A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

I wasn’t going to say anything about this book, I was just going to chalk it up to the fact that I am a ✨30 year old lady✨ and I just don’t have it in me to enjoy many YA books anymore. (DISCLAIMER: I don’t think YA books are bad, well, some are, but if you enjoy them that’s okay!! I am not here to try to insult anyone for their favorite genre. They’re just not to my taste anymore.) And for the first 3rd of the book, I was pretty charmed by it and I enjoyed it. As a white lady with an unhealthy true crime obsession I mean, I get it. I liked the idea of a student doing her senior project on a local murder, not for the victim but for the framed boyfriend who was a person of color. I think this book did well on encapsulating that idea of small town mentality + systemic racism = case closed, we’ve seen that here IRL a disturbing amount. I think the author/MC was on the right track to being close to possibly addressing these issues but the mark was missed by a long shot and vaulted straight into white saviorism. My issues are just...Pip is highly unethical in her pursuit of the truth, she breaks the law in multiple ways (which include impersonating a CNN reporter and breaking and entering), she seems to have strong opinions of Andie sleeping with two older men when she was underage, once at age 15 and once again at age 17, but doesn’t acknowledge her hypocrisy in kissing a 20 year old man when she’s 17. Honestly I was really uncomfortable with the close relationship Pip seemed to have with Ravi in general, I don’t have time here to get into all of it but I didn’t like it. If only Ravi had been aged down, there was no need for him to be 20. Also this may just be the old and bitter part of me talking but... I don’t know, I just can’t enjoy books anymore where someone with no criminal law experience manages to solve a murder. I can’t do it anymore, I just can’t. I’m not saying it can’t happen, just that I don’t like the odds. And this book seems to faithfully follow every amateur sleuth trope there is, running off head first into dangerous situations with no protection plan in place and after being specifically told NOT to, being drugged and almost murdered themselves, receiving threatening notes and taking them as a sign to keep investigating, keeping secrets from those who could help because they don’t want to be discouraged or stopped from being a loose cannon. Pass. It’s a no from me. I can’t understand why there needs to be a sequel either.

This was a good murder mystery read. I think it is a good read for people of any age.

I loved this book. It kept me guessing, never lost my attention and I liked the characters a lot. I would tell myself one more chapter and end up reading myself to sleep. I just couldn’t put it down. One of my favorite books.

I hadn’t read a book for myself in a while. I picked this one up expecting nothing from it. This book not only got me out of my reading slump it brought on a chain of me reading books upon books. I give this book a five stars and I don’t do that very often. Great mystery, lots of twists!! I’m a teen and I think anyone would enjoy this. This does have some language so if your on the more younger side 10-12 maybe even 13 ask a parent.

I just started getting into reading again and it’s hard for me to get addicted to a book fast but with this one, I was reading it every chance I had! I can’t wait to read the other books and to see what and where the main characters go!

If you are a fan of nancy drew, this is the book for you. One of my favorite books, I recommend it to everyone. The ending surprised me. This book has you doubting your own gut when it comes to unsolving the murder. Can't wait to read the second book coming out April 30th 2020.