I want to get a positive out straight away. I really enjoyed this twist ending. I had a pretty good idea where the story was going, but Peterson managed to rug sweep me, and even leave a crack in the door for a potential follow up someday.

Do I want to read a follow up? No, I don't.

The premise here is pretty great. A teenage girl whose mother was murdered by her father when she was 6 years old, and she was the only witness, who testified against him and send him to prison. That's not a unique plot, but it's still a fun one.

He even gets a moniker, which is strange, because those are generally reserved for serial killers. Solo killers don't usually get a nickname.

10 years later, women who look a lot like her mother start turning up dead, in the same manner, and Bettina befriends the local undertaker's daughter to solve the crime that the police aren't even remotely interested in.

Doesn't that sound really cool?

Sigh.

The biggest issue for me is the writing style. I still enjoy YA, though I've gotten pretty far outside of the genre with my enormous reading slump. I've always said YA authors work harder than adult authors, to keep the attention of a reader of any age.

This author...I mean, I think no, wait, I'm wrong. I thought she was a fairly new writer, she has published quite a few books. Damn. Okay, my excuses are failing me.

We bounce from paper thin writing to suddenly a completely random pop of purple prose dropped in, followed by more paper thin writing. It's like drawing with crayons on printer paper then suddenly using a splash of water color. It doesn't fit.

Cover, concept and book all right up my alley. Just fab, loved it. Publishers, more like this please.

A bit of a jumbled & chaotic start, but the ending had me locked in. Bettina as a character really confused me, but I loved Eugenia.

Fairly standard "my dad killed someone" narrative. I understand the compulsion to explore this dynamic. But it invariably means investigating weird gruesome murders and often leads to rather ridiculous realities. This one doesn't do much for me. Fairly over the top and not especially believable with characters that aren't especially deep

Unfortunately this book is not for me. I was not grasped by the plot and didn’t really care. The characters seemed very unfinished.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!
Bett is definitely on the struggle bus in the parent department, as her potential serial killer father is in prison for killing her mother. Things continue to go haywire when more murders in the same style start happening. Everyone is a suspect, and they all seem guilty. A truly satisfying ending that I did not see coming makes this a great read!

When Bettina was 6 her father murdered her mother. She saw him coming out of their room after the murder, and testified against him. 10 years later, she's still hounded by true crime fans who insist her father was innocent, especially since 2 new bodies have shown up with the same facial carvings. Was her father the killer, or is this a copycat? Bettina teams up with the weird girl whose family runs the town funeral home to figure out once and for all what actually happened to her mother. This was a great YA mystery. It moved quick, and I was never bored. I was never quiet sure who was guilty and who was innocent, but I did wish for a little more at the ending. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dead Girls Talking by Megan Cooleu Peterson is a riveting and original exploration of life, death, and the mysteries in between. Peterson’s inventive storytelling and strong character voices create an engaging narrative that blends suspense with emotional depth. The novel’s fresh perspective and gripping plot make it a standout read in the genre.

Your father is a serial killer, your mother his last victim and the small town it all took place in will never let you forget, but something has changed, there’s a copy cat murderer on the prowl and it forces bett to look closer into everything. After once again being thrown into the limelight for all the wrong reasons, neither the police or the news are interested in what a young teen girl has to say. Bett develops a odd friendship with the town morticians daughter, between them they dig deep and investigate the crimes, both past and present and search for the truth the adults in town are hiding.

Overall I really enjoyed the story, the plot twist was a bit predictable but it was a quick addictive read! This story reminded me a lot of the vibes of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and the Reappearance of Rachel Price! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book!

3.75 stars.. ✨️

I really enjoyed Megan's writing. The storyline was well thought out, and the twist was really good. I loved the characters, the small town Stars Hollow-esque vibe, the Wednesday and Enid relationship between Eugenia and Bett. And for the Scream fangirl in me the way Bettina reminded me so much of Sydney Prescott, stuck in a town full of people who look at her as the murdered woman's daughter, rather than who she really is.

It had all the makings for a 5 star read, but their were just a couple of things that felt a little flat. It almost felt like the first in a series/duology. If it were (or is?), I probably could have understood why a couple of things weren't left expanded.

• I was actually enjoying the little romance side plot with Xavier, and I feel it had all the makings for a cute little relationship, but then he's just going to military school? 🙄 weird... he really seemed to like her?! Like could they not have cleared the air, and how protective he was of her he wouldn't have left her in such a bad way at the party?
• the ending - I felt like it was as if it was leaving it open for another book? Otherwise, why not have an epilogue further in the future... her dad could have ended up killing someone or making some form of mistake, and the epilogue could have been to prove the type of man he was.

I'm just hoping 🙏 that maybe their is another book coming, as honestly I'd love to know what happens next in the girls lives, and all the other characters in Wolf Creek. The undercurrent of feminism, the struggles that all young girls go through, the late 90s/early 00s feels it gave me. It was like all of my favorite movies and series from when I was a teen in a lovely little upper YA moody murder mystery package. Perfect for the upcoming autumn season 👏

So here's me manifesting another book from Megan, as it seems I NEED to know what happens in Wolf Creek, I'm not reading to leave this characters 😂

Rounded from 3.5 stars

Thank you to Holiday House and Netgalley for the review copy, all opinions are my own.

