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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Release: July 29, 2025
Author: Sandra J. Paul
Publisher: Skyscape
Rating: 3.25 ★
In the quiet town of Love Hill, two girls—Syl Jameson and Viola Harrison—shared a friendship that ran deep but was far from perfect. Syl, drawn to the warmth of Viola’s family, often felt lost in her own cold, distant home. Viola, on the other hand, had her own secrets and a toxic edge that slowly chipped away at what they had. As the cracks in their bond grew, jealousy, neediness, and hidden truths pushed them toward a breaking point.
Then everything falls apart.
Syl is discovered dead in Viola’s car. Viola has vanished without a trace. What really happened that night? In this psychological thriller, the story unfolds from two perspectives—Syl’s and Viola’s—and it’s up to the reader to decide which to follow first. Each girl tells her own version of events, but only one truth lies at the end.
Dead Girls Don’t Talk starts with a brilliant concept: two perspectives—Syl and Viola—each telling their own version of the same story, leading readers toward one shared truth. The idea that you can choose which character to follow first is engaging and adds a unique, interactive layer to the reading experience.
That said, the execution didn’t fully live up to the promise for me. While the dual-narrative structure was intriguing, it didn’t offer the depth or new insight I expected. Reading both perspectives felt somewhat repetitive, and I found myself hoping for bigger revelations or a stronger payoff. The emotional stakes between the two girls, built around a toxic and intense friendship, came off as overly dramatic at times, and I struggled to connect with either character. Neither felt especially likable or reliable, which made it difficult to root for—or even care deeply about—either side.
The story occasionally dips into compelling territory, particularly in scenes involving the girls’ parents. These moments brought some emotional weight and context that helped explain the characters’ behavior. But unfortunately, inconsistencies in plot details (especially around the central accident scene) pulled me out of the story. And while the mystery held my attention, the final twist didn’t hit as hard as it should have—it felt underwhelming after so much buildup.
This book will likely appeal more to younger readers who can relate to the intensity of teenage friendships and emotions. For others, it might come across as a good idea that didn’t quite stick the landing. Still, it’s a quick, compelling read with an original structure that’s worth a try for fans of character-driven YA thrillers.
Favorite Quote:
"the dead may be silent, but their stories are never truly over."
I did end up skipping around the book to try and figure out exactly WHAT this book was trying to say.
Honestly, I could barely read this. The writing was robotic and repetitive, the dialogue was stiff, and there wasn’t anything solid to grab onto. Nothing about the characters made sense, they flip flopped line to line on their beliefs and intentions. It felt like this was written with zero plan and frankly, little to no editing. Oh god, that is SO mean and I hate that I’m saying it.
In Syl’s chapters, she kept talking about how she was emotionless and couldn’t feel anything. Like every other paragraph. I get it! I thought that was maybe why the writing was so clunky. I read the first couple of chapters of Viola’s part, and it felt a little cleaner but no clearer. Why were any of them doing anything????
I took specific notes and highlighted a ton, but won’t get into it here bc this may never end.
I WISH I didn’t think this was so not good. But I really was not enjoying or understanding this read.
Honestly, I could barely read this. The writing was robotic and repetitive, the dialogue was stiff, and there wasn’t anything solid to grab onto. Nothing about the characters made sense, they flip flopped line to line on their beliefs and intentions. It felt like this was written with zero plan and frankly, little to no editing. Oh god, that is SO mean and I hate that I’m saying it.
In Syl’s chapters, she kept talking about how she was emotionless and couldn’t feel anything. Like every other paragraph. I get it! I thought that was maybe why the writing was so clunky. I read the first couple of chapters of Viola’s part, and it felt a little cleaner but no clearer. Why were any of them doing anything????
I took specific notes and highlighted a ton, but won’t get into it here bc this may never end.
I WISH I didn’t think this was so not good. But I really was not enjoying or understanding this read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
౨ৎ | ‘dead girls don’t talk… but this one does.’
