There’s nothing like the guilty feelings that come from hiding secrets. It’s a terrible, constant, and anxious feeling, isn’t it?

That’s why I am so bad at hiding my own secrets! I don’t like feeling that way, so upon the slightest bit of heat I am confessing to you like we’re in the back room of a Catholic church.

Lets say you had a secret that would help relieve the pains of many people, but at the same time it would put you in prison forever… Could you keep it?

Synopsis

Heather is in a loving marriage, has a fulfilling job working with children, and is peacefully living her life miles away from her childhood home.

It has been ages since Heather even thought about her childhood, or the most important piece of it, The Dead Girls Club. It was a club where she, her best friend Becca, and a couple others, would discuss all things macabre in the basement of an empty house.

Although The Dead Girls Club had a lot of fun moments that Heather could reflect on, there is just one problem with walking down memory lane: her old best friend Becca is buried along it, and Heather’s the one who put her there.

It is not entirely Heather’s fault! She would’ve never killed Becca on her own volition; The Red Lady made her do it.

Now, decades later, someone, or something, is sending Heather pieces of evidence from the scene of the murder. No one knew what Heather did other than Becca and The Red Lady… but The Red Lady can’t be real, can she?

My Review

(No Spoilers.)

First of all, I would’ve totally been in The Dead Girls Club, y’all! We had something similar going in my high school friends group, too, but most people just called us the “gothtards” or “losers.” As horrible as that is, at least I don’t have a murder tucked away in my past, am I right? 

Anyway, I instantly connected with the characters in this novel because I really did feel like they could’ve been my friends! I enjoyed being able to relate to them, both on the level of being teenagers, as well as present day when they are adults.

However, one of the most unique and interesting aspects of this book is how it is written, as each chapter bounces back and fourth between “now” and “then.” We have Heather, “now,” trying track down who knows about her part in the murder, and “then,” which are the teenage years, building up to how Becca’s death came to be.

This writing style made me feel like the story was in two parts, being poured into a funnel, trickling downhill in slow motion. Adulthood was running down one side and the teenage years were on the other.

When the stories started they were very far apart from one another and completely disconnected, as they were at completely different ends of the spectrum.

But as each story progressed, the streams got closer and closer to one another, and the gap between them started closing in. Finally, when they made it to the tip of the funnel, the two stories touched, intertwined, and mixed together. Everything was revealed. Everything made sense. It all became one story.

While it seems that a lot of people were unhappy with this form of storytelling, I loved it. I thought it created a very unique form of suspense. Although at first it was a bit disconnected, all along I just understood that the two stories were eventually going to collide, like two trains going opposite directions on the same track. And that’s exactly what happens. You’re just building up to the collision.

And if you like books that are paranormal, the first half of the novel is especially fun. The creepy stories that Becca starts telling about The Red Lady are enough to keep any teenager, (or adult, don’t judge me,) up at night. Unfortunately, as the book went on, I felt like the paranormal element of the story took a back seat and the second half lost a little bit of momentum. However, all in all, I still thoroughly enjoyed The Red Lady and the part she played in the overall story.

The reason I ultimately cannot rate this a full 5 stars is because I wished the ending would’ve been a little bit stronger. As the two stories started closing in on each other I was shocked by how few pages I had left in the book! It just wrapped up a little too quickly and suddenly for me, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable and I am glad that I read it.

(This is my dog, Guillermo. The weird thing in the corner is my other dog, Anyanka.)

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Did you read The Dead Girls Club? What were your thoughts?

Also, did you and your friends have myth while growing up, like The Red Lady?

I’m dying to hear from you!

xoxo,

Ande