Thanks so much to NetGalley for the electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review:

This book bought back some memories of when I was younger and slept over friends houses where we would try seances and ouji boards etc. The young girls in this book are no different except they get together to talk about serial killers and other stuff (which is actually sort of similiar to my book club!) and one of the girls enjoys to tell the stories of the Red Lady. The Red Lady is a witch who was murdered by the towns people and came back as a vengeful ghost. Becca is basically obessed with The Red Lady. She has the girls conducting rituals to summon the Red Lady.

This story is told from Heather's point of view in the past and the future. There's a secret that Heather is carrying around and someone in the present knows what she did.

This is the perfect blend of mystery and thriller and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.
I had no real expectations when I cracked this book open. It had an interesting title, and the cover was nice. What followed was a novel that tried to build up some scary suspense, but fell flat of that. It did succeed at painting the protagonist as a weak, tormented person that is slowly unraveling as the chapters unfold. I think the intention was to make her relatable, but it came of as irritating.
I will say that this was a quick read, and there was a bit of suspense to it, with a little bit of a twist. But...I don't really feel like the journey was a great one. I think this novel tried to build a bigger story, but for me, it fell flat.

As soon as I started seeing this book pop up, I knew I had to read it, I was sure, based on the description, that it would end up on my favorites list for this year, sadly that was not the case.
I found the main character annoying, and was never able to fully get into the story..I am sure this book has it’s audience, but I am not it.

I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book.

I flew through this book! I love mysteries and psychological thrillers, so this was right up my alley. Told in a then/now format, readers get to watch the paranoia of the present, and the mystery and context of the past at the same time. I definitely preferred the "then" chapters, as the "now" narrator was a bit unlikeable.

Ultimately, the end was a bit odd and didn't seem super realistic--but it was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to others!

A Darkly Gleaming Gem of a Book

This novel was beautifully crafted. Part horror, part crime mystery, and part coming-of-age story, the suspense grew steadily, keeping me up at night until I finished.

The story's intermingling of real crime headlines and their effect on the minds of these girls resonated especially with me. I remember snagging my mom's True Detective magazines for slumber party reading with my girlfriends. And of course, we were fascinated by ghosts and psychic phenomena as well.

I could really relate to Heather, Becca and their friends. While I never saw the danger then, it seems so obvious now that their morbid interests and a dysfunctional household, coupled with a vivid imagination and lack of supervision, can yield horrifying results.

Or a career as a writer!

Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this arc. It didn't really keep me intrigued the entire time, but it is a decent read

I definitely loved how this was a ghost story! It was spooky and mysterious. It would make for a great Netflix limited series - wow. It was a little immature but it was still fun to read.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was incredibly creepy! Told in first person it explores a '90's childhood and the life of a child therapist.

There's some really neat twists that I didn't see coming.
I highly recommend this book.

Fondly reminds me of many of the YA thrillers I read as child/teen -- but a grown up version. Loved the pace, the storyline, and the characters.

A great quick read for folks who enjoy books about urban legends with unreliable narrators. Heather is a child psychologist who is forced to relive her early adolescence and the death of her best friend Becca, who was obsessed with The Red Lady, a witch-ghost who can be summoned to wreak havoc on your enemies. . .if you're willing to pay her price. Heather believes she is the only one who knows how and why Becca died that night, but then she begins receiving insidious objects belonging to Becca from an unknown stalker. Was someone else present the night Becca died, or did the Red Lady keep her promise--and bring Becca back to life?

This was a fanciful, enjoyable story. The characters were realistic and relatable. It brought back memories of my childhood and the girls telling ghost stories. It was well written and I escaped for a day on the beach with it.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book has such a fun and eerie, classic "teen girls explore the macabre" plot, and running alongside it, a deeper and heavier sadness to the story that leans into childhood trauma. My favorite parts of this were the Red Lady, and the "Then" chapters focusing on Heather and her friends Becca, Gia, and Rachel. I love a good creepy ghost tale (the description of the Red Lady, particularly her long weaving hair, were so creepy!), and I love a good childhood friend horror group!

In present chapters, Heather has a lot happening from every angle and it comes at you fast. I was so anxious reading the decisions she was making, and how poor they often were! But I feel that the author did a very good job of writing a woman who was so deeply fearful of her past and what she endured there. I will be looking out for any books this author writes in the future!

Thank you for a copy of this book!

2/5 - This book is boring and I can’t review it properly.

