★ ★ ★ ★ ½
i ADORE Holly Jackson with my whole ♡!! AGGGTM series is one of my favorite & Five Survive was truly so so good and proof that she can do more than just the Good Girls storyline!! However this book brought me so much joy (pun intended) because I could read about Pip, her friends and her life/solving crime forever!! I loved getting this insight into how her passion for solving crime got started and loved to get an even deeper glance into who Pip is because in high school (& even now) I was Pip! Also, i LOVE murder mystery parties!! This was such a quick read & honestly could have been longer!! I hope she can somehow manage to write more books about Pip while continuing to branch out!! Thank you so much to NetGalley, Holly Jackson and Electric Monkey for this ARC!! Be sure to check this one out February 28!! Official ruling: you NEED to read this book!!!

Absolutely love this author & her writing style! This book did not disappoint!! Good plot, good twists, good mystery!

I received an advance reader copy of this book.

This was a quick and cute novella that nicely sets up "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder." Pip and her friends play a murder mystery game over dinner in an effort to find out which of them is the killer. The characters are great as always and the book does a clever job of explaining why Pip chooses to do her project on Andie Bell.

Kill Joy by Holly Jackson is a novella which tells about Pip and her friends before they started their senior capstone projects. When Pip is invited to her friend’s murder mystery party she is not in the best mood. As Pip embraces her role as Celia Bourne in the 1920’s on a little island called Joy in her hometown of Little Kiton, she finds herself being drawn into this fantasy world of murder. As the night continues Pip finds herself acting as a detective adding clue after clue together in order to solve the murder.
Holly Jackson’s novella Kill Joy was a fairly simple and easy read. I enjoyed reading this, as I was already family with Pip from the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which I believe helped me enjoy this book better than if I had just read it first. These characters were not really developed, which is understandable for a novella, however the roles that each of the characters played during the murder party were very well developed. While there was not really any description of the small town of Little Kiton Jackson did an exceptional job at describing the island Joy and the 1920s-time era. She provided just enough information where the readers were able to understand where this novella fits the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Series. While there is a serious feel to this book; there is also a sense of humor as well as the group all adjusts to participating and using the names of the roles they have been assigned. The writing style in Kill Joy was very simplistic making it a fairly quick and easy read. One writing aspect that I enjoyed was being able to see the evening booklet that was provided to Pip as well as the other characters. This allowed Jackson’s readers to be able to participate in the murder as they followed Pip throughout the evening. I also think that there was just the right amount of balance between humor and seriousness between the characters. There were many sections in the novella where I was reminded that Pip and her friends were not actually in the 1920s while at the same time knowing when to use terminology from the 1920s. The last thing I liked about the writing was how Jackson made subtle calls to the major events in the trilogy.
In regard to the plot of the book, it reminded me a lot of the game of Clue. When I first read the description, I did not think it would be very similar to Clue, however after continuing the read I found many aspects that were the same. While this did not bother me as novella did take place in the 1920s, I was not really surprised by many of the events. One event that I was looking forward to discovering when there was talk about a mysterious man that kept being referenced throughout many chapters. I was a little disappointed with what actually happened as I was expecting something bigger.
Overall, fans of Holly Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder would enjoy reading this quick and easy read about how Pip discovered her love for murders. One thing that I would recommend is that if you have not read the trilogy first, I would suggest that you start there as there is more world building. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun introduction to Pip, her friends, and her motives for investigating Andie Bell’s murder, all done in the form of an intriguing murder mystery party, and I loved that concept. I think Kill Joy is a must read prequel for anyone who is starting, or even finished, the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series.

For anyone that needs just a little bit more Pippa Fitz-Amobi back in their lives this book is perfect. This is basically the sleuthing origin story of Pippa, and it is the perfect lead up to how she became the Pippa we know and love from the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. Kill Joy by Holly Jackson is a prequel true fans didn't know we needed. This book is well written, concise, and a great introduction to most of the characters we will meet throughout the rest of the series.

I’m not sure this needed to be written or released so late from the original series. It’s basically reading the directions that come with a murder mystery party. I kept waiting for an actual twist, but none came.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy. Thoughts are my own.

I read this book after enjoying “A Good Girl’s guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson. This is a novella featuring the same characters from the Good Girl’s guide to murder series. This was a quick and fun read for those who have enjoyed that series. It was a prequel to the series with Pip and her friends having a night in playing a game.

If you know me, you know I'm a huge Good Girl's Guide to Murder fan.

This short story takes place at a murder mystery party before she starts her podcast and begins investigating in her town. I would definitely recommend reading the other books first so you appreciate Pippas Detective skills and how she develops as a character later on in the other books.

