Good girls guide to murder-age rating?

[SillyOlivePanda]

Would the Holly Jackson murder series be ok for a 13 year old DD? I’ve seen these suggested a few times but read that they have some mentions of rape and drug use. Just wondering if anyone has read them and their thoughts? Thank you ☺️

I'd put it at suitable for a slightly older teen - maybe 15 or 16 upwards but it depends on your DD's reading choices and maturity. Do you think she could cope with rape and drug references, and animal cruelty? I'm not sure my DD would have liked it at 13.

I wouldn’t have tried to talk my 13 year old out of reading it but I wouldn’t have suggested it to them either. Their mates might have, but it’s different when you’re their mum.

Rape is referred to though not described. The drug use is never sanctioned by the authorial or narrative voice. It’s something of a cautionary tale in which teenagers make teenage mistakes. I’d recommend it to my 17 year old as an entertaining and thought provoking read but I wouldn’t have done so when they were 13.

My DD prob read them around 13 maybe even younger. I've read them as well as she recommended them to me and didn't feel they were disturbing or went into too much detail. You obviously know how sensitive your DD is. They have also made a TV series of it.

I have 2 teenage DDs and both read them at that kind of age. I think teenagers don't really respond to fictional murders etc the way adults do and find them much less upsetting. Just think of all the YA dystopic fiction there is with minor characters dying left right and centre without a second glance by the central characters. Meanwhile adult literary fiction is full of people having breakdowns as they are consumed by their memories of a dead old friend who they haven't spoken to for 30 years.