This was an ok read for me. I enjoyed the alternating time frames and thought that they successfully created an anticipatory atmosphere. I did not find the plot to be overly original and I felt like the ending kind of came out of nowhere, but at least everything was resolved in the end.

The Dead Girls Club is everything I enjoy in a thriller. It is creepy and twisty and kept me guessing throughout the story. I absolutely recommend picking this book up if you are someone who would have joined The Dead Girls Club.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital review copy of this one.

Look. This one has been out since December, but don’t judge me. 2020 has been a dumpster fire for us all, and I’m just grateful that I had a chance to get to hunker down with this one before going back to my chaotic work life in the next week or two.

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face…

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were obsessed with all things weird and spooky. They even formed The Dead Girls Club. Years later, long after Becca died, someone seems to know something. Heather, now a child psychologist in a stable relationship gets clues that she thinks only a dead person would know, a dead person or the Red Lady. But Becca made up the Red Lady, didn’t she? None of that childhood spooky stuff was real, but someone knows something, and Heather will have to get to the botom of it if she doesn’t want her secret to get out.

I find it’s always best to break thrillers down into pros and cons. I keep sticking with this genre despite not liking 90% of the titles. It’s like horror for me. 90% I don’t like, but when I find one I do, boy is it worth all the others I didn’t! I didn’t figure this one out, so that’s a pro, but I also felt like I wasn’t provided enough information throughout the story to do so, and that’s a con.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator, a motif I actually like, because unless I absolutely hate a character, a healthy dose of dislike can make the story more interesting. I enjoyed the timeline. The jumping back and forth in time created a suspenseful pace that moved quickly. I am all about lore and ghost stories. Real. Made up. I do not care. Just give them to me. So, I loved how this Red Lady story was weaved into that of our girls. Also, I am a huge fan of an unreliable narrator. While I don’t think we got all the way there with Heather, there was enough missing that I think it’s a fair imitation of one.

Overall, it was okay. I really dislike new information in the third act, so that bummed me out. I like to not figure it out and then go oooooooooh, it all makes sense now, and I feel that without that, it’s kind of a cop out. But overall, the story was weaved well. So many points for no sexual assault (I hate that I have to give points for that these days, but here we are), and cool spooky elements.

If you’re in the market for a thriller with some potentially spooky elements, interesting ghost stories, and not 100% likeable characters, give this one a go. It sucks you in and takes you on a wild ride.

This book was in my top 5 reads of 2019. It is a must read if you grew up telling scary stories at sleepovers and attempting to conjure the unknown via your beloved Ouija board. Centered around a group of friends called "The Dead Girls Club" who meets in an abandoned home to see who can out-frighten the others, this tale spans many years linking the past and present.

In present day, Heather begins to feel the past catching up with her and coming for answers about what happened that one fateful night years ago. During the past, we see Becca spiraling deeper into an obsession with the Red Lady stories she tells during the group meetings. Heather tries her best to pull her back to reality, but there's only so much a 12 year old can do. There are plenty of twists and turns in this thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.

This book will make you question how far you would go to protect the life you've built for yourself.

This was a pretty enjoyable creepy book! I definitely liked the chapters from the past and could relate to the friendship and nostalgia of young girls even though I was never interested in murders etc myself growing up. The present day chapters were a little slow in comparison.

The writing is solid and there is definitely a psychological thriller vibe running through the story. I would have liked a little more detail and flushing out of The Red Lady but overall this was a gripping, fun read

I love a good creepy read, the The Dead Girls Club did not disappoint. Well-written and page-turning I couldn't stop reading into the late night to see what would happen next. Character driven stories are the best!

I wasn’t expecting much from this book based on the reviews from other readers. Some referred to it as, “Goosebumps for adults” and others pointed out that it relied too heavily on the 90s references. Well, I liked Goosebumps as a kid and I enjoyed this book! It was a quick read that I flew through at the pool. I loved the 90s references, such as Blockbusters “Be king and rewind slogan” that stirred up nostalgic feelings. This story goes back and forth between and then and now timeline which I always seem to enjoy. The main character, Heather, is a child psychologist who is still haunted by the death of her childhood best friend. In the last, we hear the ghost story of the Red Lady that Becca would tell her preteen friends. We also learn that Becca’s home life was less than desirable. Then Heather begins to receive creepy messages that bring back the memories of that summer and her friend Becca, but Heather also fears who ever is sending these notes knows who really killed Becca.

Written by Damien Angela Walters, The Dead Girls Club follows Heather as a necklace from her past shows up.

One that should be on a dead girl.

If you don’t like books that hop back and forth in time, you will not like this book. I’m just going to lay that out here now, as I know a lot of folks who won’t read anything that does that.

