Whispers of Dead Girls is a slow-burn thriller told from the perspective of Ren, a teacher who takes a position at her old high school. Coming home brings back memories (and the ghost!) of her sister who died in an accident years ago. When local girls start disappearing, Ren suspects that a teacher from her school is involved in their disappearances and decides to take matters in to her own hands.

This was such a dark and moody read. I love a thriller with an unreliable narrator and Ren did not disappoint. She was deeply flawed and complex but also relatable. The ending was …. unexpected. I’m still processing how I feel about it.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. I will post to my social media close to or on publication day.

I loved Marlee’s debut thriller so I was thrilled with the opportunity to review her latest book. Once again she did not disappoint!! Whispers of Dead Girls was a bit of a slow burn but I also found myself not wanting to put it down. The twists at the end I did NOT see coming. There are some flashback moments and sometimes it’s hard to tell at first if it’s the present or past but it’s fairly easy to pick up on. I will definitely keep reading Marlee’s books. I am a fan!!

Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush was a great mystery/thriller!

We are introduced to our FMC, Ren Taylor, who is returning to teach at the school she attended in high school. Upon coming back, she is confronted with aspects of her past as things around her seem to be history repeating itself. Determined to not let the same things happen again, Ren sets out to help those she couldn’t years before.

I’ve never read Marlee Bush prior, but I would definitely pick up her other works! This was such a fun read with lots of unexpected reveals.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

first time reading your work, Marlee, and i’m officially a fan. whispers of dead girls is haunting in all the best ways. ren can’t escape the ghost of her murdered sister.. literally. no matter where she goes, her past clings to her. as she returns to her hometown and tries to piece her life back together, more girls start to go missing. the line between reality and memory begins to blur, and ren spirals. is she there to protect, or is she part of the danger?

This book had great creepy vibes, but I kept thinking it was too similar to other books I'd read before.
It starts out when Ren Taylor, returns to her hometown and former high school a decade after her sister's tragic death. As she navigates familiar halls now filled with new faces, she becomes entangled in a web of suspicion surrounding a charismatic physics teacher, Bryson Lewis, whose behavior with a student mirrors the circumstances that led to her sister's death. Could he have had something to do with it?

Bush masterfully crafts an atmosphere thick with tension and unease. If you've ever lived in a small town you know how oppressive and insular it can be, where gossip lingers and the past refuses to stay buried. This serves as a compelling backdrop to Ren's internal struggles. She's the perfect 'unreliable narrator' and you wonder if she suspects Bryson just because it's convenient.

The author addresses the power dynamics between students and teachers, which is also applicable between young people and any adult in a position of authority. This was interesting and makes you think how brave you'd have to be at that age to defy authority.

The book is slow in spots so does have some pacing issues, but once you got past that the action kicked into gear and it became a fast read with many unexpected twists and turns.

I very much enjoyed When She Was Me, so naturally I jumped at the chance to request an ARC of Marlee Bush's newest novel Whispers of Dead Girls. Once again, Marlee delivers the perfect thriller, complete with a decades old mystery, family secrets, eerie settings, and a few unexpected twists. I was hooked from the very beginning and absolutely flew through When She Was Me (as with She Was Me). The perfect thriller to kick off the summer!

I wanted to love this but it didn't quite work for me. While I was initially invested in the storyline, I felt like it was confusing the way it would randomly jump back in time with no clear distinction. It was like the character was thinking about the present and would then flash back to something in her past and it would take me a minute to figure out which was which because the dual timeline plots were so similar. It had potential but sadly wasn't for me.

I loved Marlee Bush's debut novel and I was so excited to read her newest book. The premise was good and there was a lot of momentum and anticipation from the very start.
However, as the book got further along, there seemed to be missing pieces that didn't add to the suspense, they just felt like holes. I was left wondering if I had accidentally skipped some pages.
The ending is where I got completely left behind. It felt like I ran into a brick wall when I still hadn't reached my destination. I also was completely confused by the antagonist and their motives.
Overall, there is a lot to like about this book. I still liked it but just wanted more to really make this a 4 star read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

I picked up Whispers of Dead Girls thinking I was in for a twisty thriller, but it turned out to be more of a slow burn mystery than I expected. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was anticipating. The pacing felt a bit uneven; I remember hitting the 50% mark and realizing it felt like I was still stuck in the same place as I was at 25%.

