I am back with another book review, Dead Girls Society by Michelle Krys.
This book was so much more intense than I thought it was going to be and I flew through it!
The story follows Hope, a teen who is living with cystic fibrosis. She's been in and out of school with treatments and one day, she wakes up to an email from an unknown sender inviting her to a meeting at an abandoned warehouse at midnight. Obviously, Hope is skeptical but she convinces herself to go. There she meets four other girls who were all invited and they are told they must complete a series of dares in order to be the lone winner and receive a prize of $100,000. The girls are skeptical, but they've all been blackmailed and are forced to participate.
Krys sets the story up in such a way that looks at the absurdity of the situation and pokes fun at it. There are references to how it is like a cheap horror movie but the book is still good in spite itself.
The writing style of this book was really interesting, the chapters were written in such a way that let me stay interested in the story without wrapping up sections too soon. The pacing was really well done - we got right into the mystery and dares from the first chapter, there was no waiting around. That being said, there was still a lot of build up to the reveal of who was behind everything. There were a lot of red herrings and it got to the point where there was no one you seemed to be able to trust.
There was a bit of romance in this book but it wasn't really made a major focus, and rightfully so. Things moved a little fast, making it unrealistic and clear that it wouldn't last long. Looking back, there are a lot of little things Krys set up to lead to the conclusion without really knowing.
I'm not personally familiar with CF myself but I think Krys did a lot of research on the topic and portrayed Hope's disease well. There were points where Krys's writing style was able to create a story that engrossed me so much I felt as though I was in Hope's shoes, that I was having trouble breathing, the things that happened to her were happening to me. There was one part in particular that I felt like was happening to me and I was taken aback by Krys's writing.
This book had a The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer vibe (the first two books, not that horrendous third) as well as a little bit of The Accident Season. I wouldn't say that Hope was an unreliable narrator, but I just got similar vibes with these books.
I also think that Krys used the book's setting very well. A lot of the time, a book is set somewhere but there is no real interaction with the setting - it could be set anywhere. But Krys used the New Orleans backdrop throughout the book in interesting ways, starting from the street music on the very first page. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so aware of where a book was taking place while reading it.
I want to talk briefly about the ending; some people are saying it's a cliffhanger. Personally, I like how things ended. Pretty much everything is wrapped up or assumed to be wrapped up and there's one little detail that is added to make it seem like the story isn't over quite yet. I am fine with how things ended, that detail doesn't bother me that much. It does leave this book open to a sequel which, for the record, I would totally be down for.
I think I liked this book so much because I went in with zero expectations. I see a lot of mixed reviews and I think if you go in not knowing much and not expecting much, you will be happy with the story.
Overall, a new favourite for me - highly recommend!