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.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All of the opinions given are my own and have been given nothing for my review.

Wow
Where to start
The whole book had me on the edge of my seat. Every chapter made me doubt every character. This is the type of mystery that I live for. Perfect planning, perfect execution.
Thrilling, to be honest. Not knowing what exaclty happened, not knowing who was involved, not knowing why it happened. I felt like I was there with them trying to solve the case.
I trusted no one. If there is something mystery books taught me is to never trust anyone, this book is not an exception.
I love how at the beginning of the book we knew absolutely nothing about what happened and we got to learn the story as the book went along.
I was mad the first couple of chapters. The main character annoyed me so much because of her impulsiveness. I honestly thought she was going to get killed because of it.
Anyone that liked A Good Girl's Gide To Murder by Holly Jackson is going to like this one.
Definitely, the perfect book to read to get out of a reading slump.

Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets is a is a wonderful and incredibly rich YA mystery/thriller novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone, especially those who love a good thriller!

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is about Piper who gets into a weird accident in which she is put into a coma state. Savannah, her sister, is suspicious about what happened and finds a clue to Piper's "accident". Following that clue, Savannah realizes there is more to this incident than meets the eye and she's not the only one keeping secrets.

This was not a bad read, it was very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. DGCTS is a "whodunnit" kind of book that keeps you guessing but I was able to guess some things a little early on in the story. I liked the sister bond even while it was on the rocks. You get both Savannah's POV and a Piper POV of past events. I think a lot of YA readers will enjoy the suspense and the twists at the end. Overall this was an average YA thriller for me. I do recommend reading at least once but I don't think I would go back for a second read.

3.5 stars

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets follows Savannah, whose younger sister Piper is in a coma after a terrible fall. When Savannah uncovers some evidence to suggest Piper's fall wasn't the accident everyone says it is, she decides to take matters into her own hands and investigate by joining her school's survivalist group, which is taking a trip to the same mountains where Piper fell, so she can investigate each member of the group and find out the truth.

I had a fun time with this story! I always enjoy books where I can come up with my own theories, and with the twists and turns in this book, it had me constantly on my toes and coming up with my own potential theories.

However, I've definitely read YA thrillers that I've enjoyed more. The pacing in this book was great, but the writing itself wasn't anything special. The dialogue was sometimes a little frustrating, and while I was rooting for the main character, I found myself rolling my eyes at how she was determined to be "secretly investigating" on this camping trip, but then she openly accused everyone she talked to of being Piper's attempted murderer.

One thing I did really enjoy was the flashback chapters from Piper's POV that started being woven in toward the end of the novel--I loved reading from her perspective to not just see what happened to her, because her chapters were full of well-executed suspense, but also to see her sometimes tumultuous relationship with Savannah from her perspective.

All in all, it was a short book with fast pacing that was fun to read, but I wouldn't say it was anything I hadn't seen before.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Though I was not a fan of the prose style, I believe this will appeal to a mostly-female teen audience. Similar to Holden Caulfield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye, this story's narrator is unreliable and somewhat annoying, though the story is still entertaining. I found the opening scene a little tough to get through, but once things started moving, the story was much better.

Teens will like the relatability of the setting and the varied characters in the story. This would be a pleasure read for them, but would not be something I would assign in my secondary classroom.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

This was a fun, high-speed, twisty YA thriller! Piper Sullivan is now in a coma following a fall from a cliff called Suicide Point. But her sister, Savannah, is determined to find out the truth about what happened.

I liked the high school drama, the clues, and the red herrings. It was definitely a fun read!

There were a lot of chapters near the middle that had mostly dialogue, which I found at times hard to follow. But overall, loved the action, high stakes, and plot! The ending was fun too. I will definitely look out for more from this author in the future!

Wow, what a wonderful YA thriller/mystery. The plot was fast paced and changed frequently. I really liked the story line and watching the main character grow and realize some of her mistakes and own it. Just when I thought I had the story worked out, I realized once again I was wrong. This was a fast read and one I know all YA readers will enjoy. I will definitely be stocking this in my classroom and know it will fly off the shelves. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced copy. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I'm always a sucker for a good Mystery/Thriller and this one checked all the boxes for me. It kept me reading until the end to figure out what happened and what was going to happen. I did not see the ending coming! It was also a quick easy read that was written well. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it if you are a mystery/thriller fan like me! All views and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

<b>2.75 stars.</b>

So I finished this book a couple of days ago and let’s just say, I can barely remember it.
Talk about anticlimactic which is all I can really remember about this book. I was initially interested by the premise and I really liked the idea of the sisterly bond - particularly when they are not close - coming together to find out what happened. And this book really had <i>potential</i>…it just didn’t deliver though.

