4 out of 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so, so creepy!! It’s been awhile since I read a book that had me so creeped out! It’s one of those books you can’t stop thinking about, wondering what’s going on, and what’s going to happen.

The narrative is told in alternating then/now fashion. “Then” follows four 12-year old girls who are fascinated by death and serial killers. One fateful summer, they form a club (The Dead Girls Club) where they get together and talk about everything macabre. Becca (one of the girls) starts telling the story of The Red Lady, and the group quickly becomes obsessed. By the end of the summer, one of the girls is dead. 💀

“Now” follows Heather, one of the surviving members of The Dead Girls Club, now an adult. When strange things begin to happen, and unwanted reminders of that tragic summer start mysteriously appearing, Heather’s life begins a downward spiral as she tries to figure out if The Red Lady has returned, or if something even more sinister is going on.

Very mysterious and creepy! I had some theories as I was reading, but never guessed what was really going on. While this book wasn’t perfect (what book is?), it was really, really freaking good. I can't think of any glaring issues I had with it; no big plot holes, no unanswered questions, no sketchy writing or plot devices. Come to think of it, for a book of this genre, it actually WAS pretty damn near perfect. I liked the characters, the writing was fantastic, it had me feeling creeped out and jumpy, I didn't want to put it down, and I wasn't disappointed by it. I will, without a doubt, be on the lookout for more from this author.

What I was most worried about with this book was the ending - I tend to find that the endings to these kinds of books almost always fall flat, or feel disappointing. This one wasn't bad at all - while it left me a little melancholy, I guess, it wasn't disappointing! And the journey - you guys, the journey is worth the read! Even if you are disappointed by the ending, the creepiness of the rest of the book should make up for it! 🙀

*This review is posted to my GoodReads account, my Instagram account, and will be posted to my blog and retail sites closer to publication date.*

Good, fast read but a little immature for me. I did enjoy the main storyline as who didn't pull out a Ouija board at a girls sleepover. I remember many scary talks which kept me from sleeping. So I did enjoy this brought back those memories.

Didn't reallt care for the ending but I still recommend this book. Fairly good read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review:

This book bought back some memories of when I was younger and slept over friends houses where we would try seances and ouji boards etc.  The young girls in this book are no different except they get together to talk about serial killers and other stuff (which is actually sort of similiar to my book club!)  and one of the girls enjoys to tell the stories of the Red Lady.  The Red Lady is a witch who was murdered by the towns people and came back as a vengeful ghost.  Becca is basically obessed with The Red Lady.  She has the girls conducting rituals to summon the Red Lady. 

This story is told from Heather's point of view in the past and the future. There's a secret that Heather is carrying around and someone in the present knows what she did. 

This is the perfect blend of mystery and thriller and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.
I had no real expectations when I cracked this book open. It had an interesting title, and the cover was nice. What followed was a novel that tried to build up some scary suspense, but fell flat of that. It did succeed at painting the protagonist as a weak, tormented person that is slowly unraveling as the chapters unfold. I think the intention was to make her relatable, but it came of as irritating.
I will say that this was a quick read, and there was a bit of suspense to it, with a little bit of a twist. But...I don't really feel like the journey was a great one. I think this novel tried to build a bigger story, but for me, it fell flat.

As soon as I started seeing this book pop up, I knew I had to read it, I was sure, based on the description, that it would end up on my favorites list for this year, sadly that was not the case. 
I found the main character annoying, and was never able to fully get into the story..I am sure this book has it’s audience, but I am not it.

I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book.

I flew through this book! I love mysteries and psychological thrillers, so this was right up my alley. Told in a then/now format, readers get to watch the paranoia of the present, and the mystery and context of the past at the same time. I definitely preferred the "then" chapters, as the "now" narrator was a bit unlikeable. 

Ultimately, the end was a bit odd and didn't seem super realistic--but it was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to others!

A Darkly Gleaming Gem of a Book

This novel was beautifully crafted. Part horror, part crime mystery, and part coming-of-age story, the suspense grew steadily, keeping me up at night until I finished.

The story's intermingling of real crime headlines and their effect on the minds of these girls resonated especially with me. I remember snagging my mom's True Detective magazines for slumber party reading with my girlfriends. And of course, we were fascinated by ghosts and psychic phenomena as well. 

I could really relate to Heather, Becca and their friends. While I never saw the danger then, it seems so obvious now that their morbid interests and a dysfunctional household, coupled with a vivid imagination and lack of supervision, can yield horrifying results. 

Or a career as a writer!

Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this arc. It didn't really keep me intrigued the entire time, but it is a decent read

I definitely loved how this was a ghost story! It was spooky and mysterious. It would make for a great Netflix limited series - wow. It was a little immature but it was still fun to read.

On the surface, Heather Cole leads a successful life--she has a fantastic husband, a nice home in the suburbs, and a rewarding and lucrative career as a child psychologist. Beneath all that, though, is a 20-year-old secret that could threaten everything. Fortunately, there's not a soul alive that knows what really happened at that last meeting of the Dead Girls Club--the one when Becca Thomas ended up dead. But when Heather starts receiving small tokens in the mail--tokens all pointing back to That Night--her worst fears are confirmed: someone knows. And as Heather begins to remember the details leading up to that fateful meeting, details her own psyche has skillfully been hiding from her all these years, she begins to wonder if the person sending the tokens isn't actually among the living. But that's crazy . . . isn't it?

