Do you like Pretty Little Liars? Because Pretty Dead Girls gave me a major vibe of PLL, in the best way possible. Fun, fast-paced, and full of drama, this book really knows how to keep you going until the end. One of my favorite parts of the book was the random POV of the killer - it made the book that much more interesting. The writing and the characters were done very well, and even though they weren't the nicest of people for the most part, I still liked reading about them. And Cass!! He was by far my favorite character in the book. A brooding bad boy, he caught my attention from the get go, and I was so excited when he and Penelope started getting closer, even though she pissed me off at first because of how stuck up she was towards him. Given the nature of the book though, it definitely made sense for her to act that way, so I'm not knocking the book for that. As for the killer? I had my suspicions, and the book was pretty predictable, but I was never able to guess who the real killer was, which I applaud the author for because I'm usually pretty good at that stuff. However, everything with the killer being unmasked felt rushed. Throughout the whole book there's this great story, then it's like BAM! this is the killer and the end. For me, that was really the only downside to the book, as I really enjoyed the whole thing. I couldn't put it down, and I've been raving about this book ever since I finished it. I've already looked up other books by Monica Murphy and plan to read some because she wrote really well. So if you're a fan of teen slasher flicks or Pretty Little Liars mixed with Mean Girls, I'd definitely check out Pretty Dead Girls!

I think Ms. Murphy did a great job getting me hooked on this YA mystery/thriller. I can’t speak too much about the story line because I don’t want to give anything away. Penelope and her friends seem to have it all- money, good looks and popularity. That is until they start showing up dead. Penelope’s click are the typical “mean girls”. Penelope has tried to distance herself from them so while I really don’t feel anything for the girls who died, I do feel for Pen. I like Pen and Cass together. I found myself wishing we got to see more of their relationship develop. I liked how the author threw in some chapters from the killers POV. PDGs was fast paced and kept me guessing right up to the very end.

I was looking forward to this book but I'm always nervous about mystery/thrillers. I've said in the past how I'm not really great at figuring them out, so if I DO happen to determine whodunnit too early... the book gets a little ruined for me. Frankly it's because I don't read a lot of murder mysteries; I tend to think all of the ones I read are SO good because they always manage to blow my mind. I wish I could say that was the case here.

So aside from that element, which I'll get to after, I didn't love a lot of the OTHER parts of this book either. The main character, Penelope, is characterized as this perfectionist with parents who push her into doing everything. She has siblings who suffered the same fate but they're all apparently well-adjusted kids still. I thought this sounded like a recipe for disaster, but instead it was completely glossed over and barely discussed. It's the kind of thing that could lead to some major character flaws or a showdown later in the book. Unfortunately, Penelope just completely fell flat for me. Her internal monologue and constant need to start fights with Cass was increasingly annoying with every fight she instigated. I totally get being cautious because you barely know the dude and there's a murderer out there... but this was so excessive and REPETITIVE. She accused him of the same things and they had the same conversations all the time, as if she never asked the first or second times. It was frustrating as a reader to read this over and over again with the same results. It's clear that the romance is coming between Pen and Cass, but she ruined every conversation they had that could build chemistry by accusing him of things! There was also one scene involving a car chase that I HATED and immediately stopped shipping the two of them together. What was that all about?! Ugh.

Despite not loving the main character, I couldn't put this down. I started it early Sunday afternoon, watched some football, and then finished it that night. I was determined to see whodunnit. Unfortunately one of my early theories ended up being correct. I'm not sure how obvious it was or even why I thought of the person, so don't let this deter you maybe, but man... I was hoping for a shock. The reasons were somewhat there but could have been stronger or better developed. Overall, I wish the same thing for the whole book. Penelope's family life and personality were weakly developed, with no real reason for them being included by the end of it, and there were countless other plot points that were just kind of THERE for no reason.

Monica Murphy has written another great book! Pretty Dead Girls is full of suspense and pettiness. It's like a mix of Pretty Little Liars and Mean Girls. It's the first thriller Ms. Murphy has written and I really hope it will not be the last. I was hooked from the beginning and I had a hard time putting it down to do adult things.

All of Penelope's friends are dying and no one has a clue who is doing it. The police have listed her as a suspect. The mysterious Cass enters her life and makes her question her attitude towards people and the way her friends and her act. Could he be the killer? Is she the next target?