It’s not what I call a thriller. What it is, is a lot of words. Boring words. Boring words from many different boring POV’s. I expected more. I wanted more.

NetGalley provided an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this book was amazing. Personally I’m not usually into the supernatural type of books but after I read broken girls last year I knew I had to give this one a shot. It was so worth it. I was hooked from the start and could not put it down. So much mystery and suspense. Definitely recommend even to those not normally into this type of book. Thanks NetGalley.

A thrilling breakout novel from an author I've enjoyed before. Walters writes touching tension that brings heart to the horror genre. I high;y recommend her previous works, and I think this is her best yet. Can't wait for the next one.

The description of The Dead Girls Club pulled me right in. The '90s and teen girls obsessed with the morbid (who didn't try Bloody Mary in the mirror or whip out that Ouija board at sleepovers!). The secret late night sneak outs, family issues and era reminded me a bit of one of my all-tine favourite movies Now and Then. It also brought out the nostalgia for my old love of teen horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer.

I enjoyed the "past" story line and wish the book had spent all of its time there. There is so much richness to explore and opportunities to further develop the friendships between the girls and their spooky obsessions. The Red Lady was an interesting concept and the hysteria it caused between the girls reminded me of the real life Slenderman crime and how susceptible young girls can be to stories and the power of a group mentality.

Unfortunately, I just could not connect with present day Heather and that brought down the book for me. She was irritating, paranoid without reason and the relationship with her husband was really hard to read.

Ultimately, this was just an ok read for me that started with lots of potential. I will definitely keep my eye out for future books by Damien Angelica Walters.

Thank you to #netgalley and Crooked Lane for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I've been so excited for fall to come around so I could dive into this supernatural thriller. The Dead Girls Club was a solid 3 star read for me, but while I did enjoy it, it did not meet my high expectations.

The book is divided into past and present chapters, which would have worked well had the grown up Heather been tolerable as a narrator. I was much more interested in the past storyline with young Heather, her friends, and the creepy story of the Red Lady. The dynamic of the girls, and especially Becca's character reminded me of the real life Slenderman murder (which is actually referenced by Heather in a future chapter).

I found the present chapters to be filled mostly with Heather making stupid decisions and wandering about her home, town, and office, with way too much description of her everyday actions. Despite my annoyance with her character (and the ridiculous amount of times her "damp armpits" are mentioned) I had to keep reading to find out what exactly happened that summer between Heather and Becca and who was stalking Heather now. But unfortunately, the ending was not satisfying, but felt cliched and formulaic (Seriously, what is with all the thrillers lately ending with a house fire?)

Overall, I would recommend this book based on the story of The Red Lady and the creep factor it brings to the book. I just wish the author had focused more on the supernatural elements than the psychological, which would have made The Dead Girls Club stand out from the crowd.

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters brought back so many memories of being in middle school and believing in urban legends and seeking out the horror movies, books, and scary stories.

This book switches between the now and then of Heather, our main character. The then focus’ on her past with the dead girls club. 4 middle school girls into the urban legends and scary stories, and the now child psychologist haunted by her past.

This book is a decently paced mystery/thriller but the highlights of the book were mentioned in the description so nothing but a small twist is kept secret from the beginning. I think this would have benefited from not revealing so much. One of things that I did truly enjoy was the ominous stories of the red lady. The tone in the book really brought me back to the heart pounding days of knowing bloody murder wouldn’t get me but still being scared.

I look forward to reading more by Damien Angelica Walters.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books via Netgalley for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought that this book was just ok. I read a lot of horror/thrillers books so maybe it just didn't work for me but I found it to be just ok.

The stories premise was good but it seemed like a plot I have read before. It just did not wow me.

2.5/5

I wish this story wasn’t about only Heather. Because her future-self really irritated me. She is mostly acting like paranoid, hysterical with her weird giggles, making herself bleed, hitting her punches on steering wheel, suspicious moods about her husband and best friend. It’s hard to empathize her ! At some parts, I thought maybe she deserved what was happening to her.


Well, did ending and all the revelations satisfy me? Not, too much! There are still so many unanswered questions and I think author decided to leave like this! Let us question what if the urban legends are true, what if our worst nightmares are real !
Writing is good, pacing and mystery is gripping, I couldn’t put it down! But the characters , their actions, way of talking , their development are the weakest parts they made me the cut the points and also I was expecting different ending maybe more surprise and twist. That’s what I felt!