Cool cover, disappointing read.
Only a chapter into this book, I could tell I was in for a boring ride. These characters... they weren’t flat, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care about any but one of them, which was frustrating. The setting was all in one place, apart from one scene, and the ending was just plain weird, confusing, and incredibly rushed.
The whole story was oddly put together, and though it did well represent grief, I couldn’t bring myself to appreciate any other aspect of this book.

While there are a few hints of something supernatural in the early parts of this novel, I found the final chapters an entirely different tone than the rest of the book. I think the problem comes with the perspective character. We have one girl failing to cope with grief, another facing a family curse. Since the perspective is that of the grieving girl, the reveal of the curse comes basically out of nowhere. While dealing with the weird family next door forces the protagonist and her family to address their grief, it doesn't leave much room for addressing the curse.

This book was a very interesting paranormal book that I think YA readers, as well as adult readers would enjoy. The writing has a bit of a dark feel, but it adds to the story.

Note: I received this book from the author/publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*3.5 stars*

Resurrection Girls has the potential to be super spooky and gothic but was ultimately missing that piece that took it to the spookiest it could be. The author does a great job capturing the feelings and trauma of losing a family member, the grief is palpable and felt so realistic (Ava Morgyn lost a child during the writing process so she was able to pour her feelings and experiences into this book, I certainly appreciate her raw look at grief). But ultimately, there were aspects that were left unresolved or wrapped up too quickly. The pacing was just a little off for me and it let me down. The ending was really just rushed and not great. Bonus points for that gorgeous cover though!

This is a powerful book that is poignant, brings tears to the eyes and tells a tale that will reach a younger reader, all at the same time.



Already this author has been commended by others for the accurate portrayal of grief. I want to add something more to this.



The author does more than portray grief. Grief is portrayed in the complicated way that grief is. There is no one way a person is to grieve, and no person grieves the same way. Some choose to ignore the pain, some try to drown it in alcohol or cloud it with drugs. Some choose to try to believe it never happened. And for fun, those are but a few of the ways people try to deal. More fun is people are allowed to mix and match and do as many as there are minutes in a day.



The portrayal of the family dealing with Robby's death was heart wrenching, painful, difficult to read at times, shocking, even offensive, but throughout simply honest.



Along with this important message is a story of teen angst, growth and relationship ennui not seen since Joey climbed out of Dawson's room because Jen just moved in next door. There were times I thought this book reminded me of Dawson's Creek, then of Charmed. Finally, I believe this book's teen story line is Dawson's Creek meets Charmed with Charmed having evil witches.



The book is a hard read but a very rewarding one. I can recommend it to anyone who has ever dealt with grief or knows someone who has been impacted by grief. Top it off it is also good for people who like the complications of teen romance.



My Rating: 5 stars

Did Not Finish this one. Read 60%. I was put off by the cast of unlikable characters. I was also disgusted by the theme of the girls writing to convicts in prison for thrills and profit. Not for me.

Review: Overall this is a story more about grief than magic. The day Olivia’s younger brother died, so did the rest of her family, just in their own way. Then one day Kara and her family move in across the street and life is never the same.

Let me say while this is a YA book, I recommend it for older readers. Triggers from drug use to suicidal thoughts to the death of a child and more

To me there was very little magic in this book and the whole magical element could have been left out with little to no effect on the story. And what a great story it is. We grieve with Olivia and her family. We see how much she wants things to be normal again. Kara is far from normal but maybe a little Wild is what she needs to be alive again.

When this book ended I still wasn’t sure what I read but that’s not always a bad thing. Maybe the good ones leave you wondering. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The family never got over the death of 3 year old Robby Foster. Never properly grieved for, he was always there, looming over his family like a fog.
When 3 generations of women move in across the street Olivia finally lets herself think of something other than the fact that her baby brother is gone.

This book started off really spooky and strong, I was hooked right away.
The three women, the spooky grandmother, with her vague one liners, and that jar of jelly.
But then nothing happened. I was expecting a strong supernatural presence based on that grandmother ... and the jelly.
But the grandmother didn't get must face time and the jelly was never really explained.

In fact a couple things were not explained.

I guess the author tried to tie it all up in the last few chapters, but I would have liked a more solid explanation.

