Hooray for a cast chock full of queer Black girls!

Hooray for a weekend camp getaway celebrating horror lovers!

Hooray for a complicated main character with some really messed up family background!

There's clearly a lot here to love. The story itself is a little long and not always very clear to follow, which seems to be a trend for newer YA debuts. (Is having counsellors and campers who are the same age a normal thing? I've never heard of that.) But the danger, gore, and wtf moments are present, making the book a fun ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an audio ARC in return for an honest review. 3.5 stars

What a ride.

Lots of blood, murder and a few too many characters.

I had a hard time keeping track of who was who and what role everyone played in the camp. I think reading the audiobook helped a little with this because the narrator (Tamika Katon-Donegal) had a distinct voice for each character.

Sometimes with slasher/thriller novels I get a little bored waiting around for something bloody to happen, this book didn’t seem to have that problem. I was able to keep up with the action and understand most of what was happening but the plot almost lost me towards the end. It seemed to drag on when it felt like things were starting to wrap up.

Temple is difficult to get along with and doesn’t want to interact with the camp goers at all. Because of this we don't learn much about the others, so when the gore started I didn’t really know who to worry about. Temple has EVERY reason to be the way she is, I just wish we had a few less characters so we can get to know everyone a bit more.

I was a bit confused about everyone's ages as they all seem to be the same age? Temple signs up as a counsellor but they’re ALL teenagers?

Loved the snippets we got in between chapters. Quotes from books, recordings from Temple’s fasthers sentencing, memories of her past, etc.

Rating: Not bad = I enjoyed some of it. 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media | Recorded Books for an audio ARC. All opinions are my own.

DEAD GIRLS WALKING is a bloody horror about a camp in the woods that goes horribly wrong, all linked to Temple's past.

I enjoyed how the first half the book felt like it could be a copy cat killer, someone obsessed with Temple's dad. A human evil stalking the girls in a deeply atmospheric tale that keeps you on edge, the tension coming from the expectation of what's to come. Then the second half changes that entirely, switching to a slasher tale with a supernatural twist. It's a really fun way of giving both sides of the horror genre in one book.

Around all the deaths and unsettling family history is also a tale of female friendship. Temple has no friends, the weird girl who has deliberately isolated herself because of her family history. Being at an all girls camp is hard as none of them like them, but she slowly gains the trust and camaraderie of two of the girls (something that probably wouldn't happen without the nightmare happening around them.)

As well as Temple's narration of the events, there are little flashbacks and excerpts from documents like interview transcripts. It was an effective way of exploring Temple's past and where the lie she believes comes from, as well as her difficult relationships with her parents.

Tamika Katon-Donegal narrates and did a great job. The think I appreciated the most was how distinct she made the voices of Temple and her friends, particularly as there's a big chunk of the end where it's just them against the killer(s). I could immediately work out who was talking in those tense sections, which helped keep me in the moment.

Thank you RB Media & Sami Ellis for this read!

This was an interesting plot and I loved the slasher vibes and the excellent representation throughout the book. Multiple deaths, supernatural elements and well written characters was a win for me

It was fast paced and the protagonist was likeable. It did take me a long time to get through this book, just because it didn't hook me the whole time. I did however enjoy it and I was glad I pushed through.

The narration of the audiobook was great!

Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author.

This book was a fresh approach to a YA thriller with many common tropes (ex: setting is a “haunted” camp) and a few new ones (ex: MCs dad is a serial killer on death row). It’s exciting to see Black women authors being published by trad publishing and this gave a chance to get a YA thriller/horror with a Black, queer, female main character/narrator.

Temple was a very believable teen in my opinion,which I do feel like explains why some felt this plot was jumping around or at times disjointed. Personally this felt intentional to me to really drive home that we are in the life of a teen whose father is a murdered and has sent her on a wild goose chase.

I was not ready for the veer into the paranormal and while it wasn’t my favorite, I do think it made sense the way Ellis wrote it! A good book all around if you’re willing to just kinda go with the flow of a teens brain!

