Alright, I have opinions on this book.

I did not go in expecting too much, considering the amount of information the author gave us in the synopsis of the book. In my experience, that always leads to a low rating for me. But, I digress.

Heather, the main character, was extremely unlikeable to me. She was selfish, entitled, and made blatantly dumb decisions. I understand that she was in a stressful situation. I still just could not stand her. That in itself made it difficult to get through this book. Becca was equally unlikable, but this was easier to deal with considering she was only in half of the chapters.

The pacing of this story made sense, sort of, but still annoyed me. We knew that Heather had killed Becca (not a spoiler since it's in the synopsis), but we are left waiting for the hat to drop on what actually happened that night. While this is an interesting technique to get a reader to keep reading, I found it annoying.

This last bit is probably just me. I watch so many shows and movies that are like this book that I had pretty much everything figured out in the first half of the book. The big plot twists weren't very surprising for me and I found it to be kind of lame. The ending was my least favorite part of this book. It was clumsy, predictable, and had absolutely no closure. Not a fan.

While as a whole I did not enjoy this book, I will commend the author on their ability to create a creepy atmosphere. That part of the book did its job, plus the entire concept of the Red Lady was freaky enough for me to not want to read this at night. Other than that? Meh.

A group of girls who are into swapping scary stories, reading about serial killers, who enjoy scary books make up this club. Becca begins telling the other 3 girls about the haunting tale of the red lady once they hear the story strange things begin to happen.

I always love when a book goes back and forth between the past and present time lines, for some reason I found myself getting bored with for a big chunk of the middle of the book. I honestly put down quite a bit and was easily distracted when reading but then about 70% through the book really started to pick up to when I couldn't put it down. The ending was just great!!!! It had such a twist that I didn't see it coming. I was glad I stuck with it the way it started & ended it was worth the read. I just wish the middle of the book was as addictive as the beginning and the end for me.

Best friends forever or will they be? Heather and Becca form a storytelling group, but does it go to far? Stories of witches that are horrific!!! A thriller that keeps you turning the pages waiting to find out what will happen next!!! Read and enjoy!!! I can't wait to read more from Damien Angelica Walters!!!

3.5 stars

Familiar premise, woman with a secret from her childhood that haunts her 30 years later. This one is pretty good. This is a pretty quick read and had me guessing the whole time and I didn’t have a clue. Thanks Net Galley for an advance copy.

I am a fan of a good mystery and a love a dual timeline and someone being haunted by a secret from their past. This book was filled with tropes I love and I was very curious to learn where the story would end.

Heather Cole has been keeping a very dark secret for the past thirty years. And while she’s created a successful career, married and has a good relationship with her family this is all put into jeopardy when she receives a package in the mail. A package that contains the necklace of Heather’s childhood best friend, Becca. A necklace Heather hasn’t seen since Becca died back in 1991, when they were both twelve years old. Back when Heather killed her.

Growing up Becca, Heather, Rachel and Gia were obsessed with horror books and serial killers and created The Dead Girls Club. But when Becca became obsessed with the story of The Red Lady and her ghost. Becca’s obsession that summer changed their lives forever. And while Heather thought their secrets were safely buried as it turns out nothing stays buried forever.

This was part ghost story, part adolescent friendship story and part total unraveling of Heather in the present. I liked the dual timelines as we leaned exactly how that summer unfolded and what led to Becca’s death. I found the friendship between the girls to be very realistic - from the power struggle in the group, the cliquiness, the mob mentality, the desire to fit in and the at-times horrible things teen girls do to one another. Girls can be vicious and hurtful and I felt this dynamic was very accurately portrayed.

I spent much of the book trying to figure out if there was a supernatural element or not and while I love a good psychological thriller I didn’t find myself on the edge of my seat in the present-day timeline. I didn’t find the threats to Heather to be particularly compelling and found there was a little too much coincidence. I also didn’t feel connected to her relationship with her husband or her best friend.

