Review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

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Can you tell I’ve been reading a lot lately?

My dear friend Sarah’s Dymocks gift card really came in handy and went a lot further than I had expected, so this is the second book purchased in my “oh no, I better use this before it expires” panic rush.

In today’s episode of ‘What Has Nikki Been Reading?’ comes A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. This book came with a highly recommended sticker from my local Dymocks, and all of the reviews I saw of it were glowing, like Naomi Campbell strutting her ish down the runway glowing.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a young adult mystery novel telling the story of Pippa Fitz-Amobi, an ambitious high school girl who takes on an extra project for school. The topic of her project? Investigating the murder of Andie Bell who was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh. Except Pippa doesn’t believe that Sal actually did it, and the more she uncovers about what happened that night, the more danger she puts herself in for those who want to keep the events of that night hidden.


The first thing I would like to mention is that I heavily prefer to read books in first person. It makes it easier for me to delve into the world the author has created if I can imagine that I am the protagonist, and thus makes it easier for me to absorb the narrative the story is sharing.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is written completely in the third person, and my first reaction upon seeing this was “Oh no”. However, Holly wrote it in such a way that you could still empathise with Pippa and feel what she was going through, while leaving the reader in the safe position as a third party observer, so I personally want to commend Holly for doing such a great job at this.

As with all mystery thriller type stories with a twist, it’s the storyline that keeps you glued to the book, and this story never missed a beat. The constant twists and turns kept you on your toes, thinking of new and different possible outcomes for this murder mystery investigation, and when you think you’ve seen all the twists, Holly surprises you with another one.

The characters were very well written and, most importantly, likeable. Pippa was written to be quirky, which is something that I think is overdone to the point that I find quirky characters to be highly irritating, but Pippa was believably quirky and witty and brilliant and very relatable. And my god, I just adored her entire family, especially her father. Authors should take notes from Holly on how to make female leads not be insufferable pick me’s.

Wid-o-meter
Storyline: 9/10
Style of writing: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10

All in all, an outstanding novel to read that I definitely recommend everyone to read, not just the mystery thriller aficionados as well. Holly does a great job of creating suspense on every page, and like me, you’ll find it very hard to put it down. And I’m very excited to get into the rest of the series to read more of Pippa’s investigative adventures!

Happy reading, lovebugs!

– by The Black Widow

Review: The New Husband

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Oh boy. Where do I begin with this one?

This book might seem like a far cry from my usual romance interests, and you’d be right; the author himself is even a bit of a far stretch from my comfort authors like Jamie McGuire and Colleen Hoover. So how did I stumble upon this book, you may ask? Because Dr. Nicole Martin recommended it on her Instagram, and I would do anything one of my favourite Real Housewives told me to do.

The New Husband, as recommended by Dr. Nicole Martin, tells the story of a woman named Mary and her husband Brent. After dealing with depression in working a thankless job, and having some marital struggles with his wife, Brent decides to attend a month-long wellness retreat. Mary can’t help but notice that her once reserved and unalarming husband has returned confident, optimistic, and full of life. To Mary, Brent seems like a whole new person. But something isn’t sitting right with Mary. Brent can’t have changed that much in the space of a month, right?

My newfound interest in mystery/thriller type novels that keep me on the edge of my seat, along with Dr. Nicole Martin’s recommendation, had me chomping at the bits to read this after reading the synopsis. And I can say that after reading it, I was not disappointed; however, I wouldn’t give it a perfect ten.

I think I started The New Husband at work in a lunch break and read a few pages, and after achieving my daily tasks when I went home, settled in to read some more. I didn’t intend on finishing the book in one day, but it was so captivating that I had no choice but to. I eventually went to sleep at around 2am, but it was worth it, because there was no way I could sleep without finding out what happened!

I’ll start by saying that Brian writes in a manner that I’m not particularly used to. Maybe because I’m used to romance authors who have a particular style of writing, but Brian seemed to write in a more direct manner. I’m not saying I’m against it, because all of the points he was trying to make did hit the mark, but it just wasn’t something I was used to.

Now onto the more fun part: the gripping storyline! My god, I simply could not put this book down because the story of Mary noticing small differences in her husband, or finding out that there was a random man in an SUV tailing her, was just so incredibly enthralling. And when you thought that maybe Mary had figured out that maybe something wasn’t all as it seems, Brent would give a valid reason why, and as the reader, you’re confused as to where this story is going; you want to give Brent the benefit of the doubt and attribute all of these changes to this amazing wellness retreat, but at the same time, you can’t help but be skeptical of him.