One of the biggest issues for me was the way the book handled the reflections into the past. There were a lot of them, and they often felt disjointed or hard to follow. I found myself zoning out or having to re-read sections just to keep track of where and when things were happening.

And then there were the ghostly interjections from the dead sister. While it was a cool concept, it wasn’t always clear who was speaking or what was actually going on. That kind of ambiguity works in some stories, but here it just left me confused more often than not.

“Whispers of Dead Girls” had a solid foundational premise, and I did want to know how it would all turn out, but the confusing structure, slow pacing, and lack of emotional connection made it a bit of a struggle to get through.

Thank You #NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you, Marlee Bush, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for this ARC!

After loving her debut novel, I rushed to apply for the ARC when I saw her second book pop up on her Instagram and NetGalley!

Bush set the perfect eerie, ominous tone for her small-town setting. With so many unknowns, this book was a wild ride; I was constantly second-guessing who was alive or a figment of Ren, our main character's, imagination.

While Ren was in high school, her sister Margo passed away, leaving her with a tremendous amount of guilt that shaped who she was. You can tell that everything she does, she doesn’t do wholly for herself; it’s somehow for Margo, as if Ren is trying to right the ultimate wrong.

When Ren returns to teach at the high school she and her sister attended, she is faced with questions and concerns about the male teacher across the hall from her. These questions stir emotions and bring back too many similarities to her own high school memories.

The side characters made the story feel larger than what we were getting from Ren’s perspective.

The last few chapters, as everything wrapped up into a delicious, confusing, and thrilling conclusion, were amazing, and I believe thriller readers are going to love this story.

Whispers of Dead Girls, written by Marlee Bush, is a fictional mystery/thriller that I greatly enjoyed! Main character Ren has moved back to her hometown, where she has taken a job at her own high school. Ren did not have the best high school experience, with much of it being overshadowed by the death of her older sister, and being back at the school seems to be bringing back some negative memories. But at the same time, Ren wonders if what she is remembering might be for a reason. Ren couldn’t do anything to stop her sister’s death, but is there anything she can do to help current students who might be in a similar situation?
I really enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it to any mystery or thriller readers. I loved the writing, the character development, and the way that different chapters were told from different times in Ren’s life. I also enjoyed the appearances of Margo in the chapters, and the
way that this helped us understand the characters better. Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a fellow teacher and thriller junkie, I had to add this to my TBR. Marlee Bush delivers a haunting and intricately layered thriller in Whispers of Dead Girls, a novel that can be best described as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder-- Teachers edition-- but much more sinister. Set against the backdrop of a claustrophobic small town rife with secrets and simmering tensions, the story follows Ren, a teacher grappling with her own haunted past as she becomes entangled in a disturbing new mystery. Her suspicions center on Bryson Lewis, a charismatic and well-liked physics teacher whose growing closeness to a vulnerable student raises red flags—especially for Ren, who is determined to prevent history from repeating itself.

Bush masterfully explores complex and sensitive themes: the long-lasting scars of parental neglect, the trauma of losing a child or sibling, the ethical minefield of student-teacher relationships, and the pervasive fear of speaking out in a world quick to judge. The book offers a keen examination of the vicious power of rumors within the modern school system, amplified by the omnipresence of social media. Every character is carefully crafted, revealing unexpected depths and motivations that keep readers guessing.

Ren herself is a compelling protagonist—deeply flawed yet magnetic, her twisted complexity making her both relatable and unforgettable. Her relentless quest for truth, fueled by a fierce loyalty to her late sister Margo, forms the emotional core of the novel. The bond between sisters, depicted with raw intensity, is one of the story’s greatest strengths, showcasing a love as powerful and enduring as any parental bond.

