“Nothing I find is going to change what happened on september sixteenth. It wont fix what i did”

-
“An unreliable narrator.
A camping trip.
A girl in a coma.
Someone knows what happened to Piper Sullivan, but will they tell the truth?”

- In this book we follow Savannah Sullivan on her quest to find out what truly happened to her sister Piper.
Everybody’s keeping secrets. Savannah included.
Everyone’s got a motive, a reason to want Piper gone.

- A sister. A boyfriend. A best friend. A new friend. A club. A teacher.
- The question that lingers is: What happened september sixteenth?

-

I enjoyed this book so much. Hooked from chapter 1, “Dead girls cant tell secrets” is honestly such a fun ride. The amount of suspicions I had, and that were always so right and so wrong at the same time. And, at the end of the day, te final outcome was something I never even saw coming.

You get characters you love, characters you hate, characters you love to hate and hate to love.

I think that the one thing missing in this book is a prologue. I found the ending a little abrupt, and I wish we could’ve got to know more about what happened next.

Overall it’s one of my favorite YA’s i’ve read recently and a story I think people of all ages would enjoy!

cant wait for everyone to be able to read this april 5, 2022

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. This is an intriguing, quick read, and honestly I would’ve given it 4 stars or more if not for the main character Savannah. I really struggled with continuing reading because I disliked her so much. Perhaps a younger reader might not have found her as off putting as I did-she just seemed like a whiny, untrustworthy brat to me, and completely unlikable.

That said, the story itself is intriguing, and I especially liked the flashbacks, which gave the backstory leading up to Piper’s alleged suicide attempt. She is definitely a likable character, and one I’d read more about (if this book leads to another). I will definitely pick up more books by this author in the future.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review**

It took me a while to get into this one but I came to really enjoy it. I liked that the storyline was split between the present day and things that happened in the run up to Piper's "fall". There were lots of twists and turns and several red herrings that lead me to make all kinds of conclusions before the truth was revealed.

I admit, I was expecting something darker, heavier, reminiscent of Karen McManus when I picked up this book—but it ended up being a slightly more lighter-topic, fun page-turner.

First off, Ichaso’s writing is pretty phenomenal. Savannah’s voice rolls right off the page; her character is distinct, the hints and tension in the beginning were expertly teased, and the concept was pretty intriguing: a sister who attempted suicide, and more people lying than you can count. And there are some moments of true suspense.

But unfortunately, after the characters depart for their hiking trip, the story becomes underwhelming. I found the reveals to be disappointing, and the motives/lies to be shallow.

I think this would qualify as younger YA, despite the protagonists being seniors/juniors (and the premise being a girl who attempted suicide), but if I had read it as younger YA I think I would’ve enjoyed it more straight-off. As it was, I kept expecting something the big reveal, some earth-shattering soul-searching or dark conspiracy.

What it ended up being was a fun romp, a delightful mystery with some good tension and excellent voice, that was a quick, page-turning read. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

-A

the pacing of this book really threw me off - the beginning felt super haphazard and shaky
but it smoothed out by the end
the amount of twists in this book began to feel gratuitous after a while and savannah was SO STUPID oml like girl you can't just go around accusing every single breathing creature of murdering your sister and hoping to get somewhere because it won't work (unless ofc you're in this book and it does, in fact, work)
final reveal felt super anticlimactic
there just wasn't a ton that i enjoyed about this book other than the fact that it flew by

Savannah's sister, Piper, has been in a coma for a month. Everyone believes that it was a suicide attempt on Piper's part, but Savannah isn't ready to swallow that information, especially because she would feel guilty if it were suicide.

Savannah decides to join the Survival Club, her sister's latest extra curricular, to find out what really happened. She uncovers potential threats against Piper and then decides to spend a weekend camping with the club.. to find out who tried to murder her sister.

This was definitely a quick read, but Savannah was hard to root for because she made some dumb decisions. And then there were A LOT of coincidences and everyone was THE suspect at one point. Just really annoying. I think it could have been better crafted without all the twists and turns. It seemed like when one potential suspect was revealed, Savannah would confront them, and then it would be found out that they were innocent.. the next page. Overall, just a little silly.

