Review: Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Title: Undead Girl Gang

Author: Lily Anderson
Publisher: Razorbill

Publishing Date:  May 8th, 2018

Pages: 320
Genre: YA Mystery Thriller/Paranormal

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.
So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.
Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.

I have been excited about this book since I discovered it on Goodreads. I love the cover… very fun and very 90’s looking. I read the synopsis and thought this sounds interesting. I preordered on audible as soon as I saw it was available and then I started counting down the days. This book was not a disappointment. I loved it. It was full of emotion, mystery, creepy stuff, zombies in a way. It was so well put together. I loved the writing and the characters. I just loved the book.

Mila and Riley are best friends, inseparable. That is until the day that Riley is found dead in the river. The death is ruled a suicide, but Mila knows Riley would never kill herself. She wasn't sad or depressed. She had no signs. Mila knew Riley wouldn't do this. So Mila decides to take things into her own hands and calls back Riley from the dead. She hopes to hear from Riley what really happened. But Riley comes back with no memory and she comes back with a couple of friends. Two other girls, June and Dayton, were found dead a few days before Riley. They two were ruled suicides. Now all four girls are determined to find out who is their murderer and the truths about their deaths.

I read what the book was about a long time ago, I knew I wanted to read it, but it’s been so long, I kind of forgot what it was about. Which is a good thing? The little Goodreads snippet doesn’t begin to cover how much depth is in this book. I think I thought it would be more comedic. There were some funny moments… like the zombie girls back from the dead. They were so funny. Really though this book is about loss and about hurt and kind of dark at times. It really had a great mixture of everything.

The mystery was well done. I love a good mystery and really I didn’t have this one figured out until it was pretty obvious and I still didn’t want to believe it. It was shocking when it was all revealed. Although the reveal was just a tiny part, the how and the why yup just a tiny part. The story was more about the dead girls and their true selves, about knowing someone, about caring for others. That is the main point of the story. The investigation of the mystery was fun too. Spells and what not. It was a great story to watch unfold. The pacing was spot on. The read was smooth and effortless. Nothing left questioned at the end. It all came together well.

The characters were for sure the bright spot of the book. I loved all of them. They were all so different and unique. The main character, Mila, was a bit whiny at times but she just lost her best friend, Riley. She was messed up from it. It has been recorded as a suicide, but she is sure it was murder. She is determined to solve the murder and find out who killed her friend. Now before her friend died, two other girls were discovered hanging. So the town things there was a suicide pact. This is why they figured her friend killed herself too. So she does a spell to bring back her best friend and in turn, brings back all three dead girls. So now we have three dead girls, alive sort of. June, Dayton, and Riley.

These four make the funniest group of crime solvers. June was the mean girl. She made up rumors, made a life for Riley and Mila hell, and she was a bit bossy and entitled. Dayton was also a popular girl and friends with June but she was different. She was kind of clueless and always positive. She went along with what June did because they were best friends, but really she wasn’t mean. I think sometimes she didn’t even understand that June was mean. She was clueless but so funny and endearing and joyful…even dead. She was my favorite. Riley was sarcastic and kind of Debbie downer. Of course, if I found out I was dead.. I would be too. So together they don’t mesh well but they somehow form a friendship all four of them. The more the story progresses Mila finds out that the lives of all the girls weren’t what they seemed and truths come out to slowly unravel what happened in the days these girls died including why and how they actually died.

The story always includes some pretty angry witches, disturbing rotting corpse, romance, and so much more. It’s a good read.

Such a balanced and exciting read. Loved it.

Lily Anderson is a school librarian and Melvil Dewey fangirl with an ever-growing collection of musical theater tattoos and Harry Potter ephemera. She lives in Northern California, far from her mortal enemy: the snow.