While I didn’t figure out the ending I did suspect one plot line. I was invested enough in the story to keep turning to pages to see what happened next but I didn’t have a huge sense of tension in the present-day storyline. I also didn’t care for Heather all that much so wasn’t really rooting for her. All in it was an enjoyable read, but I found myself wanting more.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

The coming of age novel is a timeless trope because it is a guaranteed universal experience. Everyone has had that experience where they realize that the adult world is far different and far more complicated than that of a child. This transition often includes a loss of innocence, but in a horror coming of age tale, that loss of innocence is practically guaranteed, once the protagonist realizes that there are many things out there in the adult world with very sharp teeth. Heather, the protagonist in Damien Angelica Walter’s The Dead Girls Club, must deal with a loss of innocence that haunts her well into adulthood.
The story has two narratives. The first has Heather at 12, who enjoys hanging out with her friends, especially her best friend Becca, about serial killers and the Red Lady, a ghost story that develops an unlife of its own. The other has Heather as a child psychologist who receives a heart-shaped pendant in the mail that once belonged to Becca before she died. What follows is a descent into paranoia for Heather as she realizes someone knows of her involvement in Becca’s death and a mystery as to whether or not she is being haunted by the Red Lady. By looking at Heather’s past and her friendship with the members of the Dead Girls Club, readers are pulled along as the book teases us with what happened to Becca, along with a breakneck conclusion that tantalizingly leaves the reality of the Red Lady. Is she still fiction or is she much more?
This ambiguity of supernatural forces, a prime example of this being Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, may confuse some readers but it ultimately adds to the story’s power. A cold spot in a house can be explained away by drafts and the creaking in an old house could just be the structure settling, but when the protagonist hears a house groan in almost human tones or feels a chill where there are no windows, their mind starts to race as they search for an explanation. When none is satisfactory, the only options left are for the protagonist to feed the ghost by giving it a reality in his or her head or to accept the ambiguity. Tremblay and Walters understand that supernatural malevolence, whether in a house or a spooky story, is given power by the people who experience it and retell it.

Red Lady Red Lady

First, I would like to thank the author the publisher and Netgalley for my arc of this book. I enjoyed this book more then I expected to. Before you think negatively of me that isn’t an insult. I am a person who lives to read an awesome thriller and I have read so many that they tend to be predictable. I loved this book from start to finish so much so I finished it in one sitting. Heather Cole has a secret. When she was a tween, she killed her BFF, Becca, as part of a ritual for an urban legend called The Red Lady. Years later, Heather is a respected child psychologist who receives something unsettling in the mail. Is the past haunting Heather is her BFF still alive, or is The Red Lady…. Back. So many questions that I promise you will have the answers too by the end. I loved the relationship between the four girls in the Dead Girls Club. I also loved the past and present point of views which made me more intrigued to read the story. My goodness the ending is so well worth the wait. If you get the chance to pick this up it’s very much worth the read. I know many people are comparing this to Gone Girl. I also know that many people did not like gone girl so if seeing that in a review is scaring you off, I urge you to give this a chance you won’t regret it.
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Heather and Becca started the Dead Girls Club as a way to retreat from the world around them, while they tell scary stories about serial killers and monsters. Until one night, Becca asks Heather to do something unimaginable. Now, many years later, Heather starts getting signs that someone else knows about what really happened that night, and wants to see her pay for it. Great read!

"We make up stories when it hurts too much to tell the real ones."</i>

Heather and Becca are the best of friends. Together with Rachel and Gia they form The Dead Girls Club. The band of four share crime stories, the histories of serial killers creating the backdrop for their afternoon distractions. As morbid as this is, things really get scary when Becca introduces the troupe to a character known as The Red Lady.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/d6/56/19d656d873a09933384c892448f81048.jpg"width="300" height="450""/>

A witch betrayed by the townsfolk she served, she was buried alive with her tongue and hands cut off. In Becca's tales The Red Lady is a vengeful spirit who seeks retribution from beyond the veil. When the girls start performing rituals to her, The Red Lady becomes more than just a figment of Becca's inventive imagination. She invades their dreams. Her presence makes itself palpable and disaster becomes the girls' certain destiny.

<i>Special Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Damien Angelica Walters for advanced access to this book.</i>

This was a fun, quick read. If you grew up telling ghost stories with childhood friends and playing “light as a feather stiff as a board” you will find this book nostalgic. It reminds me of “Sandlot” with girls.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Yikes!! I really wanted to LOVE this book!! There was sooo much hype surrounding this one all over booktube and social media. But it wasn’t for me. It could have been so good! It just fell short for me. The premise of this book made me want to binge read like a champ. But I just found the present day chapters lacking to keep my interest and I started skimming through to see how it ended.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Coming of Age meets Horror all wrapped up into one twisty, dark, psychological thriller. I look forward to more from this author.