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets was ok. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading, but I felt like the narrator didn't do much actual investigating--she mostly just stumbled onto evidence, and reacted to what was happening. I also found it weird that she started out wanting to keep her investigation secret, but almost immediately started accusing everyone she came across of being the culprit. There were so many red herrings that the final reveal felt very anticlimactic; almost any of the other possible solutions would have been more interesting than what the solution ultimately turned out to be. Overall, I don't regret reading this book, but it's not one I would reread, either.

Piper Sullivan fell from a cliff during a hiking accident. Piper's sister, Savannah, is unraveling with grief. Savannah finds a note in Piper's locker asking her to meet at the very cliff she fell from that day. Savannah suspects her accident may not have been a suicide attempt or accident after all. She joins the hiking club to ask questions of the other club members to find their secrets. What Savannah isn't telling is that she has secrets of her own. Great suspense for grades 7+.

Chelsea Ichaso has created a world full of teens with secrets that still manages to feel believable as the twists unravel. The pacing of Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets was just right — information withheld and divulged at just the right moments to keep readers engaged. The characters are interesting, and having an unreliable first-person narrator allows for readers to go on an exciting whodunit journey where they’re never quite sure what’s true. I truly felt like I was in the midst of a murder mystery dinner set around a campfire. I’ll definitely be reading more by Ichaso in the future! Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Piper Sullivan has been in a coma for a month as a result of a strange hiking accident. The outcome doesn’t look good and its highly likely that Piper will not be waking up. Her sister Savannah is devastated. She and her sister were not on good terms before the accident, and a text message sent to Piper in the heat of the moment has her wracked with guilt.

While borrowing a sweater from her sister’s locker at school, Savannah discovers a startling note inviting Piper to attend a meeting of the wilderness club. This meeting was to take place in the same location, on the same day of Piper’s accident. Her accident was no accident. Determined to find the answers shes looking for, Savannah joins the club. She quickly finds out that her sisters seemingly perfect life isn’t so perfect. Savannah attends the wilderness club’s weekend long camping trip at the same location Piper was last seen. Everyone is a suspect and things quickly escalate as secrets are revealed and friendships are tested.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel going into this but I quickly, and unexpectedly got sucked in. I could not stop reading, and as I anxiously turned the page, I was filled with anticipation. I thought I knew who Savannah was looking for, however I was wrong multiple times. The plot twists were pretty good. I did not see them coming and the final reveal truly surprised me. I really enjoy books where I cannot predict how it ends and this one definitely delivered.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I had a good time reading this. It's only 200 pages so I got through it in one sitting. I appreciate Ichaso's no-frills style it was refreshing to be thrown in the deep end of the mystery within the first few chapters. It reminded me of those old Nancy Drew games for the PC, good times. However sometimes, I found it moved a little bit too fast that all the twists failed to really pack their punch. Having a large ensemble of characters within a relatively short book made all the motives hard to keep track of.

I think the best way to describe this plot is in terms of a cat puzzle. When you buy a cat puzzle you assume that it has all the pieces that make up the image of a cat. You begin the puzzle with all the pieces in a messy pile, but you know that'll eventually make up that final image. Ichaso's 'Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets' felt like someone just started adding pieces from a lizard puzzle and tried to force it into the one of the cat. With every plot twist, the justification was something that was never really mentioned in the novel, just seemed to be thrown in to just have it make sense. I felt as if they came a bit out of left field and ended up being confusing.

In all, it was a compact mystery YA book that I couldn't put down!

I was really excited for this book, and while I did enjoy it quite a bit, there were quite a few things that didn't appeal to me.
the characters had no depth. I could not connect with them in the slightest.
the plot twists really had me, but sometimes too many of them really degrade the quality of the book. It also depends on how shocking the plot twists were because most of them were very predictable.

Let me just say this is one of those mystery/ thriller books that you will feel like you are twisting down a rabbit hole with all the whodunits and the mystery behind everything. That being said, if you love a good mystery then this should be your next big read!
Piper had an accident on a cliff that is known for suicide, while everyone is convinced because of events that had happened that she tried to commit suicide. Her older sister is racked with guilt because of what she did to her sister earlier that fateful day, she is determined to figure out what actually happened that day because she does not think that it was suicide.
Savannah starts trying to put different clues together to unravel the events leading u to Piper's accident and what she discovers is chilling! Everyone is lying to some extent and everyone has a secret involving Piper that they want to keep hidden. Savannah decides to join one of the clubs that Piper was involved in, she knows someone in this club has the answers she's looking for! Will Savannah find out what happened to her sister? Are you excitable by the twists and turns of a mystery? Check out this book to find out what happened!

