A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is one of my absolute favorite books and when I read the blurb for The Dead Girls Club and saw the comparison to Tremblay’s book, I quickly moved DGC to the top of my TBR list! The story focuses on Heather, a psychologist working with troubled children who believes someone or something from her past is stalking her when she begins receiving threatening gifts. Her paranoia escalates as she attempts to figure out who is behind her trouble and soon everyone is a potential threat. Why can’t she go to the police? Because Heather believes the stalking is related to a tragically horrific act from her past. Alternate chapters focus on the past, when Heather and her three best friends were young teens interested in the gothic and macabre. These chapters are where the book truly shines, easily capturing the ups and downs in the friendships between the girls. It’s also when the book is at it’s creepiest, with the introduction of the supernatural “Red Lady,” a tale told by young Heather’s best friend, Becca. Admittedly, the twist at the end felt a bit forced but overall I found it to be an exciting thriller that kept me guessing to the end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through this book and I really enjoyed it. This story is divided into two timelines “then” and “now”, and I loved that about it. The relationship between the young girls was well written and dynamic. The story of The Red Lady was incredibly well done with an intricate backstory that constantly keeps the reader on edge. The writing was great and I would definitely read more from this author.

This book was a page-turner with heart pounding scenes and I couldn’t put the book down. Why I thought reading this book at night was a good idea, I have no clue. I constantly wanted to know who was after Heather! I enjoyed Heather as a character and I felt like the chapters that flashed back to her childhood really helped me to understand her and her choices. The angst and the drama of being a tween is captured so well in this novel.

This would have been a five star read for me if it hadn’t been for the ending, which knocked it down a star. That being said this ended up being a 4 star read for me, maybe 4.5 star read, I need to let it sit a little more. Mild spoilers ahead…

I was really disappointed with the twist. One part I felt was just not quite believable, I needed more information, more build up, more… something. The other part of it I had guessed from the very beginning and I actually would have been okay with it if it had been explained more. The ending felt really rushed and I ended the book with a few unanswered questions.

Overall, though, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to someone who enjoys a good mystery that will keep you turning the page. I look forward to more books from Damien Angelica Walters.

***ARC received from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

I'm conflicted about this book, the majority of it I really enjoyed yet I still felt unsatisfied at the end. Perhaps because you go in knowing way to much about the story. You know Becca is dead and Heather, our main character, killed her. I just feel like the suspense would have been a little deeper if I hadn't known that going it. Doesn't meant that I didn't enjoy the book, it was still a good book.

The book itself is broken into two sections, now and then. We follow Heather through her adult years and as a twelve year old. At first, I wasn't as big a fan of the past section at the beginning, as it is written in first person it felt juvenile being first person as a twelve year old but at the book kept going as we got to learn about Becca and the Red Lady I really liked these sections. But what I mostly liked about this was the relationship between the four girls, it felt real and natural. Becca and Heather are best friends but they are also twelve with secrets and moody behaviors. Heather's interactions with her mother was just what you would expect from a preteen.

The present follows Heather in her thirties is where the book started strong for me but didn't fully deliver in the end. Pretty much the opposite of the past sections. Heather is presented to almost be having some type of breakdown, when you try to figure out whether everything she is experiencing is real or all in her head. It at times felt like it could be in her head which creates a very interesting thriller dynamic. Its such a shame that the reveal of the ending fell flat to me. A good build up to an ending that just didn't fully deliver, even if the rest of the book, particularly the past sections were so good.

This has several tropes that I love...a group of kids who love various aspects of creepy things, who follow a spooky urban legend and are in an abandoned house. Sounds amazing. But, there was something lacking for me. It was good, and I wouldn't discourage anyone from this if those are your thing. I read the Tremblay "The Cabin at the End of the World" and there were aspects of this that resonant with that. The same sort of drift into supernatural, magical realism. In some books it works for me, but here it did not. But that may have just been me.
Not my thing.
#TheDeadGirlsClub #NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks

Heather Cole seems to have it all together: married, a career as a child therapist, but one day an unmarked envelope appears on her desk that brings her face to face with a past she buried long ago.

As the weathered chain slinks out and lands in her hand, she doesn’t even need to look to know what she’ll see: a half-heart pendant.
One half of a “Best Friends Forever.” She still has her half deeply hidden away.

