Thank you to Amulet Books and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t believe it (for two reasons) but I had to DNF this. The first reason is because this plot sounds amazing, and checked off so many boxes for me in what I want in a book. The second is because I’m all for dumping the reader in the middle of the story and letting them find their way out. But there were too many things unexplained at the beginning of this that I was just lost. I think if the structure was reworked, it might be a great book, but I could not get into it and had to stop 15% in.

3⭐️

This book was ok just not quite what I was expecting. I was really excited for the summer horror slasher camp feels but it just didn't really fully deliver for me. I really liked Temples over all back story but I didn't really like her character. I found myself not really connecting to any of characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own,

Rated: 3.75 but rounded up.

I have to say I was really confused by this book for just over 50% of the book I had no idea what was going on. I struggled (more than Temple) to connect what was going on, and I simply didn't understand what the point of the whole story was going to be. I've never seen Friday the 13th, so it's possible I missed a lot of the references. However, once the book finally started to make sense to me, I began to really enjoy it!

Though Temple is not my favorite MC, by the end of the novel I was rooting for her. If you're a fan of horror, I would definitely recommend.

Dead Girls Walking was possibly one of my favourite YA horror reads in the past few years. It was just such a sublime, shiver-inducing read.

I adored Temple as a protagonist – she is shouldering an impossible weight with the legacy of her father. Her guilt is profound, as is her grief and both entirely control her to begin with. That emotional rawness is so striking on page. She also has a wicked sense of humour and a sardonic outlook on life that I very much enjoyed. You can watch some of those walls start to crack ever so slightly and then all hell breaks loose. Her character journey over the course of the book is astounding and deeply cathartic. I loved how Ellis chose to end the book in such a particular place. There is such a key theme of generational trauma and having to break the cycle by any means necessary. Amidst the bloodshed, there are some really moving moments and Ellis plays it pitch perfectly for me.

I went in expecting some carnage and I was delivered it. This is not a book that plays around. It is is up to its shoulders in blood and gore with some scenes that I definitely think rank up there with some iconic horror scenes. They’re just so twisted and creative – often shocking you and utterly pulling the rug out from under your feet. However, they never feel like they’re only there for shock value and serve a purpose in moving the story along. Ellis’ twists are exceptional as well. There are several moments where I audibly gasped and I am really excited for more people to discover the dark layers of this book. The pacing is spot on as well, allowing you to build up connections with these characters only to rip them apart.

Dead Girls Walking is an exceptionally arresting debut from a YA author you will want to keep your eye on.

Queer summer camp slasher? Obviously, I was sold immediately on this book. And the plot did not disappoint, with all the crazy twists and over-the-top horror that you’d expect from the genre, right down to the last pages. The representation also put a fresh spin on a classic trope, taking place in a summer camp for queer girls themed around a local horror novel that may be more than fiction. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with many of the characters—especially not the protagonist, Temple. Don’t get me wrong, she was by all means an interesting main character with her layered backstory of a serial killer father and a family secret that runs even deeper. But I found it hard to see beyond the surface to who she really was. I think part of the reason for this was because of the detachment of the third person style, and perhaps I’d have felt differently if this was written in first person so we could get a proper look into our protagonist’s mind. Nevertheless, it didn’t spoil the fun of this twisty, splatter-filled horror.

This book was utterly spectacular!
I made the mistake of reading this at nighttime, IN THE DARK! Like a fool!
I enjoyed finding out more about Temple and the horrors of her family. I liked seeing her growth over this horrific weekend experience.
The atmosphere was so creepy and eerie. An isolated camp in the middle of what are basically murder woods? I loved it. I absolutely hate camping but I will never say no to a horror featuring a camping experience.
This book gave me everything; strong female lead, teenage drama, horror fanatics, demons, creepy woods, family secrets. I loved every moment of this book

Rating: 3.5/5

The start of Dead Girls Walking was so confusing. It’s a classic case of the author acting like you should know who the character is and what’s going on. However, I really had no clue what was going on.

Having a horror/thriller set at a summer camp can be seen as cliche, but I love it. Some of my favourite horror media have this exact trope: You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (book) and The Quarry (video game). However, what’s different about this book, is you don’t spend a single moment at the camp thinking everything is ok. From the get-go, you know that something isn’t right and honestly, it was great. Dead Girls Walking dives straight into the action and the suspense never drops.

The pacing was sometimes a little too fast, especially in action scenes, so I did find it a little hard to follow at times. However, the fast pace did this book a lot of favours. It could have gotten too repetitive, but as the story was progressing pretty fast you never had to worry about this.

