I received an e-arc of this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
5 stars
This book kept me intrigued & guessing right up until the end. It is compelling & written so well & the characters are done so well & the plot was carried out so well. It is definitely a new favorite of mine. I'm so glad I read this book. I think it will be a series & if that's true, I can't wait to read the next book(s). I was worried for some of the characters & how it would end. I can definitely say I did not see the twists or the ending coming at all. I was shocked. I recommend this to everyone looking for a good, twisty, shocking thriller. I couldn't stop reading when I started.

This book was fantastic! I'm still thinking about it almost two weeks after finishing it. I can't believe this is a first-time author.

This was a really good true crime/thriller for the YA crowd. Most of the time they have the tendency to jump the gun near the end, and while it got pretty dramatic in the last few chapters, it didn't get TOO unrealistic. If you liked the book Sadie you will like this, but that's not really a fair comparison because these two books are pretty different. There are also some similarities to the podcast Serial, so if you were a fan of listening to that you'll also enjoy this book.

Great mystery, great characters, some good twists, and a satisfying ending.

Okay I see you Holly Jackson! I adored this debut mystery novel so much and I have been recommending it to everyone. It literally kept me guessing and trying to figure out the killer the entire time. It was very hard to put down because it was just that good.

Pippa has to do a senior capstone project for her final year in high school and she decides she is going to solve a murder. Five years ago Sal Singh committed suicide after admitting to the murder of his girlfriend Andi Bell but this does not sit right with Pippa so she sets out to prove Sal’s innocence and find out what really happened.

We have a roller coaster of a story that will leave you hanging. As a debut novel a few things “annoyed” me I guess we will say. Some of the information provided and characters I felt were overkill and not necessary. Some of the things that happened were a little far fetched and one scene was a complete copy of I Still Know What you Did Last Summer. Overlooking these little things though is easy because this book was still brilliant.

Holly Jackson is now an “auto buy” author for me and I look forward to finding out what she is working on next. Id love to see a continuation of Pippa’s mystery solving abilities.

This is all I can say without giving away any spoilers so add this to your TBR!

Hands down one of the best YA Fiction books of 2020. Maybe that’s a strong statement when it’s only March, but I could not put this book down. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson was so interesting and had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out this murder. When I thought I had it, I was quickly reminded I did not.

I have never heard of Holly Jackson, and that’s because this was her debut novel. What a lucky writer she is because her debut novel is going to be a best seller. Mark my words. From the start, Jackson’s writing drew me in with a vice like grip and didn’t let go. The storyline was unique and fresh. Her characters were interesting and mysterious, causing me to want to read more about them. I loved her choice in main character. Pip was smart, witty, quick thinking, and all around entertaining to read. I loved her personality and the way she connected with most people she encountered in the book. She was likable and I found myself hoping she would figure out this mystery murder from her home town.

Jackson knows how to write a twist! I thought I had it all figured out multiple times during this book, but I was sorely mistaken. Every time you thought you were close, Jackson threw up an explanation or a twist that had me eagerly turning the page to want to what was going to happen next.

I cannot say enough great things about this book. I read it in less than a day and it’s almost 400 pages. One of the best YA/Teen Mystery/Suspense novels of the year, if not the decade! Not just for teens, though. Anyone who loves a good mystery/crime novel will love A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I insist you pick it up and read it! You will not be disappointed.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. It had such a great mystery and it wasn't easy to figure out the ending! It reminded me a lot of Truly Devious. The characters all had their secrets that were revealed slowly and kept you wanting more. I really look forward to more from this author.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Wow!!! I really loved this book!! YA Thrillers have certainly come a long way since I was the age they were marketed towards, that's for sure! I can easily see this one appealing to adults like me, too! Pippa is a seventeen year-old senior in her CT high school, looking to get early admission to Columbia. For her senior capstone project, she turns her focus and investigation skills to try to find the real truth behind her small town's biggest scandal - an apparent teen murder/suicide. Pippa suspects that the police may have the facts wrong, and though it's been five years, she starts digging along with the brother of the alleged murderer. Soon, their digging begins to uncover new leads.

