now she has to figure out who the killer is. The more she becomes sucked in the more she’s starting to realize that this isn’t the only case she wants to solve. This was a fun one off for the series, it kind of serves as a prequel to the rest of the books but you don’t need to read the rest of the books to enjoy this one.This is a fun read for fans of Clue or for murder mysteries!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

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Kill Joy follows Pip who attends her friends 1920's murder mystery party. Pip finds herself drawn to the make believe case and is determined to solve it.

I loved the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. I would highly suggest those if you have not read them. So I was super excited to read this novella. I will say you do not have to read that series to read this one. Because it is a side story to the books. However, I am not sure if this book takes place before, during, or after the events in the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. But that did not take away from the story. If you are looking for a good murder mystery story to read I would suggest this one. If you have read the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series you will love this one. It was also a really easy and fast read.

Thank you Holly Jackson, Random House, and NetGalley for the ARC of this.

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Eek! Was so excited to finally get my hands on this one. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down! I love Pip so much. Not only do I want to be her best friend - I want to be her. Loved the plot surrounding a murder mystery dinner party. Perfect set up for a prequel. I like that this takes place before the other novels, so it shows her intrigued nature and thorough investigative skills. It’s interesting (since I’ve read the others) knowing how some of these character’s storylines will unfold. I also liked the way the notebook pages of the game were intertwined so you could read as if you were playing Pip’s character. I’ve done a murder mystery party, but this one was much better than the one I participated in! Also, love the subtle set up for her capstone project.

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This is a fun, quick read. It's a murder dinner party with your favorite characters from the Good Girls Guide to Murder series. If you are a fan of the series this is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this in advance of publication.

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When I realized that the whole book was the murder mystery game I was a little worried that it would get stale by the end. But it kept my attention the whole time. It was really interesting seeing that Pip had the detective mindset even before the first book. If you liked all three books in the A Good Girls Guide series you will definitely like this one too.

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