Heather and her BFF Becca are members of The Dead Girls Club. The BFF's and their friends are truly fascinated with serial killers and all things ghostly and scary. Until Becca begins summoning the Red Lady and her weird obession starts unnerving them all. Is it a coincidence that they are all having weird dreams? Are those sensations real? did they really see blood? or is it their vivid imaginations?

This book takes place in the current tense, intermingled with flashbacks to that terrible summer that Becca died. Heather is convinced that no one knows the truth about what happened that night. She was the only one there....or was she?

Heather's perfect life starts to unravel, and she sees enemies everywhere she turns. Will her past catch up with her? Will they believe that she really meant no harm? Didn't anyone else see how tortured Becca's suffering was? She can't really be held responsible for what happened.

This book goes beyond thriller and meddles in the supernatural. Are you brave enough to read it after dark?

Thank you @netgalley @crookedlanebooks @dawalters for my e-book in exchange for this review.
#TheDeadGirlsClub #NetGalley

This is the story of Heather and Becca, two teenage best friends. Together with two other friends they have formed The Dead Girls Club, where they like to talk about serial killers, and tell ghost stories. It's all in fun, until Becca begins the story of The Red Lady, and things begin to seem all too real. The belief that The Red Lady is real, ends up getting Becca killed. Thirty years down the road and Heather has never told anyone what really happened the night Becca died. She has done everything in her power, to put that night behind her. That is until the other half of a "best friends" necklace is delivered to her, Heather can't help but wonder if someone else knows what really happened. Heather begins to get the sense someone is watching her, but who? Soon it's all she can think about, and it consumes her entire life.

I'm not going to lie, I requested this book based solely on the cover. This is definitely one of my favourite covers of 2019! Yes, the title indicates a thriller/horror novel, but apparently all I saw were the pretty flowers, because I wasn't expecting this to be what it is. Despite not being a huge fan of horror/ghost stories, I did enjoy the story-line in this one. While at times, far-fetched, one of my favourite features is the way the chapters are written, alternating between the now and then. This has become a defining feature of a 'good' thriller for me. This was a definite page turner, and definitely made me think back to the teenage days of peer pressure and just trying to fit in.

I would recommend this book to those who love thrillers, especially supernatural stories. It is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it did get my heart racing at times. If you're looking for a quick read, this is definitely worth checking out, plus how gorgeous is that cover?

I would like to thank Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stories centered around teen girls and spooky urban legends are really my favorite trope right now, and this is a really fun example. The Red Lady is absolutely terrifying and the way that Becca describes her and the stories that she tells are some of the creepiest I've ever heard.

In a lot of ways, Heather never got over the night Becca died (she and the other two friends all stopped speaking to each other not long after) and she's carried a lot of guilt and questions in the decades since.

This is definitely a scary book but it's also a good discussion-starter and it has a lot of interesting things to say about female friendship and the obsession that a lot of us have with true crime. 

I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while (and if I hear anyone saying my name, I'm not looking).

The atmosphere of this book is amazing. It is haunting from beginning to end and I just had to know what was going to happen. The character development is slow and the pacing could drag at times but it would be called suspenseful by others. You really don't know the entire story of what happened just that the main characters admits to killing her best friend. We are not told why or how but that there is some sort of paranormal character that has a lot to do with it. As the creepy things keep happening you have no idea who is doing it and for what purpose. Slowly the story of the past is explained to us which just leads you to wonder even more who is doing this stuff now.

I think this book did a good job at what it was trying to accomplish. I took away a star because of the way it ended.

In 1991, four friends met up to share stories about serial killers. They talked about Ted Bundy's dreamy eyes, and the grossness of John Wayne Gacy. They were all friends with each other, but Rachel and Gia were best friends, and Becca and Heather were best friends.

Until the story of the Red Lady. Until the night Heather killed Becca.

30 years later, Heather receives a package in the mail, proving that someone knows what happened that night. Someone knows she murdered Becca. Someone wants revenge.

This story has so much potential. It's a thriller with a healthy mix of horror elements. As you're going along, you're never quite sure whether someone is messing with Heather, or if the phantom witch from their childhood is back to wreak havoc on her adult life.

Unfortunately, adult Heather is absolutely insufferable. We meet her at the same time she receives the package, and everyone in her life talks about how she's so different and something is clearly wrong. We don't get the chance to see her as a real person, only this extremely unprofessional basket case looking around every corner and ruining her marriage and friendships.