— ★ 1/5
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!!
let me be frank, i did like the writing and the plot was good but it did lack a lot of punch. like it was boring, and i didn’t feel compelled to read this hence why it took me so long.
also both syl and viola pissed me off. i wasn’t rooting for either of them, nor did i actually care about what happened in their lives.
but i mean it was okay! i just hated the characters which makes me not like a book at all. also the side characters….. *side eye*
— ★ 1/5
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!!
let me be frank, i did like the writing and the plot was good but it did lack a lot of punch. like it was boring, and i didn’t feel compelled to read this hence why it took me so long.
also both syl and viola pissed me off. i wasn’t rooting for either of them, nor did i actually care about what happened in their lives.
but i mean it was okay! i just hated the characters which makes me not like a book at all. also the side characters….. *side eye*
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(I received this book as a digital ARC courtesy of Skyscape, Amazon Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
Okay, I will be completely honest: this was a book that did not capture my attention straight away - and perhaps it's true that I was just a bit influenced by the many reviews I'd read saying that it wasn't actually as good as it seemed, or that it was a waste of a really good plot getting lost in translation. But let me tell you one thing: I'm so glad I let my curiosity over this story win, as I chose to ignore all the BS I had read online and picked it back up instead of throwing this book into my infamous "DNF dungeon" because by the time I was like halfway done with Viola's part... my oh my, I simply couldn't put it down.
Now, even though I did spend a pretty good part of the book not liking Viola over the fact that she seemed to be an annoying brat —or, as I called her in one of my tweets: a B*tch™ with a capital B—, I have to say that (at least for the first half of the book) I found both of them almost unbearably insufferable. Still, I actually ended up liking Vi a lot! Maybe she wasn't perfect, sure, she had plenty of flaws and certainly wasn't an angel - but I wholeheartedly believe she deserved the redemption she got.
And as for Syl... well, I honestly don't have much to say about her without spoiling the main events of this story. She did nothing remarkable; all she was nothing but a bitter loser and a prick so! Good riddance, I guess!
Overall, this was a great book and definitely worth the read. Given the chance, I'd love to buy it to add to my physical shelf.
Okay, I will be completely honest: this was a book that did not capture my attention straight away - and perhaps it's true that I was just a bit influenced by the many reviews I'd read saying that it wasn't actually as good as it seemed, or that it was a waste of a really good plot getting lost in translation. But let me tell you one thing: I'm so glad I let my curiosity over this story win, as I chose to ignore all the BS I had read online and picked it back up instead of throwing this book into my infamous "DNF dungeon" because by the time I was like halfway done with Viola's part... my oh my, I simply couldn't put it down.
Now, even though I did spend a pretty good part of the book not liking Viola over the fact that she seemed to be an annoying brat —or, as I called her in one of my tweets: a B*tch™ with a capital B—, I have to say that (at least for the first half of the book) I found both of them almost unbearably insufferable. Still, I actually ended up liking Vi a lot! Maybe she wasn't perfect, sure, she had plenty of flaws and certainly wasn't an angel - but I wholeheartedly believe she deserved the redemption she got.
And as for Syl... well, I honestly don't have much to say about her without spoiling the main events of this story. She did nothing remarkable; all she was nothing but a bitter loser and a prick so! Good riddance, I guess!
Overall, this was a great book and definitely worth the read. Given the chance, I'd love to buy it to add to my physical shelf.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship
Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
‘Dead Girls Don’t Talk’ by Sandra J. Paul is a mystery/thriller novel that asks the question: whose story do you believe? Syl and Viola, born on the same day, growing up on the same street, were destined to be best friends. Except life gets in the way and their perfect friendship begins to crack, until it all comes crumbling down, culminating in a huge tragedy. Two girls, one car accident: one is dead, the other is missing. What really happened? Viola has disappeared and Syl… Well, dead girls don’t talk, do they?
