I couldn’t finish Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch. The story was riddled with plot holes, and so much of it just didn’t make sense. The characters’ actions were inconsistent, and the overall narrative felt disjointed and confusing. It was hard to stay engaged when the plot seemed to unravel at every turn. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me.

This was a fresh, page-turning YA horror that was the perfect read for the spooky months. Excited for Crowley's next!

What?? So many things in this book make me angry because they just didn’t add up. Sure, it’s YA which can be forgiven a bit but there where loads of plot holes and unanswered questions.

A fun ride on the revenge train, told from the point of view of a murdered teenage girl. Smart, funny and poignant.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review an electronic ARC of this book.

I FLEW through this, and loved every second of it. Crowley crafted such a tight plot, with characters who are so realistic and relatable, and the intertwining mysteries of what happened to Annie, and what happened to the rest of the inhabitants of the house at Resurrection Peak, were just so well done. I will definitely be recommending this in the new year!

Are you looking for a Young Adult book with a large dash of the paranormal and a whole lot of feminist rage? Then Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch is the book for you!

This book opens up with protagonist Annie crawling out of her watery grave. Only, at first, she doesn't seem to realize that she's dead. (And the reader might not either if they haven't read the blurb or seen the cover.) But as time goes on she realizes that the new friends who are helping her are dead and so is she. So begins a journey where Annie tries to discover exactly what happened to her and, of course, to exact revenge against that person.

Along the way the reader also finds out that one of Annie's friends is missing, she has a lot of shady relatives and friends, and that the ghosts she keeps hanging out with are all from very different time periods and types of lives which leads to some interesting conversations.

I ended up really liking how the story came together.

This is kind of a tough one for me to review. I was originally drawn to the book because of the fantastic title. I was so ready for the female rage aspect of the book, and it did deliver. But it did take a while to get there. The pacing felt a bit off for me, and it took me much longer to finish this book than usual. However, I was interested enough in the mystery to stick with it. While the premise of the story is great, there were many aspects of it that prevented me from liking it more. There were SO. MANY. loose ends. Characters and mysteries would pop up only to have their stories go nowhere. Annie would get mad, but run right back to whoever was making her mad. I was getting so exasperated with her. And many things just did not make sense. Despite that, there was enough that I did like that would make me want to try more of this author's work in the future.

After a slow start and not really sure if I was liking the book, it really turned around at the 60% mark.

Annie got on my nerves slightly but I can understand where she was coming from. I didn't see the twist coming, I guessed completely wrong.

This is a fantastic YA murder mystery / revenge novel which will be enipyed by anyone

There was much about this world that wasn't explained or done so clearly. However, I did enjoy the ride and loved the female rage. So I split the difference!

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'd recommend to teens.

3.5 ⭐ I independently requested this ARC and started following Codie Crowley on TikTok before I knew she wrote this! I really enjoyed the atmospheric setting, the sassy tone, and the badass characters. But I got stuck pretty quickly with the plot's pacing. The cover, the synopsis, the marketing—everything!—make it abundantly clear that the main character and first-person narrator Annie is D-E-A-D. However, it isn't until 40% into the book that Annie herself figures it out, and that, my friends, was exhausting. I spent 100+ pages just yelling, "Girl, you are deadddd!" the second half of the book is paced way better than the first half.

Finishing this one paid off. I figured out the murder mystery aspect just a hair before Annie does, and damn, it makes one's blood boil. Here lies a vengeful bitch, indeed.

I'm looking forward to whatever Codie comes out with next. And if you don't follow her on TikTok, check her out!

Full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6046972152

I’m considering this a rage read. I did finish it but I also kind of hated it.
Seriously, there wasn’t a single thing about this story that I liked. I disliked every character. Literally every single one. The dialogue was cringey and tried way too hard to be “cool” and funny.
I wasn’t intrigued by the mystery — didn’t care about what happened to Annie or Mora that night. Initially I thought that maybe this book would be Ok but just one that isn’t meant for me, but the more I read it, the more I questioned how anyone could like it.

You know what, there is one thing I liked— the title. Unfortunately the inside of the book doesn’t live up to the cover.

I’m back? Am I back? I seem to be back? Cue early 2023 me briefly possessing 2024 me’s body because, apparently, I have sat down to write a full-length review. And on my laptop, too. Who the fuck am I?

Anyway, the book. The one that we’re here to talk about.

