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.

This book was so much fun and definitely had me interested in where the story was gonna take us and the whodunnit aspect of the book. We get lots of female rage, revenge, and messy relationships. I loved Sam and his yee olde slang. He was one of my favorites and I liked Fern, the stylish queen she was. More development for the characters would've been good though because there were many side characters but I often got them confused despite being name dropped many times.

Our main character was messy as hell sometimes and I wouldn't call her likeable or anything but she's a hell of a good time to read! I felt for her a lot because people demonized her they way they often do pretty girls who don't take shit from people or put all their energy into being likeable for the pleasure of randos. That's what I really liked about her. She let people think as they pleased and did what made her happy not giving a damn. That's a great message to teens, especially teen girls who often twist themselves into knots for the sake of others who often don't even care about your well being.

As for the afterlife lore, it was intriguing and I wasn't expecting the hellhounds but it's a cool idea of having these creatures who hunt wayward spirits who shouldn't be there. I thought that was a cool idea and the fact they didn't know exactly what would happen to them if they got caught was a nice touch, because why would they know? It's not like they've been dead before. I was curious about their ghostly powers and how far those might go especially seeing Annie discover new things she could do as she got closer to her revenge.

As for the revenge, it didn't feel as gratifying as I thought it would be? I think that may have been the point though. There's always that one sage character in media who says "revenge won't make you feel better" and I don't believe it really was supposed to be gratifying the way we'd expect it to be if it was us. Yes, business got handled, but then it's on with your afterlife. You're glad she gets her lick back and the close call that came before that made the build up pretty tense. I like this new take on revenge though because she made friends and met a guy so she has something other than the revenge to hyperfixate on which I think is what leads to the tone we get after this goal is reached. His rationale also wasn't satisfying, but what makes it disturbing is how realistic it was. No spoilers here, so that's all I'll say on that but the revenge being the main driver of the story is interesting because I think this shows a different side of how one feels taking the long awaited revenge and we get to see her carry on and how life or the afterlife in this case forces you to keep moving regardless. Those are just my rambling thoughts.

Overall, I loved this book and had such a fun time reading it. I'm so glad I got to experience it and the audiobook was good as well. I'm a horror fan so this story hit for me even when I was confused on what she was at first but the ghost vs. ghoul thing makes more sense as the book goes on. I recommend it for a good time!

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC. All opinions are my own. Now, on to the review.

I was super disappointed and DNF’d this book. The premise sounds phenomenal and I dove right it. Triger warning for parental abuse further in the review. I don’t recall if there was a warning in the book itself.

Unfortunately the writing and delivery doesn’t offer what the premise promises.

First of all, it’s kind of obvious from the jump that the main character is a ghost/at least not alive. Which I thought was interesting. Maybe it would end up being like she haunts people, or whatever.

The rules were extremely unclear on how ghosts actually work. See, there are these other kids that she meets and ends up staying with. They’re living in this old house that’s basically off limits and considered haunted. Well, they’re trying to help her, I guess. And they’re all odd.

Here comes my first big, big, issue. The way one of the characters speaks. It’s so annoying. It isn’t cute. It’s like some mix of old dialects from previous decades. Like when people make movies and have anachronistic language and dialogue that makes no sense.

This character speaks like this the entire bit that I read. And it was annoying because I was sitting there having to reread and reread so many passages where he spoke. It wasn’t cute. I couldn’t stand when this character spoke. It gave me a headache.

Now, back to the weird ghost rules.

Like I said, she was dead, that was so easy to see. With what she was going through, there was no way she was alive. But she goes back to school to deal with her ex-boyfriend and people see her. They interact with her, her mother touches her. She gets dragged away by the arm.

But the group of kids that are obviously also ghosts? No one seems to really see them. Even when they’re right there. Even when the main character is looking at them and other people are looking where she is, they don’t seem to see them. But then she and the annoying character get food and he can eat and speak to people and be seen and heard. What are the rules?

Then there’s this ghost that is all charred up. I read kind of far into this book, not like 75% but still. And there was this charred ghost that seemed to have no real purpose other than to be scary to see and then be gone.

Look, if you enjoyed this book, good, I’m glad for you. Happy for you.

I couldn’t get into it. The writing, everything, the style and characters made me not want to keep reading. It took me months to try to get through it and I had to give up because I just couldn’t do it.

I can’t recommend this book because it was just infuriating to read. Which was a big bummer because I was so looking forward to it.

As for my star rating? 1 star. I couldn’t stand it.

The title, the cover, and the plot were very very promising. However, the actual reading experience was subpar for me, unfortunately. I couldn't really get into the story until the very latter part of the book. The 'reveal' and aftermath was enough to make me consider 3 stars, but then a piece still felt slightly unresolved by the very last sentence. So for me personally, it remained a 2 star read, or 2.5 to be more precise. The supernatural aspect didn't quite feel "realistic", and while all of it would entirely be fiction, I was still hoping for it to feel more believable and I do think there is a better way to do that. Having said that, I really appreciate the opportunity to receive this copy, so thank you for that!

I wasn’t able to finish this before the publishing date which sucks because I was so excited to read this.

As soon as I saw this available as an arc I knew I had to give it a go! I loved it. A thrilling read, fast paced.. will upload full review shortly 🙂

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book! I struggled a bit at first but then I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down! I love thrillers and this book gave me Pretty Little Lairs vibes! The story brought me straight into the world!

I really enjoyed this strange tale, though I didn't love the surprise kind of ending. It felt too out of left field when we've been given so many suspects. A bit of a gotcha, which I don't love.

This story started off a little for me but once it picked up I was really invested. The killer took me by surprise and I was not expecting that at all. I would def read another book by this author.

I wished I could have gotten into this one but I kept picking it up and putting it down and finally decided to stick my nose into it and finish it but it wasn't fireworks, gut wrenching, thrilling, and darkly funny, or doing anything different than a lot of the mysteries out there though with the Meg Medina/ Mindy McGinnis focus on unlikeable female characters, I was hoping it could be unique and different enough to set it apart (the only thing making it eye-popping is the word b*tch in the title with a headstone on the cover).

Disappointingly, I wanted more from it than it could offer.

I'm gonna be honest, I only wanted to read this because the title. It was a good read, not really what I would normally choose. Annie has been killed, she wakes up and cannot remember who killed her. While it wasn't really my thing, it might be something that interests you. Ok, I read this some time ago and forgot to do the review, but thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

This book was so well plotted and I adored the FMC's strong voice.

incredibly easy to follow and get addicted to. It kept me guessing although towards the middle I did suspect the correct person!

I really loved the interesting way the 'ghosts' were written in that the living could see an feel them.

My only dislike was that it felt really sad at the end and I really wanted there to be some sort of relief as it was very dark..

When Annie Lane wakes up in the river and pulls herself onto the bank, her new life (as a dead girl) begins. With the help of a few others in her position, Annie discovers who killed her and enacts her revenge.
I am giving this book three stars only because I didn't quit reading it, but it was really hard to like Annie, and the couple of characters who seem to have the most redeeming qualities actually turn out to be not so great. Also, I never really understood how some ghosts can be seen and even interact with people.

It’s a good book if you like paranormal mystery books. However I was left with so many questions that I feel confused and let down.

Annie wakes up with no clue as to what happened to her but soon realizes someone killed her and she's now out to find out who did it and why. Overall, a solid paranormal mystery with lots of twists and turns. There were some plot holes and questions about how the whole ghost thing worked, but it didn't detract from the mystery.