Nobody should have been able to send this necklace to Heather, it’s an impossibility.
And only Heather knows why. It’s something she’s kept secret for more than thirty years.

Suddenly, the life that Heather has so carefully crafted is over, and she is forced to come face to face with the events that happened one night, all those years ago.

The night that her best friend Becca died.
The night that she killed her best friend.


When I first started this book, I was honestly just drawn to the novelty of the synopsis:
Best friends getting together, talking about morbid things and telling ghost stories. Naming themselves The Dead Girls Club. Sounds like me when I was younger. (Who am I kidding? I’m still like that. ☠️)

However, as the book started alternating chapters/timelines between THEN/NOW, I realized this was an incredibly multifaceted story.

I felt like it was a perfectly crafted plot. The scenes from the past felt nostalgic, especially because they brought back so many memories of myself as a teenager in the 90’s. All I could think was, SAME.
I almost had a hard time reading as it got further along, because I knew a “Becca” in real life.
It’s difficult to say much without spoilers. I think it’d be an injustice to spoil this book.

The scenes in the present are tough because while you know the reason for Heather’s fears, as things become more threatening for her and her life is really spiraling downward, sometimes you just want to smack her for the way she handles things.
But then, who am I to say how I would behave in a situation like that? Fear (of all manner of things,) makes us someone we aren’t, sometimes.

This book, I have to say, is one of my favorites I’ve read recently.
It was a suspenseful thriller, it had the paranormal, but then, damn if it didn’t sneak up and give me the feels too.

It’s an examination of childhood innocence, childhood trauma, the dynamic between mothers and daughters and girls as friends.
It conjures up questions on morality vs. loyalty, secrets and lies, and is a wonderful window into mental health issues.

While that makes it sound very serious, it ultimately was completely entertaining, and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Just when I thought I was sure I knew who did it or what was REALLY happening, I was wrong. I never got it right.

This, to me, is one of those perfect books.
Like sitting down to eat a snack and getting a whole meal instead.
I was taken through every emotion imaginable, and I love that, especially because most of the time I will purposely avoid books that I think might evolve certain emotions.
I forget that they are good too sometimes.

I gave this 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
And, I’m so happy I was given a chance to experience this book.
So special thanks to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, Netgalley, and the author, Damien Angelica Walters.

*All opinions are my own.

I will be distributing this review among my other platforms after I get a photo taken as a feature.
I’m anticipating by September 1.
I will feature it on my blog, Ink & Paper Wanderlust
http://inkandpaperdreamer.home.blog

My Instagram
http://Instagram.com/inkandpaperwanderlust

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/Inkandpaperwanderlust

Two sets of best friends are obsessed with all things horror and serial killer, so they regularly meet up in an abandoned house to trade stories. When one of them starts telling the story of the Red Lady, things start to get dangerously real.

What I liked was mostly centered on the supernatural elements. I do wish there was more of a conclusion to this story line, however the execution throughout was excellent.

I enjoyed the flashbacks but found both young and old Heather to be increasingly annoying. The ending was really out of left field and something no one could’ve predicted. For that reason, I strongly disliked it. It was like the author tried to come up with the least predictable conclusion after she’d already written the rest of the book, so there were no clues leading up to it.

Overall I enjoyed it, 3.5 stars rounding down though for the ending.

I’ll be honest, when I read the first chapter, I wasn’t too intrigued although it opened with a very disturbing admission, that the protagonist Heather had killed her best friend when she was a tween. It wasn’t until the following chapter reverted to the THEN portion of the story that I was hooked. The novel is sectioned in alternating chapters with a chapter in the present and the following chapter in the past. By far, the THEN chapters are way more interesting because it shows Heather as a twelve-year-old, and being best friends with Becca, and also with Rachel and Gia, whom like her and Becca also enjoy a fascination for the macabre. The girls are intrigued by deaths and serial killers so much that they decide to create the Dead Girls Club. A club made to share scary stories or true crime stories. The girls usually got together for these meetings at the basement of an abandoned house.

That summer though, Becca becomes obsessed with telling the story of the Red Lady, a witch who was killed in an atrocious manner. At first, the girls are intrigued by the stories, especially Heather, but she begins to resent the stories when she notices how it has begun to affect Becca. Because Becca is convinced that the Red Lady is real and the only one who can save her from her alcoholic, abusive mother.

