Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today’s installment of second viewings is for the second book in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder series, Good Girl, Bad Blood. You can find my original review of this book here.
If you miss my previous second viewings post, which you can find here, these posts are a way of looking at books when I reread them. Sometimes, you take more away when you read things for the second or even third time, whether it’s because you’ve remembered everything, or quite the opposite! I decided to reread A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder and Good Girl, Bad Blood because when I went to read the third book as soon as it was released, I’d fogotten some of the details. As Good As Dead was and is a really anticipated read for me, and I wanted to make sure I enjoyed every single page as much as possible. Then it was just a matter of finding the time to reread! I’m glad I’ve squeezed it in to the beginning of this year, I really am.
Synopsis
Pip is not a detective anymore.
With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.
But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.
The police won’t do anything about it. And if they won’t look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town’s dark secrets along the way… and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it’s too late?
Second Viewings
- The way trauma is handled in this book is painful and beautiful. It’s also some of the most accurate I’ve seen represented, and made me emotional as hell when reading as I could relate so strongly to some of what was said. I loved this from a character development stance, but also as a representation point too.
- A large amount of the book shows Pip trying to balance out with what she thinks is right, and what other people think too. Then there’s the sneaky extra thought that starts to trickle in… Does she even care what they think any more? This was very cleverly done, and gradually increases, so that when combined with my above point, the Pip we see at the end of this book compared to the one at the beginning of the first book, is someone almost entirely different.
- There’s a lot of general teenage growth that occurs in these pages too. Sometimes teenagers are shown to jump off the page as if they’re fully formed adults, when goodness knows that’s not what being a teenager was like for me! This realism makes the characters even more endearing.
- We also see more of Pip’s family dynamic, and how it’s been impacted by the Bell case. Again, this level of realism – young children only picking up on the exciting side of things and wanting to do the same as the grown ups – makes the book relatable.
- Ravi shows incredible kindness and patience when it comes to Pip’s trauma, and the way she’s handling the situation. He supports her unconditionally, and while they both make mistakes in turn, they still have each other’s back, and it’s a beautiful relationship to see.
- As always, Holly Jackson has constructed a wonderful book that allows for a reader to get completely sucked in. The level of detail in the pages is incredible, from maps to photos, really creating the town.
- The book plays on themes of love and dedication, and how these emotions can be as destuctive as constructive, both between people, and within ourselves. It’s a fantastic sequel, and I loved it even more the second time around.
Thanks for stopping by today for this post! I’ll be sharing my review of the third and final book in the trilogy, As Good As Dead, really soon.
And On She Reads 