Reviews

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

Only show reviews with written explanations

itssimplykayla_'s review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

crazybookishcool's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This YA Horror book had me feeling all the creepy crawlies, making sure the lights were on, and checking over my shoulder. The banter in this book gave me several good chuckles.

Temple Baker is signed up to be a camp counselor at a horror fan's summer camp geared towards young women of color. The twist is that the camp is on the haunted property in the woods of Virginia that Temple's family has lived on for generations. Temple's father was arrested and confessed to killing 10 people on this property. However, Temple is convinced that her father was possessed by a demon and didn't truly commit the murders.

Temple's father has given her clues that require her to investigate the crime scenes. The only way for her to access the property without drawing attention is to attend the summer camp and sneak off when she can.

Themes and elements in this book are as follows:

obsessivenerdylady's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a very intense and dark read. The story progressively got more complicated as the history was revealed. I liked the premise a lot and it was very well written. Something didn't quite hit me right, but I can't put my finger on it. It's definitely not a book for everyone, it is definitely dark.

fell4's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Too scary/gory for me to truly like it.

httpchxn's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

bookish_boy_mom's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This YA horror novel sure was a wild ride. Temple Baker’s father is a serial killer. He is in prison now but people are still going missing and dying in the woods where he commit his crimes. Temple’s mom is also missing and her father has admitted to killing her, but Temple doesn’t believe him. The farm that Temple and her family used to live on has since been turned into a horror camp for queer teens and Temple has applied to be a camp counselor so she can get back on the grounds and look for her mothers body. Things quickly go downhill when one of the girls turns up dead. Temple suspects there is a copycat at work, but it becomes clear that something else is going on here.

This book had suspense and tension, blood and gore, supernatural elements and sinister vibes. It is a YA horror novel and the story reads as such, there were a lot of funny one liners from the teens which gave welcome relief from the tension at points. Though I did feel like the pacing was uneven. Where this novel surprised me was the emotional moments involving Temple’s backstory and relationship with her family. It wasn’t so much that it fully pulled you out of the horror feel, but enough that I appreciated it.

I will say, initially I was taking this one in via audiobook and it just did not work for me. I was having such a hard time following it in the beginning and the voices just did not allow for me to really immerse myself in the book or connect with the characters. Once I switched over to reading with my eyes I liked the story, characters, and overall experience much more!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊, 𝘈𝘓𝘊, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘙𝘊.

inky_muse's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I liked the book. It seemed a bit slow. I also felt like some of the twist were unnecessary and just made the story longer but didn’t add to the richness of the plot. I had to keep going back to reread it because things were happening that didn’t really make much sense to me. But I stuck it out because I enjoy a good thriller and this book was decent.