*I was given an ARC of this audio for the purpose of honest review from NetGalley, all thoughts are my own.

Thank you to RB Media & NetGalley for an early audiobook of Dead Girls Walking!

Dead Girls Walking has so many qualities that should have made it an amazing book: LGBTQ+ rep, a high dead body count, interesting characters, a unique plot, etc. but it didn’t fully work for me.

It felt disconnected — if that makes sense. It starts off slow & giving me very little to care about, but then it goes off the rails & there are some solid things happening but it just felt weird & not in the good way. & even when it goes off the rails, it felt like it still took forever to get anywhere.

When I saw this title on NetGalley I was immediately intrigued by the cover and synopsis. The premise is great and it was well written but I think that maybe it was just a little over ambitious for me. The first half does a good job at setting up the tension and background. The second half is where it went down hill for me. It was weird (which I am totally fine with) but there was just too much happening.

With that being said, I would totally read another of Ellis's books. For a first full length it was well written and shows a lot of promise.

I wish I had good things to say about this book. It had all the opportunity to be a great book. It had a unique concept, main character, and setting. It had amazing potential to be unique in and of itself. But, it was ultimately sabotaged by pacing, story connectivity, and character development.

Dead Girls Walking is about a girl named Temple Baker whose father is in prison for serial murders. Before the start of the book, Temple visits her father in prison. He tells her she knows where her mother’s body is buried. He also told her that he killed her. So, enter the beginning of the book where Temple has somehow fandangled her way in as camp counselor to a group of queer African American high school girls just so she can be on the grounds of North Pointe Farms. It’s the farm she grew up on where the house she was raised in still stands today empty and haunted. It’s also the place where all the bodies are buried, the bodies of the victims the police couldn’t find.

Temple is a girl on a mission. She’s here to find her mother’s body, and that’s all she’s at camp for. Or, is it? Real question because I don’t know the answer. Temple’s intentions seem to sway back and forth between proving her father’s innocence or at least his less guiltiness and finding out the truth about what actually happened. I guess that’s an honest depiction of a teenager, not knowing what they actually want in life. However, I found that Temple’s inability to focus on one goal made it difficult for me to focus on Temple, and it also interrupted the development of my sympathy and empathy towards her past and trauma. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her to pile drive the hell out of the lead Barbie amongst the campers. That girl was ratchet. But, Temple had a severe case of wobbling direction and mental fortitude. I needed her to have more of a one-track mind so that I could empathize with her and want her to meet her goal.

The body count in this book meets the slasher limit. Girls were getting chopped up left and right. Plus, add in all the bodies that were already in the ground, and North Point Farms could just be renamed a cemetery. I enjoyed every one of the murder-death-kills. I just didn’t really like the way the plot unfolded. I liked the unveiling of the real villain, but it just took way too long to get there. And, by way too long, I mean the actual movement of the plot was so incredibly slow.

There were multiple points in the book where I thought the real villain would stand up. I mean there were at least four different points where I thought the monster mask was coming off either one of the campers or some sort of malevolent spirit living on the grounds. And, all four of those points were wild goose chases. I’m a fan of plot twists but not to the point where they become redundant. At about the eighty percent mark, I was done with the red herrings and just wanted the villain and their motivations to be revealed already.

Keeping those constant red herrings in mind, the plot of this book was so complicated. It was incredibly twisty-turny. I felt bad for Temple. She would find or follow clues to one solution only to find out it revealed nothing just to start all over again. And, she did this several times. Again, at the eighty percent mark, I just wanted to know what happened/was happening already. I was tired of being led around by a carrot on a string. The story needed to reach the finish line already.

I also dnf'd the book at the aforementioned eighty percent mark. I was almost completely fed up with the plot. Thank goodness this book didn’t have a romance because if it did, it would have been over at eighty percent, and I would have never known who the culprit was.