Temple was such an interesting character. Her personality seemed to change depending on who she was talking to, which made her a little hard to like. She had the whole ‘I hate everyone and everything’ bit going on and I got bored of it quite quickly. Life definitely dealt her a crappy hand, but it’s not like she tried to make things better for herself. Thankfully, Cali and Yaya took none of that and basically told her she was being an idiot - Cali was my favourite character.

I did really enjoy Dead Girls Walking and it was a surprisingly fast read. The pace seems to accelerate more and more the further you get in and there’s a lot of action. I’d definitely recommend checking this out if you’re a big fan of horror/thrillers with a supernatural twist.

When I saw this was a slasher taking place in a summer camp setting full of queer women of color I knew I had to read it. Somehow it was every horror trope while also blasting through them. I did find the main character Temple a little hard to connect with, but she grew on me as the story went. The first third was a little slow to get through, despite the amazing first line. The second two thirds were pure horror chaos and I loved every second of them. Temple has returned to the woods where she grew up. After a visit to her father, who is in prison as a convicted serial killer, she is determined to find the body of her mother. She doesn’t want to believe her father killed her, but she needs to know what happened to her. Luckily for Temple there is a free, short, summer camp for queer, Black girls who love horror and she was accepted as a counselor giving her the perfect cover. But the old adage about never being able to go home again wasn’t lying. Temple will find more than she ever knew about her family and their history at this camp. I liked this story and I’ll admit I was a little mad when I saw the author had finished it in 2018 and I took this long to get it published. I hope this success of publications leads to more horror from Sami Ellis.

The pros- this is like a diverse Evil Dead meets Friday the 13th and I loved all the horror elements of the book. This story is captivating and chilling.

The only con for me was the third person in present tense writing is a personal pet peeve of mine and took me out of it a little bit. But that may not bother others, so don't let it dissuade from reading this!

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. This book throws you right into the story, with little to no information about our main character, so I found it really hard to care about her story. I didn’t enjoy the writing style of this book, and found it very hard to get into. I’ve seen a lot of highly rated reviews for this one, but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Evil Dead meets Friday the 13th.

The blurb made me think that this was going to be a girl solving mysteries, Fitz-Amobi style. However, I quickly realised whilst reading that this book took a dark, sinister, paranormal turn. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it was creepy, gory, and tense. There were a couple parts that I felt seemed rushed, which is the reason I'm giving this book 4 stars.

This book had me on the edge of my seat from so early on. I didn't think the tension could continue to grow and yet it did. If this was a film, there are definitely multiple parts that I would have watched from behind a cushion because they were creepy as hell and super gory - seriously, pay attention to the trigger warnings because damn.

I was expecting a summer camp slasher story, maybe with some of the usual tropes you see from this genre thrown in. What I got was a super creepy and violent supernatural horror that left me with no idea what would happen next. Just as I thought I had things figured out, something else would happen that left me reeling. I genuinely felt as lost as some of these girls running around a forest trying not to die.

One of the biggest downsides for me is that Temple just wasn't very likeable. You're meant to root for the main girl to survive but it was really hard to do this because there was nothing particularly great about her. She was a super moody and bitchy teenager who just happened to have a serial killer for a dad - I know that's the point of her character but I wanted to like her too so the stakes were higher.

I think the story would have worked better in first person rather than third, as this would have given us more insights into Temple and probably would have made her more likeable. It would also have resulted in fewer repetitions of her name, which became jarring after a short while.

This is probably the most graphic YA horror book I've read in a while, so definitely for readers on the more mature side of YA because honestly, some bits of it are absolutely gross, but they really work for the story.

I DNF'ed this book at about 20%. There wasn't anything inherently bad about it, but I was having a terrible time not rolling my eyes at things. Already there were some poor decisions, as well as several things that I really didn't understand. I assume they would be explained later on, but I couldn't find it in myself to really care. If it sounds up your alley though I hope you have better luck than I did, and maybe I'll come back to it at some point

Seriously… give me a few minutes to catch my breath here. I’m lukewarm about slasher movies, mostly because I’m a fan of character development and rich storytelling and some sort of ‘point’, which you don’t always get when the main focus is screaming and blood. But Dead Girls Walking gave me everything I wanted from the genre, and more. Amazing characters, painfully real representation, a brilliant interpretation of “form meets content”, and some killer banter that adds the right amount of comedy to the right amount of grisly horror. I’m throwing this book at everyone I know.

There’s so much I could talk about here, but I want to talk about Temple. When audiences say they want more authentic queer characters, give them Temple and tell them to shut up until they get to the end. Temple isn’t a sanitized portrait of grief made to be pitied, but a raw exploration of how family curses (even of the non-supernatural kind) rarely make a person ‘better’. Mostly, they make us assholes until we get enough space to heal, and Temple does the opposite by marching straight back to the trauma site like the relentless freight train she is. She’s angry, guarded, cynical, and MEAN. But not without reason, which she'll tell you if you listen, as any 'problematic' marginalized teen would. Traumatized teens, especially Black girls like Temple, are rarely afforded patience or sympathy. But in DGW, Ellis kicks down the door of acceptability to let light in on the true closet-case stories.