This book will keep you guessing on who the killer truly is until the end. I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. This book is a teenage thriller and high school students are being killed one by one. This would be a good book for fans of pretty little liars since it has a suspense element. I thought certain aspects of this book could have been better and I cringed at some parts. The romantic interest was the typical bad boy and the main character is the president of the cheer squad and a group called the larks. I have also never used snapchat and that was a something the characters used and I found it to be annoying. I guess I am getting too old for these high school books even though I love the ya genre. All of the characters were loaded with money and got their way and had no parental involvement which is unrealistic. The bad boy of course was out of place and didn't have as much as the popular girls. Try it you might like it better than I did.

Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy
I’ve read Monica Murphy before so when I was offered this book I couldn’t refused even if I didn’t know much about it. The cover intrigued me also. Like Monica’s other work, her writing is phenomenal, each character grows and the storyline works effortlessly.

*I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest thoughts and review after reading the story.*

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

I honestly forgot about reading last month so I'm a few days late - and reading multiple books at once - for actually reading and reviewing this one.

I was a little confused because the book is mostly set in Penelope's perspective but you also get the killer's perspective at times as well and the only way you can distinguish them is by the way certain text is written. It was right before the killer was revealed that I figured it out myself and I'll have to add up the pieces to figure out how the killer ended up being the killer.

If you know me, you know that I love a good romance and this one delivered! I was so pleased with the love story that was interwoven in this thriller!

I felt like I didn't get to know the junior Larks too much in this one and would have really loved to know more about them character wise along with a few other supporting character's in the story. We knew enough about Penny for it to be an enjoyable read but it was also enough for me to really want Ms. Murphy to expand on the storyline and maybe make it into a duology or series instead of a standalone because I'd really love to explore some of the characters more! Especially Cass as I found his back story to be extremely intriguing!

OMG! Talk about being pulled into a book! Monica Murphy, her characters, Penelope and Cass, and the tourist town where everyone seems to have a secret had me under their spell until I finished the last page.

It reminded me somewhat of Pretty Little Liars and more recently, Riverdale. But, make no mistake Monica Murphy made it all her own!!!!! Penelope is pretty, popular, and extremely intelligent. She is also President of an elite group of girls who do community service around town. You would think they would be nice girls wanting to do good in their community, and you would be so wrong!!!! A majority of them are mean girls who have secrets, and now they seem to be the target of a murderer. These pretty girls are turning up dead, and Penelope could be the next target.

Penelope was a complicated character. She wasn’t always nice, but she was never as mean as some of the other girls. What I came to really respect her for was that her blinders were taken off. She began to see the flaws in the girls and most importantly herself. Cass, the quiet boy, in physics class helped her with that. She heard the rumors about him, but she felt pulled toward him. At first, she wasn’t sure what others would think. Then, she realized things and people aren’t always what they seem. There is a romance between the two of them, but that isn’t the dominant aspect of the story, the mystery is. Boy, what a mystery Murphy weaved. There were so many twists and turns. I loved the fact that several chapters were from the killer’s POV. Those chapters were some of the best ones, seeing a glimpse into a psychopath’s mind who thinks he or she may be doing the world a favor by getting rid of mean girls.

Pretty Dead Girls was also a deeper look into teenagers’ lives and society in general. It made me realize, yet again, you never know what is going on behind closed doors. Sometimes we seem to think privilege and money solves problems, but Murphy shows us that isn’t the case at all!

***Read and Reviewed for Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews***

Having been a fan of Monica Murphy for awhile I couldn’t wait to dive into this read. She starts it off with a bang and had me immediately hooked. I caught myself holding my breathe and loving the way she wove this story. It moves quick and definitely keeps you guessing until the very end. Add in a steamy love story and you’ll be lost in the world she created!

*Arc generously provided for honest review*

Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy (eBook)
This book is a serial killer mystery that takes place in a high school. To be honest, this book came close to a do-not-finish for me, because the beginning was very slow for me. A girl gets murdered, and then there is tons of day to day stuff that didn’t keep my interest. Somehow though, I trudged on, and I did end up eventually enjoying the book. I just wish I got there a little faster. Anyway, once this gets going it is a fun mystery. The only thing that bummed me about it, is I picked out the serial killer very early on, and I was 98% correct on the reason why. I was really, really hoping that there would be a twist at the end, and it would be a “ha! I fooled you moment” from the author, and the killer would end up being someone devilishly clever… but that was not meant to be. But anyway, I am sure there will be others who will be surprised. Like I said, once it gets going it is a pretty descent read. An awesome twist at the end would have put this in five star territory. I would still recommend this for anyone loving a good mystery. I really wish there were half stars, because this is better than three stars, but I'm not fangirling enough for four. I would definitely check out this author's other works, though. The writing is readable and flows well. - Left my review on Amazon but it has not been approved yet.

Oh my gosh this book was so much fun!!! Mean Girls meet Scream in Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy’s new YA/Teen thriller book.