This is a book of two halves, literally. There are two sides to every story, and in this book, you choose whose version of events you read first, before you find out The Truth. This book was set in a caricature of a small, All-American town: everybody knows everybody, keeping up appearances, don’t break the status quo etc etc. I’ve seen some criticism on how accurate this is, but as a Brit who last went to the US as a kid visiting Disney, I don’t feel I can comment on that.
Our two narrators, and main characters, are Syl and Viola. Syl is your classic, quiet ‘good girl’ and she would tell you that Viola is her antithesis: chaotic, loud, and manipulative. Or is she? Because Viola would say, yeah, she is those things BUT Syl isn’t perfect either. In fact, Viola would tell you that Syl is the truly manipulative one, not her.
And therein lies the fun in this book. Choose who you read first, then choose who you believe. The premise is, honestly, right up my street and I had really high hopes for this.
Starting with the positives: alongside a brilliant premise, this book is fast-paced and our narrators are hella unreliable (which I love). Trying to piece together what each girl said and comparing it to the other was most of the fun of reading this. I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding their friendship and its implosion, and unravelling the threads one by one. The book has short chapters and plenty of twists and turns that could keep the reader engaged throughout.
However, this was the real issue. This book had so much potential that it unfortunately didn’t live up to. The two sides of the same story could have been done so much better, instead of just repeating events from a different POV. Despite these two girls being described as very different, their narratives were incredibly similar and neither of their voices were particularly strong. Add that to a plot/timeline errors, and it made for a sometimes confusing experience. I also found it incredibly difficult to connect emotionally to any of the characters, which is a shame, as there could have been some real emotional sucker punches. Moreover, the dialogue was a little… unrealistic. Again, I’m no longer a teenager but I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief that people actually talk to each other in this way. It just took me out of the story every so often.
And as for the twist? It fell flat for me. I sort of knew whose side I was going to land on, but I just felt more could have been done. I found myself thinking whether the narrators were truly unreliable, or was it more that the author was tangling themselves up?
Overall, this was a case of great idea with a not-so-great execution. I appreciated the concept but feel it fell a little flat, which is a shame, because there was so much potential.
2.5 🌟
‘Dead Girls Don’t Talk’ by Sandra J. Paul is a mystery/thriller novel that asks the question: whose story do you believe? Syl and Viola, born on the same day, growing up on the same street, were destined to be best friends. Except life gets in the way and their perfect friendship begins to crack, until it all comes crumbling down, culminating in a huge tragedy. Two girls, one car accident: one is dead, the other is missing. What really happened? Viola has disappeared and Syl… Well, dead girls don’t talk, do they?
This is a book of two halves, literally. There are two sides to every story, and in this book, you choose whose version of events you read first, before you find out The Truth. This book was set in a caricature of a small, All-American town: everybody knows everybody, keeping up appearances, don’t break the status quo etc etc. I’ve seen some criticism on how accurate this is, but as a Brit who last went to the US as a kid visiting Disney, I don’t feel I can comment on that.
Our two narrators, and main characters, are Syl and Viola. Syl is your classic, quiet ‘good girl’ and she would tell you that Viola is her antithesis: chaotic, loud, and manipulative. Or is she? Because Viola would say, yeah, she is those things BUT Syl isn’t perfect either. In fact, Viola would tell you that Syl is the truly manipulative one, not her.
And therein lies the fun in this book. Choose who you read first, then choose who you believe. The premise is, honestly, right up my street and I had really high hopes for this.
Starting with the positives: alongside a brilliant premise, this book is fast-paced and our narrators are hella unreliable (which I love). Trying to piece together what each girl said and comparing it to the other was most of the fun of reading this. I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding their friendship and its implosion, and unravelling the threads one by one. The book has short chapters and plenty of twists and turns that could keep the reader engaged throughout.
However, this was the real issue. This book had so much potential that it unfortunately didn’t live up to. The two sides of the same story could have been done so much better, instead of just repeating events from a different POV. Despite these two girls being described as very different, their narratives were incredibly similar and neither of their voices were particularly strong. Add that to a plot/timeline errors, and it made for a sometimes confusing experience. I also found it incredibly difficult to connect emotionally to any of the characters, which is a shame, as there could have been some real emotional sucker punches. Moreover, the dialogue was a little… unrealistic. Again, I’m no longer a teenager but I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief that people actually talk to each other in this way. It just took me out of the story every so often.