The narrative’s pacing is brisk, propelled by Ren’s impulsive decisions and the mounting urgency of her investigation. While some of her choices might leave readers wishing she had exercised greater caution, they remain true to her character’s inner turmoil and sense of responsibility. Bush’s eerie, atmospheric writing style perfectly complements the story’s dark themes, enveloping readers in a world where trust is fragile and danger lurks in every shadow.

The dual timelines—shifting between past and present—can be slightly disorienting at first, but once settled into the rhythm, the storytelling flows seamlessly. The climactic twist, even if guessed early by some, is executed with precision and emotional resonance, leaving a lasting impact that lingers well beyond the final page.

Bush’s deft handling of difficult topics, including grooming, is thoughtful and sensitive, ensuring the story remains impactful. Whispers of Dead Girls is not just a gripping mystery but a meditation on guilt, grief, and the relentless pursuit of justice and the thin line between taking it into your hands.

For fans of psychological thrillers and character-driven suspense, this novel is a standout 4.25-4.50. Marlee Bush has once again proven her talent for blending chilling suspense with deep emotional insight, making Whispers of Dead Girls a must-read.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Marlee Bush for the EArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Whispers of Dead Girls, by Marlee Bush, from Poisoned Pen Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Well, I didn’t mean to read two “adults return to an academic institution of their youth” books in a row, much less ones set in the South, yet here we are.

This was a solid enough one-off mystery that was appropriately twisty-turny (yet also eminently predictable if one has read enough of the genre to know that teenage girls are almost _always_ unreliable narrators).

DESCRIPTION
"Ren is the most morally gray of all heroes...Could we let our fractured pasts go, or would we forever chase absolution, only to realize that only serves to keep us imprisoned? There is no clear answer, and there shouldn’t be, but the chase itself makes for a hell of story." —CARTER WILSON, USA Today bestselling author of Tell Me What You Did

Ten years have passed, and Ren Taylor is back at square one, having accepted a job at her old high school. She’d hoped to make peace with the past but now she’s thrust back into it: her murdered teenage sister is still immortalized in town, and Ren can’t stop seeing her wherever she goes. She’s dogged by the scandal that ruined her childhood and killed her sister.

Then Ren meets physics teacher Bryson Lewis. Handsome and charismatic, all the other teachers and students seem to fall at his feet. But Ren knows men like him – she knows they can’t be trusted.

The more Ren watches him, the more suspicious she becomes. And when she notices his close relationship with a girl in one of his classes – a girl just like her sister – she worries history is about to repeat itself. This time, she won’t sit back and watch another girl be taken before her time.

This time, Ren will do what she must to save her, even if it means revealing her own darkest secrets.

This book messed with my head in the best way. Ren is such a raw, haunted character—you can feel how tightly wound she is from page one. She’s back at her old high school (because that’s always a good idea, right?) and immediately drowning in memories of her sister’s murder, the scandal that followed, and a town that never really let her move on.

Then this new teacher Bryson shows up—everyone loves him, but Ren’s radar goes off immediately. She knows the type. Too charming, too polished, way too close to a student who reminds her a lot of her sister. And once she starts digging, things get dark.

What I loved is how the story makes you constantly question her. Is she losing it? Is she dead-on? Is it both? She’s definitely spiraling, but also, you want to believe her—because what if she’s right?

It gets a little repetitive in the middle (Ren watching, doubting, spiraling… repeat), but the last chunk totally makes up for it. It’s intense, it’s personal, and when it all comes crashing down, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

Creepy, emotional, and just the right amount of unhinged—if you’re into messy heroines and slow-burn suspense, this one’s for you.

A woman returns to the school where she lost her sister, determined this time to keep the same tragedy from occurring again.

I think, in all honesty, the biggest reason that this book didn’t work for me is the level of paranoia surrounding our main character - especially since her dead sister is, quite literally, haunting her. While I was reading this, I was under the impression that our main character was an unreliable narrator, seeing villains where there was none - especially since, by being able to see and interact with her dead sister, she cannot move on from the tragedy that haunts her school years.

