A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Just finished watching the show on Netflix.

A few things, apparently this series is based on a book, and I really wanna read it to know more about the details of the story/plot.

The story wasn't predictable which is good but I felt like it felt very unrealistic at times.

Since I am not a teenager in 2024, it's hard to relate to the environment the characters are in.

The actors did a good job, especially "Sal" the few minutes he's on screen, I really felt his presence. His face and emotions were perfect for the scenes.

If you enjoy "true crime" you will like this refreshing series. Kinda like Nancy Drew but in the modern times.

It was entertaining enough, but the main character was making a lot of questionable decisions, even for a teenager, so treat the show for what it is going in.

I find that shows that make the main characters very smart and the villains just as smart tend to be way better. They could have definitely figured out other ways to make some scenes suspenseful, without making her flat out simple ( I just know most girls her age would have never put themselves in some of the situations that she did) Also prepare for some silliness. There was absolutely nothing special about this girl when it came to investigation skills, it just so happens that adults just told her everything, things the police couldn't even get from them, she got without any effort.

If you treat this show for what it is ( not a great young adult drama) then you'll enjoy it.

I've read the books and I didn't feel the characters in the book with the actors. Emma doesn't have the accent for it. I don't understand why they couldn't hire a British actress. There's plenty out there like okay.

Also, a lot of things were changed which didn't make sense to me and the chemistry kind of lacked in places between friends. I thought the main ship had chemistry.

The scenery, the cinematography was incredible, though. Honestly IMHO if you're adapting a book. Do it by the book. Stop tweaking details. It's annoying and I don't like how white boys/men are depicted nowadays like stop.

If I hadn't read the books I probably would have loved this. But I did read the books - several times. Sadly, this series feels like the people who made it didn't read the books at all. More like they had the plot told to them and then they pieces it together from memory and got a vague resemblance to the books.

I'm so sad, because I was genuinely so excited. It sucks because I think the actors did a good job, even if they didn't look like what I pictured them. There was such a lack of depth, and where in the books the readers were along with Pip as she did the work, and dug into the dark corners of the case, this just felt like she accidentally stumbled into the answers without really asking any questions. And Ravi wasn't even really part of the solving the way he was in the books. And where was Stanley? Too many important factors missing, and it's so sad, because this could have been so good, and I think if the actors had been given something closer to the source material it could have been really satisfying for everyone.

I guess I'll try to see it as its own thing, if it gets renewed.

Having binge read the book and enjoyed its great pacing and delivery of evidence the series unfortunately falls flat to the high expectations created.

Let's start by the characters. The book itself doesn't dive very deep into the relationships and the development of the people involved. However the series is even more uninterested in highlighting the emotional depth and challenges of the characters. Even main ones like Ravi's and Pip's, their emotional moments feel forced and not very analysed. The others involved, friends family and suspects all feel like fillers for the episodes to reach the time limit, not actual people like in the books.

The acting is not bad but definitely not brilliant either. At times too Disney Channel-y which makes sense bc of the ya vibe of the book but still unable to connect with the viewers at high impactful moments.

Picture is interesting at times, convincing enough for a small town scenery, but the colouring seems a bit off. The saturation feels a little bit much like you're watching descendants on Disney+ and not a teenage murder mystery. All of this to say, we dont need another Riverdale or Winx Saga but at times it took from the broodiness and darkness of the story.

Now the plot, having read the book I was about to scream at whoever write the f script because so much important information (hints about the end) were not revealed until the very end. Six episodes were short for that amount of information and pacing was weird as it felt like we were stuck for about 2 episodes of nothing happening.

Characters were basically assassinated for the sake of the episode's length which created patchy and awkward pauses in the story.

All in all, I expected much more from the story. I think so much was lost because of the writing to be honest. Directorial choices were weird. I feel like a voice-over or even segments that showed the evidence a little bit like the book would help understand Pip's progress in the mystery and help engage with the viewers.

So sad bc this could have been an easy win. Next time consoder asking the readers and stick to the book more .