Book review: Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend

Is it a game? Or is it murder?

The first time she's blindfolded and "kidnapped," Sadie, a brand-new star athlete at a posh boarding school, is terrified. Luckily, it's all a prank designed to induct her into a powerful secret society that her mom belonged to at Keating Hall. The circle has it all - incredible connections; fabulous parties; and, of course, an in with the brother society's gorgeous pledges. The instant popularity is enough to make Sadie forget about the little marks on her arm, creepy black robes, and an unfortunate incident that befell a girl on the team years ago. So the next time Sadie is gagged and kidnapped, she's only slightly annoyed - even though she should be extremely terrified of what's to come.

This e-book was given to me through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

There were ups and downs in Poor Little Dead Girls.  The story itself, I think, is pretty solid, and there were a lot of things about it that I liked.  For instance, I loved that Sadie and her roommates, Trix and Gwen, got along so well.  Trix and Gwen are daughters of nobility and were sent to school in America to try to prevent the press from getting wind of their crazy shenanigans (and other things).  It was entirely possible for them to end up as mild antagonists, girls who do nothing but make fun of Sadie and laugh at her when she’s in trouble.  Instead, they end up being people Sadie relies on, first to help her out in getting used to high society life (they lend her a LOT of clothes) and then when she’s trying to find out what’s going on with the Sullas.

The author also seems to have put a lot of thought into the secret society, with more than one scene dedicated to Sadie learning about the rituals, what they do, who’s been a part etc.  When an entire book centers around it, it really does help to know what she’s getting into, even if in the end, it turns out that it was completely wrong.  The Sullas seemed sketchy at first but not overly-evil, which helped lend a layer of reality to it.

Now for the minuses.  The writing is only average, in my opinion; there was really no time where I found myself thinking “Wow, I really like that passage/conversation/bit of description.”  The other thing is that when things came to a head and everything was revealed, I found myself sitting back and thinking “Really?  She went with that?” There was no build-up, in my opinion, for what was actually going on; the deaths had nothing to do with the Sullas’ true goals, and it was kind of a let-down, actually.  For a scene that was supposed to have a huge impact, it fell pretty flat.

Still, I did enjoy the book for what it was, so I’d say it’s more than worth a quick read.