tay123's review against another edition
4.5
Very interesting story line. It left me on a cliff hanger and I am wishing there was a book 2. The only let down was I wanted to hear more of Piper's story.
chelseas_reads's review against another edition
2.0
this book sounds like a riveting read. from the beautiful cover to the promising summary. dead girls can’t tell secrets falls short on it’s promises with boring characters and poor detective work.
being a mystery, were bound to have a multitude of red herrings. the character is supposed to discover clues and investigate each of them in turn. unfortunately, our investigating is just savannah demanding answers from each suspect and moving onto the next one when they insist they didn’t do it.
firstly, how is that a mystery? if i did a crime and someone came to me demanding answers, i’m not going to confess to them. of course i’ll tell them it wasn’t me. why would i willingly give myself up like that? especially when there’s no evidence to prove anything?
secondly, who tf goes up to someone to demand answers? aren’t you scared that they could harm you?
to be honest, i think this book is more suited to a much younger audience (like, maybe middle grade?).
the mystery/investigating aside: the characters were mundane and boring. there was nothing special about any of them. especially savannah. she was insufferable.
the one redeeming part of this book was how easy it was to read. the writing style was easy to follow – i read the whole book in one day.
that’s it. that’s the only redeeming factor to this book.
oh, that and the cover’s pretty.
read at your own volition.
being a mystery, were bound to have a multitude of red herrings. the character is supposed to discover clues and investigate each of them in turn. unfortunately, our investigating is just savannah demanding answers from each suspect and moving onto the next one when they insist they didn’t do it.
firstly, how is that a mystery? if i did a crime and someone came to me demanding answers, i’m not going to confess to them. of course i’ll tell them it wasn’t me. why would i willingly give myself up like that? especially when there’s no evidence to prove anything?
secondly, who tf goes up to someone to demand answers? aren’t you scared that they could harm you?
to be honest, i think this book is more suited to a much younger audience (like, maybe middle grade?).
the mystery/investigating aside: the characters were mundane and boring. there was nothing special about any of them. especially savannah. she was insufferable.
the one redeeming part of this book was how easy it was to read. the writing style was easy to follow – i read the whole book in one day.
that’s it. that’s the only redeeming factor to this book.
oh, that and the cover’s pretty.
read at your own volition.
minimicropup's review against another edition
I wasn’t vibing with this one. It’s YA but on the younger side, the characters all felt younger to me than they were. There’s also a lot of passive musing and angst about friendships and relationships, yet seemed like none of the characters had much in the way of emotion? May have been the narration, they all seemed so similar in personality and motivation, just with different hobbies and interests. This could be a good read if you’re a young adult or in the mood for it though.
jennareads1's review against another edition
4.0
Great read for a YA book. It’s angsty and secretive. So many twists and turns and the plot was awesome! Instantly sucks you in from the very beginning but I have never been a fan of cliffies and this definitely solidified my views on that aspect. I was really hoping it ended differently or maybe has a second part. Overall it’s written well, the plot is great and the characters are actually relatable. Great read!
clemomreads22's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
haylethal's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ratnix's review against another edition
2.0
I was sent an arc through net galley
I'm very conflicted by this one. The plot seemed promising, at first, but in the end... eh... I was underwhelmed.
I have two main issues: the writing and the main character.
Firstly, I found the writing odd. Even in the first chapter there's this sentence that made my skin crawl: Piper keeps an extra sweater stuffed inside her locker because she's always cold.No meat on her skinny bones. Like... was it necessary? Another example is this 2010s YA inspired sentence: I wasn't a sister.I wasn't even a friend.I was the darkness.
But even the jokes felt flat considering the plot and vibe of this book, at least to me. Personally, if I'm investigating how and why my sister fell off a cliff, the last thing I'd do is crack jokes. I get that it could be a copying mechanism but... it just didn't work. Example:
Get it? Because Abby hums a lot.
Let's move on to Savannah, the main character who with no exaggeration deserves the award for "one of the most annoying characters". I felt that the author tried to paint her as an unreliable narrator but as the end what came out was... Savannah. I can see why she was disliked by some characters based on her actions. She's selfish,impulsive,acts before she thinks etc,etc...
