Really, all I ever want out of a book is for it to be so damn good that I am raaaaccing through the pages trying to get to the end. This book fit that bill and then some. Is it supernatural? Is it a thriller? Is it a horror novel? Maybe, yes, and yes. Rebecca regales her 3 friends, one of which - Heather - is her best, with tales of the macabre. They love horror stories and scary stuff, but one night Rebecca starts telling tales about the Red Lady. Living in an abusive home, Rebecca is looking for any kind of outlet for that pain, and she pours it all into this story. One thing leads to another, and Becca ends up dead, with Heather at the other end of the knife. But it was the Red Lady's fault. She was real and she demanded the sacrifice if Becca's life was ever going to get better.

Now, decades later, Becca is dead and Heather is holding the necklace that should have disappeared with her friends body. Somebody knows, and is determined to inflict psychological trauma on our protagonist. The rest of the book is a game of is she, isn't she? Interspersed with page turning tension to figure out exactly what is and isn't real in this game of cat and mouse.

Excellent novel, original plot and fascinating characters with a little bombshell tacked on at the end. Great book.

I was a little disappointed in the twist of this story. While it kept my attention throughout it seemed a little predictable and somewhat familiar. It's definitely unique and well written. I enjoyed this gothic nostalgic read and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Heather killed her childhood friend Becca, and she's been suffering ever since. So when mysterious things start happening, she knows someone has found out about her deep, dark secret, but who? Becca was her best friend who loved to tell stories. So when Becca weaves a story about the revengeful Red Lady, Heather is scared, not that she would admit it. All these years later she thought she's moved on, but someone hasn't, and they're slowly breaking down Heather's fragile walls.

For all Heather's bouts of missing time and actions that she doesn't remember doing, I thought she had disassociative identity disorder, so imagine my surprise when she didn't, because I really thought the ending was going to go a different way because of that belief.

As far as a main character, I really didn't like Heather, I thought she was weak, and while she did have a reason to be scared, I thought her reactions were over the top. Also, I lost track of how many times Walters felt the need to point out how many times Heather picked and tore at her cuticles, the author could have taken out 10 incidences, and it still would have been too many times.

Aside from what I don't like about the book, there are a lot of things to like. The Dead Girls Club in itself is a fun concept and something I think kids would totally do. The story was well-written aside from the cuticle thing, and I thought the characters were well thought out. There was a good, steady pace in the book that kept you turning pages to find out what has happened. I'm not one for half-stars because you can't place them, but I do think The Dead Girls Club isn't quite a 3, but not yet a 4, so 3.5 stars it is.

A solidly good mystery. A lot of it seemed fairly predictable, but then there were some things that came my way that I wasn't sure on, so it kept my attention, even though the very end I had already figured out from the first few chapters. Sometimes that makes a book worse. In this case it didn't hurt it. 3 stars, solidly good spooky, mystery.

A creepy ghost story . Heather Cole receives half of a best friend necklace that belonged to her best friend Becca.thirty years after Becca’s death . Alternating between present time and past when the girls formed a club to study all things macabre including the horrific red lady . . Scary , twisty and creepy this novel is beyond disturbing

This was an unsettling read about four young girls that tempt their supernatural thoughts. The “leader” of the group of girls, Becca, has issues of her own that ignite her own version of the “red lady”. Becca has all of the traits of a troubled teen. It has twists and turns that question what is real and what is not and surrounds a murder.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this intriguing novel.

The Dead Girls Club was not really what I expected. The book flips back and forth between the past and the present. The main characters, Heather is the person telling the story.

As a young girl, she and three of her friends were members of a little club, The Dead Girls Club, where they discussed serial killers. In their morbid fascination of violent death, Heather's best friend introduces them to the Red Lady, the one story that will alter their lives.

The Red Lady helps those who need it but at a price. Heathers best friend, Becca, puts all of her faith into the Red Lady which causes her death. Now Heather is being haunted by her past and the Red Lady.

I read this book in two days. There were a lot of twists and I appreciated that the book moved along smoothly. I do wish at the end that we got some additional information about all the characters. Otherwise is a good suspense read!

Do you enjoy ghost stories, mysteries and suspense? If so, The Dead Girls Club may be a good book for you. Heather Cole is a happily married psychologist, living a good life in Annapolis, Maryland. That is, until her past comes back to haunt her. When she was 12, her best friend died, and the stories this friend, Becca told, when "The Dead Girls Club" met in an empty house that her Mom was the realtor for, stayed alive, even though she did not. Are ghost stories real? Three of the four girls from the Dead Girls Club thought so. Will you? Read this twisting, windy tale and and let us know what you think!