I really loved the multimedia approach here - it works so well! And the writing itself - the prose, the setting of the scenes and the actually hilarious banter between friends and family had me laughing out loud, too! It's just wonderful! What an amazingly impressive debut!! I laughed, I ugly-cried (I couldn't stand the part with Barney... that totally gutted me - especially in light of our own family drama just a short time ago). And though this is slated as the first book in a series, it doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything. This is a complete and satisfying read. And I just love these characters, so I really can't wait for the sequel!! I just loved this!

And I really appreciate the friendships here. I also really liked the relationship between Pippa and Ravi. The book is set in America, but the author's British roots do peek through in a few places with turns of phrase and dialogue. This is a bit distracting, but it doesn't detract from the book. I also really loved the plot - the book feels almost interactive as the reader gets a chance to solve it along with Pippa. There were definitely a few clues that I felt impatient waiting for her to catch up on, but honestly I completely and totally loved this one - I stayed up WAY too late to finish it and I just can't wait for the sequel!

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book and find out how it ended. I did guess the murderer from the beginning but the twists and turns to get there made me second guess my assumptions. Pip is a Veronica Mars type character and I liked her sidekick Ravi. I'm glad their romance didn't unfold during the murder mystery especially as there was a bit of an age difference with her being in high school.. I need to know more about her best friends and wish they were more than just background characters. A well-written and fast-paced story that sucked me in from the first page.

4.98

Full of twists and turns that would leave you wanting for more.

Finding innocence for someone who was proven guilty in the past is a hard thing to do especially without unnecessary evidence being provided towards you. Pippa, the main character of the story, ventured into the great unknown of the murder mystery to solve a case that everyone in their town has given up on. With the help of someone, they were able to figure out with clues that they were able to find from the people around them.

I enjoyed this book and I've been looking for a nice murder mystery book and this one would be in my top favorites of this year. Thank you, Holly Jackson, for writing this wonderful murder mystery that I was hooked on for a while.

I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for providing me the advance reader copy for this book. And I can't wait for more.

An entertaining mystery for fans of Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious or Karen McManus' One of Us is Lying. I figured out part of the mystery, but still wanted to keep reading because the story intrigued enough to want to find out the rest. Looking forward to the next installment.

What a great story.
I love the way this author has created a mystery that needs to be untangled (which makes the cover a perfect fit).
This is the perfect fictional companion to the true crime podcasts and documentaries that are currently making headlines.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder follows Pippa Fitz-Amobi as she looks into a cold case that happened five years ago in her hometown for her Capstone Senior Project. Pippa researches the murder of a young girl, Andie Bell, whom everyone believes was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh. Little does Pippa know that the more she discovers, the less everything makes sense and the more risk she puts herself in to figure out the truth.

I was really intrigued by the plot and it very much did deliver. Pippa is a very likable character. She's very intelligent although, like most teens, she can be very naive at times. At the start, she did have limited resources since her teacher did warn her against contacting the victim's family or close friends. So it made me wonder how is she going to solve one of the most tragic things to have happened in her small town. The more Pippa discovered, the deeper it got. There were times I found myself thinking, "is it this person? It has to be! Wait, no it must be this person!" or (*excuse my language) "what in the fuck does this have to do with that?" This book definitely had me on my toes the entire time, but in the end, Jackson was able to pull it all together somehow. Although, there are small baby plot holes that can easily be overlooked, but after all there is another book in the making so maybe they will be answered then. When I did find time to read, I read it chunks at a time, so it's a pretty quick read.

What I found interesting is that the author used multiple forms of telling the story. For example, for the most part Jackson wrote in 3rd person, but also included "official" documents, interviews, emails, texts, and Pippa's log entries for her project. I love this and I thought it made the plot more interesting than just reading it from 3rd point of view. This may not be for everyone, but it is neat.

