Thank you so much to @poisonedpenpress & @marleebushwriter for the advanced copy!

The eerie atmosphere and layered storytelling pulled me in. I loved how the past and present mysteries intertwined—it added so much depth and kept me guessing. The suspense was steady.

I did find myself questioning the FMC a bit—her moral grayness made her interesting, but I wished she had a little more grit to really push back in the story. However, at the same time it added a lot to the overall story.

It was a thrilling read that wrapped up nicely in the end.

Rating: 3 stars
It kept me entretained. I liked the school setting and the mystery about the incidents.. however some of the twists were predictable while others were a little bit far fetched.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review

“I’ll always be doomed to reside in both places at once. My past. My present. Forever intertwined.”

This eerie and moody thriller will keep you wondering until the very last page. A sister torn apart by the grief of losing her sister returns to the school that holds too many memories. I loved the element of the sister's Ghost who hauntingly follows her through her days. It was almost like she was a spectator just like us, watching the events unfold.
It's one of those thrillers that makes you feel like you are constantly second-guessing what's ACTUALLY going on and who is ACTUALLY guilty. So many surprises and crazy turns. A good thriller to keep you on your toes.
What to expect:
Grief and trauma
A teacher/student relationship
Who is lying?
Finding the truth no matter the cost
A ghost who lurks in the background

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press for my EARC.

Audiobook/ Narration: 4/5
Book/Overall Story: 3.5/5

In the past, whenever I finished a book, I would immediately draft my thoughts, reflections and review. Recently, I’ve attempted a new approach. I still continue to jot down more notes while reading, but now I’ve started giving myself a few days before I start to craft my full review. This has been helpful for me to see if that read is one that sticks with me or if it’s more forgettable. While I think this book is a solid thriller— definitely one that a lot of people can enjoy— I personally did not find it that memorable.

The book is using a tried and true concept. We have a main character who returns to their hometown and has to confront their past by handling issues of the present. At the beginning this book, I was really hooked to see how everything will play out, but as the book went on, it became so painfully obvious where things were headed. Due to that, the reveal and twist didn’t leave me as shocked as I wanted to be, and I found myself losing interest in the story as I was reading it.

With this book you don't know who to believe though if you pay attention really closely you'll be able to figure out who is hiding secrets. A really good read that deals with some tough topics please check trigger warnings before reading.

This book was amazing. It kept me locked in throughout wanting to know what was going to happen next. Spoiler alert, I never knew what was coming next.

Bush has crafted a mystery that anyone who is drawn to true crime or procedural crime shows will be sucked into right away. The characters are well crafted, the plot is interesting and paced well. Very enjoyable.

This book was incredible! There is no way that I would’ve ever seen the ending coming, not in 1 million years. It was everything! This author is a master of the twist and turns that keep readers like me engaged. I’m a sucker for a book that I can’t see the ending coming. This was that book! Amazing work and this is going on my to be read again list.

I did not get a chance to finish this book, but I will be purchasing a copy so I can do so. What i did read I liked very much, especially the way she cares about the kids so much so that she's ready to do anything for them and to find out the truth.

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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