✨ YA POPCORN THRILLER WITHOUT THE POP ✨

Author: Chelsea Ichaso
Genre: YA thriller
Mood: mysterious, dark, adventurous
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5
Pub date: April 5, 2022

#readandsiprecommends to read if you:
* Like murder-lite thrillers
* Are wanting to relive the drama of your high school days
* An unlikable narrator

Review: I was gifted this eARC from @netgalley and the storyline seemed promising, but this one just didn’t do it for me. With that in mind I’ll keep an honest review about this book short and sweet for ya.

Starting with some elements I liked:
* The way the mystery unfolded between present day and flashbacks from Piper’s perspective leading up to her fall
* The twists and feeling that anyone could be a suspect had me wanting to read more

What didn’t work for me:
* Savannah was not a likable narrator and honestly all the characters were just plain awful to each other - lying, cheating, betrayals galore. It was hard to find anyone relatable.
* Lack of character development, I feel like we didn’t learn anything about the secondary characters
* Everyone’s reason for wanting Piper dead felt loose and unbelievable and the reveal was super anticlimactic

🚨 TW: suicide attempt, drug use

The word has it that Piper had tried attempting suicide when she took the fall, resulting why she’s in coma currently. But Piper’s sister, Savannah doesn’t believe this to be the cause of where she is right now. A perfect daughter, sister and student like Piper with a perfect life, why would she want to take her own life? Though there are some things that she herself may have done to Piper that may be the reason she took the jump…but she doesn’t think– doesn’t hope– that that’s what actually happened. Did someone make it look like a suicide? Did someone want Piper to be dead?

Wanting to know the full truth, Savannah makes it a mission to join the survival club after she finds a mysterious note in Piper’s belongings threatening her to come to the place where she was last spotted at, where apparently there was going to be a survival club’s meeting that never actually happened. Now there’s going to be a week long camp at the same sight where Piper fell and Savannah comes along, cause this just might be the only way she can know the answers to her questions.

But she needs to be careful. She can’t trust anybody.

Basically, if you like everyone-is-a-suspect trope then this book is for you.

Moving on to other things, let’s start with the plot first. I guess, I liked the second half of the book more than the first half. The first half was pretty dry. There wasn’t much going on. But later on when we start hearing the story from Piper’s point of view, that’s what got my undivided attention. Needless to say, the pacing was also slow at first and then later grabbed speed. The writing was also vivid and descriptive enough to put the reader into the vibe of the story.

As for characters, like I said in the first half of the book, the characters too were pretty one dimensional and didn’t feel really realistic. But then later on as the story progressed, the character depth came into light. What I didn’t like about the characters still was the fact that they didn’t feel that realistic based of the story. Like for example, there were one too many scenes where even the slightest of evidence that pointed towards any of the potential suspects, Savannah would just call them out casually. Like, “I know you did that to my sister” and then I would just feel like slipping inside the pages of the book to personally hold Savannah and shake her and say, “That’s not how you solve mysteries, Sherlock!”

Anyway, rest aside, I would definitely recommend this book to any mystery-thriller fan out there because I reckon that the story, although starts late, you won’t regret the ending because it was nothing that I could have ever imagine! Overall, I guess, I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. It could have been much better in my opinion if the main character, Savannah wasn’t completely quick to say things that she shouldn’t and had the pacing of the book been a bit faster than it was.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Sourcebooks Fire books and the author, Chelsea Ichaso for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return of an honest opinion and I recommend this book especially to people who are new to the mystery-thriller genre and are looking to get started somewhere. The book gets published on April 5th 2022! Don’t forget to mark your calendars!

Thank you for reading!

The story was a twisty mystery thriller with a focus on interpersonal relationships between flawed teenagers. There were certainly some predictable moments, but also some surprises to be had. Character was clearly important. If you’re looking for a character-driven story with thriller elements, this might be the one for you.

A fun and twisty thriller that kept me reading! Piper’s accident was no accident, but it did put her in a coma. Her sister Savannah, just wants the truth about what happened that day and what caused her sisters fall. As Savannah starts to uncover the truth, someone targets her and secrets come to light.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was a fast read that kept me on my toes. The ending was satisfying and I hope this author writes more like this!