Overall, I thought this book has a great premise and executed it really well. It was very intricate, detailed, and well planned out without being too overwhelming. I would highly recommend this.

First of all, thank you so much Netgalley giving me the opportunity to live my best Nancy Drew life.

Mysteries are hard to impress me with. I either end up DNF'ing them or predicting the ending two chapters into the book. In this instance, I honestly had a different prime suspect every chapter just like Pip did. This book did a wonderful job of balancing humor, darkness, and a smidge of romance (thank god not overshadowing the plot AT ALL). There were times I had to stop reading because I was honestly creeped out by what was happening.

It was so easy to be sucked into the plot because it was a Classic Whodunnit in a modern-day setting. I really really enjoyed the pacing and I am crossing my fingers there is a sequel at some point! Shout out to Pip and Ravi aka Sherlock and Watson.

THIS BOOK WAS SO FREAKING GOOD. Seriously. Best YA thriller I have read in years. Kara Thomas levels of great. The hype is real: if you are a thriller fan PICK UP THIS BOOK.

I mean, where do I start? This is basically a YA take on Serial, a premise that could easily go astray given everyone is trying it, but I really liked the both the parallels and the differences. There's no podcast, but the famous case in Pip's town's past is essentially Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed, only with no body discovered of the girl, and the boyfriend/suspect isn't in jail. I will avoid further details so you can go in unspoiled. I'm glad I went into this book totally pure! Five years later, Pip picks "solving the murder of Andie Bell" as her capstone project (a thing I went along with but admittedly this is the one thing in converting this book from British to American that I did find funny), and she teams up with Sal's brother Ravi to investigate. The book is split between Pip's Capstone notes and interview transcripts, which are in first person, and third person narrative sections that propel the story forward.

My GOD the voice in this one. It jumped off the page. I accidentally buddy read this with a friend (we started it the same day and read it at the same speed!), and we kept remarking to each other how easy it was to read--vivid writing with bright, specific characters. It was specific and funny, but not too try-hard. The mystery threads were SO WELL woven; we were constantly guessing, sending each other theories, spotting clues. There are a lot of expertly laid clues as well as red herrings that didn't feel cheap. The secrets Pippa uncovers about Andie were both shocking but also not, and did a great job to "dirty up" her character and deepen the pool of people who might have killed her. Including her boyfriend. Dun dun dunnnnnnn.

The ending delivered. Again, I'll avoid details because spoilers, but it was that perfect blend of my guessing some things and not others, and everything coming together nicely. It's an expertly crafted thriller. I don't know if adult thriller fans would want to crossover for this one, but YA thriller fans HAVE to read it. There's a new name in the game, and it is Holly Jackson.

This book was a very fast paced thriller that really kept me guessing. I loved the format of both the third person narrative as well as Pippa's capstone project sprinkled in. It was a very twisty and intriguing story, although sometimes I found Pippa’s behavior questionable.

I started this late Thursday night – like 8pm. I read it until my husband begged me to go to bed because the kindle light was bothering him. I finished Friday at around 6pm. And I worked 8-5 on Friday. I read it ALL DAY AT WORK. Luckily we were all caught up. But I could not put this down.

This has so many true crime podcasts vibes I felt like I was listening to one. Going about the case backwards. Finding suspects, finding clues, interviewing people associated with the crimes, the players, the suspect, and the victim. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is told in present tense, with bits of Pip’s senior project about the crime thrown in. I loved that formatting and really thought it brought a lot to the story.

The relationships in this book really stuck out to me, too. Pip and her dad were really close, which is something I don’t see a lot in YA novels. My dad and I have always been close, so it was nice to see that! She also has a cute relationship with her brother and her dog. Her mom didn’t make many appearances, but it seemed she had a good relationship with her as well.
Pip had many friends that you saw throughout the story and how their friendship changes as she is investigating.
My favorite was with Pip and Ravi. At first he wants nothing to do with her, then they become friends and it makes my heart soar.

