Dead Girls Walking

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on any future horror books that she narrates – I really hope there'll be more. I see I've some of her books on my tbr but I think this is the only horror book she's done. There are quite a lot of characters in here and the narrator does a fine job of differentiating them so it was rare that I got them mixed up. Which doesn't happen often with a single narrator – unfortunately, try as they might, a lot of their voices tend to sound the same.

The story dragged a bit in the beginning but it picked up after a while and then I didn't want to stop reading. Which I like in a horror book. I think it's better to read a horror book quickly or read a bunch in one sitting. It helped that the story was also really interesting and mysterious so I wanted to read more quickly to fully figure the story.

Temple was an interesting character because it's almost as if she doesn't want the readers to like or root for her. She'll show all the darker parts of herself, show you why you shouldn't be friends with her but every now and then she'll say or do something and I'll want to like her. So, yes, she is an unlikable character. She pushes everyone away, she doesn't want to share herself with others (though with her family who can blame her, I guess). But then she did. She opened up to others, she made connections, chose to trust others – which is a huge feat for anyone, let alone herself.

The premise is what initially drew me in. Camp setting in the horror genre? It's classic for a reason. And all of the members are LGBTQ+ Black teen girls obssessed with horror? That's all I needed to know. What I got was just so much more. I'd actually thought it was just horror, I didn't even know that there was a fantasy/paranormal element to it until it actually happened. Which made me be even more interested because I really like paranormal horrors.

But this was also just more than a simple paranormal horror. It's about secrets, family and how they can help and harm you. About keeping your self to yourself until you decide to show yourself, trusting others to understand you. I liked that with Temple it was with new people and not any friends (well she didn't have any). Through literally every terrible thing that happened in here to her, she still decided to open up. She decided to get close to people and make friends.

Katon-Donegal did a fine job when it came to the plot and all the plot twists. It was another reason why I couldn't put it down. The intrigue kept me going, had me saying ‘one more chapter' because I had to know what was lay next in store for the characters. If you're a reader who loves a plot that takes you places you won't believe your eyes or ears are seeing.