In the present time, Heather receives a pendant that Becca was wearing the night of her death in the mail, which causes her to spiral in paranoia. Did somebody see her kill Becca? Is the Red Lady after her?

This book is so deliciously twisty that you find yourself questioning what’s real and what isn’t. I wouldn’t necessarily call Heather an unreliable narrator but more it’s an exploration of devout friendship and how often stories in our youth can begin to feel real if we allow ourselves to believe in them.

I honestly wish that we had gotten more chapters from the past or that we could’ve gotten a whole book about the Red Lady (the story was simply very fascinating as it was horrific). I suggest this novel to anyone who loves thrillers with a dash of supernatural spookiness into the mix.

This was good for what it was - a mystery that was actually something else. I liked it, but I didn't LOVE it - it was fine.

I was so excited to read this book. It follows a group of four girls that are obsessed with serial killers, urban legends, ghosts, and the macabre. One of the girls tells the story of The Red Lady, which in turn takes on a life of its own and rips the girls apart, ending in the one of their deaths. The story floats back and forth from the past to the present, slowly unveiling the truth of what happened on that dreadful day and the repercussions that followed in its wake.
I have to say I struggled a bit in the middle as it seemed to lose steam for me but then it began to pick up pace. The ending was not something I saw coming and I enjoyed the twists at the end. The author tied up all the loose ends and answered all the questions but still left you with a shred of wonder on if the Red Lady was real or not.
This one called to my inner child as I and some friends were also obsessed with ghosts and the macabre at that age. It brought back fond memories.

This book had so many twists and turns, I was in utter shock when I was reading the ending! This is a thriller that is part supernatural and part frightening/scary. It begins with four young girls who are in a club of their making, The Dead Girls Club. They are very interested in killers and urban legends. Becca and Heather are the main characters in this story. Becca becomes obsessed with one urban legends to the point that it has deadly consequences. I was hooked on this book from beginning to the very end.
If you like thrillers that will have you guessing to the end, pick this book up! I would highly recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A creepy horror/thriller just in time for winter. Add this book to your tbr before 2020 creeps up on us.

The Dead Girls club opens with Heather receiving a mysterious envelope that reopens a secret that she's kept hidden from everyone for nearly 20 years. It takes her back to the summer of The Dead Girls Club. The last summer she and her friends were thick as thieves. The summer of the Red Lady. A summer of death.

The Dead Girls Club initially appealed to me initially because as a child I was considered a bit of a creepy weirdo over my love of horror and urban legends. I was reading Stephen King and Christopher Pike in elementary, and wore out "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and Goosebumps long before that. My best friend and I would try "light as a feather" and exchange our own scary stories, much like the girls in the book.
I enjoyed the long slow burn of the story, bouncing from present to past. I especially liked connecting to the memories of my own awkward preteen self and thinking about what I would have thought of the Red Lady. (Though I love horror I still will not use the bathroom at night without the light lest Bloody Mary finally come for me)
But this isn't really a story about the Red Lady. This is a story of secrets and how they affect people for the rest of their lives. Like I said, it's a slow burn. The first half took me much longer to read than the second half.

4/5 *I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my review.

What a creepy, fun read! I loved the whole premise and found myself flipping pages like a mad woman to find out more. Such an original concept for a thriller/horror story. I thought it had lots of fun twists, chilling chills, and thrilling thrills! Well written and fast paced! Definitely recommend to my fellow genre lovers!
Will make sure I buzz it up!

This was very creative.  I reminder trying to make clubs with my friends in school but none of my clubs worked out.  We were not in serial killers and things like this.  I have always loved horror and thrillers but not many people I meet usually do.  This book was a good read for me and I have not read anything from this author before.  I am glad to find someone new to read.  I can't wait to read more from this author.  "This book was given to me for free at my request from Netgalley and I provided this voluntary review."

The Dead Girls Club has such a eerie premise that hooked me right away and the cover is gorgeous. I wanted to love this one, I really did.

It's the story of four childhood friends who, in the early 1990s, create the Dead Girls Club, in which they, led by the imaginative Becca, share stories about serial killers and the vengeful ghost of a woman killed centuries before--the Red Lady. Heather knows she's not real, but as Becca's home life becomes more unstable, she insists that the Red Lady can save her and she convinces Heather to take part in a ritual to prove that she's real.