The investigation was very well thought out. The clues were interesting, but it didn’t give everything away. There’s even a murder board! Who hasn’t wanted to make one of those?! The ending KILLED ME. I didn’t expect it and it just blew my mind.

I just felt like I grew so close to Pip. I can’t wait to see the next leg of her and Ravi’s journey in Good Girl, Bad Blood releasing April 30!

Sometimes, you plunge into a book with low expectations or perhaps, expectations a kind of wariness at its genre. That was me when I requested this book. That was me before I knew that this would be the book that would pull me out of a reading slump with its complex plot, and some lovable and genuine characters. The protagonist Pippa was the first draw for me, her dialogue never lacked wit and her thoughts were never dull. Hidden amongst those layers was a teenage girl with ideas and opinions on everything, and she felt so lovable in her quest to expose the truth of a murder that has haunted her hometown for years.

Her strength and her conviction were more than enough to make this book a four-star read, trust me on that. But in addition to a protagonist who makes sure the crime and mystery never get dull, the plot itself is intricate enough that you will never guess the truth of what happened until you are on that very last page. The wrinting chops that it would take to pull off that amount of complexity in a YA mystery book are enough to warrant my excitement about anything Holly Jackson writes hereafter!

In addition to those things, POC REPRESENTATION! This was possibly the first time I found a male Indian American character in YA, and he was written delightfully well: layers and layers of reality mixed with a personality that was not only just dry wit, but all heart. By the end of the book, you'll be rooting for this supporting character. (Keep your eyes on this one!)

Holly Jackson created a book that had everything a mystery should, and then she made sure that she added amazing characters that make you hold onto the story even at night, turning onto the next page because you can't leave this secret alone.

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Children's and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

“I welcome you to Fairview. But a word of advice: be careful who you trust while you’re here.”

With this sage advice from author Holly Jackson, the rollercoaster ride of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder begins. Pip is a straight-A student who wants to get a jump on her senior capstone project, but her subject is maybe a bit unexpected: she hopes to discover the truth behind a girl’s disappearance from Pip’s hometown. With this goal in mind, Pip befriends Ravi, the brother of the suspected murderer, and begins to dig for clues that have lain dormant for years.

Heavily echoing the first season of the award-winning podcast Serial, Jackson takes readers on a wild ride that celebrates Pip’s smart girl persona while keeping readers guessing about the clues surrounding this cold case. I’ll admit to being frustrated at times, particularly when Pip makes decisions that seem so counter-intuitive; however, these moments left me with an almost pleasant sense of exasperation, akin to when characters run upstairs instead of out of the door in horror films. The ending also felt a bit far-fetched, but I was so enjoying the thrill ride of the entire reading experience that it did not detract from my general enjoyment of the story.

With A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson creates an easy-to-fall-for YA whodunnit that will keep readers on their toes. A strong recommendation for all school libraries, this one is sure to be a popular title, particularly where true-crime stories or Karen M. McManus books fly off the shelves.

I'm rating this 3.5/5 stars and thank you to Netgalley for the copy.

When it comes to the actual mystery, I had a fun time trying to solve it. I like the format of the book as it jumps between Pip's daily life and her findings, which are written in journal entries and recordings. It's a nice change-up and got through more tedious information quickly, especially interviews.

Pip herself is a fine main character but there's not much to her character aside from being a "workaholic" and becoming obsessed with the case. She even kind of mentions it in the book, that she doesn't know how to describe herself and I would agree. But there were times she made stupid decisions and I couldn't believe either no consequences came of it, or something bad happened and she wouldn't tell anyone.

And the side characters, like her family and friends, don't get a lot of time to develop if you're looking for that, but she does form a friendship (and potential romance) with Sal's brother, Ravi, who also gets involved with the case. Ravi is a pretty likable character and brings some humor to the story.

Overall, I think most people would enjoy this book.