The best part of this book is the flashbacks. The dynamic between the four friends is so very real and believable. The only thing missing was a secret three-way phone conversation. The secrets friends hide from each other, the tiny cuts teenagers give each other with the expectation that all will be forgiven tomorrow.

The buildup in this book is amazing, the creep factor is brilliant and you really do wonder if this is a human or paranormal villain.

But the ending....is a major bummer. It absolutely comes out of left field with no foreshadowing whatsoever, and you're left shaking your head and wondering what you just read.

This was not a waste of precious reading time, but the disappointment was very, very real. I expected more.

I was looking forward to reading this one from the description but found it really difficult to stay focused on from early in. There is some back and forth between the present and what happened in the past with the main character. It started off rather slow for me, both in the present and the past, as what happened in the past is dragged out with mundane details of life between two best friends at first. Then once more comes out about what happened in the past and the story of the “Red Lady”, things began to pick up and I got more excited for the story…until we were taken back to the present, and things got dull again. The lead as an adult is also a child therapist/psych doctor, but she has her mental distress regarding the past, and it was a little scary knowing she was helping children considering how her own state of mind was. It was okay as a thriller, just needed a little something done to keep the suspense up so the reader would not want to put the book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Damien Angelica Walters for allowing me to read and review The Dead Girls Club. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to hyping it up on my Twitter!

“You don’t need flickering lights or doors slamming shut, the parlor tricks of a poltergeist, to be haunted. The true ghosts are made of deed and word and live deep inside the marrow and bone.”

If you need an eerie book to curl up with on a cold winter night, filled with unreliable narrators and lots of flashbacks, check out The Dead Girls Club.

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters is a multi-faceted ghost story. It very clearly contains a traditional ghost story, centered around the Red Lady, but it also explores the way memories and past experiences can continue to haunt us throughout our lives.

This story flips between two different periods: “then” (the summer of 1991, when our main character, Heather, was a preteen), and “now” (present day). We know right at the beginning of the story that something tragic happened to one of Heather’s friends back in 1991, but we don’t know how exactly the chain of events occurred. Now, as an adult, she’s reliving some of those past memories as they’ve come back to haunt her.

The chapters that take place in 1991 follow Heather and her three friends Becca, Gia, and Rachel. The three of them are thick as thieves, and spend their evenings and weekends hanging out, telling ghost stories, reading true crime books, and having the occasional seance. You know, typical preteen girl stuff. Becca, however, becomes obsessed with a story about the Red Lady, and it’s the only thing she wants to talk about. She’s convinced the Red Lady is real, and wants her to come visit the girls.

Now, I’ve read a lot of horror stories in my day, and while The Dead Girls Club isn’t specifically horror (it’s more of a thriller), this Red Lady sub-story gave me the chills. Maybe it’s because I read a lot of this book at night, or maybe it’s because the Red Lady is a terrifying undead woman who wants revenge. You’ll have to read and decide for yourself.

Of course, as we know from the start of the book, the Red Lady story goes too far and tragedy strikes. In the chapters that take place in the present, we see an adult Heather, working as a child psychologist, struggling to deal with her own past memories. To make things worse, she starts getting mail that contains childhood items, and starts to think that someone may know details about that summer that were supposed to be long forgotten.

While the story flips back and forth, we get more information about what happened in 1991, and also see how adult Heather starts to slip into a panicked, paranoid mindset. Who else knows about what happened to that group of friends? Are they going to report it to the police, more than 20 years later? All of this stress causes Heather to make a lot of really stupid decisions, which only makes her anxiety even worse.

This book is hard to pin down since it’s part thriller, part horror. There are elements of both genres, but not enough of one for it to specifically fall into that category. It also deals with themes of friendship, memories, and mental health. Sure, Heather’s paranoia isn’t technically diagnosed, but it’s easy to see how her stress and anxiety over past events causes her turmoil, which only gets worse as time goes on.

Overall, I really liked this book. It had everything I wanted, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I can understand how some readers may not be a fan of this book—it’s confusing at times and the characters are a little unlikable—but that’s alright. Not every book is for everyone.

If you’re looking for a book with some scary elements, a bit of a mystery, and a lot of asking “what the hell is going on here?!”, then check out The Dead Girls Club.

Thank you to the publisher for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. The Dead Girls Club comes out on December 10, 2019, and can be purchased wherever books are sold.