It wasn’t that I don’t believe such things happen (obviously), but her every interaction felt so determined to prove everyone to being the worst person they could possibly be that I felt like it wasn’t actually what was happening in reality. That, because she cannot move on from the tragedy that killed her sister (who she cannot move on from so much that she sees her everywhere) she is projecting her own traumas onto everyone around her. And the biggest issue is that the book does a fantastic job of making this the case. Our main character has occasional flashbacks that literally overshadow whatever is currently going on, and cannot help but impose previous people’s faces onto those she is talking with now. The narrative makes a fantastic job of making our main character seem unhinged and unstable, but never actually commits to it - and instead, simply just validates every terrible thing she’s done throughout the novel without any consequences.

The book is so terrified of making our main character face any consequences for her actions that it - quite literally - allows her to get away with murder.

Also, in my opinion, the ending was so unrealistic and over exaggerated that it took me out of the story entirely. And there isn’t a single possible way that the ending could have happened and nothing being investigated or discovered. In short, this book is about a paranoid delusional woman who, somehow, never actually recovers from her delusions and simply gets away with whatever she decides to do - no matter the body count.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me this e-ARC.

This book was wonderful! Most people have given it a four star rating but I’m giving it 5 full stars. I did not want to put this book down and finished it in a day. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. When I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. Though I did figure it out before the end I was still very much involved in the story and was never disappointed. This was my first Bork by Marlee Bush and look forward to reading more. I definitely recommend reading this.
Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, Mandy Chahal, NetGalley and of course Marlee Bush for this eARC.

Interesting twist with this!!

Ren is constantly troubled so you are constantly uneasy as you following her. She seems to have good instincts but I think it's part of her survival instinct for her to be on high alert but this ultimately lets her down. She lives with a guilt that I can't identify with as I've not lived it but can understand the sort of harm that she's trying to protect the girls from.

Ren has a few secrets that we learn of that show she's not afraid of dishing out her own kind of justice. She feels this is justified and for the most part, people aren't meant to get hurt. It does get you thinking and comparing her to the villain we see at the end. An enjoyable read that sends you off in all sorts of directions while challenging your own views and morale compass!!

3.75 rounded up
Thank you NetGalley for this eARC! After loving “When She Was Me”, I was so excited to read this one!
I really liked the idea of this book, unreliable narrator, small town high school murders. I was definitely hooked from the beginning, and as things started to unravel I was a bit shocked. The twist I predicted, no worries there but I felt like there was some missing pieces to the puzzle/plot holes? Some things felt over explained and others felt very vague. I would still recommend, it was fast paced and kept me engaged!

Hoping to get closure and find some answers, Ren Taylor returns to the small town she grew up in as the new biology teacher at the high school. The same high school that she attended with her sister who was murdered. History seems to be repeating itself causing Ren to obsess over the physics teacher and his every move. She feels compelled to try to prevent the tragic ending of her sister’s life from happening again.

The premise was great. Whispers of Dead Girls starts out with so much potential. The execution however, fell short. The pacing is all over the place. While the chapters are short and fast paced, the story itself felt like it couldn’t keep up. There is a lot going on all at once with flashbacks to the past, her sister’s ghost, family disconnect, and trying to prevent what’s happening in the present.

Overall, Whispers of Dead Girls kept me interested enough to keep wanting more. It starts picking up about 60% of the way in when the pieces start falling together. While the ending wasn’t entirely predictable, I felt the plot twist didn’t deliver enough shock.

Thank you to NetGalley and PoisonedPenPress for this ARC opportunity. This is an honest and voluntary review.

This is a feminine rage kinda thriller where we follow Ren who goes back to her hometown, where she lost her sister and is still haunting her.

Packed with short chapters, this book has all the mysterious and thriller elements it needed. However, the pacing was off and I had a tough time staying connected to the plot.

The switch between current and past were confusing for a while. A quick thriller read.
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this digital copy!