"Murdered bad girl Annie Lane is back from the grave and hellbent on revenge . . . she just has to figure out who killed her."

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch is the debut novel from Codie Crowley, a special thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the advanced copy of this YA thriller.

I will admit to selecting this based on the title and cover; the plot description also sounded like a lot of fun. However I was slightly disappointed overall. Although I enjoyed the protagonist and stylized snappy dialogue, there seemed to be something missing here. I would have appreciated a bit more world building; there was a lot left unexplained including some plot holes, inconsistencies, and character development.

As this is a debut from Crowley, I do look forward to reading her work again in the future.

✨2.5 stars✨

The title of this book immediately drew me in so when I received an ARC I was really excited!

However, there were so many plot holes and inconsistencies in this book that I found them taking away from my overall enjoyment. Like when Annie goes back to her school when she’s trying to find out what happened to her, is she a ghost? Because the other characters can clearly see her and are able to communicate with her easily… but she’s dead? That only scratches the surface on things that didn’t make sense to me.

I did enjoy the mystery aspect but none of the characters were capable of holding my attention and I just found myself skim reading chunks. The reveal of the killer wasn’t shocking either which is a shame because I thought I was really going to enjoy this.

You might enjoy this if you’re looking for a fast read for around spooky season but personally this wasn’t for me sadly.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch is a rare debut gem–a young adult horrorfest with vengeance at its best. If the title doesn’t grab you, the plot will.

From the moment I delved into its pages, I knew I was hooked and embarking on a journey unlike any other. It’s not just a book; it’s an experience. It’s a visceral, emotional rollercoaster that left me breathless and rooting for Annie from start to finish.

Annie is an outstanding character with guts, sarcastic wit, and an immortal determination to find out what happened to her and her best friend Maura. Her amateur detective work is entertaining and her interactions with other characters is priceless. However, it’s the bad things that happen to her before her terrible death that make her vengeance even more satisfying to read.

The writing and pacing is incredible. The character development is exquisite. The worldbuilding is original with a wrathful ghost/revenant who has unearthly skills I’d never seen before.

As I turned the last page, I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer brilliance of Crowley’s superb craftsmanship. It’s bizarre, it’s funny, and it opens the darkest corners of the imagination. I’m adding this to my favorite books of 2024.

Thank you to Ms. Crowley for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

I didn’t expect a book with a title like this to make me emotional, but it did. It had the feminine rage of Jennifer’s Body and also the poignancy and senselessness of Under the Bridge which was a beautiful combination. The way Annie is treated (in life and death) was so heartbreaking.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

It's a YA paranormal thriller that will quickly become a high school horror fan's most requested book.

In my past reviews, I have admitted that I have chosen books because of their cover or subject matter. On this occasion, I selected this book based on the title alone. Because who doesn't love a good revenge story? Especially when the main protagonist is trying to figure out who murdered her.

I enjoyed the short punchy chapters and the mystery of Annie trying to figure out what happened to her. Codie Crowley puts her main character through a lot of intriguing circumstances and I found that compelling enough to keep turning the pages.

On the other hand, I needed a little bit more understanding about the world that Annie was now living in. Why if she was dead, was she able to eat, drink, and converse so much with the living? That's why I feel my review sits in the 3-star category.

When all is revealed and Annie races to confront her killer- that was some fairly captivating action. All in all, I am quite satisfied with my reading experience.

I really enjoyed this thriller! It kept me on my toes & the premise drew me in from the first page to the last. There was never a dull moment & the twists & turns were unexpected & constant!!! I loved Annie. She was such a strong main character and learning her story was incredibly entertaining while also having the melancholy needed for a story like this at the times it was necessary. The revenge plot was everything- I couldn’t get enough! I would’ve loved to learn more about a few more side characters backstories, but that truly would be my only “nitpick” if I had to make one!

Of course I had to read this because of the title and because I love horror. I thought the mystery of a girl having to solve her own murder after she becomes a ghost was compelling enough to finish especially since it was a shorter read, but it was hard to get into initially. I struggled with the writing style which relied very heavily on describing things to almost an excessive amount (How many different ways do you need to describe red hair?). I wanted more character development and less character describing things. It’s an interesting concept but because so much time is spent on the mystery there isn’t as much time to explore the lives of the other ghosts the main character meets and the rules of ghost world. Probably more accurately a 2.5 stars but I’m rounding up to 3. Thank you to Disney for the arc for review through NetGalley.

This book had so many layers and was so messed up and was suspenseful and horrific. If the premise sounds like something you’ll like, then you definitely will.

This is a very good supernatural mystery that will appeal to teenagers. It is not the most original but is a fun read and will add it to my library.

"Some girls never rest in peace."
Annie finds herself fighting to find the surface of the water, with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is going to watch her on-again, off-again ex-boyfriend's band. Struggling to find someone to ask for help, she runs across people where they shouldn't be.

Annie struggles to remember what happened to her, who these new people are, and what happened to her best friend. Something is really strange about thee new people. Why did she not know these people live in this abandoned area on the edge of town.?

This book is a thrill ride with comedic scenes, as well as twists and turns. Annie is forced to face her new life, as well as discover that she didn't know the people in town as well as she thought she did. I had a difficult time putting the book down, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something unexpected happened.

I have lots of friends that will love this book!