I was not expecting that plottwist! Through out the book my suspects kept on changing and when you finally thought you knew who it was, a new clue leads to someone else. Dead girls can’t tell secrets kept me on edge and I had to know what happened. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it lots.

This YA fiction has a good plot and some surprising turn of events. However, at times I did feel like it was being stretched just to increase the length of the pages. The ending is good however the journey to reach there was quite something.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc!

the premise of this book is really exciting: after her younger sister, piper, falls off a cliff during a hiking accident, and has been in a coma since, savannah is determined to find out what really happened to piper. savannah follows a note that she found in piper's locker to the survival club that piper was involved in and starts unraveling more secrets.

unfortunately, i think that this book fell short on its actual execution and pacing. i feel like there was a lot of buildup to each individual "reveal" but the actual reveal would be anticlimactic. without spoiling i didn't really like the final reveal-- at the end of the day, it just felt like a lot of buildup to nothing that exciting. savannah was either overly trusting or overly skeptical of everyone which made it annoying to read from her pov. i wish we had more of piper's chapters because i really did enjoy those especially because they added to the mystery element.

overall, i would say this book is okay in terms of the plot idea but could do a lot better in terms of execution.

Unfortunately, this one just didn't do it for me. The premise was very interesting but I didn't like the execution. Everyone was very one dimensional and there was nothing appealing about them. The most interesting character was Piper, who was in a coma, and we didn't even get to read much from her perspective - most of the information was delivered through other people's opinion or relationship with her. I also found the characters to be hypocrites, specially Savannah, and couldn't care less about their conflict because how can you judge other people when you did/are doing the exact same thing to them?

Although we were handed different suspects every chapter, I felt that Savannah didn't know how to handle the investigation; how do you expect to find out what happened to your sister without other people knowing if you end up telling everyone what you're doing as soon as you have the chance?

I wish I had liked this one more, but if you're into a YA easy read, this one's for you.

I had recently read One of Us is Lying, which was the first YA mystery book, I've ever read, and I found I enjoyed it a lot. So I had a feeling I would enjoy Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets, and let me tell you I did!!! I enjoyed it more than OOUIL. I was throughly convinced I knew the answers every chapter, only to find myself flabbergasted by a new secret/hint/piece of information revealed. Definitely kept me on the end of my seat!!

Piper's the Perfect Daughter, Savannah is not.
Piper went up the hill and didn't come back.
Prognosis says she may not come out.
One note, some betrayal and a lot of regret all on a mountain.
Savannah's on a search for the truth and to get it she has to get in survivor mode or she might end up like Piper.




If you're into Thrillers this is the book for you! I went into this book on high alert, I was blaming everyone even Savannah. We meet two sisters from Savannah’s Perspective and we got some bits from Piper’s. When we meet Savannah we meet the black sheep, the mean girl in her grief process. We follow S as she looks for clues on what really happened to her sister. Was she pushed or did she jump?

I enjoyed the way Chelsea wrote moments between S and P, and I could read the sibling rivalry in between the lines of the sisters and their love for one another. Piper is described as the perfect good girl but we all know, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Right off the bat we get animosity from multiple people that cared or knew of P. Apparently S isn’t the only one keeping secrets,So of course they get put on our SUS list! First things first, infiltrate second:question ,third get hit by a bomb of all betrayals. S finds out tons of secrets that might put her in P’s situation but she doesn’t care. She wants to know the truth maybe this will soothe the blame she feels.


I was interested in knowing how this would end because throughout the book I was at the edge of my seat with many hunches and I definitely was worried about this ending in knowing that she was to blame. TO be honest I loved the ending we find out the truth and we realize that the only justice we get is peace of mind. It gave it the reality that some books miss. Chelsea did a great job by showing us the difference of forgiveness v. forgetting. The action scenes were great as were the transitions. I’m not one for romance but we did get some cute moments. Overall this was a good thriller.