This is a really good mystery. This is the kind of mystery that I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen.

This is a dark tale, about a woman who thinks, at the very least, that she killed her best friend. Okay. And it was… not for the faint of heart.

The writing is wonderful in this novel, and the characters had depth that kept me reading. This is a novel that is plot driven, but the characters kept me reading.

Highly, highly recommend this novel to adults who love mystery or Megan Miranda style mysteries.

I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very enjoyable suspense-thriller type of book. Well formed characters, a nice spin on the traditional mystery, with some solid red-herrings.

First, let me thank netgalley and the publishers for approving my request for an early release of this book. All reviews of my netgalley books can be found on goodreads and youtube. Please be sure to check out the links attached.

This basically read like a Mean Girls murder mystery that comes back to haunt you 3 years later. I really didn't love it. I thought it was going to be suspenseful and mysterious but you could guess where it was going by the end of the second chapter.

Although this is normally not my kind of mystery (paranormal), the interesting premise caught my eye.

Heather, the narrator and protagonist, is a child psychologist that receives a package in the mail that takes her back to her childhood in the 1990s. She thought she had buried her tumultuous childhood memories and the death of her best friend and the part she played in it. At 12 years old, Heather and her friends believed in the Red Lady, a vengeful witch. In the present, strange things start happening and Heather is becoming paranoid with wondering who could be behind this and what they want from her 20 years later.
While the story itself interesting and kept me wondering, I found Heather to be very unlikable. I also figured out the twists and turns, so while I kept reading to find out if I was right, I was a bit disappointed to realize I was. The Red Lady was the most interesting part of the book!
Thanks to Damien Angelica Walters, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Dead Girls Club is a psychological and supernatural thriller, It was too creepy and terrifying. definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Well written.

This book had a lot of potential. Switching back and forth between the past and the present was done in a great way and the story was actually interesting. However, I feel as if nothing was really done with the premise of the story. I was thinking the story was going in a great direction, but then it would veer off and disappoint.

Four young girls spend a summer devoted to murder and trying to conjure up the Red Lady in the basement (think along the lines of Bloody Mary). They are part of The Dead Girls Club...where they discuss horror novels and true crimes. What they didn't know is that their Dead Girls Club would have their own true crime committed among them...a murder.

Flash forward to 30 years and we see a piece of mail turn Heather's world upside down. No one in her current life knows what happened in the past and her hiding this secret is causing turmoil. The book navigates between then and now so it's easy to follow along and has you turning the pages wondering what on earth is happening...is Becca alive or is she dead?

If you enjoyed Goosebumps as a young reader, you will enjoy this modern day adult version. It's not particularly scary, but provides a solid read.

Loved this book. Plenty of devious surprises and crackling suspense, along with interesting characters. Just the sort of book to cause a lack of sleep, but I won't complain! Highly recommended.

*This book was provided to me as an ARC at no charge in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this program.*

I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

The 90's! Yeah, they're over for a reason. (Not that the 90's involvement had any direct correlation to my dislike of this book.)

As Millennial Trash, I was totally hyped for the nostalgia aspect of this book. But have you tried rewatching Gilmore Girls as an adult and hated them all? That's what this book feels like.

I'm not usually a fan of alternating POV or timelines, but I thought I'd give it a shot for the story. The girls are way too girly and I wanted to strangle the main character/narrator (a feat previously only achieved by two books).

Total bummer, dude.

An easily immersive thriller, Walters can tell a very creepy tale, always. This story had my hackles raised from page one.

This book is great for mystery and thriller lovers. I loved reading this book. It kept me up way past my bedtime every night I had it at my bedside. The tension and suspense level was just right and made me eager to get to the end but not so eager that I couldn't take time to enjoy the book. I thought I knew for the longest time what was going on, but I was fooled. I think I would have been happier though had it ended the way I had envisioned. The ending felt a bit contrived and is the only reason I'm giving this book four stars instead of five. Even so, it is a very worthwhile read, very enjoyable. The characters are developed well and I cared about Heather, despite my suspicions of her. I actually still have feelings about her despite the book being finished and the ending being a little subpar in my opinion. I will be recommending this to the thriller lovers wholeheartedly.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

This cover kept catching my eye on Netgalley and I kept thinking about requesting it, but then I would worry that it was going to be toooooo scary. BUT, it really wasn’t scary. Suspenseful at times- but also draggy at times.

What I Liked:

The cover! It was dark and beautiful.

The mention of Baby, Baby by Amy Grant. That was MY song in the early 90’s.

The Dead Girls Club group. Even though I would ground my nieces to the end of time if I ever hear they are in a group like that.



Bottom line: This book had SO much potential- but it just didn’t live up to all I thought it could be.