I was given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 ⭐️

When Annie wakes up in a river, she is confused about how she got there. She keeps getting flashes of violence and an attack. However, she cannot remember who is responsible. Upon stumbling towards town, she meets a group of teens living in a house on the mountain (near where she was dumped). As she spends time with them, she learns that they are not alive - and neither is she. She becomes determined to find out who is responsible and get her revenge.

This one was pretty good in terms of fast-paced readability. I did want to keep reading to find out what happened, although at times I did not love the dialogue/felt the beginning was really repetitive with Annie just being convinced her ex was responsible. The final whodunit I felt was predictable, although there was a macabre twist there too. There were also a few things that were left unanswered and were confusing. For instance, at times Annie gets visited by a fire girl (no real better way to describe her/this is essentially what Annie calls her). The other kids in the house just keep warning that not everyone in the spirit world is nice, but we don't get more resolution than that. Like was this girl just a mechanic to get Annie to lose faith in Sam?? If so, it seems like there could have been an easier way to do that. Despite that, still fast-paced and a decent thriller story.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I didn’t expect a book with a title like this to make me emotional, but it did. It had the feminine rage of Jennifer’s Body and also the poignancy and senselessness of Under the Bridge which was a beautiful combination. The way Annie is treated (in life and death) was so heartbreaking. I just wanted to hug her. I loved the family she finds with Sam, Fern and the others. I would have liked to get to know those characters a bit better, but I truly enjoyed the scenes they had. I thought the book had great commentary on misogyny, violence and neglect. I did think the pacing was a little off at times, especially towards the middle, but I was never bored. I absolutely wanted to know what had happened to this girl. I’d highly recommend it for fans of light horror and true crime.
CW: mentions of animal death, sexual assault, sexual harassment, death, murder, emotional abuse, violence, injury, grief, pedophilia

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I went into "Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch" looking for a fun horror palate cleanser. I keep picking up hefty fantasy books, and I needed a break. It was heavier than I expected, but it hooked me in and didn't let me go. I kept putting the book down and found myself picking it up only a few minutes later.

While I found the characters interesting, I'm not sure I would describe them as likable. Annie is a force. She is unapologetically herself and does what she wants. For most of the book, I was trying to figure out who killed Annie, and everyone was a suspect. It's hard to like chatacters when you are wondering if they are murders. Codie Crowley successfully had me bouncing between suspects until the very end.

If you are someone who enjoys horror with some paranormal aspects, then I would recommend "Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch."

This was absolutely SO FUN. Seeing that it was published by Disney had me confused by the title at first, but i was SO NOT LET DOWN. I loved it. I'm a huge fan of Pretty Little Liars, Someone Here is Lying, etc, and I think this will be a hit. I wish I had a hard copy!!

Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick, shallow read which kept me interested, but not emotionally vested.

The MC Annie is a very charicatured angsty, angry, not-like-other-girls
rebellious teenaged daughter of absent/abusive parents. She is killed one night, and the whole story here is her trying to figure out what happened to her, since she can't remember anything.

So, I'll start with the disclosure that the amnesia plot is one if my least favorite, and it is the driving force in this book. Like, the book would be less than 100 pages long if Annie had just remembered what happened.

Speaking of book length, Annie took way too long into the story to figure out she was dead. Like, it didn't make sense that she would start to question things, but then got side tracked so easily. It was very frustrating.

There was also a lack of explanation about how/why the ghostly world worked here. There were these weird rules, the mysterious hell hounds, and then this strange fiery ghost who helped a bit & made some accusations, but we got no further info about why, nor who or what she was.

All that aside, as long as I didn't think too hard, the events kept me entertained and turning the pages. So, it was like a big bag of candy, totally insubstantial sugar that leaves you happy, but ultimately with a little bit of regret for binging.

The title is the best part of this book.

I can see my students really enjoying this, but for me it came off very try-hard and felt kind of incomplete. Annie is a walking stereotype, and she's the most clearly defined character we get. There's almost no background on any of the other ghosts (?), and the rules of their existence are loosey-goosey and never fully explained (Why that place? Who/what was the fire person? Why did she lie about Sam? Who IS Sam?!), so it didn't make for a very satisfying read.

This was a solid YA horror with a great message at the end, but I did wish the main character realized what was going on way earlier than she did, for the sake of the plot. To me, the title, cover, and synopsis make it very obvious that the MC is dead, so having her take time to come to this realization felt odd and frustrating.

I enjoyed this book and normally it would be perfect for the horror readers at my high school, but the title is problematic. I would purchase if I were at a public library, no hesitation, but there are different criteria for a school library and this title wouldn't go over well with parents or teachers. Once I started reading, I was eager to continue. I found the premise of the ghosts being corporeal a bit jarring, that they could interact with the town's inhabitants as if they were still alive, but I was able to put that aside for the most part. The revelation of the killer was a big surprise, but left many questions unanswered. The killer's back story needs more coverage, as does the back story for the other ghosts. I'm hoping for a sequel that will fulfil the tease we were given.

This teen ghost walking dead hybrid is popcorn level addicting and you are cheering on the vengeance. This would make for a great Hulu series and a good intro to horror for teen readers.

This YA novel holds the medal for my favorite ARC I have read so far. I loved everything about this. Annie is a bitch with a bad attitude who tries her best to give zero fucks, and knows she doesn't owe the world anything for being herself. The logistics confused me a bit because, Annie, are you going to tell your brother who is very concerned about you? And I will go to this town and murder Tre myself. But no matter! My love for this book told my brain to get over these things. I would say this would be a great Halloween read, but it comes out at the beginning of August, so THAT is when it should be read immediately.