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is a YA thriller by Chelsea Ichaso. Savannah Sullivan's sister got injured in a strange hiking incident, which everyone believes was a suicide attempt, and she has been in a coma for the last one month. But Savannah refuses to believe it and is determined to find the truth. She finds several clues and suspects which lead to her joining the wilderness club to investigate. She ends up going on a weekend camp with club members who are suspects and that is where a significant part of the action happens.
It is a fast paced thriller with grey characters which turned out to be quite an average book for me. The fact that it's a short book and things happen quickly worked in it's favour. There is single minded focus on finding out what happened to Piper. But there is nothing new for someone who has read a number of thrillers. The ending didn't work for me.
If you are a beginner when it comes to thrillers, love books set in wilderness or ones that involve camping, then you can try this one.

3/5 stars
I don't have a lot to say about this book. It didn't really catch my attention and I found it for the most part pretty boring. I didn't like the protagonist Savannah and unfortunately that stopped me from enjoying the rest of the book. Her choices while investigating annoyed me since she seemed to only make dumb decisions. In addition to that she didn't try to figure out the accident because she cared about her sister but only because she didn't want to be the one at fault. I was expecting more from the book based on the description but sadly this book was nothing special.

The mystery wasn't something extraordinary but it was an enjoyable and fun read. I loved stories that revolve heavily on sisters/family relationship but the characters weren't that likeable for me and I wasn't attached to any, but it was something hard for me to do in a mystery book anyway.

I read this book in just one sitting - I loved the fact that I didn't know who I should believe. Overall, a good mystery, just note that there is mention of suicide.

The book had a lot of suspense waiting to see what happened. Beautifully written mystery. Kept me on the edge of my seat. A quick impactful read. It follows two sisters Piper and Savannah and they are completely opposites. Piper has been in a coma and Savannah doesn’t think it’s an accident. Savannah goes searching for answers and finds a note in Pipers locker.

I flew through this book! I couldn't figure out who to trust and who I should believe is guilty. Everyone seemed like the guilty party at one point.

Dead girls can’t tell secrets

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc in exchange for a review!

Piper is the golden child of her parents and Savannah has always been the neglected one. Savannah wanted her parents’ attention but it can’t be possible in presence of Piper. One day Piper had an accident and as a result, is in a coma. Savannah used to have wild fantasies about life without Piper but not like that. She doesn’t believe that her sister can commit suicide so she is on the mission of finding the real reason.

It’s your typical whodunit with a few more twists. I liked the book overall. I had a couple of questions I did not get answered but it was a fitting end. You really find yourself questioning what’s the next secret and what is coming next.

I gave it 3.5 stars

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is about Savannah who was determined to find out whether her sister committed suicide or somebody wanted to kill her, the reason why she joined the club where her sister was a member. The club went on camping, giving Savannah more opportunities to investigate. She thought she got the answers to her questions but she was wrong. She only unraveled the secrets of the people whom she thought responsible for her sister's tragedy. Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is a good, light read that is bound to please anyone who likes light mystery/thriller stories. My curiosity was kindled in the beginning and made me excited to turn the pages to find out what really happened. I think this book is right for its targeted audience. Thank you Chelsea Ichaso, Sourcebooks Fire, and NetGalley for the ARC. I created this review voluntarily.

What a twisty book! There were lots of characters (that weren't too hard to follow) each with many clues! I loved that we didn't really know who to trust!

This is definitely a great read for fans of Karen M McManus or Holly Jackson!

This book had all the moving pieces of an enjoyable YA thriller, and yet, something about it wasn't all that enjoyable. I'm someone who deeply enjoys fast pacing, my attention span being relatively useless otherwise. However, in this particular book, the pacing hurt it more than helped it. You didn't have time to feel or care about any of the suspense. Because all of this happens in less than 48 hours, each clue hits fast, and the contradictions get easier and easier to spot. This means your first hunch of whodunit is probably the right hunch. An easily sovable thriller isn't something I can rate highly, and I wish I had enjoyed this more. Unfortunately, there was also issues in the dialogue that made the story genuinely feel like an adult writing teenagers. You know that feeling, where you aren't quite sure if the adult has spoken to a teenager recently? That's how a lot of the dialogue started to feel for me.

2.5 stars, rounded up. It's a bit of a snack book, the pacing making it easy to get through, but the entire plot left me unsatisfied.