Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters | Book Review

Evil girls doing evil girl things.

Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters

Released January 2023

Source: Received for Review Consideration

Goodreads  | Amazon

What is friendship without a few secrets?

It wasn't Tillie's choice to leave Philadelphia. But after everything that happened junior year, her mom insisted the quiet suburb of Willow Creek was the perfect place to get a fresh start, to put the trauma and rumors behind them.

Madison Frank is the perfect distraction. Beautiful, fun, and from the wealthy side of town, Madison is the kind of girl who has a pull stronger than gravity. She commands attention, even inspires obsession. And by the end of summer, Tillie's forgotten everything—everyone—she left in Philadelphia. Almost.

Then Madison goes missing. A photo of her bloody body is texted to the whole student body...from an account with Tillie's name on it. Tillie's caught in a tangled web of secrets that will destroy her if they surface...and will destroy everyone she loves if they don't.

My 2 Cents for Free!

Ok, so I have read every word of this book and still do not understand why there is a giant fake eyelash on this cover that is dripping blood. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow which is how I usually operate. I mean, I’ve read books with cheerleading skulls on the cover so this is nothing in the scheme of weirdo horror things but sometimes things also just get under my skin and this choice was downright bizarro and it bugged me because I spent the book waiting for a damn eyelash as if it was going to be some big-time clue. Now that I'm done it’s bugging me even more because there were absolutely ZERO mentions of fake eyelashes or murderous effing eyelashes and it was such a strange choice. 🙃

Anyhow, don’t waste time pondering that wayward eyelash because, trust me, it’ll only end in disappointment. Soooo, Tillie and her mom recently relocated after obsessive young love caused an event and she’s spending her summer as a lifeguard for bratty spoiled rich kids. Tillie thinks her mom is overprotective and worries too much. Tillie harbors a lot of teen rage and jealousy and boredom isn’t helping matters. And then she meets Madison who is beautiful but terribly BAD for her and they fall in insta-love at first glance. Oh no.

“It had only taken an afternoon for me to know that Madison could destroy me. And fuck, I wanted her to.”

This book is less about “Missing Dead Girls” and more about angry teen girls falling in love and plotting revenge against those who have done them wrong. You probably won’t like them very much for most of the book and that’s ok because I don’t think you’re supposed to. I had a few moments of sympathy for both of them but those feelings never lasted very long. Still, I found the book highly readable despite myself because sometimes it’s just fun to read about people with dark urges who take those feelings and run with them. And being a teenager really is the worst at times. It’s all a toxic brew, to be sure, but sometimes relationships work out that way.

Whatever you do, don’t go into this thinking it’s an exciting murder mystery/thriller because it’s totally not that. It’s more of a character study and the pace is pretty leisurely until the last ¼ or so but I was never bored even if the characters come across as depressed for a big chunk of the book. There were no big surprises for me but it still managed to be a fast readable story despite the pace. I don’t know how that happened but it’s getting a three because I did like reading about these two who were truly two of a kind. Even awful people deserve love, I guess.

Also, if you know why that eyelash is there, please let me know so I can sleep tonight. Thanks.

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