I loooveee this book!!! The twisted plot. I tried to guess who the bad guy is because everyone seems suspicious.

Well written but just felt disappointed when I’d finished it. There are so many red herrings in this book, that the reveal at the end didn’t seem worth it. It’s a good premise but I don’t think it’s been executed well.

This was a fast-paced, enjoyable YA mystery! Ichaso's narration style is excellent for the genre, keeping you engrossed without ever slowing down to the point where you lose interest, and the cast of characters and suspicions is well-developed. If you're against "thriller heroes who make stupid decisions to keep the novel a thriller," you might be frustrated by some of the protagonist's actions, but overall, this was a decent read
3.5 stars for me

I enjoy books set in the wilderness and this story did not disappoint. I read loads of thrillers and mysteries and this novel had all the twists and turns and wrong guesses that proves this not only fits well within the genre but it’s also a fresh story within it as well. I loved this even more than the author’s debut— can’t wait to devour the next one!

This was an okay story. I liked the idea behind it and the writing was strong, but the concept is a little exhausted to me. I am starting to dislike unreliable narrators and this one just seemed to mirror too many other books I have read.

trigger warning
<spoiler> grief </spoiler>

A while ago, Savannah's sister Piper had a tragic accident that left her in a coma. Or was it an accident?

The book sets off as Savannah has forgotten to bring her sweater and borrows one from her sister. It's not as is Piper would mind, or even ever hear about it, how things are standing. Bunched up in the sweater is a note, asking Piper to come to the place where the accident happened - on the day it happened.
Conviced she finds the guilty party there, Savannah joins the survival club, which is sheduled for a weekend hike. Dun-dun-dun!

Let me start with what I liked, because that's the shorter list. Despite this being told from first person narrator, we get a sense of what the characters are thinking about Savannah and her actions, and Savannah gives things away she just doesn't realise how bad they are. Like, forbidding her friend to remain in a club he has been in for ages and that brings him joy, simply because his ex is also in that club.
So the author was really able to handle that narrative perspective in a nuanced manner, which I enjoyed.

Theeen the rest. Oh boy.
Savannah is not the brightest pea in the pod, which would be okay, since you don't have to have an outstanding IQ to solve a crime, if it weren't that annoying. Or if the people around her would draw attention to how dumb she just sounded.
Prime example: One of the first clues she finds is a message written on the inside flap of her sister's backpack. Later on, we have a message spray-painted on a tree, and supposedly the handwriting looks the same so it has to be written by the same person. ...excuse me? Give me two pens of different nib size and my handwriting will look different, never mind a pen and a spray can full of colour.

Towards the end, every two pages or so we have a new prime suspect. When the idea comes up that x might have done it, she's all in. She doesn't question, she goes all out to confront that person, who attempted murder, most often alone. I understand that emotions are high, but come on, this is ridiculous. Again, everybody just goes with the flow.

Then I didn't have the impression that the author was very into camping. Addmittedly, I've never been hiking, only camping, but I was confused because the teacher was fully into teaching them how to survive - this is the survival club after all - and didn't teach them about local plants, collecting a few herbs for dinner or something. They lived on instant soup and pasta, on oats - things you only need to combine with water. No cooking. They're away for a weekend, it's not as if it would have been impossible to divide up ingredients and cook something on the mountain.
Additionally, I was impressed by how much drama was going on at night after a full day of walking. It's not as if they were doing this every weekend, and Savannah joined for the first time. Yes, sure, adrenaline does wonders for being awake, but you crash especially hard afterwards, and it should be adressed in some form.

All in all, I did not like the writing, the crime solving, or the hiking content, which is a shame because this book contains some of my favourite tropes. Crime solving, limited cast of characters, secluded setting...
Can't really recommend it to anyone.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

This book was really good! I enjoyed how the plot had many twists and turns, keeping the ending a surprise (which is impressive!!). The characters were interesting and each developed as needed with the plot. I also enjoyed the introduction of the Piper chapters, because they gave insight that couldn't have happened with the other characters, but still kept everything mysterious.