Up until the 80% mark, the only issue I had was with the development of Ren's "side job". It didn't feel fully realized, the idea was good but the execution was lacking.

But then came the big plot twist. And this story lost me for good.

A shame.

After how hard to follow Marlee Bush’s first book seemed to me, I was a little skeptical about this one. Boy was I wrong to be skeptical. This one was easy for me to follow among with what was going on. Had me hooked very early on, fast paced and never seemed to let off the throttle. And right when I thought I knew where the ending was going, BOOM! I was completely wrong and was blindsided by the mother of blindsides. Ending was great and the epilogue wrapped everything up with a bow. Very enjoyable read. I can picture the audio book being good too.

After 10 years, Ren Taylor accepts a job at her old high school. She had hoped to move on from her past traumas, but everyone she goes she sees her murdered teenage sister still immortalized in town.

This thriller had me hooked right away! I quickly grew to like Ren and all she was trying to do to help save some young women. There are secrets and twists, but unfortunately the ending just felt unsatisfying. It was a large twist and one that just didn’t feel like a good or realistic resolution to this story. I enjoyed majority of this book, but the ending fell flat.

Incredible book by this author. Read her first one and liked it but this one was even better. Looking forward to more

Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush had me hooked from the start till the end. It was very well written and kept me interested till the last page. Thank you Netgalley for this arc.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the book #WhispersOfDeadGirls by #MarleeBush. This book is filled with manipulation, death and regret and was perfectly crafted into an excellent book. Ren list her sister, Margo, years ago but is still haunted by what happened. Now she has returned to accept a teaching job at the high school they attended. When Ren recognizes a girl being treated by a teacher, Bryson, just like her sister was back then. She feels the need to try and save the girl. Can she save this girl?

What just happened?!? Ren lost a sister and has major survivor's guilt. She talks to and sees her dead sister Margo daily. Ren is on a mission to prevent what happened to Margo from happening to any other girl, to the point that she is willing to take matters into her own hands. I thought at first that the story was predictable, which is fine, as I was reading along to find out the outcome, but then... Nope! It was not what I thought, and it took a very different turn. Misplaced loyalty contributed to Ren's mental status, and I feel if she would have been honest about everything, her life would have taken a different path, but maybe not... bad decisions and poor mental health seems to run in the family. Its unfortunate that innocent people were hurt in her crusade to prevent bad things from happening. I enjoyed reading this novel, and I am grateful for receiving an ARC from Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

This is a must read for thriller fans! I couldn’t put this book down. The whole story kept me hooked from the beginning and continued with so many twists. I didn’t predict the end at all, I was shocked in the best way! The main character was written in a way that perfectly made her likable but also questionable in her actions. The final scene pulled the ending together beautifully. I loved this author’s previous book as well and am looking forward to reading more of her work in the future!

For a sophomore novel, Marlee absolutely hit it out of the park! We’ve got ghosts, childhood trauma, TW for inappropriate behavior of a teacher with a minor/student, and some awesome stabby moments.

Whispers of Dead Girls is a wild book that will keep you questioning the behavior of our very troubled FMC Ren, as well as many other characters along the way. This fast paced plot will have you hooked so fast, but don’t get too comfortable with your theories because in true fashion Marlee will throw ya one hot from left field.

I seriously could not love this book enough and it might actually be my favorite from her. Definitely recommend checking Whispers of Dead Girls out if you love twisty thrillers with unhinged FMCs who have a thing for vengeance.

4.75 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Marlee's debut novel, so I was excited to read this one. I feel like this one was much more emotional, and I was a lot more invested in the characters. While some reviewers think this was more of a slow burning mystery, I didn't necessarily feel that way. Even though there was a lot of twists and more action towards the end, I thought the build-up to the climax was extremely well done. I loved how broken and morally grey Ren was. We got to see how messy grief can be, and the impact of survivor's guilt on a person. We see how that grief can rip apart families. I felt so sad for child-Ren, and how she was treated after the fallout from the events with losing her sister Margo and her alleged affair with her teacher - not only by her peers, but by her parents as well. A lot of reviewers seemed to find her "unlikable" and "difficult to connect with," but personally I love when FMCs are written this way. It's much more realistic and gives them much more complexity. Men are allowed to be morally grey and have complex feelings, why is it when women characters have the same types of thoughts and actions, reviewers seem to hate them? Considering the level of trauma, guilt, and lack of empathy Ren received, I'm not sure how else she was expected to act.

