4 1/2 ENTERTAINING STARS!! This book kept me glued to the pages and guessing who is doing it. These girls are beautiful, rich, mean and turning up dead. Penelope is one of the girls and afraid for her life and Cass a hot standoffish guy that has been close or knows the girls that are dying. These two get together to help each other out, but can they trust each other. Monica Murphy is an amazing author and always writes great stories, so I usually 1-click her books and I am glad I did. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book from publisher via NetGalley.

This was a fantastic read! It's a nice blend of Pretty Little Liars and Mean Girls with lots of thrills to keep you on the edge and turning page after page. The story has a nice pace and the writing is excellent. Not always the most likable characters but perfect for the story.

When a young girl turns up murdered in their small town of Cape Bonita, rumors begin to fly almost immediately. Since the girl was one of The Lark's (a group of the most popular girls in school) of course everyone looks at them first. With all the secrets and lies swirling around The Larks don't know what to think or who to believe.

This one will definitely keep you guessing right up till the end. I highly recommend you read it.

Fabulous. This is a dig in and begin guessing young adult story. When of the most popular girls in school turns up dead, everyone’s foundation in Cape Bonita is shaken. As a Lark, the premier club, it appears these members are being targeted. Penelope is the president and is not sure what to think when her world is shifted. Cass Vincenti is the quiet boy that tends to blend in but he reaches out to Penelope when these events begin to unfold. Penelope is surprised to feel a connection to Cass. They become detectives together, trying to unravel this crazy mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this mysterious thriller and was truly surprised by the culprit. I love how Monica Murphy connects me to the characters and immerses me in their world so that I don’t want to put the book down. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.

I thought this was a really engaging mystery. I really did enjoy the main character in this story and also the killer chapters we got. It added a creepy level to this mystery. I thought the book was fast pace and kept me wanting to read more. I also thought it addressed bullying and school issues in a pretty good way. I thought the characters other then the leads boy and girl could have been developed more. I think this book also has re-read appeal, to see the killer behavior throughout the book. If you like pretty little liars I think this mystery is up your alley

3.5/5 stars

Pretty Dead Girls is a Young Adult mystery.

The narrator is 17 year old Penelope (1st person POV). The story takes place in Cape Bonita, a small wealthy town along the northern California coast.

I love mysteries so I was hopeful that this would be a good one. The beginning unfortunately did not pull me in. This book is set in high school. And Penelope is the head of a group called the Larks. Unfortunately most of the girls in this group were unappealing. So it made it hard for me to feel connected to the story.

The main narrator as mentioned is Penelope. But this book is a murder mystery (a bunch of girls at her school are murdered). And some of the chapters are narrated by the killer.

Penelope is a cheerleader. But basically she isn't the nicest girl. And most of her "friends" are mean girls. I didn't really love that about this book.

The second half of this book was stronger for me than the first. The romance was decent. The mystery was decent, although it was not overly difficult to guess the killer's identity. The chapters from the killers POV were interesting. But it made it easier IMO to figure out who the killer was.

Overall, I definitely became more invested in the story by the halfway point. This book is a quick fun read for those who like a good YA mystery.

Whoa! Where has this side of Monica Murphy been hiding? She masterfully combines her vast knowledge and experience of the YA world with a mystery that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end! Combine that with the most unlikely of romances and you have one pretty darn perfect read.

As members of the Larks community service group at Cape Bonita Prep begin getting murdered in their very tony town, Penelope Malone sets off to try and figure out who the killer could be. Told in her POV, she is the quintessential leader of the most prominent bunch of girls in her high school and I thoroughly loved both her observations when spoken out loud and stuck in her head. The author knows all about the lives of young adults through her vast catalogue of books and with Pretty Dead Girls she is once again spot on with how these teenagers go about their day to day. Everything that is experienced by Penelope and the other students at CBP as these tragedies befall this small town are perfectly written and it didn't take long before I was completely consumed by this story.

