I can't decide if this is more mystery or horror. It is well written and held my interest. It is a bit wordy in places with description that is interesting but not really necessary to the story. This story is about friends from different backgrounds but with a similar interest in the macabre. They tell stories about monsters and serial killers. This reminds me of "Bloody Mary" in feel. Secrets from childhood can follow us into adulthood, as we see in this book. It also reminds me a bit of "I know what you did last summer"

I really loved this book in a new to me author. The characters and location really and to the story. I can't wait to read the next one. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

The Dead Girls Club has all of my favorite supernatural elements, and the blurb had me pounding the request button in an instant! But then, somehow, it sat on my shelf, unread for ages. I figured it was time to rectify that. I really liked this book, although it's not what I would categorize as horror. It's still fun and easy to read. Wish I would have remembered it sooner!
3 stars

*I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley.*

Great book! I was hooked from the start, thank you so much for providing me a copy of this book to read. This is something I would love to purchase.

This was an interesting mystery book though I will admit it was a lot different than I thought it was going to be!

Heather Cole had once been part of a group called The Dead Girls Club. Plagued by stories of the red lady her and her friends would perform rituals in the basement of an abandoned house. When the stories seemed to become real one of the girls pays the ultimate price. Her life.

Thirty years later and Heather is now a psychologist, trying to help children like her friend who died too soon. When this start to appear at her house including her dead friends necklace she starts questioning her sanity. Believing the Red Lady is real and after her she must confront demons from her past.

The story was well written. It wasn't as scary as I wanted it to be. It was tagged a lot as horror and it felt more psychological thriller to me. But it was a good read and enjoyable.

The Dead Girls Club is a good read . Though not really a mystery because you know what’s happening early on and follow it through the end of the book. The main character is deliciously unlikeable. Definitely a dark and entertaining thrilling ride ..

The first thriller I’ve read in awhile that actually felt original!! Half ghost story, half murder mystery, this book leaves you wondering just how exactly it’s going to end, and that ending is so satisfying and RIGHT. There aren’t a million unnecessary twists. It feels a bit Stephen King-ish. A great spooky read. #netgalley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book made me remember my childhood! I loved that the four friends had a special place to tell stories, and the best friend necklaces really had me reminiscing. I always enjoy a book with a nonlinear timeline. There were some twists in the story that I didn’t see coming. My only criticism is that I thought the ending was a little rushed.

When I read the summary for this book I was really excited about it. Now having read it, I feel the summary was all I needed to read for the full story. I’m still perplexed why it’s labeled a supernatural thriller?

This is a Then and Now story about four 12 year old girls and the story of the “Red Lady” and their obsession with spooky things. I really enjoyed the telling of the Red Lady story and how Becca spooked her friends in her narration. This was probably the best part of the book for me. It was brilliant and engaging.

In the Now section, Heather is mailed a necklace. It just happens to be the other half of a necklace she had when she was twelve years old. Becca who was murdered had the other half. Through this, Heather learns that someone knows her role in Becca’s murder. She starts falling apart.

This just wasn't for me, but there are others who are really enjoying this book

Thank NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
3 Stars

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Then, tween girls form a "club" and talk about murder and murders until one of them gets killed. Now, one of them as an adult is receiving strange mail and falling apart as she remembers what she was keeping hidden from then. I had trouble rooting for any of the characters and the twist has been done before so was predictable.

Gosh, I died over the blurb for this book! And then I died when I actually read it. I LOVED this novel. You've got to read it.

I really liked the idea of this book. I personally couldn’t connect to the story or had any deep feelings for the characters. I enjoyed the witchy element and the time jumping aspect.

Absolutely loved this book, my only regret being that I didn't finish it sooner. I was hooked from the first pages, sucked into the ominous dark world created by the author and the taboo love affair of the girls with the dark stories they read...and where this took them.

I know, I know, I should have read this book a long time ago, but it had fallen off my radar and only popped back on it recently when the audiobook was released. And I’m so glad! Thinking it was going to be your typical run-of-the-mill thriller suspense mystery, I picked up The Dead Girls Club for some reliable entertainment but discovered it to be about so much more.

Like so many other novels of its kind that I’ve read lately, the story is told via dual timelines. In the present, our protagonist Heather Cole has a successful career helping troubled teens and is happily married to the love of her life. But one day, she receives a mysterious package that suddenly brings all the chilling memories of her past rushing back. Inside the innocuous envelope is an item she knows well from her childhood: a cheap metal half-heart pendant friendship necklace which used to hang around the neck of her best friend Becca, and that was also where Heather saw it last—the day the other girl died, almost thirty years ago. Unnerved, Heather tries to convince herself that it must be some sick prank. Might it even be possible the perpetrator is Becca’s mother, who was convicted for murdering her daughter? The woman did recently get released from prison, after all. Surely, no one else but Heather knows what really happened that night?