In Dead Girls Talking, we follow Bett Holland and her new friend Eugenia as they try to solve the mystery of who is killing girls in their sleepy town. The Smiley Face Killer, as they are known, targets girls and leaves a smile carved into their faces. 10 years after Bett's mother was killed, girls start dying again and Bett teams up with the mortician's daughter to try and figure out what is going on.

I felt like sometimes things just happened, without reason as far as the characters go. Like, I know teenagers act up but they have feelings that explain it and those feelings weren't explored very well. Also, based off how the characters were built up throughout the novel, I have a hard time believeing the epilogue. Bett and Eugenia wouldn't just "live their lives" based off how the novel went.

This was really solid. The pacing is good and the characters are well developed. I enjoyed it beginning to end. Special Thank You to Megan Cooley Peterson, Abrams Kids and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was pretty good. An interesting take on a serial killer book. I don't know how to make this review 100 characters long, I don't really have much more to say about it unfortunately. It was a quick and easy read.

"The town of Wolf Ridge calls him The Smiley Face Killer. Bettina Holland calls him her father."

Thank you to Netgalley in addition to the author for letting read & review this advanced copy. If you loved a good girl’s guide to murder book series by Holly Jackson you will absolutely love this book Dead Girls Talking by Megan Cooley Peterson that releases Tuesday June 18th 2024. This novel follows the character Bettina; her father is known as the smiley face killer who murdered her mother about ten years ago. A decade later the case comes back around to present time when it seems like their is a copy cat killer, or in Bettinas present mind was her father really guilty or has he been innocent this whole time.. This was a great four star young adult mystery/ thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat that kept me guessing what would happen next.

This was almost a DNF and I wish I would have thrown in the towel. The story just seemed clumsy and unrealistic. The characters were not very likeable to the point I didn't really care what happened to them. There were so many details and story points that were never explained. Over all not a fan.

The town of Wolf Ridge calls him The Smiley Face Killer. Bettina Holland calls him her father.

This was fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but a relatively enjoyable read. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but I also wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it.

3.75 stars

Bettina is the daughter of her small towns worst nightmare, the Smiley Face Killer. But a decade later with her father still in jail for killing her mother another girl turns up dead. It seems there is a copycat killer. To try and get to the bottom of all the things that aren't adding up, Bettina teams up with the local "weird girl" and morticians daughter, Eugenia. Together they work to try and solve the mystery of who is behind the recent killings.

I thought this was such a fun, well-paced read that had me hooked from the get go. I particularly enjoyed Eugenia's character and the friendship that they built throughout the story. There's just something about a girl who doesn't seem to fit in but absolutely owns it that I love, the towns very own resident "Wednesday Addams".

While I enjoyed the mysteries, leads and working out who I suspected, I did find the ending ever so slightly rushed. However in saying this I don't think it takes away from the other aspects of the book that I enjoyed.

I will definitely be recommending this to readers who enjoy both thrillers and mysteries and fans of Karen M. McManus, Nita Tyndall and Criminal Minds.

3 Stars ~

Bettina is the daughter of a convicted murderer. Trapper killed his own wife, Bettina’s mother while Bettina was still a child in their family home.

But years later Bettina was visiting her mother’s grave, when she took a shortcut through the woods and found a young women’s body who eerily resembled her mother and was killed in the same manner. Trapper is still in prison, and Bettina wants to know who killed this woman and is questioning if her dad did actually kill her mother.

Dead Girls Talking really engages with the teenage sleuth trope, with Bettina teaming up with an unlikely companion to get to the bottom of the murder.

I enjoyed this one, but it just had the severe unrealistic vibes with serious illegal events happening, which I feel gave me a bit of the ick.


Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for this ARC of Dead Girls Talking. I really liked the cover and the title at first glance, I am so glad I wanted and was able to read this book. The town of Wolf Ridge has a local serial killer that struck in 2009, Rich and other wise blessed Bettina Holland knows the killer firsthand, as he is her father, one of the victims was Bettina's mother, her testimony helped put him away as she stated she saw the back e head walking out of the door that day.

Flash forward to present day and high school senior Bettina is living with her well off and established grandparents on her mother's side. One day a woman is killed in the same manner at Bettina's mother with a cut on her forehead saying, "I'm back''

This starts off a thought of could her father possibly not be the killer? She finds aide in loner daughter of the local morticians Eugenia who drives a hearse to school and has a thirst for true crime anything. Whoa, Peterson really knows how to spin a tale! I loved, loved, Loved the big reveal in this. Bravo actually!

Refreshing to see it turn in such a way and is not the usual kind of reveal that is so overly used in these kinds of books. Seriously read this book in three days, could have been one day if I had not had to go to work! Had me wrapped constantly, amazing summer/pool read.