It felt like a regular book, about regular teenagers doing weird teenager things, book ended by a really cool science fiction / supernatural beginning and a rushed but still science fiction / supernatural ending.

I loved this book and would highly recommend it. I'm amazed by the quality of the stories coming out in the YA category. The characters were well-developed, the story felt fresh and I was drawn in to the plot from beginning to end.

Review was sent to amazon but it is not posted yet.

What a weird, yet beautiful, little book. I went in expecting something a little creepy, a little sad, a little quirky, but I closed the book (er, Kindle) with the sense that (a) I had just read a painfully real look at grief and loss, and (b) I just observed one of the most bizarre endings I had ever read. No, that isn’t a spoiler; trust me when I say it is not one you couldn’t predict even if you tried.

So let’s start with the plot:

“In the beginning, the dead are always with you. It’s almost as if they aren’t even gone, as though you could round any given corner and see them there, waiting.”

Olivia is not dead, but she might as well be. Since the death of her younger brother three years ago, she has wandered in a cloud of apathy, grief, and guilt. She isolates and sometimes self-medicates, while her father stays out late nearly every night doing who-knows-what and her mother is deeply addicted to pills that numb the pain.

“When we try to hold on to the dead, we lose pieces of ourselves.”

Enter Kara: confident, sometimes cruel, and kind of morbid, a girl who is Olivia’s age but acts far older. When she moves in across the street with her mother and her blind, very-creepy grandma, she is quick to take Olivia under her wing. Soon, Olivia is stepping just slightly past the bounds of her misery, rekindling her friendship with her childhood best friend Prescott Peters, and helping Kara with her weird hobby of writing letters to inmates on death row. But as Olivia gets swept up in Kara’s orbit, she begins to question just what she needs to do to save her family…and save herself.

“Kara was my resurrection girl, my messiah, and I was Lazarus, rising from the grave at her command. But there was something unnatural in it. Was I to be a miracle? Or simply an abomination?”

It’s hard to find a good starting point for my thoughts. I guess I’ll start by reiterating that this is not a light book. It deals with a lot of heavy topics, especially death and unhealthy coping methods (see my list of trigger and content warnings at the end of this review). Yet it was still a very quick read for me, due to a combination of its accessible language and its generally quick pacing. Sometimes the pacing was a little too quick, with events spiraling out a little too quickly and not enough connective narrative tissue to hold them together, but as a whole, it balanced itself well between Olivia’s numb, self-doubting internal monologue and the blistering reality that is her life.

“‘Life goes on.’ But it’s no kind of life and my parents and I hardly qualified as living.”

The dynamics between the three main characters were equal parts absorbing and painful to watch. Kara is a masterful manipulator–that much is apparent from her first interactions with Olivia–but she oscillates between carefree confidence and a nearly-malicious need for control. She plays both Olivia and Prescott like fiddles, and they both seem happy to let her do just that. She’s one of those characters who you kind of hate, because she makes terrible choices and does awful things to the people who trust her, but you have to grudgingly appreciate because her machinations bring about a much-needed change.

“He’s dead, I thought again. We all are. How silly of me to forget.”

Olivia’s narration of all of her hurt, the shouting matches and stony silences with her parents, the self-blame and isolation and guilt, is visceral and moving. Her character development over the narrative is uneven, but this is entirely believable–human progress, especially in coming back from a horrible event, is rarely linear. We see this not just in Olivia as an individual, but also in her parents, struggling to come back from their worst nightmare, and in her rocky path back to friendship with Prescott, who has some serious skeletons of his own. I think that was one of the details that struck me most about this story: nobody’s life is perfect, and there are no golden boys and girls here–just people with unhealthy ways to cope, some of which are more visible than others. And, in a move that so many novels fail to make, this one pointedly examines the very real consequences of those coping choices.

“The story I am trapped in…never crests, crescendos, peaks, and dips back down into a resolution we can settle happily into. Instead, it slithers, bucks, and then slides along, dragging us with it.”

But, lest you think this is just a nonstop stream of sadness, I do want to stress that this story is as much about healing as it is about pain. It is a movement from wallowing to walking to running–emotionally speaking, of course. There is a tiny hint of romance, causing some turbulent waters surrounding all three main characters (and yes, there is a queer component to the…er…”love triangle” isn’t quite the right word…). And the ending had one super wild twist that I still don’t fully understand, one that really amped up the “creepy magic” element of the book to a new level.

