This is a book that I was a bit divided on, but in the end I do recommend it if you are a fan of mysteries. Initially, I wasn't grabbed by the story line or the past/present back and forth of the plot, which is such a popular device in mysteries today. Heather, our heroine, is a child psychologist in present day, and recounts events from a dark summer in her life in the past scenes. Heather in the present is a bit of a mess as she debates if/who is stalking her from her past and who knows her secrets. I started to wonder if this was an unreliable narrator trope, as her present day experiences become more and more fragmented. The past scenes were written with more clarity, but were unpleasant in their description of young teenage girls and their friendships. It's probably accurate, but wasn't always fun to read.

However, I got pulled into the story and into the fascination the young girls had with the macabre - that rang VERY true. The story moved along without revealing much of anything, which made me want to keep reading. There are two reveals in the end, neither of which I had figured out. One simply had no clues given, and was perhaps a bit abrupt. The other reveal definitely had clues, looking back, and was clever. I had a few questions still that felt unresolved, but overall once I got into the story I wanted to keep reading and I enjoyed the ending, so three stars from me!

The Dead Girls Club switches timelines between present day, following Heather Cole, and 30 years ago, when Heather and her friends were members of a small, creepy club: The Dead Girls Club. That is, until one of the girls, Heather's best friend Becca, winds up murdered.

Now, 30 years later, Heather begins to worry someone who knows the truth of that night is back to haunt her..and make her pay.

I really enjoyed this twisty thriller. The main "dead girls" story of the Red Lady was creepy as all get out - even giving me a nightmare at one point! (As a thriller reader, this is totally okay by me, but be warned!) The ending was a little bit of a let down for me; it just wrapped up a bit too quickly. But overall, a solid thriller!

sadly this book was not for me - i have tried several times to get into it and I just never could. I thank you for the chance to read and review it but unfortunately i wasn't the right reader for it.

A group of four girlfriends love share stories about serial killers and scary stories but the one story that makes the most impact is that of the Red Lady. She’s the vengeful spirit of a witch killed centuries before. As the group gathers around each afternoon the belief that she is real starts to take hold of the girls, or most of them at least.

Heather Cole believed these were just stories, some a little too colorful, but then she is starting to lose her friendship with Becca when Becca won’t admit that the Red Lady story is just a story. Heather doesn’t want to fall under the spell but she feels there could be something haunting her friend.

That is the past and in the future the reader knows that Becca died. Was it because of this belief in the Red Lady? Now Heather feels like the past is coming back to her and she’s fearful of the life she’s been able to build around herself. She’s determined to find out what is going on even if it means reaching back out to her friends and putting together the pieces of the past.

The story is told in alternating chapters of the past and present. I thought the beginning was wonderfully creepy with the descriptions of the Red Lady. Similarly the way the author writes about the group dynamics of young girls felt very plausible. Keep this one in mind if you love a good ghost story or psychological thriller.

This is the 2nd time I've tried reading this book. And it's the 2nd time I've failed.

It's just not that interesting. I was sort of interested in the tale told in the flashbacks - usually I hate flashbacks, but these were mysterious and I liked our girls.

I was not at all interested in the present day. I didn't much like the woman our girl became, didn't like her husband, didn't care at all what happened to anyone in the present day.

The pace in the present day scenes was glacial for me.

I do think this will appeal to some - maybe people with a bit more patience - but I've given up

I enjoyed this one! This was one gripping read! I would describe it as a coming of age story wrapped in a thrilling psychological mystery laced with some hints of the supernatural. I liked how it took a few different tropes you see in horror, blended them together to make something pretty interesting. I thought the coming-of-age story of Heather and Becca was executed very well. The friendship and characters felt quite authentic. It reminded me a little of the friendship between Gretchen and Abigail in Grady Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism. The psychological suspense was great! You could feel Heather losing it throughout with the guilt slowly eating away at her. The back-and-forth chapters from present day to when Heather and Becca were teens really helped keep the tension sustained throughout the novel. I also enjoyed how the author took inspiration from Slender Man and Bloody Mary to create the Red Lady. I would have liked to see her developed a little more to make her a more frightening antagonist. She was a touch bland. I also thought everything was tied up a little too neat at the end and that the ending wasn’t necessarily earned. A lot of it came out of left field. It seemed it was a twist just for the sake of a twist. However, despite all that I thought it was an absolutely riveting read and have already starting recommending it to patrons at the library when I’m doing reader’s advisory.

This book was ok but not what I was expecting. I feel like too much was given away in the blurb and it felt more like a kids book.

Dead Girls Club is the story of Heather, Becca, and their friends who are obsessed teenage girls with a taste for horror, monsters, and serial killers. The Red Lady is the witch they are obsessed about and wonder if she is real or a myth. Becca decides The Red Lady was real and sets out to prove her friends wrong. That’s when things go awry and Becca is killed. 30 years later Heather is being tormented with tokens from Becca. If she is dead, who is sending them?

I am not a fan of the macabre, so it was hard for me to get into the story. It alternated between present and past tense well. The teenage drama was relatable although Heather at times really racked my nerves with her attitude, it was a good story and wrapped up nicely at the end. Very suspenseful and a tad scary. Don’t read before bedtime!

