A unique tale.

1 dead girl, an abundance of secrets.

Dark and twisty.

With a diverse cast of characters and a storyline that keeps the reader guessing, Girls Who Play Dead is the perfect story for the spooky season.

I loved how the author used social media, helping the teens solve the mystery, something hiding in plain site.

The concept of mental health features within the book too, just showcasing how prevalent it is in our society right now!

A clever, and tension filled novel.

Joelle is an author I hadn’t read from before which allowed me to approach this read with no expectations. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book is for me. The idea behind it really intrigued me, however I found that I couldn’t really connect to any of the main characters. I also found that the story was very slow to get going, there was a lot of scene and character set up which I feel could have been cut or shortened.

I thank Netgally for giving me the opportunity for reading this, and I hope this book finds it audience.

I haven't read anything by Joelle before, however I did enjoy her storytelling and how the twist wasn't obvious at all (to me anyway!). It did take me a while to get into the story, and I'm unsure on whether that's because I just didn't feel a connection to Kyla or Mikky?
The more I read though, the more I enjoyed it and felt myself connecting to Kyla and her motives and her grief. It is a good read and I would definitely recommend to friends!

I went into Girls Who Play Dead with high hopes, only to be left with… nothing. Not “bad” nothing, but the kind of nothing that leaves a strange aftertaste. I’ve known Joelle Wellington’s work thanks to the praise surrounding her debut and subsequent titles, so I was excited to see what she’d do with this premise. And the premise is good, dark, intriguing, and full of potential but the execution dragged for about 80% of the book. Only in the final stretch did the plot finally shift into high gear.
I kept waiting for the story to pick up, especially once I reached the 40% mark, but the tension stayed flat until the very end, where everything suddenly happened at once. By then, the big reveal landed with more of a “Huh?” than a jaw-drop moment (cue the cat meme).
The characters themselves are okay and how you expected them to be after the dead of someone close, but their arcs suffer under the uneven pacing. My biggest complaint is that the pacing was such a significant issue that it pulled down my overall enjoyment. This is a solid 3.5-star read leaning toward 4, but I wish the momentum had been there from the start

This book was really surprising for me because I ended up liking it for a completely different reason than I initially thought. Though it is a thriller, I thought that the mystery was set up quite poorly- it was never really obvious how Erin had died and I wasn’t ever convinced it was murder, though all the characters treated it like it had to be. And yet! The book was fun. It had the high- school- gossipy aspect that made me want to read on, but the real draw were the characters. I liked Kyla as a character though her personality would be pretty unbearable in real life, but I LOVED Mikkey so much. His perspective was so heartfelt and honest, and I loved the portrayal of his relationship with his sister, his friends and his love interest. His presence in the narrative was the reason why I’ll give this book a four stars instead of three. Overall i definitely enjoyed this and I would recommend!

An enjoyable read with a really interesting concept and some social commentary around influencing and money and power especially in small towns. Sadly for me overall the book fell a little flat, it really dragged at times which was a shame as the storyline itself is very good. Some great representation in the main and supporting characters, though. (3.5 stars)

Wellington managed to beat her own book.
addictive, brutal and very well executed.
not a fast read but a boon that builds its suspense in a way that makes you want to finish.