What makes it so compelling was how the author puts you off track time and again, considering suspects right along with Penelope and Cass, the quiet boy that is suddenly a big part of her life and may become more than just a sounding board as the murders continue. I was right there with Penelope, thinking that it could be Cass since he had prior dealings with two of the girls who met their dreadful end at the hands of the killer with the sharp knife. And mixed in with Penelope's POV are chapters told in the killer's POV and those had me scratching my head, one more time wondering if my own instincts were right after all or if I'd be thrown for a loop once again.

The characters are well-crafted and each one is key to this burgeoning mystery no matter how small a part they may play. I honestly had no clue as to how it would all turn out and I was almost hesitant to finish, afraid of what might be revealed, not wanting anyone else being hurt or worse.

I became very invested in this story and I could have read 100 pages more, that is how insanely good it is. A new kind of genre for Monica Murphy, I applaud her ability to combine the trying times of being a teenager with the brutal truth about the so-called mean girls many of us have had to contend with and sadly one person's way of dealing with all of it. And the low-simmer of a romance between Penelope and Cass with all its starts and stops was expertly placed, giving both the reader and the characters a chance to find some happy among all the dread.

A great way to start off 2018, I happily give Pretty Dead Girls a solid 5 stars!!!

Pretty Dead Girls opens with a whopper of a scene. Cleverly written so salient facts are suppressed, it still manages to both intrigue and menace. Although not my typical read, I was hooked.

It’s been a while since I was in high school but the scenes at school and the student characters read authentic to me. Cass and Penny have chemistry and I wouldn’t mind a whole series featuring them as crime solvers a la Hardy Boys (gosh, that really dates me, but you get the point).

Throughout the book there is a curious lack of visible parents and adults. Curious in the “Charlie Brown” kind of way. I’m a parent and it threw me a little to see how much life kids are living outside their parents’ purview, but heck, it makes the story run so that’s no doubt Murphy’s intention. When an adult showed up I half expected to read “mah mah, maaaaah, mah” rather than dialogue in the Charlie Brown tradition. They do eventually appear but their teens have already handled events. I enjoyed that.

Finally, Cass’s secret background, when finally revealed, is not really revealing, leading me to hope we’ll read more about him. Hear that, Monica Murphy?

Enthusiastically endorsed.
ARC received for an honest review

I'm so glad this book lived up to my expectations! It was a YA murder mystery and it was a good murder mystery at that. I didn't know who I could trust and it made for a really suspenseful book.. This book followed The Larks, a group of girls at an upper crust school. They were pretty much the most popular girls at the school and treated other students as lower class.. They were at times snotty and not very good friends to even each other and because of this, there were a lot of suspects to pick from. Was it the main character, Penelope? The mysterious boy with a past, Cass? Snotty Courtney? This book kept me guessing until the very end!

PRETTY DEAD GIRLS is a standalone novel that is a cross between Mean Girls and Pretty Little Liars with a hint of an 80’s movie. This young adult novel is told from the dual perspectives of Penelope and brief glimpses through the mind of the killer (who is not revealed until the end). Set in a small but influential upper-class town named Cape Bonita which is nestled along the northern California coast.

The story starts off with the perfect who done it when a popular girl is found murdered. A member of the Larks which is an exclusive school club with five members being seniors and five members being juniors. Not everyone can be a Lark. They are the most respected, popular, and smartest girls is their class.

While reading PRETTY DEAD GIRLS you will second guess who is the murderer. Murphy has created a thrilling and page turning story that is a real game of cat and mouse. A story that is full of lies, secrets, and betrayal that leaves everyone in this small quiet town on its core. Who can you trust? Who is responsible for the deaths of these bright young women and why do they keep happening?

When a friendship between Penelope and Cass begins to develop everyone takes notice. Penelope is popular and a member of Lark the elite school group. While Cass is more of a loner who blends into the background. A true bad boy with a dark and secretive past. Can opposites attract or is one of them the killer? Together they try to explain the reason for their new-found friendships as being “detectives” trying to find the killer. Can they solve this mystery before the cops do or will one of them fall victim?
PRETTY DEAD GIRLS will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read page after page trying to find out who done it and why. A gripping murder mystery that will keep you up at night asking many questions leaving you still not knowing who the killer is. This remarkable read is full of characters that are developed with intriguing and secretive pasts. A plot that is captivating and imaginative that is well thought out and hold your attention until the very end.  The setting is the perfect backdrop for the classic who done it but with a twist of a small upper-class town along the coast.

