Book Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

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?

Review:

I really cannot get enough of these books, I’m already desperate to read book three, but I need to pace myself otherwise I’ll be sad that it’s over so soon. It’s going to be difficult, but I’m going to wait until next month.

The sense of urgency in Good Girl, Bad Blood really made it an intense read. I thought the first book was pretty intense, but the stakes were real and very high in the second. If I could have, I would have read the entire book in one sitting, but sadly that wasn’t possible.

I’m completely obsessed with the format of these books. I’ve always loved it when books have things like handwritten letters and different styles of telling the story. The text chains, interviews and pictures used in Good Girl, Bad Blood were a great way to not only develop the investigation further, but they offered a refreshing perspective on the story that really makes you feel involved. I did kind of miss Pip’s first-person investigation logs though, those really showed her personality and it made the first book feel more personal.

I was expecting to see a lot more of Ravi in this book and I’m really sad that wasn’t the case. Please don’t come for me, but I’m not completely sold on their relationship yet. Yes, they are cute, but they didn’t seem to have any development and then before you know it, they’re saying ‘I love you’ to each other. This is my only negative view of this book though, I adored the rest.

Is it bad that I love how Pip’s character turned a little dark? Good girl no more, Pip was so fiery this time and I liked that she was lashing out at people. Which I know is weird to say, but it was great to see a different side to her. Of course looking into one of your best friend’s brother’s disappearance is going to get you riled up, especially when people think it’s all made up to make money from your podcast.

Speaking of the podcast, I love that this is the route Pip goes down to tell the story of the first book and then also document Jamie’s case. I’m not much of a true crime fan myself, but I just know that podcast would have me on the edge of my seat.

As I’ve come to expect, the mystery part of Good Girl, Bad Blood was incredible and actually a lot less obvious this time. I did get a weird vibe from the main culprit, but I never would have outright suspected them.

I loved that this featured a lot of recurring characters, obviously because it’s still in the same small town, but some of them played quite a large role in Jamie’s disappearance and it was interesting to see them from a different perspective.

I’m now desperately wanting to finish the series, but I know I need to pace myself. I already know this series is one I will want to re-read in the future and I actually just found out the audiobooks are full-cast, so I think I’ll go down that route next time.