Though I've only read a handful of thrillers, I've come to know exactly what I do and don't like in them. For me, this checked every box. It has amateur detectives, past mysteries, and a boatload of lies and secrets ready to be exposed. 

The story starts really strong, and immediately drew me in and had me invested in the mystery of Andie's disappearance. The story markets itself as being addictive, and I couldn't agree more with that. In the two days I read this I was taking every spare moment to grab my kindle and read this because I wanted so badly to figure out what actually happened the night this girl was supposedly murdered. 

I had so much fun making predictions about the different characters involved and rethinking the events of that night as more and more clues were discovered.

What I think this story did really well is that it doesn't give the reader the facts of that mystery and then create a completely wild explanation that only kind of fits the facts. I've read plenty of thrillers that do this, and it always ruins the book if the thriller ending is impossible to guess. 

For me, at least, when I read thrillers I want the ending to make me think, "Of course that's what happened. How didn't I see it?" Not, "Where did this even come from?" 

In this, the reveals that are made as the story progresses fit really well with what the reader has learned thus far, and the explanation for the night Andie disappeared doesn't feel forced at all.

Going over my notes I took as I was reading, I see that for a lot of the twists I called them ahead of time, but like just before they were revealed. These twists weren't necessarily obvious, but they were easier to guess if, like me, you take thrillers way too seriously.

There were a few things I was surprised by, and even the things I had guessed created new twists of their own. So reading this never felt boring because there was always another sub-mystery to solve.

While the mystery in this was fantastic, the characters were not great. Because this is a thriller, what I look for is a good mystery, so I don't care as much about character development in this type of story. But this wouldn't be a book review if I didn't mention how bland the characters are.

For one, there are a lot of side characters that realistically could be written out without changing the story as these characters served little to no purpose. As this is book one in a series, I'm hoping they existed in this book to lay groundwork for future installations where they may be more present—and not just for the sake of having a big friend group.

The only characters that are semi-developed are Pip, her new friend Ravi, and interestingly enough Andie, who we never actually see in the story. I would say Andie was actually the most developed character, even over Pip. I liked Pip as a character well enough, but she was a pretty generic teen girl protagonist. Beyond solving this mystery and liking homework, she didn't really have a personality. 

Pip could be frustrating at times. She made a lot of more-than-questionable decisions, and although I could see the purpose for them and these decisions weren't even condoned by her, there were multiple times where she could have gone about finding something in a much easier way than what she tried to. 

There was an incredibly minor romance in this, which actually bothered me because for once, I wanted the romance in the thriller to be more prominent. Pip and her love interest were so cute together, and you can forsee the romance from the very beginning. Although we see their friendship develop, we don't see their actual relationship at all. But like... I wanted to. Again though, this is something I'm hoping was saved for the sequel. 

Other than the lacking characters, my biggest issue with this is the dreaded over-explained-thriller-ending. The last few twists in this story suffer from long-winded monologues where the characters involved explain in extraneous detail how and why they did what they did.

I get that some level of explanation is needed to tie everything together for the reader, but there's a point where the explanation becomes almost insulting. Readers are capable of drawing incredibly obvious connections and do not need to be beaten over the head with something that is already very clear.

For my recommendation, I actually have a show instead of a book. While reading this, I was constantly reminded of Pretty Little Liars. Everything from the small town full of secrets, to the complex mean girl character who disappeared mysteriously gave me serious PLL vibes. I can't say whether this is comparable to the book series because I've never read it, but it reminds me very much of the earlier seasons of the show. So, if you liked this maybe check out the show, and vice versa. 

I am eagerly anticipating the release of AGGGTM's sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood, which will be released in April 2020. Be on the lookout for that review because it will be coming.

A really interesting book with a mystery that is hard to solve. I enjoyed the characters and plot, though in the end it felt over-complicated. I am also a little concerned that some of the actions taken by the main character are never addressed as wrong or dangerous. They make sense in the story but shouldn't be portrayed as harmless just because they lead to a discovery of truth.