I enjoyed reading this thrilling murder mystery that I could not put down. I stayed up all night to finish reading just to find out how it would end. I admit I had a book hangover the next day! I highly recommend PRETTY DEAD GIRLS to anyone who loves a good young adult murder mystery novel with a twist.

This was a great read. It was Mean Girls meets Scream. A murder thriller that was full of high school drama.

Penelope Malone is President of the Larks - a female student body association made of ten of the most promising and popular girls in the school. She's head cheerleader and overachiever. When her fellow Larks are picked off one by one, she begins to live in fear and suspicion.

"There's something between us I'd like to explore, despite all the extra baggage that seems to come with this boy."

Cass Vincenti is the quiet guy in her physics class. Rumours abound regarding him. He was never on her radar until the first murder and then it's as if he's always there wherever she turns. She tries to avoid him but there's no avoiding her unexpected attraction to him. However, his secrets and cryptic comments make her question whether she can truly trust him.

This was a great YA thriller read. It portrays rich, entitled teenagers full of angst, cattiness, and a level of shallowness. Penelope is pretty much the perfect student, but we find out what it costs her to be that way, meeting people's expectations of how she should be, and her realisation at what and who she really has in her life. Cass is a solid character - he has a dark past for several reasons - but I loved the way he treated Penelope, even though there's an element of doubt about his possible motives.

The author builds the suspense and mystery element well, and really gets into the teenage psyche. A really great read!

"A few years ago, that Peyton would've told me I'm on my own. She was selfish and awful. But she's changed a lot since going to college. She's a nicer, gentler version of her old self. Makes me think there's hope for me yet."

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Penelope is president of the Larks, the most exclusive volunteer organization in her school. The Larks are leaders, athletes, good students, and some of the most beautiful and popular girls in school. They’re also being murdered. When one of the Larks turns up dead, it seems like a coincidence, but when another dies, it’s clear they’re being targeted. Plenty of people have reason to hold grudges against these girls, but who would go far enough to murder them? And is Penelope next?

Thrillers are always kind of hit or miss for me, but this one is a lot of fun. I don’t know that it’s doing anything different from a lot of other novels like it, but it does it well enough that I enjoyed the world while I was in it. I’ve seen comparisons to things like Pretty Little Liars and Final Girls, but having never seen any of those, I’m not sure. For me, it’s closer to The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay (only better) and One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (only not as good) with a tiny bit of Heathers, which is probably the part of the novel that most appeals to me.

The writing is somewhat juvenile–a bit too casual, a little too much slang, a few too many cliches. In part, I understand trying to match “teen” language, but it’s not one of my favorite writing styles. It dates a novel really quickly, and young adults are fully capable of reading and enjoying something that’s a little more refined. That sort of language should be reserved for the dialogue, not the narrative, or it gets tiresome fast. I got used to it after a while, but writing is something I want to enjoy, not tolerate.

The characters set this book a little ahead of some of the others like it. Penelope as a rich, beautiful, popular girl could easily be insufferable, but I liked her as a main character. She’s poised and not prone to dramatics, and we rarely see her using her status to put other people down. Cass is pretty much the run of the mill bad boy with a hero complex, but I like that trope (he’s in good company with the Dean Winchesters and Daryl Dixons of the world). Their relationship is organic and complicated enough that it doesn’t feel forced, but I did wish Penelope had more page time with her friends, especially Dani.

The biggest downfall of this book is its villain. She has a number of her own chapters (so we know early on that she’s female and what her relationship is with the Larks). I read on a Kindle, so it was a little difficult to tell the font changes apart from Penelope’s chapters, but this might be resolved in a physical copy. The thing is that even her chapters don’t give us more than a cheap insight into her motivations, and she’s not terribly well-rounded–so why include them at all? They’re not interesting, they don’t add much, and it takes all the tension out of Cass possibly being the killer. Since there are very few characters other than the Larks and Cass in the novel, it doesn’t work at all well as a whodunnit; there are basically no suspects, unless everyone is a suspect.