Even the plot at some points was dumb(the plot was focused on Savannah's actions,wow what a shock.
I will say however that the book is fast paced and an easy read which is a plus. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough.
I'm very conflicted by this one. The plot seemed promising, at first, but in the end... eh... I was underwhelmed.
I have two main issues: the writing and the main character.
Firstly, I found the writing odd. Even in the first chapter there's this sentence that made my skin crawl: Piper keeps an extra sweater stuffed inside her locker because she's always cold.No meat on her skinny bones. Like... was it necessary? Another example is this 2010s YA inspired sentence: I wasn't a sister.I wasn't even a friend.I was the darkness.
But even the jokes felt flat considering the plot and vibe of this book, at least to me. Personally, if I'm investigating how and why my sister fell off a cliff, the last thing I'd do is crack jokes. I get that it could be a copying mechanism but... it just didn't work. Example:
"If you talk to Abby, she'll just make up a story. She's a drama queen."
"I mean, technically she's an opera queen."
Get it? Because Abby hums a lot.
Let's move on to Savannah, the main character who with no exaggeration deserves the award for "one of the most annoying characters". I felt that the author tried to paint her as an unreliable narrator but as the end what came out was... Savannah. I can see why she was disliked by some characters based on her actions. She's selfish,impulsive,acts before she thinks etc,etc...
Spoiler
So, Savannah has the idea that Mr. Davis is the one who pushed Piper off the cliff so she heads down to a path to inform the police but realized she's lost her necklace somewhere so she tries to find it but before she does, the teacher finds her. Naturally, her teacher offers to help her by reminding her how much trouble he'll get if something bad happens to a member of their group. To which Savannah replies "You're going to be in trouble either way". And thus begins a mouse and cat tag between them. Listen, I'm not smart but if the person I thought had tried to murder my sister was near me, I would try to play it cool, that nothing's wrong and certainly wouldn't indirectly confess that I know something.Even the plot at some points was dumb(the plot was focused on Savannah's actions,wow what a shock.
Spoiler
Here's an example. The group thinks that Sam and Abby were the ones responsible for Piper falling off a cliff so what do they do? They steal Sam's phone to search it, which is a great idea, I'll admit. But, Savannah,having found what she was looking for, decides to take a screenshot and message it to herself through Sam's phone because she "doesn't have time to take her phone to take a photo?" You're telling me it's less time consumming to take a screenshot,dial your number, send that screenshot to yourself and wait for it to be delivered, delete the message and the screenshot than grab your phone from your pocket and take a picture of the message?Spoiler
Also, now that I was writing the paragraph above, I noticed a plot hole: The message Savannah found said: "Abby: Piper's asking questions Sam: I'll take care of it" But we never found out what he meant by "I'll take care of it"? Because it certainly has an ominous echo behind it so why did they ignore it even after the reveal?It seems that they completely forgot about it.I will say however that the book is fast paced and an easy read which is a plus. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough.
mouseo5's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
maddidance4life's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kerasalwaysreading's review against another edition
2.0
I appreciate the effort the author made to tell this story. But it was done in a way that the main character was absolutely intolerable.
Savannah is trying to figure out exactly what happened to her little sister who took a terrible fall on a hike, putting her in a coma. She is determined to find out who is responsible for hurting her.
I couldn’t get past Savannah’s self centered-ness. While she is noble in the way of stopping at nothing to find the truth, her methods are still so self serving. And her accuse, rinse, repeat interrogation method was exhausting.
This was a mediocre ya mystery, but it wasn’t unreadable. There were plenty of twists and turns but I felt dizzy by the end. An unfortunate feeling when the conclusion was lackluster.
Savannah is trying to figure out exactly what happened to her little sister who took a terrible fall on a hike, putting her in a coma. She is determined to find out who is responsible for hurting her.
I couldn’t get past Savannah’s self centered-ness. While she is noble in the way of stopping at nothing to find the truth, her methods are still so self serving. And her accuse, rinse, repeat interrogation method was exhausting.
This was a mediocre ya mystery, but it wasn’t unreadable. There were plenty of twists and turns but I felt dizzy by the end. An unfortunate feeling when the conclusion was lackluster.