I will say, I liked the writing and I continued reading because I did have high hopes considering this seemed exactly like what I wanted in a book. However, this felt like one of those ‘been there, done that’ kind of novels and I didn’t feel shocked or surprised with anything that happened. Saying that, the “reveals” where as anticlimactic as they got and I honestly felt myself skimming the last few chapters after that.

This book just wasn’t for me and would be good for young YA fans who are getting into the mystery/thriller genre.
The covers pretty though.

<i>I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is a pretty solid YA thriller. Savannah's sister, Piper, is in a coma as a result of a fall. Everyone believes that it was a suicide attempt, but Savannah believes there is something more sinister happening. The story is told in multiple points of view as well as multiple timelines as we follow Savannah in her search for answers. This book kept me interested throughout. I did not feel like the story dragged at all. I enjoyed the multiple points of view as well as the flashbacks. Especially toward the end, I felt like the short chapters, flashbacks, and multiple points of view really added to the suspense. This is definitely a very fast paced and quick read. Overall, it was a very enjoyable reading experience.

A good read. I enjoyed the mystery and thought I had it worked out multiple times, only to have my ideas thwarted as I read on!

3.5

LOVED this book soon much! I devoured in a day. Great plot would definitely recommend. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Savannah's sister is currently in a coma at the hospital after a fall. Everyone except Savannah believes it was suicide as she fell from what was called Suicide Point. Savannah though knows her sister Piper would never commit suicide as she was amazing and excelled at everything. Now this year she is ready to do some sleuthing of her own to find out what happened to Piper and who wanted to hurt her. To start she finds a note in Piper's locker regarding Survival Club - an outdoors group she joined which also Piper's ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend and Savannah's boyfriend Grant are a part of. While hunting for clues, Savannah is about to discover that Piper had her fingers in a lot of pies and throughout the novel has ruffled quite a few feathers and made a long list of enemies who all have something to lose, some more than others. Who on Piper's enemy list has the most to lose though? I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when the truth was finally revealed about what happened on Suicide Point with the big reveal as it did make the book feel unnecessary long-winded and a silly reason when there could have been more sinister reasons at play. If you love YA thrillers and are fans of the book One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, then you will enjoy Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets by Chelsea Ichaso today.

The story is fine, no more than fine, but that's alright. The MC was a complete idiot however, which, for me impacts readability.

I don’t usually read YA and I didn’t actually know “Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets” by Chelsea Ichaso was a YA book until I started reading it. I was drawn to the premise of a juicy, no one can be trusted whodunit read. With that being said, I quite enjoyed this angsty teen thriller. It transported me back to my Lois Duncan loving days back in the 90’s.

Piper Sullivan is in a coma and may never wake up. They say the fall was a suicide attempt, but her sister Savannah isn’t sold on the narrative. When she finds a suspicious note in Piper’s locker relating to Survival Club, Savannah decides to infiltrate herself in the school club to uncover the truth of what happened to Piper. Savannah soon discovers that no one can be trusted and everyone is hiding secrets about their involvement with Piper that day.

If you enjoy YA mysteries or thrillers, put this on your list. There were A LOT of twists, turns and red herrings. The characters are fairly annoying frienemies, so not exactly likable, but I couldn’t help getting caught up in the good ‘ol highschool drama. The overnight camping trip was also the perfect setting for danger and suspense as the “friends” uncovered each others secrets. The ending, unfortunately, felt rushed and a bit anti-climactic. Otherwise it was a quick, addicting read and a nice change of pace from my typical genres. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopses:

Piper Sullivan was the star child and star pupil when suddenly she fell from a cliff during a camping trip, putting her in a coma she may never wake up from. Everyone assumes it was an attempted suicide, until her sister Savannah finds a disturbing note in pipers locker triggering a hunt for the real reason Piper was on the cliff that day and why she fell.

My thoughts:

The synopsis made this book sound like it had it all, and combined with the cover drawing inspiration from A Good Girls Guide to Murder I was pretty hyped for a new YA murder mystery, but this book fell really flat for me for a number reasons. First of all, every chapter ends in a cliffhanger. I understand this can be used as a writing technique to build tension but in this book it feels a little clunky and it doesn’t really push the story forward at all, it just got very annoying pretty quickly. Another thing I didn’t love was the writing, it came across as a little bit childish which was weird when the characters were supposed to be in their late teens. Characters acted in bizarre ways to try and make it seem like they might be the culprit, and when it turned out they weren’t there was little to know explanation on why they were acting in such weird ways. I dunno, I just found it really impossible to get into this book and I was really close to DNF’ing it.