I like the overall theme of high school students being nicer to one another; it’s common but worth repeating, and Penelope’s observations about her sister becoming a better person from high school to college is a useful way to look at it. The moralizing is a little heavy-handed, but that happens in YA sometimes. All in all, it’s an enjoyable read, and it’s the first NetGalley book that I would consider buying for myself.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

I enjoyed this one because it kept me guessing. The small glimpses from the killer were a nice touch. I appreciated that the romance was more secondary and slow moving. That made sense with a story like this.

In reviews I read Pretty Dead Girls was described as being like the TV shows Pretty Little Liars and Scream Queens. It’s labeled as a Young Adult thriller. Personally I feel it should’ve been labeled a little differently. It is a Young Adult Thriller, NOT to be confused with Horror, but just as much suspenseful, mystery and romantic, in fact the romance plays a big part. Reminding me much of some of those Slasher movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer or Scream. In fact, I would say more like those movies than Pretty Little Liars. But, I would agree that it is comparable to Scream Queens. It definitely has that group of mean girls. It definitely was the kind of book I had trouble putting down. Many of my horror friends will likely find it a joke, as they do many books that I find to be adequately scary, a thrill or suspenseful. Lol...yep, make fun of me now. Lol

Anyway, I loved this book, I found myself glued to the pages trying to figure out the mystery of who it is (I love mysteries) and of course I love romance, and I really enjoyed that part of it. The characters were very well written. I hated the mean girls. Loved Penelope, the main protagonist. I suspected so many people. I was on and off about certain characters, one minute I trusted them, the next minute I didn’t. (Trying not to give away too much) But it was just fun! I love books that make me think, reason, analyze and try to guess before the book ends. I haven’t been reading that many mysteries this year, and this book made me remember how much I love a good Suspense/Mystery/Romance....I’m not asking for too much, am I? Lol

I recommend this highly for someone who likes Young Adult, Thrillers, Suspense, Mystery and Romance. Oh and may like the show Scream Queens or the slasher movies, Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. If that’s your thing, you will probably really enjoy this book!! I know I did!!
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I'm going to be honest about two things up front. First, it's been a very long time since I've read anything by Monica Murphy. Second, I'm pretty picky about young adult. Especially if they are still in high school. So I'm extremely happy to say that I devoured Pretty Dead Girls and it only solidified my decision to kick myself for having such a time lapse in reading Murphy's work. 

Pretty Dead Girls is Mean Girls in a horror movie. I know the inspiration for this story came from Scream Queens but I hadn't seen that show before I read this book. But you better believe I started watching it on Hulu right after I read the acknowledgement! 

Pretty Dad Girls is told in two POVs. One is the main girl and is the majority of the book. The other is a few chapters sprinkled in from the killer, which I thought really kept the plot interesting. It helped to keep your mind reeling and trying to guess who it is. Girl after girl is being picked off and there is certainly a theme to it. 

There is a small romance part in this book but from the moment we get introduced to the Cass, I wanted to know more about him. In true fashion, I suspected him just like I did everyone else. Murphy did a great job leading us to believe one thing, only to shatter it and make us search again. 

I could't put this book this book down. It intrigued me from start to finish and it had me playing Guess Who the entire time. If you are looking for a young adult suspenseful thriller with some seriously mean girls and a plot to keep you guessing, then you can't miss this book.

Pretty Dead Girls is a Young Adult suspense, murder-mystery and romance rolled into one which is sure to be a hit within the YA genre. The author skillfully tells the story through multiple points of view: third person; Penelope, the leader of the Larks; and the unknown killer.