Thank you, NetGalley, and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The lady. She looks hungry, like maybe she's not a lady at all, but a monster wearing a lady face. That's how they trick you, monsters. They put normal faces on so you think they're real, but they're not. And when you get too close to run away, they show you their real ones," she says, eyes serious and far too knowing.
From the outside looking in, Dr. Heather Cole has it all together, until the day she receives half of a best friends heart necklace in the mail. The same half heart that she last saw around the neck of her childhood best friend. The night she killed her.

Told in successive flashbacks of the past and the present day, The Dead Girls Club weaves paranoia and threats of evil effortlessly until you are unsure exactly what the real truth is. Centering on the bond between young Heather and best friend Becca, The Dead Girls Club keeps its secrets close and the truth even closer. The author doles out these snippets of knowledge bit by bit, always giving you just enough to make you think you have it all figured out.

As we delve deeper into the past, adult Heather's sanity becomes more and more questionable. You start to wonder if her paranoia isn't all-consuming. Maybe what she remembers didn't happen. She's distrusting of all around her and soon she's teetering with one foot over the abyss. It's almost painful to watch as she spirals further and further out of control in her search for the mysterious sender of the necklace.

Walters overlays this part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age saga with The Red Lady, an urban legend style story birthed from the mind of a teenage girl. It's never told whether this entity has a basis in history, but for the purposes of The Dead Girls Club, it doesn't need to have one. Becca becomes so caught up in the myth of the Red Lady that her belief transcends its origins.

While The Dead Girls Club is lighter on the horror than expected, it does a reliable job of drawing you in. While the past was more momentous than present-day, I was still engaged. The real shining star here is the genuine connection between the girls, their friendship and the emotional rollercoaster of youth.

This one just didn't do it for me. I had a tough time getting into it and a tough time then getting through it.

i can't talk much about this book without giving away things/ spoilers. a shame, because i really need to talk about it! LOL

i will say that i read this fast paced book in just over a day.

it was creepy and totally held my attention.

sadly i was left with some unanswered questions and i did not like the ending.

despite that - i would recommend this book and i liked it enough that i would read another book by Ms Walters.

This was a good story, overall. Someone referred to it as “Goosebumps for grownups” and I agree. I’m usually not one to shy away from scary movies or books, but this book did give me the creeps when trying to read before bed. The author did an amazing job with making the Red Lady come to life and her attention to detail is excellent. I did find some of the characters to be a little frustrating, or not much character building or purpose surrounding them. This was a great read and I would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a book that will make them want to sleep with the lights on.

Having played light as a feather, stiff as a board as a kid this book gave me nostalgic feels. I liked how it was told both in past and present. Nice quick read.

This book was pretty good! I love it. Read it in a day. Will highly recommend. Unique and twisted with characters I was interned in and wanted to trust.

So many unexpected variables that come into play . Marvelous story line with exceptional characters. The author has hit a homerun with this novel. I can't wait to share with my Bookclub... The Handicapped Hangover

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters is a part mystery/thriller and part horror bringing in some elements of the supernatural into the story. The book is one that is told by alternating between the then and now with the past parts taking place over thirty years before.

As a girl Heather Cole had been part of a group of girls who called themselves the Dead Girls Club who had an obsession with all things horror. The group led by Becca would exchange stories of the macabre, killers, witches and monsters with a special obsession with the Red Lady.

Now Heather lives with the memories of those friends and has hidden the secrets of what exactly happened to Becca thirty years before. When a necklace that once belonged to Becca shows up Heather begins to fear that someone knows what she did in the past and is going to make her pay for what she did that night.

The Dead Girls Club was one that started off with a bang but to me ended up fizzling out as it went along. The chapters of the past were more engaging to me than the current timeline as I didn’t much care for the adult Heather but as the story went along it felt as it it all just began to drag too. Overall I’d say this one was simply a so-so story since I expected a much stronger ending.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The beginning had me invested but that fizzled out. I was disappointed by the ending. But the writing was solid.

Twisty mystery that alternated between the past and present and kept me guessing. Four stars for a fun ride.

"THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB" by Damien Angelica Walters

This is my first book with this author and what a great experience it was reading this thriller/suspense/frightening read. The story is psychologically disturbing and she wrote a solid mystery novel that is addicting and hard to put down. The tension Walters built through the alternating chapters of the past and the present really gripped me to the story and the anticipation of what is to come. The writing is absolutely solid and prose is perfection. This is such an entertaining and enjoyable spine tingling read that I highly recommend. No doubt this is one of the most anticipated reads of 2019. I get it!! So everyone else should also read this now.

Dr. Heather Cole is a child psychologist. When she receives half of a friendship necklace in the mail, it brings back all the childhood memories she has been trying to suppress.
In 1991, she and her best friend Becca, along with some other friends, started The Dead Girls Club. They swapped scary stories about witches, killers and monsters. As BFF's, they exchanged halves of a heart necklace.
Becca told stories about the Red Lady and became obsessed with her, insisting she was real. Her belief in the Red Lady got her killed, by Heather!
Now the past has come back to haunt Heather, she hasn't seen the necklace since the night Becca died. Has the Red Lady brought Becca back to get even?
This supernatural thriller had some spooky vibes and I got the creeps from the Red Lady stories. Told in both past and present, I definitely enjoyed the past parts more.
I felt the present day Heather really made questionable choices and was not a very appealing character. And the book was a bit tedious in parts as it went on too long.
But overall, it was an entertaining read.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for the e-ARC via NetGalley.
3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.