Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Dark Way Down

After Savannah's sister Piper falls from Suicide Point, she is racked with guilt. But did she jump as the police officers say or was she pushed? As Savannah starts to find clues that lead away from her sister jumping, she ends up following the Wilderness Club on a trip as all arrows point towards one of the members as being at fault.
The narrator was terrible, overly dramatic, and just hard to tolerate. I think she made the already unlikable narrator, Savannah, even harder to stand. Both Savannah and Piper were extremely self-centered and mean to each other and at times, to others. To be honest none of the characters were very likable.
I didn't end up caring much about what had or hadn't happened to Piper and usually, I'd feel bad for someone obviously going through something but the way the book was written, it was hard.
The suspects were pretty obvious, and I was suspicious of everyone on the trip. But some were more obvious than others and the author made a very obvious choice for who the culprit was. Though at least she chose the way everything went down to not be as obvious.
Overall, a subpar book with unlikable characters who were hard to care about. I'm glad the book was short since I didn't waste much time on it and can move on to a better book now.

Extra ratings: Fluff - NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful-NA Horror-0/5 Inspiration- NA Love aka Romance- 2/5 Mystery-4/5 Predictability- 4.5/5 Spice-0/5 Suspense- 1/5 Tear 2.5/5 Thrill- 3/5 Humor-0/5

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kitkatkatdog's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Twist and turns never stop, down to the last chapters. I thought the pacing might be too fast but it really worked out. Thought I wouldn’t enjoy the amount of twists and turns, but I feel like it added to the pressure and stress. It also felt really realistic in what a teenager could do to solve a crime. Make a lot of guesses and get a lot wrong, but keep pursuing it and the help along the way changes her for the better. Enjoyed more than I expected.

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readingwithrylanne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I had a great time reading Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets! This was my first book by the author, and I grabbed it because I'm doing some personal research for a graduate creative writing course this semester and want to dive deeper into the YA thriller genre. This isn't the most high-stakes thriller I've ever read, but it was thoroughly engaging nonetheless. I couldn't trust most of the characters completely, including the narrator, which I always love to see in thrillers. Unreliable narrators almost always make a thriller better, and we definitely had that here. Overall, a fun YA thriller with an open ending that I really enjoyed!

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antimony's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

ah, ya thrillers! they are a very. i don't actually know how to describe it. consistent? genre. i usually enjoy them and even when they're bad they're not <i> wretched </i>. they're typically fun, and they're not bound to moods for me the way some genres are — i don't need to be in a ya thriller mood to enjoy one.

i grabbed this at the library with only the barest glance at the back assuming it would be silly fun and it wasn't boring by any means but it was not thrilling, it was not engaging like i hoped it would be. this is a "me" 2-star rating, not an objective one.

piper sullivan, star of the journalism club, science prodigy, favorite child, had a horrible fall at a local hiking spot morbidly known as "suicide point" a month ago, and she's been in a coma ever since. her older sister, savannah, feels horrible about it all — she was not exactly the best sister to piper, always feeling slighted by her achievements, and what if she's part of the reason piper fell? and then she finds a suspicious note in piper's locker about a special meeting for their school's survival club, and realizes that someone may have pushed her...

i think my chief issue with this book was that i could not stand savannah. every decision she made annoyed me and she was much too quick to confront people and was. not so good at solving the mystery. mostly i was SO annoyed at her

confronting mr davis at the end of the hike

because why would she do that????????? why not just lie to him??? i never cared about her or piper and the pacing was so strange...and maybe it's because I'm from the city but i can't fathom this club being at a real high school anyway.

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rayneyisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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anniereads221's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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beca_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Fire, and Chelsea Ichaso for and ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When Savannah's sister Piper ends up in a coma, and is made to believe that this was an accident, she doesn't believe it; she thinks there is more to her sister's injuries. In this twisty gritty YA thriller we follow Savannah as she investigates her sister's accident. In doing so she joins the school's survival club, where she realises she can't trust everyone, and everyone has their secret's including her.
Over the course of the book Savannah believes that each member of the survival club could of tried to kill her sister. At time's her idea's did seem quite far fetched and outlandish, and she put herself in some dangerous situations which could have been avoided.
The pacing of the book was good to begin with but then became rushed at the end, and the final twist was a let down. When reading mystery's I want to be left in surprise but this unfortunately didn't. I did however enjoy getting a perspective from Piper in the lead up to the accident it allowed for her character to feel more fleshed out, and added to some of the suspense.
Overall, this is a fun YA mystery and I can see a lot of people enjoying it.

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