Book Review: As Good As Dead (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Thriller
Length: 464 pages
Author: Holly Jackson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: September 28th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
The highly-anticipated finale to the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, the instant bestsellers that read like your favorite true crime podcast or show. By the end of this mystery series, you’ll never think of good girls the same way again…

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle . . .and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears. 

TEAM RAVI AND PIP FOREVER.

What a wild finale. INTENSE. ACTION-PACKED. Actually gave me heart palpitations because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Couldn’t put this down whatsoever. It pulls you in and keeps you close and Pip races to save her life.

I liked the serial killer angle here and how they fit into the entire series. It was a loose string that needed tying up. The plot felt connected to everything else and pushed the narrative further. By the halfway point I didn’t know what the second half was going to lay out. And WOW did things go in many directions I did not see coming.

I looooove Ravi and Pip. I feel the teamwork, the love, the absolute connection. I know there relationship is only a small piece, but it’s such an important one. Pip has many people in her life who love and look after her and I really liked having that as part of the story.

I was a tiny bit flustered with a piece of the ending. I didn’t think it was necessary??? Then made the last few pages feel like a too quick wrap up. There’s also some true, have to suspend reality, moments to work with the plot. Which is fine, I just noticed that things could have easily gone a different way too so it was a bit of a shrug my shoulder moment.

Anyways, I’d recommend this up and down for anyone looking for a thriller. This series was fantastic!!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Thriller
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping, attempted murder, murder, false imprisonment, rape mentioned, drugging, blood depiction, stalking, animal death

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Book Review: Dial A for Aunties (Aunties #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance + Mystery
Length: 300 pages
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 27th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—”Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

READ IN A DAY.

That’s how great this book was. I couldn’t put it down. I found reasons to keep listening to my audio copy because I had to know what would happen next.

This was absolutely hilarious. I haven’t laughed this much while reading in awhile. It was fantastic. I adored all of the Aunties and the hijinks they got up too. I loved the main character, Meddy. I wanted to be her friend and her inner monologue was spot on. This group of women were wonderful. All of the family dynamics with great support and hilarity. I just loved everyone so much.

The romance was cute! I didn’t like how it initially started (with a forced miscommunication) but otherwise the reconnection had me swooning. Nathan was a sweet dreamboat who wasn’t letting Meddy walk away again.

Following the larger plot was engaging and I thought everything wove together well. I liked the setting and how the romance worked out for the side characters too. There’s just a lot here to love and I will definitely be passing this around as a new highly recommend read.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance + Murder mystery
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: one brief open
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: accidental homicide, attempted sexual assault, racism, sexism, recreational drug use, nonconsensual drugging, on page car accident, catfishing

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Book Review: Glimpsed by G.F. Miller

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary romance
Length: 374 pages
Author: G.F. Miller
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Perfect for fans of Geekerella and Jenn Bennett, this charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true.

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

NERDY AND ADORABLE.

This was such a cute YA read. On the lighter side with a fun twist on the classic fairy godmother play. I really enjoyed this one and yay for Bookstagram putting it on my radar!

One of the little things I loved was how often Charity changed the color of her hair and how I desperately wish I could do the same. I love how quick she was to help others and was truly a nice person. Her flaws were there, but so was her growth and acknowledgement that maybe things could go a different way.

Charity’s relationship with Noah was ADORABLE. Totes adorbs. A bit of enemies to lovers, lots of Star Trek discussions and more. They had instant chemistry and I thought the banter was fantastic. Noah was incredibly sweet and I really fell in love with these two.

I didn’t find the conflicts and teenage drama frustrating. It worked well into the story and I had a hard time putting this down. A great read, loved it.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary romance
  • Language: little
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Blood Sworn (Ashlords #2) by Scott Reintgen

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three cultures clash in all out war–against each other and against the gods–in the second book of this fantasy duology that’s sure to capture fans of The Hunger Games and An Ember in the Ashes.

The Races are over. War has begun.

Ashlord and Longhand armies battle for control of the Empire as Dividian rebels do their best to survive the crossfire. This is no longer a game. It’s life or death.

Adrian, Pippa, and Imelda each came out of the Races with questions about their role in the ongoing feud. The deeper they dig, the clearer it is that the hatred between their peoples has an origin point: the gods.

Their secrets are long-buried, but one disgruntled deity is ready to unveil the truth. Every whisper leads back to the underworld. What are the gods hiding there? As the sands of the Empire shift, these heroes will do everything they can to aim their people at the true enemy. But is it already too late?

I’M HERE FOR THE COVER.

Shamelessly read this duology based off of the covers because they’re GORGEOUS. Yes yes, I’ll also discuss the book too.

This one surprised me! Based off of how Ashlords went down I was imagining many scenaries for book two. And pretty much none of those happened. Blood Sworn turned in a different direction and plot then expected. I was confused at first if I was going to like it, but by the end was happy with how things worked out.

I love the multiple POV’s here. Getting an angle from each different group in the empire. This is a HIGH action book where every chapter something is going on. Whether fighting gods, kinsmen, or arguing over how to save the world. I really enjoyed this on audio and was able to keep pace with everything happening.

The romance was a bit of a let down. If you’re going to add it then it needs more than a few pages in the entire series dedicated to it. Otherwise the focus could be placed in other ways. It was cute at the end seeing some HEAs. Even if I wanted to see more of their connections throughout.

This duology wrapped up well. I don’t remember any specific things that were left too open-ended. Those got what was coming to them, and things seemed to be looking up at the end.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: skirmishes, battles, war, murder

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