This is kind of a tough one for me to review. I was originally drawn to the book because of the fantastic title. I was so ready for the female rage aspect of the book, and it did deliver. But it did take a while to get there. The pacing felt a bit off for me, and it took me much longer to finish this book than usual. However, I was interested enough in the mystery to stick with it. While the premise of the story is great, there were many aspects of it that prevented me from liking it more. There were SO. MANY. loose ends. Characters and mysteries would pop up only to have their stories go nowhere. Annie would get mad, but run right back to whoever was making her mad. I was getting so exasperated with her. And many things just did not make sense. Despite that, there was enough that I did like that would make me want to try more of this author's work in the future.

After a slow start and not really sure if I was liking the book, it really turned around at the 60% mark.

Annie got on my nerves slightly but I can understand where she was coming from. I didn't see the twist coming, I guessed completely wrong.

This is a fantastic YA murder mystery / revenge novel which will be enipyed by anyone

There was much about this world that wasn't explained or done so clearly. However, I did enjoy the ride and loved the female rage. So I split the difference!

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'd recommend to teens.

3.5 ⭐ I independently requested this ARC and started following Codie Crowley on TikTok before I knew she wrote this! I really enjoyed the atmospheric setting, the sassy tone, and the badass characters. But I got stuck pretty quickly with the plot's pacing. The cover, the synopsis, the marketing—everything!—make it abundantly clear that the main character and first-person narrator Annie is D-E-A-D. However, it isn't until 40% into the book that Annie herself figures it out, and that, my friends, was exhausting. I spent 100+ pages just yelling, "Girl, you are deadddd!" the second half of the book is paced way better than the first half.

Finishing this one paid off. I figured out the murder mystery aspect just a hair before Annie does, and damn, it makes one's blood boil. Here lies a vengeful bitch, indeed.

I'm looking forward to whatever Codie comes out with next. And if you don't follow her on TikTok, check her out!

Full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6046972152

I’m considering this a rage read. I did finish it but I also kind of hated it.
Seriously, there wasn’t a single thing about this story that I liked. I disliked every character. Literally every single one. The dialogue was cringey and tried way too hard to be “cool” and funny.
I wasn’t intrigued by the mystery — didn’t care about what happened to Annie or Mora that night. Initially I thought that maybe this book would be Ok but just one that isn’t meant for me, but the more I read it, the more I questioned how anyone could like it.

You know what, there is one thing I liked— the title. Unfortunately the inside of the book doesn’t live up to the cover.

I’m back? Am I back? I seem to be back? Cue early 2023 me briefly possessing 2024 me’s body because, apparently, I have sat down to write a full-length review. And on my laptop, too. Who the fuck am I?

Anyway, the book. The one that we’re here to talk about.

Annie Lane is dead, and she’s going to find out why. When she wakes up by the side of a lake with no memory of how she got there, she’s rescued by a group of outcasts who live in the town’s haunted house. Annie soon realises that, while people can see her and she can talk to them, and live like a person would, she’s actually dead. And she died on the side of that lake. Someone murdered her. And she’s going to find out who.

HERE LIES A VENGEFUL BITCH was my vengeful, grudge-holding, mean heart’s dream. Annie was a bad girl, and she wasn’t willing to back down. I’m so used to reading books featuring bad girls where they cave so easily to authority or really aren’t that bad. They’ll say they’re bad but they’ll flinch at the first sight of danger. So to see Annie so readily and easily willing to do whatever the hell it took to find answers was so refreshing. I also found her and Maura’s relationship so heartbreaking and I was truly rooting for Annie to get the answers she was looking for. I was also proud of myself because I guessed correctly who the murderer was at about fifty percent.

I don’t have many negatives at all, but I do feel like it took her a while to figure out she was dead and then a while for the hunt for vengeance to start. This didn’t happen until at least fifty percent. I didn’t feel like it necessarily hindered the book, but I did feel like since the whole book is about her being dead and her getting vengeance, we could have been introduced to this a little bit earlier. I also felt a little bit confused about the afterlife rules every so often, especially the Halloween event that felt more like plot convenience than an actual part of the worldbuilding. But again, it didn’t hinder it whatsoever, so it’s really more of a nitpick than an actual issue I had with the book.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this one and once I got going with reading it, I feel like I read it pretty quickly so I’d call that a win. I’ll definitely pick up Crowley’s next book.

Thank you, Netgalley, for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Have to say that this one was a neat twist on the whole murder mystery book. In which the story is told from the victim's point of view as her ghost. And her quest to make her killer pay.