In the second timeline, we find out exactly what happened to Heather and Becca that fateful summer when they were both twelve years old. Following them and two other friends, Gia and Rachel, who together made up the Dead Girls Club—so named because the four of them would get together every week in an abandoned old house to share stories about true crime and serial killers—we flash back to 1991, when everything between them was still easy and carefree. But the trouble begins when Becca shows up to a meeting one day wanting to tell a very different kind of story. Through her reading, Becca claims to have found a record of a woman known as the Red Lady, executed centuries ago by her village on suspicion of witchcraft. Fascinated, the other girls demand to know more, thinking it is just a story, but Becca seems to believe the Red Lady was real, and not only that, her spirit also still haunts the real world and speaks to those who want to make contact. As Becca sinks deeper into her obsession, a crack develops between her and Heather’s friendship, becoming wider by the day as the stories about the Red Lady become increasingly more disturbing, growing wildly out of hand.

What began as a suspenseful mystery with eerie undertones ultimately transformed into full-blown horror as things got underway. And yet, I think the book did a good job maintaining that hybrid balance, featuring plenty of thrills along with the creeping supernatural dread. It’s hard to decide which timeline I enjoyed more; they both brought their strengths to the plot, keeping momentum and interest high as we alternated between the two threads. In the present, Heather is stricken with fear and paranoia as the ominous arrival of the friendship necklace is followed by other surprises in the mail, along with signs that she may be being stalked. Gradually, readers also get to learn the reason for Heather’s anxiety, as her past unfolds the “Then” timeline—revealing that our protagonist isn’t exactly the innocent victim she appeared to be. The paranormal element is also stronger in this past timeline, making you question what’s real and what’s not. It doesn’t help that Becca likes to play mind tricks, getting into the other girls’ heads. In addition, Heather is not the most reliable of narrators, especially in the present, where it is unclear if she is experiencing fugue states and her memory is repeatedly questioned.

Unfortunately, this resulted in some holes in the story that didn’t make sense—not big ones, but they were enough to prevent the book from getting the full five stars. Ironically, I think the author may have tried too hard to definitively tie everything together with explanations when leaving some vagaries out there may have been more advantageous, allowing readers to use their imaginations and draw their own conclusions.

However, this doesn’t change my positive impression of Damien Angelica Walters. While I’ve had her books on my TBR for ages, this is the first time I’ve actually read her work. And I will say right now, it will most definitely not be the last. I just love her style and the way her prose hooks you from the very start. And on a personal note, I also discovered while reading this book that she is a local author, from the way she incorporated the areas of central and northeast Maryland in her setting. I had a chuckle at the way she described the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, because it is just so darn true, and it also felt pretty neat to recognize a lot of the cities and towns mentioned, being able to say, “Hey, I know where she’s talking about” as the character traveled from place to place.

Overall, I’m excited to finally say I’ve read Damien Angelica Walters, considering how often her horror has been recommended to me and how long I’ve had her work on my reading list. The Dead Girls Club ended up being a screaming good time and an absolute spine-tingling joy to read!

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. They snuck into an old house that had been up for sale for quite a while. They would tell stories about death, imaginary spirits and ghosts. The one that led to death was the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face... Heather knew the stories were made up to scare them, that is, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it. Becca lived a very sad life, abused by her mother and with very few friends. Could the Red Lady save her?

The story is told in a dual-timeline, which is one I do enjoy. When Heather received a necklace in the mail, it sends her spiraling backwards to the fateful occurrence from years before. There is a bit of suspense, some mystery and a lot of angst that I was not looking for in this story. This is a genre I don't usually read, but it sounded fun. I remembered similar stories from my youth, only our was called "Bloody Mary" so I thought it would remind me of those simpler times. Well, it was not really what I was looking for. I finished this one, but it was really not my cup of tea. It has received mixed reviews, so I can only say, to give it a try if the synopsis interests you, it might be just what you are looking for.

The scary stories we tell as children can leave a lasting impression...especially the one about the Red Lady!
This book is told from the perspective of Heather. You learn about her involvement with the Dead Girls Club (along with her friends Becca, Rachel & Gia) as a child. The events that take place that summer leave Heather forever changed. The story flips between then and now and keeps you guessing right until the end.
This suspenseful book kept me turning pages and not wanting to put it down!

Not one of my favorite reads. I was a bit bored and felt it dragged a bit. The story didn’t really grasp my attention straightaway so maybe that is why it took me a while to get through. Thank you for the copy!!

The description is what drew me to read this, but I found it to be a bit "eh" in meeting the description.

This book felt like another addition to the dead girls trope. There was ‘t anything here that encouraged me to continue reading after the first fifty pages.