I couldn’t put it down, and neither will you. I will refrain from dropping any spoilers on it, but I’m sure you will love the twist! I will say, however, that most of the reviews I read before starting this novel were like “OMG absolutely did not see this twist coming”; meanwhile, I scoped the twist out at the halfway mark. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t eager to see how everything panned out, because as they say, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

Wid-o-meter
Storyline: 8.5/10
Style of writing: 7.5/10
Overall: 8/10

The New Husband is definitely a recommendation I would give out to friends and family, so I completely understand why Dr. Nicole Martin did in the first place. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, or just someone wanting to try something a bit new, go out of your way to pick this one up!

– by The Black Widow

Review: Never Never

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Another Colleen Hoover mindfuck coming at you.

First of all, I’d like to start this review by thanking my dear friend Sarah who bought me a Dymocks gift card for my birthday. This considerate gift was emailed to me, and even though I starred the email, I swiftly forgot about it. Until the memory of having an almost expiring gift card whacked me, and in my haste to make sure I used this gift card, I bought a stack of books, including Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher.

Never Never is a romance mystery novel telling the story of Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash who have been best friends since childhood and grew up loving each other. And then suddenly, one day, neither of them can remember anything about themselves or each other. Charlie and Silas realise they need to work together to figure out what happened to them, before it’s too late.

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Let me tell you right now that I am a major Colleen Hoover mark. In fact, I spent majority of my gift card on Colleen Hoover books, and the premise of Never Never really struck me. I like a bit of romance, I love a bit of mystery, and to combine them both? Wow. This was also my first opportunity to read some of Tarryn Fisher’s work, and I am always a fan of authors collaborating on work.

Never Never was definitely a page turner. The mystery of why the main characters suddenly just lost their memory was so captivating, and then going on the journey with them to not only figure out what happened to them, but also try and piece together their own lives was very interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of this concept being done before in both book and cinema, so I was definitely intrigued to the point that I stayed up til 1 or 2 in the morning to finish this book across two nights.

When I eventually read on and found out the reason why they had lost their memories, I was incredibly… underwhelmed. I won’t spoil it for anyone who wants to read it, but in my mind, I had built it up to be something big or shocking, and to me, it was neither big nor shocking.

A big thing for me, which I’m sure I’ve highlighted in other book reviews, is that I tend to find the female protagonist of romance novels annoying. I don’t know if it’s because authors are unintentionally perpetuating negative female stereotypes, but romance novel females are always whiney, insufferable and unaware of others around them. Colleen Hoover does a great job of making her heroines feel real, and have a likeable quality about them.

Charlie was very much a likeable book heroine. Her character was written to be layered and quite complex, which was a stark contrast to the Charlie pre-forgetting which seemed to be a bit one-dimensional. Her male counterpart Silas (Colleen really likes her pepelo male character names) also served his role well as the book hero, written to be charming, caring and handsome, but not unrealistically so, and was the optimistic golden retriever compared to Charlie’s pessimistic black cat.

The style of writing flowed very well between both authors, to the point where I had forgotten that one author had penned Charlie while the other had penned Silas. I believe Tarryn was Charlie, and Colleen was Silas, but I could be wrong. The language used from both authors evoked vivid imagery, and real emotions and feelings where you really connected to both Charlie and Silas.

Wid-o-meter
Storyline: 7/10
Style of writing: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10

All in all, the book was great, and I would recommend it to others, especially if you’re into an interesting conglomeration of romance and mystery. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite work of Colleen Hoover, but that isn’t really saying much seeing as Colleen is always hitting 10’s with her stories.

– by The Black Widow

The Housewives of Orange County: Ranked

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The franchise that started it all.

If you’ve stayed up to date with my Housewives rankings so far, thank you. I also appreciate that you don’t judge me for watching the cities in such a random order.

I’ve finished my watch through of all of the episodes of Real Housewives of Orange County, and am currently watching season 17 as it happens live. And I’m shocked that a city I thought I wouldn’t really like turned out to be one of my most favourite Housewives franchises.

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As of writing, including season 17, RHOC has had a whopping 26 housewives, which isn’t surprising when you consider how long the show has been running, and how many one season wonders they’ve had (some of these one season wonders deserved longer runs, but more on that later.)