In the idilic Cape Bonita, a small, wealthy town along the northern California coast, evil makes an appearance shocking all its residents.

“We’re the quintessential beach town. Wealthy, with giant mansions on cliffs and glamorous cars and overachieving children, our little enclave doesn’t like it when bad stuff happens.”

A gruesome crime cast a shadow on what’s supposed to be Penelope #QueenBee’s senior year. She is on the top of the world, leader of the LARKS, little miss popular. It all quickly falls apart as her group of peers/frenemies seem to be the target of these horrific crimes.
On the surface we see a perfect town, privileged kids, but quickly readers will learn nothing is as it seems. Secrets lurking, and true personalities are unmasked as an investigation begins. Penny finds an unlikely alley in Cass, a mysterious outcast with a checkered past.
They quickly from an alliance as they try to figure out the identity of the killer and stay alive. I loved the connection between these two!!

“I suck in a breath, shocked by the jolt of electricity that rushes through my blood when his lips touch mine. We’re already completely wrapped up in each other. It feels…natural to kiss him.”

I loved the whole 90’s SCREAM, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, URBAN LEGEND feel to the book. I could totally see this story as one of those movies in my head as I was reading.
Monica Murphy did a great job at keeping me invested till the very end. I loved the unexpected killers POV sprinkled through out the book, it definitely added an unexpected twist as I put my detective hat on and tried to solve the mystery.
Overall I really enjoyed this whodunnit/slasher plot with a dash of romance mixed into it, it kept me entertained as the plot unfolded.

Pretty Dead Girls was my very first read by Monica Murphy. And I AM HOOKED!!! PDG is a psychological thrilling complete mindf**k. Now why I'm not normally a big fan of YA, this book lived up and surpassed my expectations!!! A book that resembles a cross between Pretty Little Liars, and Mean Girls!

In this suspense mystery, a case of whodunit, Monica Murphy kept me engaged, and I literally couldn't put my kindle down. I had to see what was happening next!!

Throughout the story, you meet all these different characters, all a group of Young ladies in a group called The Larks, the mean girls on the school! When they start dying off one at a time, everyone becomes a suspect!!

The storyline was so real and believable. It was extremely we written, and the characters you will love to hate!! Plus just when you think you've figured it out.... NOPE!!! Definitely wasn't expecting that twist! Well played Ms Murphy!!

I love Monica Murphy’s high school dramas. She’s the one I turn to when I need my teenage angst and drama dose. This time not only is she taking us back to high school, but we have mystery, suspense and Dead Girls.

PDG starts with a murder, Gretchen Nelson, one of the popular girls of Cape Bonita High School is murdered in a bizarre situation. So the mystery starts out right away. Gretchen belongs to The Larks, a group of girls, seniors and juniors who also are the most popular, cheerleaders, they are always competing with each others because they are considered the pretty mean girls. So when the second victim is also a member of The Larks, we knew that they were a target.

Penelope Malone is a Lark member, the president actually, and she just wants to finish the year, so she can graduate and go to college. She’s kinda tired of her fellows attitudes and now she is worried that she could be the next victim.

Cass Vicenti has always had a crush on Penelope, so when he thinks she could be the next victim, he tries hard to find out who the killer is in order to protect her.

I really enjoyed this book very much! The twists and turns make it almost impossible to find who the killer was. If you are a fan of Scream Queen Series you will love this story as well.

*3.5 – 4 Stars*

The quiet little town of Cape Bonita is suddenly having high school students turn up dead. Murdered, at that.

I found this was quite the interesting story to get into, and once I really sat down and got into it, I was curious to find out who the killer was. I worked it out close to the end, but for the most part I was way off course.

Penelope and Cass are the main characters, and a really unlikely match, with Cass being the “weird” guy with an unusual past, and Penelope being the leader of one of the popular school organisations and essentially on the of the beautiful popular girls at school.

Being set in high school, there is a huge amount of typical high school drama. Mean Girls style. But set behind it all is the suspicion, the lies and the fear of who will be next. And why is someone murdering these girls?

At the end, its a reason you don’t even really see coming. Throughout the book I kept chopping and changing my theories and trying to work out what would fit, and was a concept put there to throw me off.

I can’t say that I really liked any of the characters too much, but I didn’t really hate them either. I was more intrigued by the mystery in this one, rather than getting too deeply connected to the personalities of the characters being portrayed.

Its been a while since I’ve read a mystery/thriller/suspense story, but this was a good one to choose. It did keep me guessing and second guessing until the very end.