This book was OK. I was instantly drawn in by the cover art and the description--I'm a sucker for a good thriller/horror and the idea of the Red Lady (major urban legend vibes!) and uncovering the past trauma of the Dead Girls Club kept me turning the pages. The pacing was good and I liked the Now/Then presentation and the interweaving of narratives between modern-day Heather and Heather-from-the-past. However, while the premise was intriguing, I thought the execution was a little clunky. Some of the writing felt stilted and the details weren't woven in quite as organically as I might have liked--from the initial 'looking at the photograph so we can get a description of the main character and her hair color' to the detailed descriptions of food on the table given before the characters so much as speak to each other or take a bite. Still, I seem to be an outlier as the reviews here are mostly positive. If you like lore-filled thrillers and have a penchant for the macabre, you just might love this book.

*I was given an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions here are mine.*

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was incredibly creepy! Told in first person it explores a '90's childhood and the life of a child therapist.

There's some really neat twists that I didn't see coming. 
I highly recommend this book.

Fondly reminds me of many of the YA thrillers I read as child/teen -- but a grown up version.  Loved the pace, the storyline, and the characters.

A great quick read for folks who enjoy books about urban legends with unreliable narrators. Heather is a child psychologist who is forced to relive her early adolescence and the death of her best friend Becca, who was obsessed with The Red Lady, a witch-ghost who can be summoned to wreak havoc on your enemies. . .if you're willing to pay her price. Heather believes she is the only one who knows how and why Becca died that night, but then she begins receiving insidious objects belonging to Becca from an unknown stalker. Was someone else present the night Becca died, or did the Red Lady keep her promise--and bring Becca back to life?

This was a fanciful, enjoyable story.  The characters were realistic and relatable.  It brought back memories of my childhood and the girls telling ghost stories. It was well written and I escaped for a day on the beach with it. 
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book has such a fun and eerie, classic "teen girls explore the macabre" plot, and running alongside it, a deeper and heavier sadness to the story that leans into childhood trauma. My favorite parts of this were the Red Lady, and the "Then" chapters focusing on Heather and her friends Becca, Gia, and Rachel. I love a good creepy ghost tale (the description of the Red Lady, particularly her long weaving hair, were so creepy!), and I love a good childhood friend horror group! 

In present chapters, Heather has a lot happening from every angle and it comes at you fast. I was so anxious reading the decisions she was making, and how poor they often were! But I feel that the author did a very good job of writing a woman who was so deeply fearful of her past and what she endured there. I will be looking out for any books this author writes in the future! 

Thank you for a copy of this book!

2/5 - This book is boring and I can’t review it properly.

It’s not what I call a thriller. What it is, is a lot of words. Boring words. Boring words from many different boring POV’s. I expected more. I wanted more. 

NetGalley provided an arc in exchange for an honest review.

It seems like it was almost a lifetime ago that Heather and her friends sat around as twelve-year-olds, telling stories about serial killers and their victims as part of their Dead Girls Club. Heather doesn't like to think about how that summer ended - with the mysterious disappearance of her best friend Becca. Heather has moved past it, and now, years later, she has a new life: a loving husband, and a successful career as a child psychologist. But someone has started sending Heather anonymous and ominous gifts - things that used to belong to Becca. Could it be that someone knows what really happened that night and is trying to blackmail Heather?

While I enjoyed this book, bits of it felt a little over the top and unbelievable. However, it did keep me guessing, and the alternate chapters taking place in the past and present were done quite well.

Ok this book was amazing. Personally I’m not usually into the supernatural type of books but after I read broken girls last year I knew I had to give this one a shot. It was so worth it. I was hooked from the start and could not put it down. So much mystery and suspense. Definitely recommend even to those not normally into this type of book. Thanks NetGalley.

A thrilling breakout novel from an author I've enjoyed before. Walters writes touching tension that brings heart to the horror genre. I high;y recommend her previous works, and I think this is her best yet. Can't wait for the next one.

The description of The Dead Girls Club pulled me right in. The '90s and teen girls obsessed with the morbid (who didn't try Bloody Mary in the mirror or whip out that Ouija board at sleepovers!). The secret late night sneak outs, family issues and era reminded me a bit of one of my all-tine favourite movies Now and Then.  It also brought out the nostalgia for my old love of teen horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer.

I enjoyed the "past" story line and wish the book had spent all of its time there. There is so much richness to explore and opportunities to further develop the friendships between the girls and their spooky obsessions. The Red Lady was an interesting concept and the hysteria it caused between the girls reminded me of the real life Slenderman crime and how susceptible young girls can be to stories and the power of a group mentality. 

Unfortunately, I just could not connect with present day Heather and that brought down the book for me. She was irritating, paranoid without reason and the relationship with her husband was really hard to read.

Ultimately, this was just an ok read for me that started with lots of potential. I will definitely keep my eye out for future books by Damien Angelica Walters.

Thank you to #netgalley and Crooked Lane for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.