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A review by marilynw
The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
3.0
The story is told from the viewpoint of Heather, a child psychologist, who is the last person I would ever want to be treating my child or any child. Heather has a secret that she has repressed for thirty years and when she receives half of a friendship necklace in the mail, she knows her past has caught up to her. When she was twelve, she performed a ritual with her best friend, Becca, which left Becca dead and Heather not remembering how she got rid of the body.
Becca's mom went to prison for the murder and until now, Heather thought no one knew her role in Becca's death. With the appearance of Becca's half of the necklace she knows someone is telling her they know what she did. Heather's fragile world and psyche come crashing down as Heather tries to figure out who is targeting her and her past.
This isn't really a horror story unless you are an impressionable twelve year old with an very active imagination. In the THEN portions of the book, Becca, Heather, and two other girls like to tell each other very scary stories and Becca claims the stories she tells about the Red Lady are true. The other two girls believe Becca's claims but Heather is sure that Becca is making up the stories about the Red Lady. Eventually Becca goads Heather into proving that she believes the Red Lady is real, with disastrous consequences.
The NOW portions of the book consist of a hysterically paranoid Heather neglecting her patients. She doesn't even take notes during sessions because she totally zones out the children she is treating, IF she even shows up for appointments. Heather also proceeds to destroy friendships and her marriage as she won't tell anyone why she is going totally off the rails. Everybody is a potential enemy to her and it feels to me that Heather must have been stuck at her twelve year old emotional level even now as a forty year old woman.
The author does a great job of portraying a desperate woman who is out of her mind frantic but Heather is such an unlikeable character that it's hard to have any sympathy for her plight. Instead I was feeling sorry for all the people in her current life. I did want to get to the end of the book to find out who did what and when and why but if I'd had my way, Heather would be on some really strong chill pills while I read the story.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this ARC.
Becca's mom went to prison for the murder and until now, Heather thought no one knew her role in Becca's death. With the appearance of Becca's half of the necklace she knows someone is telling her they know what she did. Heather's fragile world and psyche come crashing down as Heather tries to figure out who is targeting her and her past.
This isn't really a horror story unless you are an impressionable twelve year old with an very active imagination. In the THEN portions of the book, Becca, Heather, and two other girls like to tell each other very scary stories and Becca claims the stories she tells about the Red Lady are true. The other two girls believe Becca's claims but Heather is sure that Becca is making up the stories about the Red Lady. Eventually Becca goads Heather into proving that she believes the Red Lady is real, with disastrous consequences.
The NOW portions of the book consist of a hysterically paranoid Heather neglecting her patients. She doesn't even take notes during sessions because she totally zones out the children she is treating, IF she even shows up for appointments. Heather also proceeds to destroy friendships and her marriage as she won't tell anyone why she is going totally off the rails. Everybody is a potential enemy to her and it feels to me that Heather must have been stuck at her twelve year old emotional level even now as a forty year old woman.
The author does a great job of portraying a desperate woman who is out of her mind frantic but Heather is such an unlikeable character that it's hard to have any sympathy for her plight. Instead I was feeling sorry for all the people in her current life. I did want to get to the end of the book to find out who did what and when and why but if I'd had my way, Heather would be on some really strong chill pills while I read the story.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this ARC.