I really enjoyed this. A great easy read. A nicely well written book for a change

I'm a huge Monica Murphy fan. She has a knack for writing addicting drama in her stories and swoon worthy romances. So I was very excited to see what she could do with a YA suspense novel.

For me, this book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I wanted a killer to be stalking in the shadows and dirty secrets being revealed throughout. Instead, we get a story about Penelope and the inconvenience these killings are having on her social and dating life. It wasn't very suspenseful or exciting to me. In fact, I almost didn't finish it.

The plot of this story reminded me a lot of Pretty Little Liars in the sense that the focus is on the drama of Penelope's life with the murders taking a backseat and you only get those little tidbits of suspense throughout. I also imagine it is what Scream Queens is like (though I've never watched it). Very little time is dedicated to solving the murders until the very end, with most of the focus being on the everyday dramatic lives of these high schoolers. Which I could do because Monica Murphy is the queen of high school drama and angst for me. Only, the drama wasn't as juicy as I wanted it to be. I found it all to be rather boring unfortunately.

Penelope's priorities are not what mine would be if the girls in my social circle were showing up dead. I'm not saying I would be full-out Sherlock Holmes but I would say that figuring out if Cass likes me and maintaining control over the social group wouldn't be my biggest concerns. It makes her seem petty and that stopped me from being a fan of hers. I wouldn't mind her pettiness so much if she had some solid character growth from the whole ordeal but she really doesn't and so she comes across as a drab character.

I will say that the mystery did have me fooled. I had a few theories (based on the little scraps we get throughout the novel) and I was proven wrong in the end so this story wasn't entirely predictable. That's a bonus!

As for the romance, it didn't have me totally swooning either. I didn't get the chemistry between these two at all and I didn't like how it made Penelope act at times.

I think if I went into this book knowing it would be more about the drama of Penelope's life as murders are taking place around her, I would have enjoyed this more. But the fact of the matter is, I didn't enjoy these characters and I didn't find it overly suspenseful either and so I ended up disappointed.

Tradition……high school years are steeped in it. A homage to longstanding groups and activities of your teenage years. For the Larks, tradition is prevalent from the inception to the tasks of the group. A culmination of the most popular students, great athletes, and the most elite students at the school. The flip side of being a Lark is the ‘Mean Girl’ attitude. The ability to make or break another students high school social standing.

What the Larks did not count on was how quickly their lives would change. No longer looked upon as the Queen Bee of social standings. How did this happen? Well…the Larks found themselves twisted up in a murder mystery surrounding several members of their group.

The Mean Girls are paying their penance, and it’s anyone’s guess who the culprit might be. As Penelope quickly discovers, discovering ‘who did it’ is harder than you can imagine. Everyone is a suspect, but no one is certain who is to ‘blame’. For that matter, no one is certain that they are safe from harm either! Tick tock…..time is winding down for the Larks. Who can be trusted? Who is to blame? The answer may surprise you.

Pretty Dead Girls is the latest release from author Monica Murphy. The Young Adult Thriller has a HUGE amount of similarities to Pretty Little Liars and Scream Queens. While the story plot of this book was very engaging, I found myself solving the ‘who did it’ question insanely early. Actually – my hunch was ‘spot on’. While figuring out the plot pretty early did not distract from the story, I did feel like this story had the potential to have developed much further than what transpired between the pages.

Monica Murphy certainly has the ability and skill to write a thriller that could be more complex than this PLL similar story line. All in all…Pretty Dead Girls was a good book!! I just wanted MORE story development!!

Pretty Dead Girls is a none stop rollercoaster ride. Once I started I couldn't put it down. Monica Murphy spins a a unique take on the thriller genre.
Pretty girl Penelope may be on a killers list as all the popular girls in her school start to die. Could she be next? Devour Pretty Dead Girls and find out how Penelope's story ends.

Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy is a scintillating addictive young adult suspense mystery. In this case of whodunit, Murphy engages her readers to be swept away in a story line where young girls from an affluent town are murdered. Throughout the story, characters are introduced and let me just say these characters are the very quintessential stereotype of mean girls. In this book, everyone is pretty much a suspect. Since this is pretty much a fast read that was high with drama, I won’t reveal too much but what I will say this book is definitely a hybrid of Mean Girls meets Pretty Little Liars!!!

So if you are looking for engaging and slightly obsessive read, then I highly suggest you to read this book as it was well written and will keep you guessing as to who is the killer.

The title grabbed my immediate attention so I just had to read it. I didn't read the blurb or anything else about the book, the title was all I needed. And I made the right decision. This book was amazing!! It was so full of twists and turns. I love a good mystery and this book kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing right up until the very end. This was my very first Monica Murphy book and I can say with absolutely certainty, it will not be my last.