Annie Lane is dead, and she’s going to find out why. When she wakes up by the side of a lake with no memory of how she got there, she’s rescued by a group of outcasts who live in the town’s haunted house. Annie soon realises that, while people can see her and she can talk to them, and live like a person would, she’s actually dead. And she died on the side of that lake. Someone murdered her. And she’s going to find out who.

HERE LIES A VENGEFUL BITCH was my vengeful, grudge-holding, mean heart’s dream. Annie was a bad girl, and she wasn’t willing to back down. I’m so used to reading books featuring bad girls where they cave so easily to authority or really aren’t that bad. They’ll say they’re bad but they’ll flinch at the first sight of danger. So to see Annie so readily and easily willing to do whatever the hell it took to find answers was so refreshing. I also found her and Maura’s relationship so heartbreaking and I was truly rooting for Annie to get the answers she was looking for. I was also proud of myself because I guessed correctly who the murderer was at about fifty percent.

I don’t have many negatives at all, but I do feel like it took her a while to figure out she was dead and then a while for the hunt for vengeance to start. This didn’t happen until at least fifty percent. I didn’t feel like it necessarily hindered the book, but I did feel like since the whole book is about her being dead and her getting vengeance, we could have been introduced to this a little bit earlier. I also felt a little bit confused about the afterlife rules every so often, especially the Halloween event that felt more like plot convenience than an actual part of the worldbuilding. But again, it didn’t hinder it whatsoever, so it’s really more of a nitpick than an actual issue I had with the book.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this one and once I got going with reading it, I feel like I read it pretty quickly so I’d call that a win. I’ll definitely pick up Crowley’s next book.

Thank you, Netgalley, for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Have to say that this one was a neat twist on the whole murder mystery book. In which the story is told from the victim's point of view as her ghost. And her quest to make her killer pay.

Don't mess with the bad girl... especially if you killed her.

A fun YA paranormal horror/mystery that is equal parts crazy, funny and entertaining. Revenge is a bitch, her name is Annie Lane and she'll stop at nothing to find her killer.

A short and fast-paced YA story perfect for spooky season.

I’m considering this a rage read. I did finish it but I also kind of hated it.
Seriously, there wasn’t a single thing about this story that I liked. I disliked every character. Literally every single one. The dialogue was cringey and tried way too hard to be “cool” and funny.
I wasn’t intrigued by the mystery — didn’t care about what happened to Annie or Mora that night. Initially I thought that maybe this book would be Ok but just one that isn’t meant for me, but the more I read it, the more I questioned how anyone could like it.

You know what, there is one thing I liked— the title. Unfortunately the inside of the book doesn’t live up to the cover.

3-3.5 stars
I liked the concept of there being ghosts that could walk among us that appear normal but may have some “powers” or abilities like floating and mind control. I wish that was explored a bit more.

Loved the rag tag bunch of goofy misfits (found family trope) living together in the haunted house. Wish there was more content with them or a second book exploring their storylines.

I like that the main character was very self aware and not delusional. Her thoughts were valid and along the same lines as mine as I was reading and figuring things out.

I did predict who the killer was and what had happened to Maura/where she was. Still a good read. It was fast paced and made me laugh out loud at some parts and then make a disgusted face in others.

Overall a good, fast paced, unique and spooky read for Halloween time.

The premise of this book was intriguing to me and I enjoyed the campy vibes, but unfortunately, this was just not a book for me.
I think some readers will love this book, but it just didn't work for me.

This felt like a classic brought into 2024 and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. This felt like a classic brought into 2024 and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Annie can’t remember who killed her, but she’ll stop at nothing to figure it out and make them pay. Because girls like her don’t get justice unless they take it for themselves.

This book was everything I hoped for. It was weird, hilarious, swoony, and downright vengeful. I loved it! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put this down. Annie Lane was a character worth cheering for from start to finish. It was hard not to love her and see her get everything she ever wanted, even though she's no longer alive. Vengeful Bitch she is!!

Thanks, NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for this ARC!!

I was intrigued by the title and description because I love campy horror and female vengeance books.

Alas, I did not connect with this story. Unfortunately, it could've been a "just me" or not the right time. Right off the jump, the book felt a bit disjointed. As the reader, I felt like I had to connect a lot of what was going on, which took me out of the story.

As a Librarian, I think a reader out there will enjoy this story - it just wasn't for me.