Hey guys! Today I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on the British TV show A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. As you may remember, my family and I read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder earlier this summer for our family book club. If you haven’t, make sure to check out that post here. When I heard it was being adapted into a TV show, I was really excited, but I also had a few reservations. In this post, I’ll let you know if these reservations were proven true, or if the show really was as good as the book.
Summary
For anyone who doesn’t know, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pip, who’s investigating the murder of teen Andie Bell that occurred in her small town several years ago. Everyone thinks her boyfriend Sal Singh killed her, as he killed himself shortly after. However, Pip isn’t so sure. With the help of Ravi, Sal’s younger brother, she is determined to find out what really happened to Andie.
My Thoughts
My dad and I watched this series on Netflix in two days. It’s only six episodes so it was very binge-able. That being said, I honestly wasn’t that sucked in to the story. Maybe it was because I had already read the book so I knew what was going to happen already. Usually I love watching adaptations of books I enjoyed reading, however because A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a thriller I do think knowing the ending took away from the viewer experience a bit. I mean, the whole point of a thriller is to be on the edge of your seat guessing how everything will turn out and since I already knew how everything will turn out, that feeling just wasn’t there. This isn’t a criticism of the show necessarily, just an observation.
Insight Into the Past
I did still like watching the show though. It was a fun, easy to watch series. It wasn’t the best thing I’d ever seen, but it was good. One thing the show included that the book did not was flashbacks to Andie and Sal’s relationship. I enjoyed watching these clips and I think they made both of the characters feel more real and fleshed out.
In the book, obviously the whole story is leading to what happened at the end of their relationship, but we don’t really get much leading up to it. I found it a bit difficult to imagine why they were even together in the book because they seemed so different. I think seeing more of their backstory in the TV show helped clear this up. These flashbacks also gave Pip a different motive for reinvestigating the case, but I didn’t really mind this change.
The Vibes Were Off
One thing that kept bugging me with the show was it just didn’t look like what I imagined when I was reading the book. And no, I’m not going to get into how the actors didn’t look identical to the characters in my head. (They didn’t, but I understand that the probability of them picking actors that look identical to what I specifically imagined Pip and Ravi would look like is probably a bit low.) The vibes just weren’t the same between the book and series. In the book, they’re investigating a murder so it’s obviously a bit dark. But, mixed with Pip and Ravi’s humor and Holly Jackson’s writing, it doesn’t feel overly dark. It’s suspenseful, but far from scary. It definitely feels like a YA book. (I’m not saying that in a bad way. I love YA!)
On the other hand, the show was filmed in desaturated colors that were almost reminiscent of that really cringey way Twilight was shot, and the soundtrack sounded like it would be better fit for a horror movie. They kept the plot relatively similar, so it just felt like the series maker people (I don’t really know how film works if you couldn’t tell) were trying to make the story into something it wasn’t. It just wasn’t how I imagined the story playing out in my head at all, and this discordance made it feel very different from the book, even though it really wasn’t.
It Was Just Too Short
Finally, I have to talk about the pacing. I understand that it’s impossible to take a 400 page book and adapt it perfectly. If you include every detail from the book, it’s going to bore the audience to death and be like 20 hours long. When it comes to adaptions, there’s a fine balance between keeping enough details from the book and being overkill. However, I think this series just simplified the original story too much.
The plot remained about the same, but Pip’s investigation was reduced greatly. She conducted far less interviews and found many clues by coincidence. This made Pip feel less intelligent and crafty than in the book. It also made the plot line feel over convenient and very rushed. I think this series definitely needed to be longer than six episodes in order to flesh out the storyline better and make the pacing feel more natural.
Pip and Ravi’s relationship was also overly simplified. Instead of being friends with potential for more, their relationship turned romantic very quickly. Since we didn’t even get to see their connection develop very much over the course of the show, it made their relationship seem rushed and forced. Their interactions felt very unrealistic and awkward as well, which is totally different than in the book.
I know I listed a lot of criticisms, but I didn’t dislike the show. My dad and I agreed that it was decent, but not great. We enjoyed watching it and it entertained us for a weekend, but it isn’t something I’ll spend a lot of time thinking about it the future or rewatch. I think the book is much more engaging and does a better job of telling the story, but I think that’s true for most adaptations. I will still watch the next season if the series gets renewed (I’m guessing it will because there was a lot of hype for it), but it isn’t a show I would rave to friends about.
Have you seen A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder yet? Did you agree with my thoughts on it or do you think I’m an uncultured idiot who doesn’t deserve to have an opinion? Either way, let me know down below. (Clicks are clicks. I don’t really care how they happen lol.) Also let me know if there are any other adaptations I need to watch. As always, I hope this post finds you well and you have a great day!
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