Good Girl, Bad Blood – a teen mystery book written by Holly Jackson – has been #1 on my reading list, ever since I finished reading A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder a while ago. By the way, quick recap: I absolutely loved that novel. It was thrilling, suspenseful, and easily the best mystery book I’ve ever read. So how was its partner in the Good Girl series? Let’s find out…
In Good Girl, Bad Blood, Pip is turning her first solved mystery into a podcast for people all over the world to stream. She feels like she’s finally falling back into the rhythm of her own life again, after losing so much to be able to solve the murder last time. So, you can imagine how she feels when one of her best friends comes knocking on her door, stating the three simple words: “My brother’s missing.” Will Pip sacrifice herself again and accept the investigation?
Just like the first book in this series, Good Girl, Bad Blood has a phenomenal plot, and the amount of suspense crammed into a relatively short book is truly impressive. Again, Jackson succeeded in making me turn each page with bated breath, too intrigued to put down the book even for a short while. I think my favourite thing about the book was honestly the dialogue, especially between Ravi and Pip. I must’ve been smiling way harder than what was considered “natural” reading the dialogue between those two; IT REALLY WAS TOO ADORABLE.
I’m going to have to say though, I liked the first book better. Maybe it was because I had relatively high expectations for this one, but I think the ending was significantly more underwhelming, and we all want a plausible ending in a mystery book, especially since that’s what the clues and suspense in the whole novel is leading up to. I’m also starting to get rather annoyed by Pip; I think her personality always becomes as bland as a piece of stale bread whenever there’s a mystery she has to solve. Like, come on, we want to know who the murder is, but that doesn’t mean the main character isn’t any less important.
I would give this book 8/10, simply because it’s missing that little bit of spark throughout the entire thing, which most likely has to do with the main character’s lack of personality. I do recommend this book, though, and I think it’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’ve already read the first one. Speaking of, there’s a third book in this series that I haven’t gotten around to yet! Looking forward to binge-read another one of Jackson’s novels 😉
