Book Review: The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

Whatever you do, don't read the blurb on GR or Amazon!



The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

Released December 2019

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon 

Source: Received for Review Consideration
A supernatural thriller in the vein of A Head Full of Ghosts about two young girls, a scary story that becomes far too real, and the tragic--and terrifying--consequences that follow one of them into adulthood.

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.

I cut off the blurb here because it is a GREAT BIG SPOILER!!  ♥ Bark

My 2 Cents For Free!

I love secretive thrillers almost as much as I love horror novels so I was excited when I heard about The Dead Girls Club because it promised a bit of both. In the end it was more of a thriller with a horror threat/thread running throughout. Those bits were creepy as heck though!

I don’t like to say too much about thrillers/mysteries/suspense novels (or whatever you like to call them) because it is far too easy to say too much so I’m going to keep this brief. Basically it is a tale told in two timelines. There is the Then and there is the Now. Heather features in both timelines because this is her story. Things start out weird when a grown up Heather receives an unwanted surprise. Someone has left an envelope in her office, tucked inside is a necklace that was last seen on a dead girl. This sends Heather into a spiral as her past comes back to haunt her.

I’ll get this out of the way first. Adult Heather is a MESS. She remains a mess and she becomes a bigger mess as more of her story is revealed in the Now. She is a professional woman with a very difficult job but you’d never know it based on some of the decisions she makes in this story. She allows her past to consume her and she acts irrationally. With all of that said, it makes sense. I mean, this woman is hiding some serious shit that would send the sanest person into a panicked spiral so I get it and these aren’t complaints. Not from me, anyway. I like imperfect characters and Heather is most definitely one of those.

“I have done a monstrous thing, but I’m not a monster. I’m not.”

In the THEN section we meet Heather and her closest friends when they’re about 12 or so. They have an obsession with true crime and all things spooky and call their little group the “Dead Girls Club”. They hang out at an abandoned house and tell each other creepy tales. The most compelling one is the story of the Red Lady. They work each other up into a frenzy with that one and it is totally believable. One of the girls is experiencing trauma at home and they attempt to summon the Red Lady and things, as they do, go awry.

I loved the backstory and the entire mythos around the Red Lady. It was goosebump inducing. It's easy to imagine how a group of young girls could become consumed with the appeal of it all. The coming of age story of these girls was a breath of fresh air. We typically get stories featuring boys and their spooky childhoods. This was a very genuine tale about girls. From the talk of periods to the petty jealousy and daily worries and easily bruised friendships, it was all very real and I enjoyed the THEN segments more than I can say. They were painful and authentic to the experience of growing up female. I would like more of this kind of fiction, please!

The Dead Girls Club may not be what I’d consider a perfect story and it has a very wispy thread of horror, but it IS super creepy and mysterious and highly readable – just the way I like my thrillers and I recommend it if anything I’ve said above intrigues you.

I received my copy for review consideration from Netgalley.

4 out of 5



Comments

  1. I have to read this one - STAT! I own it but now just need to find time for it. Great review!

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  2. Super creepy is always good. This sounds really interesting.

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    Replies
    1. It was good blend of creepy and thriller/dark secrets. I love that stuff.

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  3. Yay! I've got this one on my TBR list so I'm very glad to know it's one that's worth reading. :)

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  4. Why do they put spoilers in a book's summary? Why? That is one of my pet peeves. This sounds really good and I might have to give it a try. Great review!

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  5. I love a good thriller and this sounds perfect. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. OMG! I'm so glad I don't read blurbs. I managed to read this one without being spoiled. It was a good one. :) Now I'm off to read the rest of the blurb. LOL.

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    1. Yep, it's why I try not to peek at blurbs too much.

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  7. Oh yeah this sounds awesome. And I LOVE characters that are a mess lol. But the THEN parts sound really awesome and authentic. Definitely gonna add this one.

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  8. I hate when they spoil things right in the blurb. I actually like spoilers but there should be warnings lol

    Karen @ For What It's worth

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    1. Yep, it's the worst when you stumble on them like that. It's like those lengthy movie trailers that give it all away leaving me no urge to see the film.

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  9. I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I've got it on my list!

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  10. I really hate it when book blurbs have spoilers in them! WHY do they do that??? GRR!

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