“I think anyone is capable of love, but broken people love in broken ways.”

Ava Morgyn tells the story with impressive depth and realism (and a hint of magic), and her language manages to hit several emotional home-runs. In fact, there were a LOT of beautifully quotable lines, both in Olivia’s narration and in the dialogue between her and Kara; I highlighted entirely too many of them in my Kindle, and they’re distributed throughout this review, as you could probably tell.

“There are a thousand kinds of pain. We don’t have names for them all, but we know them individually, each by its own unique ache.”

Now, this wasn’t a perfect story. Like I mentioned at the start of this review, the pacing is kind of off, with some plot points that don’t seem to quite go in a logical order. There isn’t nearly as much time spent on Kara’s death row pen pals as there could have been; there was a lot of potential to explore more ideas on morality and mortality there, but I suppose that those themes were sidelined in favor of brevity. And, well…the ending felt out of place. It wasn’t tonally consistent with the rest of the book. Or rather, it was still dark in tone, but a specific moment (you’ll know it when you read it) made no logical sense and shattered my suspension of disbelief for a bit.

In short, this was not the sort of spooky read I was anticipating, and it gave me a heck of a lot more feelings than I expected. But, sad though it was, I’m quite glad I read it. (As an aside, the book takes place in the summer, and I think it may be a better read for a melancholy, lazy summer day than for a brisk autumn one. Perhaps, if you decide to read it, that would be a better time to do so.)

Trigger/content warnings: prescription drug abuse (by both adults and minors), alcohol abuse, addiction, death of a child, grief, depression, mention of sexual assault (in context of a criminal’s charges)

I went into this book thinking it would be creepier than it ultimately was. This is definitely a contemporary with some speculative, dark undertones. I loved what this book had to say about grief. The way we see the three family members cope (or not cope at all) with their loss was really well done. However, not much else worked for this book. I didn't quite understand the ending, and I felt like Kara's family could have been explored much more.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than I expected but still great! I love the female bonds and familial bonds that run rampant in this book. It takes a look at the grieving process and how that looks different for everyone and that sometimes the weirdest things can bring us closure. This is also about those we love and how they help us through the darkest parts of our lives.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Sorry for the delay in my review, life has gotten in the way.

I absolutely ADORE the cover art.
This is a fast-paced book.. easy to follow and easy to read. the main character is easy to relate to and like... s ome of the other characters were a tad more difficult to figure out or like.

the book felt like it may be missing omething, but i'm not exactly sure what yet.

This story is about losing and moving forward. The main character, Olivia is just trying to move forward after the death of her baby brother. It’s pretty much a slow process of how her and her family move forward and how they all grieve differently. It’s sad and also fascinating on how Olivia befriends with a girl who she then helps the new girl, Kara, write letter to men on death row. Pretty morbid if you ask me yet that’s one of the main things that got me so interested from the book.

I found it easy to like Olivia. She seems like down to earth girl who you can easily become friends with. Kara on the other hand, she was hard to figure out. Can’t quite out my finger on 🤔

There were some things that got me confused and wanna know what’s up. But I cannot say for it will spoil the just left me with why and how. I did enjoy reading this book. I was intrigued and in awed in the end.

I give this book 3.5 stars. It’s a fast pace book and easy to read and understand. Would recommend this if you wanna read something easy. I would have given it 4 stars but like I said, it left me with some unanswered questions on how and why.

ARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

This was weird. I really thought that I would love or at least really like this but it was just meh for me. I didnt really like any of the characters or the plot. This is one of the most forgettable books I have read in a while.

This book kind of confused me. I was enjoying it for the most part and then it took a bit of a weird turn 10% to the end. I felt the ending is why I gave this a 2 instead of a three. Things were building up and then... the author just kinda dropped the ball. It didn’t seem to make sense and left me feeling unsatisfied.

I think I might have been expecting something different from this book based on the cover. It was an interesting read. I did like the themes that were within it, but the characters kind of fell flat for me. I would have liked to see them a little more fleshed out especially Olivia. The ending felt rushed as well and was too convenient for my taste. Overall, it's a nice read.

