Dead Girls Society - Michelle Krys | Book Review

Dead Girls Society

Michelle Krys

Reviewed 1/24/2025

Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review (NO spoilers):

This was a fun short contemporary mystery. Read it in about 2 hours, and enjoyed it. It wasn't perfectly realistic, and the ending was a little funky, but otherwise a pretty good book. Struggled a bit with the unrealistic scenes and tropey characters, but it’s worth a read if you’ve got a few extra hours.

Scroll down for review with SPOILERS!

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Review (SPOILERS):

I largely didn't really mind some of the unrealism throughout the book, because it's fiction, and the point is not to create a perfectly possible scenario. But the whole escaping-being-buried alive thing had me skeptical. It was a climatic, important scene that I really highly doubt it would be possible for Hope to actually escape/survive the coffin. Characters escaping being buried alive is kind of a pet peeve of mine, considering the extreme difficulty (coffins are not light. Dirt is not light), and then Hope is terminally sick and probably not very strong. I just don't see how she could've pulled that off.

I didn't like Hope very much, but that's nothing against how she was written, really. She had some depth and felt more like a real person than some protagonists I've read lately.

The use of the “Bury The Gays” trope in killing off Hartley is an absolutely valid complaint. Their relationship, though, was barely mentioned and barely relevant. If I’m being completely honest, I was glad when I read that they buried Hartley -- hear me out -- not because I wanted her dead, but because I've read those character-being-actually-secretly-alive twists way too many times. Actually killing someone severely upped the stakes and I wish they would've known she was dead earlier, but as it did invalidate their whole relationship. Their references to her death a year later seemed fairly minimal: sure, they weren't super close, but did Hope and Farrah not consider what Lyla was doing (to Hartley) while they were struggling through the puzzle?? Be for real.

Ethan was annoying. The love square triangle trapezoid thing was annoying. I’m a Certified Romance Hater, you don't need to listen to me. But can we agree that Ethan was kind of a jerk??? Trying to sabotage Hope's relationship with Tucker and then kissing her in front of his girlfriend was not ok. Thankfully she confronted him about his dirt digging, but she also just gave in to her fantasy of them being together. Get out, dude.

Overall I liked the plot and its twists; Lyla's network allowed for more betrayals that heightened the tension. I was still left with a lot of questions, though. Why did Tucker lie about his assault charge, and what actually happened? If Tucker was stalking Hope and Farrah, who was stalking Hartley and Nikki? If the dares were catered to their worst fears, then whose was whose? I would say the bungee jumping was probably Nikki, the swimming probably Hope, but I've no idea if the factory was geared towards Hartley or Farrah considering they both failed. What was the last dare going to be? Did Jenny blow up the car (seems most likely to me) and if so how did she feel about that?

The ending was just plain weird. Why did Hope get another letter? My questions need answers.

Regardless of all my questions, I really enjoyed the book. It was a great mystery and a wild ride, even if it did start a little slower.