This is one of those stories that felt familiar and unique all at once. A YA slasher, set at a horror-themed summer camp for queer teenage girls, located deep in the woods, once the home of a renowned serial killer, this story was giving classic Friday the 13th and Evil Dead vibes from the start.

Our heroine Temple Baker is the definition of morally grey, chip-on-her-shoulder, surly teenager. She’s the daughter of said serial killer, who decides to insinuate herself into the camp as a counsellor with ulterior motives. She’s an outsider to her core, having seen and experienced some majorly disturbing things in her young life and being ostracized over the actions of her deranged family, At the point the story starts, we meet a very angry and fed up Temple, who now seeks answers she believes she’ll only find on this land her father once used as his killing grounds.

Slow to start, this story took a while to grab me and have me invested. I was immediately put off by the characters and the whole tone of their personalities, finding Temple quite jarring in temperament (but understandably so, given all the murder afoot) and finding little to like about the assortment of camp goers and fellow counselors she was surrounded by.

But as the action began to unfold (around the 30% mark), and the truth began to unveil itself to Temple as one gruesome and harrowing moment played out after another, resulting in A LOT of death and mayhem, I found myself unable to turn away, intrigued by the outlandish and spooky turns the story kept taking—which I honestly wasn’t expecting but I was hella entertained by.

I still got to the end and didn’t much care for the surviving characters (or the ones who were killed off in a gnarly fashion along the way), but I was (for the most part) entertained by the goings-on and appreciated the ingenuity of the story being told.

This story’s biggest strength, though, lies in the exceptional representation and diversity of its cast, who were made up entirely of bold, intelligent, young queer black women. It was a refreshing ensemble, to be sure, and even though I didn’t find many of them very likeable by my own standards, I still appreciated the “realness” of these teenagers, flaws and all.

*********************************

Audio Edition:

I listened to the audiobook, read by Tamika Katon-Donegal, and quite enjoyed her overall narration. She delivered a very dynamic and visceral vocal performance, bringing to life (even in death) all of these young women, with distinct, easy to discern voices.

However, due to something in the way the story was written, I’m not all that sure I followed a few of the “flashbacks” or dream sequences that happened throughout the story, particularly in the first half. I felt like I was missing something, more than a few times, which made me wish I had access to a visual copy of the story so I could discern changes in narrative and time. This was in no way a flaw on the narrators behalf, but rather, a prime example of how some styles of storytelling limit themselves from easy adaptation into audio consumption.

Still, I think, for what she was working with, narrator Katon-Donegal did a smashing job and really helped bring this twisted story and its characters to life.

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook! I loved the premise of this book. Spooky camp with queer girls where a serial killer haunts the woods??? Yes yes yes. Although, I found it a little slow and it lost my attention. I can’t entirely blame the book for my inability to stay focused and engaged though, I’m human. Definitely think people should give this one a shot, I’m not sure it was for me.

Horror camp and a serial killer dad? Think almost 80s slasher movie meet a paranormal twist, I definitely didn’t see that plot coming, I did find it enjoyable though,

I started of being quite intrigued and felt with the main character (Temple) who has had a very turbulent and rough upbringing. Her father is a convicted serial killer and Temple suspects he has also murdered her mother. Interesting! But the more I got into the story the more both the main character and the other characters annoyed me. I felt that they weren’t that developed as people, and I didn’t care for them.

Something I did really enjoy was the setting and the mood that Sami Ellis was able the bring forward. It was creepy and easy to envision the different environments described.

Storywise I wish it had either stayed a supernatural horror or just a slasher-with-real-people horror. I didn’t care much for the mix between the two. It was confusing at times.

All in all an okay book. Nothing I would pick up again but it always fun to branch out a bit in the things you read.

DNF @ 24%

I simply did not enjoy this audiobook. The premise seemed like something right up my alley, however the story never fully picked up for me to be invested.

There's a few points where the internal dialogue is from a man and I never enjoy when the narrator just "lowers their voice" for the man's part. It's annoying and often just takes me out of the scene.