Only it gets Becca killed. Is Heather really responsible? Or is Becca's mother the murderer? The night haunts Heather well into her future.

Now an adult, Heather is a psychologist who has dedicated her life to helping kids. But the past has caught up to her and someone is sending things of Becca's--someone who may know the truth of what happened the night Becca was killed.

This book promised to be horror/thriller. And unfortunately, there weren't all that many twists that made it so. It does have a sort of supernatural element with the Red Lady, but it's definitely more for people who like a good mystery without too many scares. I thought the creepiest parts were actually the stories Becca told to her friends.

The narrative switches from past to present, and I thought the most effective parts were when Heather and her friends were children. It's where most of the action takes place and we can certainly empathize with Becca's actions--living with an abusive and alcoholic parent will cause the trauma that led to her death. The parts in the present I found frustrating. A lot of Heather's activities seemed like filler and she was a bit unlikable. I know you don't have to like a MC to have an effective story, but all I could think of was "you deserve everything you're getting right now." And she's downright awful to her husband. Why even lie about half the stuff she's lying about? And by the end I had had enough of her cuticle.

I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy unreliable narrators and horror that isn't gratuitous.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this ARC for review.

If you like coming-of-age Horror/Thrillers then I highly recommend reading, THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB. Just when you think you have it all figured out - guess again!

Brimming with nostalgia – Becca, one of the main characters, reminded me of a friend I had in grade school who would tell my friend's and I scary stories, making us thirsty for more. And who can forget the folklore legend, ’Bloody Mary’ – so much fun!

Thank you #NetGalley and Publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t see that coming!!

Preteen girls playing at silly ghost story games. We’ve all been there, done that, but this time something goes terribly wrong.

Why is the Red Lady returning now? Is it the Red Lady or is Heather having a mental break?

Grab this story and be prepared to have your thoughts and ideas thrown out the window.

After reading the synopsis it was easy to get excited for The Dead Girls Club! I mean, hello, a club literally called The Dead Girls Club. Not to mention, there are scary stories and serial killers. Then you find out the main character killed her best friend. All of that, to me, screams MUST READ.

Throughout the book, you bounce back and forth between the present and the past. It is easy to get caught up in both story lines as they are told well. Plus, they both are extremely interesting. The main and supporting characters are easy to remember and help move the story along at a good pace. A few well known serial killers are thrown into the mix and you are told a very interesting story about the Red Lady. Which, honestly, I found to be really neat and a great addition to this book.

While I did really enjoy this book, there were a few things that knocked a few stars off for me. There are quite a few loose ends that I would have loved to seen tied up. Also, when I finished the book I was left with a lot of questions.

In the end, I definitely would recommend this for a quick and slightly spooky read.

This is a creepy book as the title would suggest, but I also found it compelling from start to finish! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this author in the future!

A solid thriller, but unfortunately one that I personally didn't find that engrossing.

The book alternates timeframes between the past (when Heather was part of the "The Dead Girls Club" and something bad went down) and the present where Heather is a child psychologist and someone is trying to remind her of that ominous past event.

In my opinion, the sections that take place in the past are the strongest part of the book, with some genuinely creepy moments. Having been a girl with a similar interest in the macabre at a young age, I found notion of the club plausible and can see how the girls get so drawn into the web of the Red Lady they are unable to really see a clear delineation between real threats and supernatural ones. Unfortunately, the Red Lady herself only figures into the past tense story, implying that she was a figment of the girls' imaginations, (which was was a bit of a shame as the present tense sections could have used that same jolt of eeriness.)

The sections in the book that took place in the present were, in my opinion, not as strong as the past tense ones and seemed to strain credibility. In particular, I had a hard time buying into the notion of a mental health professional (who is friends with other mental health professionals) being so out of touch with her own mental health. Not only was Heather unaware of things spiraling out of control, she didn't even have any curiosity about her increasingly erratic behavior. I guess I would expect a child psychologist who works with kids in trauma to at least ask questions of herself like, "Wow. Wonder why my paranoia is so out of control?" or "I keep mutilating my fingers, I wonder what I should do about that?"

Overall, it was a solid thriller that I enjoyed, but the present tense sections kept me from really loving it. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.