A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a very popular book from author Holly Jackson that just received a television adaptation from the BBC and Netflix.
It’s about a high school named Pip Fiz-Amobi, who tries to solve a notorious missing persons case in her town for a school project. She becomes involved with many of the key players in the case, specifically the older brother of one of the victims, Ravi Singh.
Like most other books that get their own TV shows, there are many differences that fans of the book may or may not like.
The Netflix show and the book are similar in ways. Pip’s friends and family remain largely unchanged, and the show does a good job of capturing the character’s personalities on screen. For example, Pip and Ravi’s rooms look just like their personalities: Pip’s with a chalkboard wall and Ravi’s with his brother’s stuff in his room.
“I liked the books a lot more than the show,” explains an anonymous Oakdale student. “I think they changed some aspects of the show because not everything can be exactly the same and to try to make the show move faster, which honestly made the show worse than the books.” This student prefers book, and many agree, because the show doesn’t keep the book the same, even decreasing its quality.
“The book was so much better. I had trouble making it through the show because of all the unnecessary changes, the original was perfect,” Sophomore Lily Karpman remarks. She continues, “I would change the party scene back into a house party instead of in a cave because it just makes so much more sense as a house party.” The party scene in the novel takes place in a house, but, in an odd change, the show has it take place in a cave.
On the positive side, the show makes great casting choices. “The character Ravi looked exactly how I pictured him, which made me very happy because when I watch [other] TV adaptations and the characters don’t look how I pictured them I cannot stand to watch it,” Karpman exclaimed. Ravi is played by Zain Iqbal, and he looks exactly how his character is described in the book. The public was very happy that the author Holly Jackson chose him to play Ravi for the show.
“If I could meet the [showrunners] I would have told [them] that they should’ve added more Pip and Ravi moments to the show,” the anonymous student shared. In the book, Pop and Ravi get little moments with each other, while keeping the book about the case. The show could do a better job maintaining that balance.
Overall, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murders is a great show and book, Holly Jackson did amazing choosing the characters. Let’s hope season two will be just as good.