Anywho, here are my rankings for the RHOC wives!

26. Kelly Dodd
Probably the most vile human to be featured on any Real Housewives show ever. If her antics on screen weren’t bad enough, her behaviour off screen was 100x worse. I don’t even feel comfortable typing her name out in full without asterisking it. Good riddance and stay away.

25. Vicki Gunvalson
I don’t get the hype around Vicki at all. She was constantly lying, shirking responsibility or accountability, rarely apologised for all of her wrongdoings, and let’s not forget her part in Cancergate (and how she just got away with it by screaming). Sure, she had some iconic moments, but that doesn’t make up for being a horrible person. Extremely overrated and doesn’t deserve the praise that she gets from Housewives fans IMHO.

24. Braunwyn Windham-Burke
A woman that literally sacrificed her husband and her seven kids for fame, Braunwyn had the potential to become a great housewife but fumbled it so hard in her second season. I’m glad she’s living her true queer life, but to put your family through that and essentially disown them is gross.

23. Gina Kirschenheiter
A lot of people can’t stand Gina, but I initially wasn’t one of them. Sure, she’s annoying and overproduces herself for made-up storylines, but there is a down-to-earth likeable quality about her. Until season 17 came along, and now I genuinely cannot stand her. How one person can make someone else’s infidelity from years ago about them is beyond me.

22. Quinn Fry
Our first one season wonder on the list, Quinn is easily the most forgettable. She was introduced halfway through her season, which was a short season to begin with, and I can only remember her for being a cougar. 

21. Kimberly Bryant
I thought Kimberly had potential to be a great housewife. She was blonde, had big titties, and had a likeable quality about her. Her run on the show only lasted the first season, which prevents her from going any higher on this list.

20. Peggy Sulahian
Peggy is probably the most odd choice of casting of this franchise, although I feel as if Peggy was only brought onto RHOC to try and recreate the scandal of Cancergate. She had the rich and extravagant lifestyle of a housewife, but didn’t fit in with the rest of her cast, which is probably why she only lasted one season.

19. Elizabeth Lyn Vargas
The fever dream that was Elizabeth Lyn Vargas. If she had popped up at any other time, she would’ve left a better impression, but since her season was marred with Covid and lockdown, her time on the show was very come-and-go. Her personal storyline of escaping a cult was very gripping, however.

18. Jen Armstrong
Jen was the more likeable version of RHOBH’s Teddi Mellencamp: pretty and blonde, but dull, monotone, and overall boring as a housewife. Her crumbling marriage led to some interesting storyline, but her impact on the show was considerably less than her other season 16 newbie, Noella.

17. Lynne Curtin
Lynne was lowkey iconic as a housewife. She was beautiful, deluded to the point of living way beyond her means, and her personal storyline of being evicted from her house was drama af. Her children were the bane of my existence, however. I wouldn’t mind seeing Lynne guest appearances in future.

16. Peggy Tanous
Another housewife that, had they been given more time on the show, would’ve had a much larger impression. Peggy was stunning, blonde (two features of a stereotypical RHOC housewife), and was not scared to go toe-to-toe with her friend Alexis. 

15. Jeana Keough
If certain reports were to be believed, we have Jeana Keough to thank for Real Housewives, as she was apparently the first woman cast to be on RHOC. Initially serving in a supporting role, Jeana actually worked better for her cheque as a FOH. Who can forget the iconic fight she had with Tamra in season six?

14. Tammy Knickerbocker
Probably someone no one expected to be this high on the list, I actually really liked Tammy. I thought she was stunning and served gripping personal storyline and would’ve loved to have seen her get a couple of more seasons on the show. Her children were also the bane of my existence, however.

13. Noella Bergener
Noella had everything I was bound to like in a housewife, especially as the first black housewife of RHOC. She served drama, personal storyline, got involved in group discussions, and was absolutely beautiful. There is, however, something called overdoing it, and Noella just came too hard in her first and only season of the show. By midway, she was just too exhausting to watch.

12. Lauri Peterson
Lauri was stunning, serving straight MILF for her time on the show. She was always transparent about the things happening in her life, especially the bad parts, which is a quality I look for in a housewife. Unfortunately, her personal struggles took her off the show, but when she rejoined as a FOH, she was out for blood, and we loved to see it.