The ending wasn't what I was necessarily what I was hoping for/expecting, but I absolutely did not see it coming and didn't hate it. This was actually way darker of a story than I was anticipating, and while there weren't really detailed descriptions of the sexual nature of the relationships with the teachers and the minors, experiencing the grooming and the emotional manipulation these young girls felt was almost as triggering. I feel like this book also contained an important commentary on how these situations are handled, and sadly is very prevalent with things happening in the news cycles lately. Overall, this was much more bleak than her previous novel.

If you appreciate morally grey FMCs and like more of a character-driven story line, definitely check this one out! Just be aware that the situations can be triggering.

""𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.""

Special thanks to @poisonedpenpress & @netgalley for the #gifted eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

𝙈𝙔 𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one deals with some heavy grief, and lingering secrets to be answered for. Ren is determined to find and punish the man who hurt and murdered her sister all those years ago. But is he back at it again?

This one didn't really wow me like its been hyped up to be. There's alot of lingering mystery, but im not feeling the great thrills I look for in a good novel that keep me coming back.

Read this one if you love:

☠️Obsession
☠️Forbidden relationships
☠️Missing girls
☠️Murder
☠️Deception
☠️Grief


𝙋𝙐𝘽 𝘿𝘼𝙔:
May 27, 2025

ℚ𝕆𝕋𝔻❓️⁉️❓️
What's for dinner tonight? Im undecided and need ideas!

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#mysteryandthrills #thrillersandsuspense #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #thrillerjunkie #thrillergirlie #bookbuzz #whispersofdeadgirls #poisonedpenpresspartner #marleebush #netgalley
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Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press as well as the author for this eARC.

I'm really on the fence about this one. I guess I'd say 3.5 and rounded to 3. I liked the premise of this story a LOT but the pacing was a tad bit slow for me. I wanted the end to have a bit of a bigger pay off.

Some ghosts don’t haunt you. They dare you to burn everything down.

There are books that whisper. And then there are books like this one — that stalk you, sit beside you when you’re trying to sleep, and dare you to look away.

Whispers of Dead Girls is grief in combat boots. It’s trauma weaponized, survivor’s guilt turned into justice, and a fierce, gut-wrenching reminder that some women don’t just survive — they return to the scene and set it on fire.

Ren Taylor is someone I’d follow into battle. She’s flawed, jaded, and dangerously aware — the kind of woman who’s been shattered by the world and learned to carry the pieces like blades.

Ten years after her sister was murdered, Ren is back at the high school that helped destroy her — only now, she’s not a scared teenager. She’s a grown woman with unfinished business, and she’s not asking for permission.

Enter Bryson Lewis: charming, magnetic, and alarmingly familiar. Everyone else might be under his spell, but Ren’s not fooled. She’s been here before. And this time?

She’s going to stop it.

5 fierce, furious stars.
This book doesn’t whisper. It screams.
And I heard every word.

This book dragged on. I only finished because I wanted to know what happened, but I was severely disinterested. Everyone was quite annoying in the book, with barely anyone to root for.

I am so thankful for this copy! Unfortunately this was just too much of a slow burn for me and I kept losing interest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press as well as the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
#NetGalley #PoisonedPenPress #MarleeBush #WhispersofDeadGirls #Horror #Fiction #BookReview

Title: Whispers of Dead Girls
Author: Marlee Bush
Format: eBook
Publisher: Poisoned Pet Press
Publication Date: May 27, 2025
Themes: grief, mental illness, murder, family, PTSD
Trigger Warnings: death of children (teenagers), mental illness, stalking, pedophilia, statutory rape, grooming, car accident, gaslighting

This book gave me a twisty and uncomfortable reading experience, which is exactly the idea. Ren Taylor has returned to her old high school. This time she’s the teacher instead of the student. She’s hoping that this teaching position will help provide some closure along with some peace of mind regarding her damaged childhood and death of her sister. What she gets, however, is far from peace of mind.