But the main reason I couldn't finish this book is that I simply did not like the flow of the book. It felt like the story bounced around to different scenes and random thoughts from the MC with no transition to what's happening or why. I found myself constantly asking "what is going on??"

This is a BIG flop for me and I haaaate when I have to give a Black author a negative review ... ugh this left me doubting if I'd even enjoy the physical book at all and I highly doubt I'll give it a chance...

4.5 stars. Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis - Creepy af Friday the 13th vibes but with an LGBTQ+ twist and following a complex female Black main character. This was such a wild ride. You think your family is bad? HAHAHA. Nah. I'll keep mine. This would make such an amazing movie, but I'd be afraid it would get messed up.

This audiobook is narrated by Tamika Katon-Donegal.

•Thank you to RB Media & @abramsbooks

Temple Baker is your average teenage girl.

Except the fact that she is the daughter of a notorious serial killer, known as the North Point Killer.

In an attempt to understand her father and why he did what he did, and to try to find answers about her missing mother - she volunteers as a counselor at the farm where she once lived with her parents, now a camp for teenage lgbtqa+ black girls.

All is well until a body is discovered, too fresh to be the victim of her father, who has been in prison for some time, and all hell breaks loose. Has he broken out of prison? Is it a copy cat? Could there be more to this story?

I very much enjoyed the story and probably would have given it a 4 stars if I had just read it in a physical form, it was just the audiobook that didn't work for me in particular. The voice actor is great, so that wasn't the problem, I just found myself zoning out for a lot of long periods of time, maybe it was the pacing that was the issue for me.

The book has great representation, a very chilling/suspenseful story and a somewhat satisfying end. Trigger warnings for gore, blood, possesion, graphic sceners.

Thank you very much RB Media and Sami Ellis for the arc of this audiobook!

This one was not satisfying like I had anticipated. It took almost 20% to really get into, and even then I wasn't fully invested. None of the characters were likeable, and they were all so overdramatic. The plot felt almost nonexistent due to the drama and nonsensical flashbacks. There were too many awkward moments of what I could only deem as internet conversations, and/or interview transcripts, that didn't quite make sense. There was way too much yelling between the characters, and Temple was way too angry. I feel like it took too long to decide if Temple was mentally ill or if there were supernatural forces at play in the plot. I just did not love this one like I had hoped.

Thanks Netgalley for the audiobook ARC.

This was such a fun and dark queer horror novel. Yeah, it is a lot! I really enjoyed the story and thought at first we had an unreliable narrator. I love the dark horror in it. This book packs a high body count but still has a lot of charm and love to it. This is a must buy for high school libraries.

I really went into this book with high hopes as I felt like it was going to give Friday the 13th vibes, but it just wasn’t quite there.

I absolutely loved the representation in this book. A summer camp full of queer back young women is refreshing in YA literature, and helps fill a void in the genre, especially if you’re looking to diversify your reading.

Overall it was enjoyable, but I felt as if the plot was a little hard to follow at times which left me a little disconnected. It really didn’t grab my attention as much as I had hoped, but what didn’t work for me may work for you.

Audiobook Review - Dead Girls Walking is just the newest addition to the YA horror genre. Taking place at summer camp this title follows many YA horror tropes, while also finding its own voice. Unfortunately, this title just didn't work for me. I had a hard time getting into the story and did enjoy the characters. However, I do think that fans of YA horror will enjoy this title! Recommended where horror circulates well.

The story line was interesting. Reminiscent of 80s horror movies, As an audiobook I found some of the bounding around between the story line and what I am guessing was articles or short stories embedded in the story. That provide a little confusing. I highly enjoy horror movies, especially Friday the 13th, so this provided a creepy summer vibe feeling that brought me back to those sort of horror movies.

I did feel like the ploy was a little choppy and difficult to follow, again this may have been due to listening rather than reading on my end.

Definitely good for people who are fans for horror, slasher flicks and books