And as for the twist? It fell flat for me. I sort of knew whose side I was going to land on, but I just felt more could have been done. I found myself thinking whether the narrators were truly unreliable, or was it more that the author was tangling themselves up?
Overall, this was a case of great idea with a not-so-great execution. I appreciated the concept but feel it fell a little flat, which is a shame, because there was so much potential.
2.5 🌟
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book gives you the option to choose whose side of the story you read first- Viola (still alive) or Syl (dead). I started with Viola then Syl and thought the order doesn’t matter, I wish I had done the opposite and started with Syl. It’s a fun aspect that makes the reader a bit more involved but I don’t know that it added much.
Syl and Viola are teens who at first glance are going through fairly typical issues- jealousy, first relationships, sexuality, family dynamics/problems- but as you continue to read, it is obvious there is a lot more and a lot crazier things going on. Some of the “twists” were predictable but ultimately I wasn’t able to guess them all which was a plus for me considering it’s a YA novel.
Syl and Viola are teens who at first glance are going through fairly typical issues- jealousy, first relationships, sexuality, family dynamics/problems- but as you continue to read, it is obvious there is a lot more and a lot crazier things going on. Some of the “twists” were predictable but ultimately I wasn’t able to guess them all which was a plus for me considering it’s a YA novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
First, I want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review.
The concept sounded unique and fun. However, the execution failed.
My expectations weren't that high to begin with since it's a YA thriller, and yet I ended up disappointed. I only wanted this to be fun, and sadly, it wasn't. It was boring.
Partly at fault for that is the fact that this was incredibly predictable. Right from the beginning, I had guessed all the plottwist. If you've never read a thriller in your entire life, you may enjoy the plotline. Otherwise, you'll probably guess everything right from the start.
An additional problem was the fact that the characters fell entirely flat. They had no distinct personality traits, and the two POVs read exactly the same. Not a single person felt real, and the dialogs were so incredibly unrealistic that I struggled to read them. I'm sorry, but no one talks like that. The fact that the authors native language isn't English probably is at fault for that. The writing felt very inexperienced. Oftentimes, words were used that didn't fit the context, and the writing was very stiff and akward.
Sadly, even the seemingly unique concept of getting to choose a Pov fell flat for me. Regardless of which pov you chose to read first, reading the second part will be even more boring than the first since they're so very similar. It's basically the exact same storyline told with different emotions. I didn't see the point in having to read the story twice.
This could have been pretty fun. However, it lacked proper editing and probably should have been written in the native language instead.
The concept sounded unique and fun. However, the execution failed.
My expectations weren't that high to begin with since it's a YA thriller, and yet I ended up disappointed. I only wanted this to be fun, and sadly, it wasn't. It was boring.
Partly at fault for that is the fact that this was incredibly predictable. Right from the beginning, I had guessed all the plottwist. If you've never read a thriller in your entire life, you may enjoy the plotline. Otherwise, you'll probably guess everything right from the start.
An additional problem was the fact that the characters fell entirely flat. They had no distinct personality traits, and the two POVs read exactly the same. Not a single person felt real, and the dialogs were so incredibly unrealistic that I struggled to read them. I'm sorry, but no one talks like that. The fact that the authors native language isn't English probably is at fault for that. The writing felt very inexperienced. Oftentimes, words were used that didn't fit the context, and the writing was very stiff and akward.
Sadly, even the seemingly unique concept of getting to choose a Pov fell flat for me. Regardless of which pov you chose to read first, reading the second part will be even more boring than the first since they're so very similar. It's basically the exact same storyline told with different emotions. I didn't see the point in having to read the story twice.
This could have been pretty fun. However, it lacked proper editing and probably should have been written in the native language instead.