I cannot say much more about the plot of the story, as it would be way to easy to give spoilers! The story grabs the readers attention, and while there are lots of questions along the way, most of them are answered before the tale is done. This may not have been my favorite book of 2019, but I certainly was interested, and found it a quick read as I needed to see what happened. So much so, that I found myself reading it from my kindle on my phone when walking to the bathroom during my workday, as I could not leave it until my day came to an end. It was a creative original story, and well worth the time spent reading it. So, when you are looking to feel like you did when you were a kid in front of a campfire, during elementary, pick this book up and give it a spin!

The premise of this is great. 4 preteen girls form a creepy little club they call the Dead Girls Club. They meet in an empty house and talk about the usual suspects: murderers, death, ghost stories. I totally would have been in this club! The ringleader is Becca, who becomes obsessed with the tale of the Red Lady: a witch who met a horrible death hundreds of years ago and exacted her revenge on everyone who wronged her. Becca starts summoning her and things get weird.
The story is told in alternating past and present chapters, from the perspective of Heather, Becca’s best friend.

The book was good, but not great. I really liked the writing, and the story was fleshed out with well developed characters, but for some reason I found the ending unsatisfying. I can’t quite put my finger on why. I give this 3 stars, and I will definitely check out whatever Walters writes next.

A well paced hybrid between a ghost story and a mystery centered around a woman who killed her best friend as a child. The story line shifts between the present, where Heather, who now works as a therapist has received a memento from the past which drives her to dig into the events of the past, and the past, when the crime occurred. The past story line held my attention a bit more than the current one, since the girls sort of reminded me of myself and my childhood friends. The present story line would have been a little more engaging if Older Heather was more likeable. Some of the stuff she does is just silly (i.e. thinking her husband wont find out about the attorney visit…come on!). Another comment: I feel like twisty endings are completely played out in 2017. Can we please stop trying to capitalize off of Gone Girl and try something new already?

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dead Girls Club, is a mystery entwined with an urban legend. It has gasping, hair raising goosebump moments that leave you wanting more.
It's a little slow to star but once it gets going you won't be able to put it down.

Interesting story about friendships of 12 year old girls After one disappears everyone’s life changes. I was surprised by the ending, so it definitely had me captivated.

This book tells a story from present to the past, where we get the glimpses here and there about what transpired between two friends.

Heather Cole, a child psychologist, received an envelope at work only to discover it is a necklace belonging back in another place in time. Half a heart with letters, and Heather knows it's the type of necklace the one wears half and the other half is worn by a friend...best friend to be exact. This necklace shakes Heather because it looks like the same one that belonged to her best friend, Becca, who is dead.

Becca, Heather, Gia, and Rachel all hung out together. While Heather and Becca were best friends, often doing things without the other two. Becca's mother was in real estate, and Becca takes a key to a listing that is empty. It is there that the four friends, develop a secret group called The Dead Girls Club.

Becca enjoys telling tales and feeds her friends a horror story about The Red Lady. Over time, the story seems to take on a life of its own. Becca becomes obsessed with it, making claims the Red Lady is real. When Heather doesn't agree wholeheartedly, it causes a rift in her and Becca's friendship.

Now, thirty years later, someone is sending Heather mementos from the past that appear to be Becca's. Someone is stirring up the past. Heather starts to look into Gia and Rachel, because it was just the four of them that knew of The Red Lady, and they were the ones that belonged to The Dead Girls Club. Heather has a secret of her own, and in trying to uncover who is stalking her, it'll take a toll on her marriage and friendships.

After all, The Red Lady is just a made up story, right?

This book kept me glued to the pages. We know up front, something happened, but it's through the unveiling of the story that adds a shocking unexpected twist. It centers around that one special friendship that means so much, and what one will do for their BFF.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books and I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Parts of this story I really liked, such as the opening story that started it all off when the girls were just kids and the whole Red Lady thing got started; and parts of this story I didn't care for, and that was basically when the story switched to when Heather was an adult psychologist. I felt like she acted way out of proportion to what was happening. She could have made a number of more realistic choices for the situation she was in, instead she acted like a complete nut job going off the deep end.