Ren Taylor is the very picture of an unreliable narrator. Her morally grey decisions caused me great discomfort throughout the story. When Ren starts to suspect a male teacher of murder and statutory rape, she becomes a sort of anti-hero. It’s clear that she’s trying to make her own past and the murder of her sister mean something. Her actions and the discussions of things that she suspects to be occurring with her male colleague are absolutely squirm worthy. The whole book is so uncomfortable and it’s quite delightful. Without spoiling anything, the ending took me by complete surprise. The author does a great job of keeping the reader guessing throughout using clever wording and character development.

As twisty and interesting as this book is, I had a little trouble with the characters. I cared about them but I also felt vaguely annoyed throughout. I can’t put my finger on why. I can’t decide if I was just unsatisfied with the ending or if it was just the wishy washy nature of most of the characters with Ren being front and center. I was definitely unsatisfied with the end and I viewed it as a bit of a cop out but, had I been more solidly behind any one character, I may have been able to overlook that. Unfortunately, I wasn’t and I couldn’t. I can’t go into detail without spoilers.

All in all, I mostly enjoyed this book and look forward to others by this author.

Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush

My rating:
4/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this one! I had the kindle copy, physical copy after pub date and listened to about 25% on audio. I really enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and found this book overall very fast paced and kept me wanting to turn the page! A lot happened towards the end of this book so it may have been a little chaotic at times but it also tied up all of the loose ends in this book. While it was a little predictable, the main twist was quite satisfying and I didn’t expect it! I would absolutely recommend this one for a popcorn thriller. Definitely check your trigger warnings before reading but I really liked this one! The author is new to me but I will be reading her other book! Thank you poisoned press and netgalley for the ARC! You can read or listen to this one now as it was published on May 27th!

When I started Whispers of Dead Girls, I found myself drawn to Ren Taylor. She seemed like someone broken but brave— someone who couldn’t save her sister, but was determined to protect other girls from the same fate. Her anger felt purposeful.

But as the story unfolded, and her own secrets came to light, I felt myself pausing. Questioning. Could I still root for her, knowing what she was hiding?

Ren’s past is haunting— and not just because of what happened to her, but because of what she’s carried in silence. Her connection to Tyler Henry, a teacher from her school days, added a whole new layer of pain. And yet she never told anyone. Not even when her parents distanced themselves after Margo’s death. Not even when they quietly blamed her. Ren kept that secret because her sister asked her to. That kind of loyalty broke me.

Ren hears Margo. Every day. In her thoughts, her memories, in the spaces where grief hasn’t let her go. It’s not supernatural— it’s psychological. Margo’s voice is the whisper that guides Ren’s rage and her guilt. It’s the echo of a promise Ren made… and never broke.

This story isn’t about a clear villain or hero—it’s about a girl drowning in memory, trying to do right while being haunted by the wrong. It’s raw, morally complex, and quietly devastating.👏🏻

Thank you @marleebushwriter and @netgalley for the ebook.

Love love loved this sophomore novel! It had some top tier twists throughout the story and character development was really good. Cannot recommend this book enough!

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉."

Set in a quiet Southern town, Whispers of Dead Girls follows Ren Taylor as she returns to her old high school — not as a student, but as a biology teacher — still carrying the heavy grief of her sister’s unsolved death. When Ren begins to suspect an inappropriate relationship between a popular physics teacher and one of his students, she’s determined to stop the past from repeating itself, even if it means digging into her own buried secrets.

Marlee Bush delivers a chilling, emotionally layered thriller that explores the weight of trauma and the fierce drive to protect the ones we love. If you’re drawn to dark, character-driven stories full of suspense and moral complexity, this one is well worth the read.