In Temple, I saw so many of my queer community members at the lowest moments of their lives when all they had was self-flagellation and anger—I saw my lowest self too, and was given a chance to hold him close. Temple stumbles, fails, tries again, both helped and impeded by the other complicated people around her. It’s frankly beautiful, especially in a story that’s so much about healing in a community that trusts you. Between the adult queer Black women who meet Temple at her level and urge her onward, to the quiet presence of Temple’s aunt, to an oddly sympathetic view on death and fear, and characters who realize that their true crime fanaticism is causing real-life pain, Ellis reminds us that even the ‘worst’ people we know can change with support. Temple may start out mean, but only you can see if she stays that way.

Put your trust in this book and choose to meet it, I seriously beg you. There are so many ways Ellis has created prose just as prickly as Temple—it’s brilliantly meta. The story is written in rare third-person present, which floats between flashback and present tense and internal monologue. It’s a bit of a trip, but there’s no better way to show Temple’s compartmentalization and dissociation as she wrestles with past and present. The book also starts with quite a few characters that Temple doesn’t know the names of, and quite a few plot lines that Temple also isn’t sure about, but the longer you read and the more Temple learns, the clearer the picture gets. I still have some questions, but I’m sure Temple does too. That’s life. Just like attempting to reach a traumatized teen, this book only opens up to you if you’re willing to listen. I can’t get the last scene out of my head—it haunts me in the best way.

If you want queer authenticity, this is a rarely seen POV from those rarely heard kids who aren’t used to getting stories at all, let alone hopeful endings. So lock eyes with Temple, say you’re not going anywhere, and let her take you through her grisly, terrifying life. You’ll be so glad you did.

“Temple come to camp alone because a crowd makes it difficult to go corpse hunting.”
Here are reasons to read the YA Horror book:

Horror Camp - Temple is going to be a camp counselor at a weekend horror camp, that just happens to be on the land where she grew up as a child
Missing Girls - this area is full of stories of missing girls
Killer Father - and her father is currently in jail for killing lots of people
Absent Mother - but he tasks her with a mission for the weekend: to find out where her mother’s body might actually be

What drew me to this book is that it was a camp location and also almost a slasher like feel. But to be honest, I had no idea what was actually going on for a lot of this book. It’s creepy, with lots of haunted vibes. But to really get what is going on, even now is not totally clear. There is a really good twist at the end, and it does explain the most important things. But the writing is kind of ambiguous to keep the mystery going, so if you are in need of a clear explanation, this may not be totally for you. I have to say though that the story was very entertaining.

Woahhhh, this was such a whirlwind of a book I could never see any of the twists coming and I'm still in shock over the masterpiece that I just read. I will always eat up a black queer horror and god this was scary?? read this during the day with lights on and with an animal with you for comfort because I got SPOOKED

thank you penguin teen for the e-arc! I absolutely loved it, all opinions are my own

"dead girls walking" is a queer YA horror slasher about temple baker, the daughter of an infamous serial killer. her dad is on death row when he reveals that he killed her mother, so temple decides to go back to his old hunting grounds to see if she can find her mom's body and prove that he killed her. the farm that was once her home is now an overnight camp for queer horror fans. i'm a very casual horror fan but i'm still dipping my toes into horror books, so i was a little apprehensive when i started reading the book. i was about a third of the way through when the story just absolutely gripped me and i couldn't put it down until i finished it. obviously, horror isn't a fun or lighthearted genre (at least not usually), but temple's inner monologue was just so entertaining, even as she's fighting for her life. and most of the twists took me by surprise, which definitely kept me engaged. if horror slashers are your vibe, i would absolutely recommend "dead girls walking"!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sami Ellis and Abrams kids for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was not what I expected in the beginning, but it quickly evolves into exactly what I expected and wanted. I was thrilled. I love the slasher YA right now and this was perfect.

Dead Girls Walking was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024. Unfortunately, the story felt quite disjointed and disorganized at times. I enjoyed Temple as a character, and her voice was a pleasure to read. As some other reviewers have mentioned, this book did appear to have some supernatural elements interspersed within the narrative, and this is something that wasn't really mentioned in the book's marketing. This wasn't a problem for me as I greatly enjoyed those aspects. Regardless, this book just wasn't for me. I'd still be open to reading future titles by Sami Ellis, however,

Thank you to Amulet Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a gripping read and I was intrigued by the characters. I will look out for more by this author.