I'm so glad I came across this short read on Netgalley to give me more of Pippa's story. Thank you Holly Jackson for giving me more Pippa!

#hollyjackson #goodgirlsguidetomurder #mystery #thriller #podcast #bookstagram #booksta #books #shortstory

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This was a cute little prequel to Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. I enjoyed finding out how it all started and a peek inside Pip’s brain is always fun!

Having enjoyed Holly Jackson's series, The Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, I was excited to read this novella which takes place before book 1. It revolves around Pip as she attends a murder mystery party thrown by her friend Connor.

It is a fun closed-room mystery, where the characters try to figure out who killed the imaginary family patriarch. I loved being back in Pip's world with her friends. The characters are well-drawn and the plot is action-packed. The ending was satisfying and surprising.

I listened to the audiobook, which was perfectly narrated by Bailey Carr, who narrates the other books in the series.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I received a free copy from Random House Children's Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed revisiting the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder universe via a murder mystery dinner party. The novella is only about 100 pages long, so it just flies! I found the story actually very engaging. I also enjoyed how this novella gives insight into Pip's motivations for choosing to investigate the murder of Andie Bell and the wrongful accusing of Sal Singh. Pick this one up for a fast-paced cozy murder mystery!

Ok, listen. I’ve been trying to get my hands on this ever since I discovered it had been published exclusively for World Book Day 2021. By the time I figured out it existed, I couldn’t get my hands on it. But here we are in 2023, and it’s about to be published for the masses. I waited years, and my patience was rewarded when someone looked at my NetGalley profile and said “Oh, who cares that her feedback ratio is low. Give this woman the book!” Bless you, kind human.

So my thoughts: This was fine. It’s definitely not as groundbreaking as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. And it’s wasn’t the wild ride that As Good As Dead was. It’s a prequel, and like all prequels it suffers from the problem that readers coming to it after the series has ended already know how the story has to end.

There were no high stakes here. Pip and her friends are at the end of their junior year. One friend is hosting a murder mystery dinner, and Pip is one of the attendees. All the deaths are fictional—as in fictional in the world of this fictional book—and we get to see Pip’s logical mind come to life.

Did I enjoy hanging out with this character, sure. Was it as fantastic as getting a surprise fourth installment to the series? Not really. But maybe that’s just me? I’d love to hear your opinion of this novella after it’s published next week.

I absolutely love a murder mystery dinner, and the way Kill Joy is written made me feel like I was sitting at a table with my friends trying to figure out the killer. I will say that Pip and Ant felt 3x more annoying than usual, but that didn’t diminish how much fun this was to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Electric Monkey for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! Kill Joy, the prequel to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, will be available February 28th!

3.5/5
Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This was a fun, fast time. This wasn’t really a necessary book lmao but I still had a good time and it was fun seeing the characters before all the trauma of the first three books (though Pip was waaaaaay intense for this game LMAO).

Overall a good time for fans of the series and even if you don’t like it, hey, it’s a super fast read anyway.

I loved this! Having already read the Good Girls Guide series, it’s nice to go back and see Pip how she was before she got involved in solving crimes. I also loved the little bit at the end where Mr. Ward drives past Ravi, and that’s what leads to Pip selecting the Sal and Andie cold case. This was a really fun story, but together so well to explore how great Pip’s crime solving mind is, and to tie in future books.
If my friends want to play a game like this, I would be so down! This is such a fun idea.

A good novella and a book certain to put Good Girls Guide to Murder back at the top of reading lists. This was a fun small glimpse into how Pip came to be engaged in solving cases. I like the story and the idea of the party was an adventurous plot. It gives the reader a good introduction into a cast of characters that appear in the series of books.
I am hoping that Holly Jackson will continue with the series in some way.

Thank You NetGalley for the e-book edition of this title in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

This short novella was a fun prequel and did a great job at introducing the series! This novella gave a mystery murder party along with Pip's story. Anyone who missed Pip, yall would enjoy this story!

This was a fun novella and made me want to organize a murder mystery game. It's set before the first book, so Pip isn't yet traumatized from all the things and gets to have fun solving the murder. It was easy to get invested in the game and I found myself trying to put the clues together along with Pip.

The ending was a bit unexpected and I may just have to reread the first Girl's Guide book again!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the copy

I really love agggtm and didn't realize this was a precursor so was a bit confused at first. I think this would have been a good read before the series, because just knowing what you know about the characters from the trilogy makes it difficult to watch them interact and not have a bias, but overall this was fun and what I was expecting. I loved getting to go back to the Pip universe and seeing how it all began so to speak.