The Larks is THE group to belong to if you are a girl at this high school. It is extremely selective, made up of only 5 seniors and 5 juniors, who are selected by the end of their sophomore year. The Larks is meant to be a community service organization for high-achieving girls, but in reality the girls are not only high-achieving, they are super-popular, self-absorbed, very competitive (even among themselves) and MEAN (to fellow Lark members and others).

One by one, the senior Larks are being gruesomely murdered. Obviously, someone has a grudge against the Larks, but who? and why? The girls are so habitually cruel and mean to those they deem beneath them (everyone), there is no shortage of suspects.

Meanwhile, Penelope finds herself getting attention from the weird, scary (his mother murdered his father and he is being raised by his grandmother) boy who sits next to her in one of her classes. At first she rebuffs him, but when he says he has information about the first murder, she agrees to meet him and an unusual relationship develops between the two.

Watching the interactions between the popular snob and the outcast bad boy, between the Larks members, and all the teenage angst found in any high school, but especially one where girls are being murdered, is very entertaining.

Pretty Dead Girls is quite a good read. Four stars from me!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing LLC for providing an E-arc of this book to me for review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own and definitely unbiased.

A secret’s not a secret if you tell someone, and guess what? No one knows what I’m doing.

Nothing bad ever happens in the picturesque seaside town of Cape Bonita. That is, at least, until one pretty, popular girl after another is found dead. Murdered. Penelope Malone is friends with all of the murdered girls and, therefore, a prime suspect. But Penelope has her own theories. Maybe it’s her friend who’s been outspoken about how much she hated those girls. Maybe it’s the quiet, brooding bad boy with the dark past. Who can Penelope trust?

This book was so different than Saving It, the last Monica Murphy book that I read! I have a complicated relationship with thrillers but I did enjoy this one. I don’t really want to get into the details of the plot because I’ll probably accidentally give something away. I did figure out (more or less) who the killer was by the 50% mark, but I was still interested in reading to find out how it would fit into the story and how everything would be resolved.

I want to talk about the characters for a minute, though. Penelope and her friends belong to an elite group called the Larks, made up of the five smartest, prettiest, wealthiest girls in the junior and senior classes. The girls are mean. Imagine Regina George crossed with A from Pretty Little Liars on their worst, moodiest, hangriest day. That’s a starting point for how cruel these girls can be. They know that they’re the best of the best, and if they don’t want to acknowledge anybody else’s presence, they just won’t. If they don’t want to talk to somebody, they just keep walking. They judge everybody, within and outside their circle. Nobody is safe from their comments or their wrath and they think nothing of it.

All of that begins to change with Penelope when her friends start dying off. Penelope realizes that she doesn’t really want to act that way, although she still pulls her snooty card on more than one occasion. She’s not a particularly likable heroine, which is definitely something that I had to adjust to, but I appreciated that she seemed to be trying.

Penelope’s love interest is also one of her prime suspects, the elusive Cass Vincenti. Nobody knows much of anything about Cass, aside from his juicy backstory, but once her friends start dying, he’s eager to talk to Penelope. She finds herself inexplicably attracted to him while also constantly telling herself that she shouldn’t be. I feel a bit creepy for thinking that I’d probably also fall for Cass, given that I’m probably at least ten years older than him. What can I say? I have a thing for misunderstood lone wolves.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but found a lot of Penelope’s actions to be more irritating than anything else. I think that the killer is fairly obvious, but if you’re okay with just going along for the ride, it’s an entertaining story.

4 stars

A bad deed will always come bite you back or when revenge is savage.

4 stars

Welcome in the world of high school snotty girls. The Larks are already raising funds and investing their times in charities but backstabbing their friends all with a big Pepsodent smile.

“The Larks is a small group of ten girls who are the smartest, the most respected, the most athletic, the most popular in our school. We all try to make the top grades so we can get into the best colleges and make our school and our families proud. And the Larks isn’t just about community service—it’s the ultimate overachievers group. “

Penelope is the Larks president and believe me when I tell you it was like managing a pack of hyena just more beautiful.
“Not that I was the nicest person, I realize this. I had a reputation as a snob, yet it never bothered me. I was just following in my sister’s footsteps, who also ruled the school back in the day. Most of the time, I secretly liked it when people would scurry away when they saw me coming. That crowds would part to allow me to walk through and people called my name because they were desperate to be my friend. It made me feel powerful.”

