Kitturah Furukawa

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a captivating book that lives in the hearts of many book nerds, myself included. Although I only recently read the series, I was terrified when I learned about the upcoming TV series. How would it hold up? Well, having watched the series, I will now quote my friend: “The reason for our high standards is exclusively Ravi.” And myself: “RAVIRAVIRAVIRAVIRAVIRAVIRAVIRAVI!!!! [Spoilers]. I LOVE YOU WILL YOU MARRY ME?????????” Not including the perfect fictional man, the show does more than justice to the books, remaining true to the series while sharing a fresh perspective. A truth about adaptation frequently lost through hate-watching is that often, if the original author is involved, it can be almost like an alternate draft. The show did not leave us with a preference for one over the other, or the thought that “this scene was better in the book” or vice versa. Overall, I highly recommend watching the series. Stick with it, even if you feel uncertain. In the end, every change pays off, and the writers definitely did a bit of trolling directed at their reader audience. (There was angry screaming, but it was always followed up with happy squealing.) There was only one part that irritated me, and it was the omission of a one-off line from the book that overall had no impact on the story (only our Ravi-loving hearts). One common complaint I see about the show is that the characters fell flat, but I am fairly certain it was mostly because we cannot see inside Pip’s head like we can in the book. Every action she took was aggressively Pip, and she did get character development, even if it wasn’t exactly the same as the books. (Also, for the Americans who are wondering, the town was not originally called Fairview. The US edition is different from the UK edition, which is the original. ) From here on, my review may contain spoilers. You have been warned >:) . . . . . . I was infuriated by the lack of men wearing floral and trespassing. That is my only complaint. About a quarter of the way through the finale I became certain they were screwing up the entire series, but the writers knew what they were doing. I genuinely almost fainted, I was holding my breath for so long. Ravi went from being my dream man on paper to my dream man on TV to the first person on my hitlist to the first fictional man I want to marry. Those who have watched will understand. I appreciated the addition of a proper family story and the increased presence of Pip’s younger brother. I spent half the show kicking my feet and squealing. 5 stars.