11. Jo De La Rosa 
Jo was automatically my favourite from the beginning of the show as being the young beautiful POC of the otherwise older white group. I think it’s fairly safe to say that the show was going to be centered around her, especially if her centre orange status in season 2 had something to say about it, but she soon left before season 3. If there’s any RHOC housewife I want to make a full time return, honestly it’s Jo.

10. Lydia McLaughlin
Another wildcard on my list, I actually really loved Lydia. She was a gentle soul that served her role as peacemaker of the group really well. In saying that, she was not scared to go up against another housewife, as shown during her tenure in season 12 (the iconic menu toss, anyone?)

9. Jennifer Pedranti
I’m sure if I had written this after season 17 finished, Jennifer would be higher on the list. This beautiful blonde is open about her personal life, including the fact that she was emotionally unfaithful to her husband, and homegirl did not skip a beat in gathering Crybaby Gina and telling her to trot off. After a lull in the past couple of seasons, Jennifer is an amazing new addition whose debut performance suggests she’ll kill it in future seasons.

8. Emily Simpson
Emily has always been unfairly paired with Gina because they started the show in the same season and grew to become besties, but Emily shouldn’t be compared with Gina in terms of what she brings. Emily is naturally funny, absolutely beautiful, is not scared to either get amongst it or serve as peacemaker, and has an interesting life compared to her casita counterpart. Additionally, Emily thrives when she’s not being weighed down by Gina, so we need to see more of her.

7. Gretchen Rossi
Even though Tamra is credited for creating the blueprint of a housewife today, she wouldn’t have been able to do it without Gretchen Rossi, especially as Tamra vs. Gretchen is considered to be the first Housewives feud ever. Gretchen was brought on as the stereotypical young blonde gold digger, and when she moved onto Slade and had less of a financial backing, Gretchen stayed clocked in and came to work, especially at the expense of Tamra.

6. Lizzie Rovsek
The one season wonder that definitely deserved a way longer run on the show, Lizzie was really thrown in the deep end in season 9. Shannon instantly bonded with Tamra and Vicki, and the rest of the cast were already established, so Lizzie really had no one on her side. But Lizzie came to work, serving personal storyline and growth, and she inevitably played probably the most pivotal role of the Tamra takedown that took place in season 9. A beautiful brunette queen who deserved more.

5. Alexis Bellino
Ms. Sinful Body herself, Alexis was such a great example of the ‘traditional’ housewife: loyal and faithful to her husband; loves God and her Christianity; and was absolutely stunning with her trademark blonde hair and big boobs. Alexis was not afraid to work for her cheque, and she was not afraid to go up against the longer standing wives like Vicki and Tamra. And she’s only grown to be more likeable since leaving the show.

4. Shannon Storms Beador
There is no word to describe Shannon. She really is her own type of housewife. Quirky in her own type of way, Shannon came in and completely changed the dynamic on RHOC. She was not scared to be vulnerable and show her life, especially so quickly in her first season, and she definitely does not back down from anyone. Shannon stays an important part of RHOC and its success.

3. Meghan King Edmonds
Meghan was a young housewife brought into a group of already established older women, which seems to work against most. But Meghan came in like a house on fire, sharing her personal woes of being a step mother and wanting her own biological children, and of course, uncovering Cancergate like the modern day detective that she is. Things settled down in her later seasons, but no bigger splash was made in a housewife’s first season of RHOC than Meghan.

2. Tamra Judge
The blueprint of the Real Housewives, Tamra essentially created what we know and love today by uttering six words: “Did you go to Bass Lake?” Tamra shifted the entire dynamic of Real Housewives by turning it on its head and transforming it from a documentary about rich women into the fierce, dramatic reality show it is today. Stunning, dramatic, over-the-top, passionate, and full of energy, we should all thank Tamra Judge for our Bravo obsession.

1. Heather Dubrow
My number one Real Housewife across all of the franchises, Heather completely changed the dynamic of RHOC with her touch of class, elegance, and extremely lifestyle porn way of living. Don’t underestimate Fancypants though: she will go up against anyone, stand strong in her truth, and is not afraid to get her hands dirty if needed. The iconic petty goddess we all deserve as Housewives fans, Heather Dubrow is definitely the It Girl of RHOC.

I am really loving season 17 as it unfolds, and it definitely seems to be a return to form of the glory days prior to Kelly Dodd ruining the show with her filth.

Anywho, to all of my readers – peace, love, and champs!

– by The Black Widow