I struggled with the story in the beginning. Condescending Queen Bees plural don't make for easy heroines to like. Maybe sweet Mandy was the kindest and most redeemable of the bunch.
I just wanted to give Corey, Gretchen and the likes a good spanking! Insufferable. Penelope was somewhat less snob but it was not your usual perfect and relatable heroine that you love to like!

When a killer strikes the Larks one by one Penelope is frightened. She may be the next. The murders unearth some ugly secrets. The girls were popular and part of a community but they were far from good friends! It was like Gossip Girls and all the mean girls trying to overpower the others. A real competition!

Enter Cass. Cass is the loner student. Mysterious and possessing a bad rep. he has baggage. Penelope never noticed him before but since Gretchen’s murder she crosses his path all the time. Is it random? Does he have ulterior motive? Unnerving he seems to know a lot more about the dead girls than what could be expected of an outcast. His mother was unhinged so maybe Cass should not be trusted?

Swinging between suspicion and attraction Penelope is taken by Cass's good looks but she does not trust him. This is the heart of the story: who can you trust? Who is killing the girls? Why?

I never guessed the murderer's identity. Monica Murphy leaves some clues just to send us on a goose chase and a dead end.

Now let’s have a look at the characters.

I told you that Penelope was not easy to like but I loved Penelope's character development. From entitled rich girl she became more compassionate and humble. The murders, the secrets made her realize that being at the top by crushing others was not admirable. Friendship and support was what mattered.
Cass hotness and aloofness helped make this story even more attractive. Especially when you learn his secrets. Put a handsome guy hiding a troubled past and I will follow his every move with the utmost attention!
Monica Murphy made the uneasy choice to go for flawed characters. The girls, Cass feel real. They made and still make mistakes but it shapes their personality. They change. This is real life: no black or white characters but rather various shades of grey.

So what is missing to give a higher rating?

The murderer is impossible to guess based on the clues. The tension is ever present and it keeps us reading because of course we want to know who is next and who did it. This is all good but when the killer's identity was revealed it was like producing a white rabbit out of a hat. Totally unexpected.

I want to thank Entangled Publishing for its trust as I had a great time reading this mystery. Recommend it? Yes especially if you are a fan of Monica Murphy and if you don’t know her yet this would be a perfect first read.

I'm so happy that I got to read a book along the same lines of One of Us is Lying!! I had loved that book and I really wanted to read more of the same genre and vibes and this was the perfect fit!

I really enjoyed it!! It wasn't as good as OOUIL but still pretty great. You are reeled into the story from the very first chapters, not just wanting to know who the murderer is but also who all the characters are, the possible suspects, the guy who everyone thinks is weird, the mean girl that goes crazy, everyone.

It was pretty clever of Monica to give us a couple of chapters from the murderer's pov, they tell you little by little why this person is doing what she's doing and also will give you a couple of clues from time to time. It was brilliant!

I really liked Penelope, even though she was also a 'mean girl', deep down she really wasn't, it was just the image she had to keep as a legacy. And boy did I enjoy the budding relationship between her and Cass and how their relationship developed into more, it was cute! And I'm glad that in the hand, with all the people she lost, she at least gained him.

I haven't read much YA lately but OMG this book did not disappoint in the least!! Someone is killing the most beautiful popular girls in school and it could be anyone. The story is told in alternating perspectives from the killer and Penny the president of the group of girls being murdered. Such an awesome work of art, full of suspense and drama and just a bit of romance thrown in to keep it interesting. You'll be on the edge of your seat just like I was!

I really enjoyed this book. From the first chapter on I was trying to figure out who did it, usually I can come up with a couple of options and one usually ends up right, but I only could maybe pinpoint one person this time and I was completely wrong. I finished it last night after saying one more chapter, one more chapter, one more chapter....and finally finished it at 2am because I NEEDED to know. Well done!