Final Rating:
Date of Completion: 17/12/2021
Cover:
A fitting design that matches up with the previous books in this series. It nicely hints at parts of the story and suitably reflects the dark tone throughout the book.
Writing:
Holly Jackson’s writing is just as vivid and striking as ever. The story she weaves is brought to life through the intricate details and creative media elements I have come to expect from this series. However, I was slightly disappointed that this book only has a few media elements compared to previous books since these were one of my favourite things about the series.
She’d been looking out for trouble and so it had found her
Storyline:
Following a brief recap of the events in previous books, the storyline focused on Pippa’s mental state and her unravelling. This strong character focus side-lines the mystery aspect of the storyline to give a slow-paced story and a weak climax. This was not helped by the numerous coincidences and predictable twists that make the storyline rather dull.
While I did not mind how dark the storyline got, I did hate the direction it went to conclude this series. I simply could not get behind the anti-police / vigilantism message that seemed to be conveyed especially given that this series could be classed as realistic fiction.
Main character:
After the events of the previous book, Pippa’s character is understandably experiencing PTSD. Without getting the help she needs, her life falls into a downward spiral that left little room for any character growth. This caused her character to become flat and unrelatable.
Things went from bad to worse with Pippa’s shocking actions and ridiculous justifications in the second half of the book. These made her character even more unappealing and the story difficult to enjoy. The only saving grace were the moments of wit and cuteness that made Pippa’s character slightly bearable.
Secondary characters:
I was glad to see that Pippa’s friends and family had larger parts in this story compared to the previous book. These characters helped ease the dark tone of the story with their normalcy and obliviousness. However, these characters also seemed very detached from Pippa and most did not experience any character growth.
Romance:
Team Ravi and Pip really stole the spotlight in this book. These two are so cute together with their banter and concern for one another. My only issue is that I found parts of their love and blind loyalty, toxic. Just because you love someone does not mean that you have to willingly accept or go along with everything they do!
The beginning was the end and the end was the beginning
Ultimately, I was very disappointed by this conclusion to the AGGGTM series. Holly Jackson’s vivid and engaging writing was simply not enough to offset how much I hated the direction the story went in. Considering this book also has a weak mystery and slow pacing, I think a final rating of 2 stars seems about right.
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