I was also expecting more of a paranormal element to the story then what actually played out and there were some questions left unanswered which is huge pet-peeve of mine.

Heather is a child psychologist, who from the outside appears to have her life together, but on the inside, is haunted by her own childhood. When Heather receives a package from an anonymous sender, her past and her present collide and her life becomes unhinged. She starts to become suspicious of those around her, she starts to make foolish decisions, and she ultimately puts herself in danger, all while trying to overcome the trauma of her past.
This story is intriguing and suspenseful. It leaves you guessing with its twists and turns . Damien Angelica Walters writes in a way that pulls you into the story, so you are feeling the horror that is The Red Lady, while comparing it to the abuse inflicted on Becca. I enjoyed the whodunnit aspect of the story, as I had many theories and was ultimately surprised.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Heather is an interesting character. She’s a married, child psychologist who refuses, based on her traumatic childhood, to have children herself. She seems to have a supportive husband and good marriage, when things start to happen. And she starts to lose her mind.
I got the feeling that even though she seemed balanced and fine as an adult, that it was all being held together by paperclips and rubberbands. We know at the beginning of the book that she legit killed her best friend. And that she didn’t get caught. And that she has kept this secret her whole life. We don’t know how she did it or why, but seriously, no matter what, that is going to mess someone up for life. Unless they are a complete psycho.
So is she a psycho or a complete mental case? Walters does a great job switching between Heather’s childhood and the present day, slowing revealing the story that led to the even that changed Heather’s life forever. As the reader I found myself questioning what was real and what was mental illness.
I really don’t want to reveal too much of the plot here. But if you liked Stand By Me, or IT, or just plain have nostalgia for the days when we would tell scary stories around a campfire–or a well in the backyard, check this one out.
Special thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one releases on December 10.This review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog on November 12, 2019.

This was a chilling and macabre story that reminded me of Mr. Tender's Girl. Heather, Becca, and two other friends are members of the "Dead Girls Club" when they relay stories of true crime and serial killers. But when Becca tells the tale of The Red Lady who can apparently breathe life into you after you have done what she's asked, Heather becomes scared and begs Becca to explain that it's not real. But Becca is insistent and because she's been abused at home, continues to pressure the girls into believing the story. What follows is a sometimes gruesome tale of friendships gone wrong, secrets and lies, and jealousy and revenge that follows Heather into her adult life. This is a roller-coaster ride of a book and I suggest not reading it late at night!

A fascination with the macabre doesn't seem too out of place as a topic to occupy adolescent minds, but in The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters, stories of killers and witches take on a new reality. 

At twelve years old Heather and Becca were best friends captivated by stories of serial killers, witches, and ghosts to the extent that they formed a club with their two other friends and called it the Dead Girls Club. Breaking into a home Becca's mother was selling, the girls gathered to hear Becca's narration of the Red Lady's story and her vengeful, witchy acts. Becca was adamant that the Red Lady was real, a conviction that lead to her being killed. Thirty years later, Heather hasn't told anyone what happened the night Becca was killed, or her role in it. With the surprise arrival of Becca's half of their best friends forever necklace, Heather's memories of that fateful summer are dredged up, wreaking havoc on her personal and professional life, as well as sanity, as she tries to uncover who else might know what she did that night and what they want.

A mostly enjoyable and rather quick read, I was intrigued to find out what happened in Heather's past and who might be taunting her in the present. As with many novels of this ilk, the unreliability of the narrator is key to building suspense and perpetuating the believability of the supernatural component of the tale and the presentation of Heather's unraveling mental state easily aids in this. The relationship dynamics between the four young girls was well-written and easily evoked the roles and positions of relative power present in groups of friends, allowing readers to reminisce about their own childhoods. The narrative felt disjointed at times but had decent pacing, leaving the the novel as a whole a touch off-kilter as the story develops while alternating between the fateful then summer and now. Combating childhood terrors and traumas as an adult can be difficult to present well; with references to Stephen King throughout the text, it's easy to try to compare this with his works of a similar nature and come away less fulfilled.

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Admittedly, I found the start hard to get into and put it down a couple of times. I was going to write it off and DNF it but push through and I am glad I did. Great story, great writing, and overall very thrilling.

In 1991, Heather, Becca, and two other friends were members of their own group, The Dead Girls Club. This story easily goes back and forth between Then and Now. From the very beginning, the reader is left wondering what happened. This is a good, if creepy, story, and the characters are interesting and likable.