Book Review Netflix Review Season 3 of ‘Outer Banks’ is a letdown

BY TARA TIYALOGLU Managing Editor

The first two seasons of the drama/adventure series “Outer Banks” were entertaining and eventful, but Season 3, which was released on Feb. 23, is an unexpected disappointment.

When I first saw on social media that a new season was available on Netflix, I was ecstatic. I had been anticipating this news since the previous season was released in July 2021.

To my surprise, as I watched the new season, I realized that I was a little bored. Nothing compares to the first and second seasons, which gave viewers a look into how quickly a group of teenagers and their fun activities can turn into a dangerous lifestyle.

I was immediately captivated by the premise of the show, in which teenager John B. (Chase Stokes) takes his three closest friends along with him on a hunt to find the legendary treasure that is linked to his father’s disappearance. A rocky road does not come close to describing what transpired in the first two seasons.

I am a person who loves thrilling scenes, but I only felt that excitement three times in the whole third season. The episodes annoyed me because they were filled with meaningless conversations.

However, I kept watching due to the superb acting and to see how all the relationships turned out, such as John B. and Sarah (Madelyn Cline), JJ (Rudy Pankow) and Kiara (Madison Bailey) and the newest one, Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Cleo (Carlacia Grant). Stokes and Cline had an off-screen romance until November 2021, which also made the show more intriguing.

My favorite character in the show is Kiara because, in both the good times and bad, she has the best personality. She sacrifices her well-being for the sake of her friends. Kiara is a Kook, which is the term

‘A

Girl’s Guide to Murder’

BY DEBBIE OGUNBOWALE Staff Writer

Andie Bell was murdered in the small town of Fairview, Connecticut. Her boyfriend Sal Singh allegedly murdered her but never went to jail for it. “Why?” you ask.

It’s because he committed suicide days after Andie’s disappearance and confessed to his crime in a text message to his dad. Or at least this is what everyone believes.

Five years later, high school senior Pip Fitz-Amobi decides to investigate the closed case for her English capstone project because she believes Sal is innocent.

mind-boggling, but in a good way. Thriller/ murder mysteries are not usually my cup of tea, but I made an exception for this book because I enjoy the way in which Jackson writes from the third person perspective but still manages to form a connection between Pip and the readers.

The novel includes great imagery, so it is easy for readers to use their imagination to visualize the events that are happening.

used to describe wealthy people in the Outer Banks, but she never judges John B., JJ and Pope, who are her Pogue friends, meaning that they come from the poor side of town.

A character many viewers hate is Ward Cameron (Charles Esten), who is the father of Rafe (Drew Starkey), Sarah and Wheezie (Julia Antonelli). He presents himself as a nice, upright man, but he is the main antagonist because he is manipulative and conniving. Rather than being supportive of his children, he treats them disrespectfully.

Another character I dislike is Rafe. He struggles with a cocaine addiction that has affected his quality of life, his family and his reputation. He lost a genuine connection with everyone he loved and, rightfully so, no one trusts him.

Even though the most recent season of “Outer Banks” has solid character development, I expected more considering the long wait since the previous season.

Despite its shortcomings, Netflix has already renewed the show for a fourth season. There are few storylines left to unravel, so I am not holding my breath for a wave of change. Sadly, this once-compelling show has lost its appeal.

Pip uncovers dangerous secrets and lies, but there’s someone in Fairview who does not want her digging for answers about the case. What starts as an investigation ends as an obsession full of twists and surprises.

“A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” is

One scene that is especially powerful is at the beginning of the book when Pip is going to the Singh family’s home to try to interview Ravi, Sal’s younger brother. When describing the house, Jackson uses illustrative words that make it easy to envision the house from one’s own point of view and Pip’s.

In addition to being an entertaining page-turner, this novel delivers an important message: If you are not careful about the way you act in life, innocent people can be wrongfully accused and punished.

One aspect of the book that I find unnecessary is that the author turned this storyline into a trilogy when she could have simply left it as a standalone novel since it had an outstanding ending. Nevertheless, I’m excited to read the other two books in this trilogy, “Good Girl, Bad Blood,” which came out on April 30, 2020, and “As Good as Dead,” which came out on Aug. 5, 2021.

Jackson is a pro at fooling readers, and “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” is an excellent example of that. The plot twists, which are crisp and precisely executed, unveil the answer to the mystery towards the end of the book. It will leave the readers on edge and extremely shocked because the guilty person is not the most obvious one.

COVER FROM RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS

“A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson was published in 2019 by Random House Children’s Books.