Grief. Addiction. Letters. Spiritual.

My second Net Galley title, but first book! The very first one was a graphic novel that anyone can get, but I had to request this one so that was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I did not end up liking it.

In the synopsis of the book, there’s the mention of something strange and magical going on with the new neighbors. There is a kind of spiritual aspect to it, but it’s pretty nonchalant and not developed very well. Also, in the beginning of the book when the main character Olivia meets them, I thought she overreacted with how scared she was because nothing really happened. I wish that there was a better reason as to why she started acting so strange so quickly, but nothing is clear.

For the rest of the plot, there was a lot of focus on grief and addiction since Olivia’s brother drowned three years ago. Since then, her mom has been taking pills 24/7 and Olivia even steals them for herself. I can see the importance of representing this feeling of grief and hopelessness, but it all felt very repetitive to me. I’m not trying to dismiss their feelings since they aren’t just going to change overnight, but every time it was brought up, the same ideas kept being discussed. So those parts got pretty annoying. Especially since the author was trying to use kind of flowery descriptions, which I sometimes enjoy and sometimes don’t, but in this case, it felt so forced and as if she was trying to hard. I obviously don’t know for sure, but it seemed like the author wouldn’t naturally write that way but was trying to because that’s what people like right now.

The whole thing with the Resurrection Girls and writing letters to men on death row was interesting but didn’t fit into the story well. I guess it kind of does because of the whole thing with the neighbors, but since all of that wasn’t clear, it just seemed random. It was an interesting concept but I don’t think it paired well with this book because whenever it was brought up, again it seemed forced. If it was better incorporated somehow, it could have added a lot more to the story.

Alright, and no spoilers but I just have to say, the ending was awful and completely ludicrous. When I started reading it, I was like are you kidding me? What is even happening right now? It literally made no sense and I still don’t get why the author threw that in there.

Lastly, I’ll quickly talk about the characters who I also didn’t like. All of them were so annoying in my opinion, and there was a weird love triangle that was literally like flipping a switch because that’s how quickly they moved between one another. I also felt like the friendships/relationships between them weren’t well established, and overall, I just didn’t really care about any of them.

Should you read this book? I feel bad since I’m reviewing this for Net Galley, but I would say no. I might say maybe if you’re looking for a character that is experiencing grief because of losing a loved one. If so, then I would suggest looking at some other reviews and deciding based on that.

I am a little over halfway through this book and I have to quit. I am not interested enough to continue...

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy, but it's not one I enjoyed.

Olivia Foster hasn’t felt alive since her little brother drowned in the backyard pool three years ago. Then Kara Hallas moves in across the street with her mother and grandmother, and Olivia is immediately drawn to these three generations of women.


Kara is particularly intoxicating, so much so that Olivia not only comes to accept Kara's morbid habit of writing to men on death row, she helps her do it. They sign their letters as the Resurrection Girls.


But as Kara’s friendship pulls Olivia out of the dark fog she’s been living in, Olivia realizes that a different kind of darkness taints the otherwise lively Hallas women—an impulse that is strange, magical, and possibly deadly. -Goodreads


I am starting this book review off with the rating, which is 2 Pickles. This book was a hard pill to swallow because of a lot of things. Olivia isn't grieving the lost of her brother. She acknowledges that he is gone but just like her parents, she isn't dealing with what she is feeling. Kara comes along and offers Olivia a way out of her emotions until she has no choice but to start opening. 


Here is my issue with this book. It uses Kara and her family as a clutch for why Olivia makes bad decisions. It isn't fair to Kara. Kara isn't a stable character not even in the least and she has a whole lot that she is dealing with, however, I can't find it in me to say Olivia did this or is this because of Kara. 


Not every family is going to be like our own and I think the author plays upon that as way to compare what should be the normal family. Olivia does things for an reaction not just because Kara has a persuasive personality. 


Other than this, the book was boring. Not even writing to death row inmates add any form of intensity to the novel. It is just as a clutch with no real backing/substance. Because the book is boring. There is no real character development and even the grief seems brushed over, which is unfortunate. 


Things wrapped up too easily, after everything that happened, the ending was too perfectly happy and we are good now. 


I gave this book 2 Pickles as opposed to 1 because it can be good. Shoot it can be great. But it needs work.