Don't mess with the bad girl... especially if you killed her.

A fun YA paranormal horror/mystery that is equal parts crazy, funny and entertaining. Revenge is a bitch, her name is Annie Lane and she'll stop at nothing to find her killer.

A short and fast-paced YA story perfect for spooky season.

I’m considering this a rage read. I did finish it but I also kind of hated it.
Seriously, there wasn’t a single thing about this story that I liked. I disliked every character. Literally every single one. The dialogue was cringey and tried way too hard to be “cool” and funny.
I wasn’t intrigued by the mystery — didn’t care about what happened to Annie or Mora that night. Initially I thought that maybe this book would be Ok but just one that isn’t meant for me, but the more I read it, the more I questioned how anyone could like it.

You know what, there is one thing I liked— the title. Unfortunately the inside of the book doesn’t live up to the cover.

3-3.5 stars
I liked the concept of there being ghosts that could walk among us that appear normal but may have some “powers” or abilities like floating and mind control. I wish that was explored a bit more.

Loved the rag tag bunch of goofy misfits (found family trope) living together in the haunted house. Wish there was more content with them or a second book exploring their storylines.

I like that the main character was very self aware and not delusional. Her thoughts were valid and along the same lines as mine as I was reading and figuring things out.

I did predict who the killer was and what had happened to Maura/where she was. Still a good read. It was fast paced and made me laugh out loud at some parts and then make a disgusted face in others.

Overall a good, fast paced, unique and spooky read for Halloween time.

The premise of this book was intriguing to me and I enjoyed the campy vibes, but unfortunately, this was just not a book for me.
I think some readers will love this book, but it just didn't work for me.

This felt like a classic brought into 2024 and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. This felt like a classic brought into 2024 and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Annie can’t remember who killed her, but she’ll stop at nothing to figure it out and make them pay. Because girls like her don’t get justice unless they take it for themselves.

This book was everything I hoped for. It was weird, hilarious, swoony, and downright vengeful. I loved it! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put this down. Annie Lane was a character worth cheering for from start to finish. It was hard not to love her and see her get everything she ever wanted, even though she's no longer alive. Vengeful Bitch she is!!

Thanks, NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for this ARC!!

I was intrigued by the title and description because I love campy horror and female vengeance books.

Alas, I did not connect with this story. Unfortunately, it could've been a "just me" or not the right time. Right off the jump, the book felt a bit disjointed. As the reader, I felt like I had to connect a lot of what was going on, which took me out of the story.

As a Librarian, I think a reader out there will enjoy this story - it just wasn't for me.

This book was so much fun and definitely had me interested in where the story was gonna take us and the whodunnit aspect of the book. We get lots of female rage, revenge, and messy relationships. I loved Sam and his yee olde slang. He was one of my favorites and I liked Fern, the stylish queen she was. More development for the characters would've been good though because there were many side characters but I often got them confused despite being name dropped many times.

Our main character was messy as hell sometimes and I wouldn't call her likeable or anything but she's a hell of a good time to read! I felt for her a lot because people demonized her they way they often do pretty girls who don't take shit from people or put all their energy into being likeable for the pleasure of randos. That's what I really liked about her. She let people think as they pleased and did what made her happy not giving a damn. That's a great message to teens, especially teen girls who often twist themselves into knots for the sake of others who often don't even care about your well being.

As for the afterlife lore, it was intriguing and I wasn't expecting the hellhounds but it's a cool idea of having these creatures who hunt wayward spirits who shouldn't be there. I thought that was a cool idea and the fact they didn't know exactly what would happen to them if they got caught was a nice touch, because why would they know? It's not like they've been dead before. I was curious about their ghostly powers and how far those might go especially seeing Annie discover new things she could do as she got closer to her revenge.

As for the revenge, it didn't feel as gratifying as I thought it would be? I think that may have been the point though. There's always that one sage character in media who says "revenge won't make you feel better" and I don't believe it really was supposed to be gratifying the way we'd expect it to be if it was us. Yes, business got handled, but then it's on with your afterlife. You're glad she gets her lick back and the close call that came before that made the build up pretty tense. I like this new take on revenge though because she made friends and met a guy so she has something other than the revenge to hyperfixate on which I think is what leads to the tone we get after this goal is reached. His rationale also wasn't satisfying, but what makes it disturbing is how realistic it was. No spoilers here, so that's all I'll say on that but the revenge being the main driver of the story is interesting because I think this shows a different side of how one feels taking the long awaited revenge and we get to see her carry on and how life or the afterlife in this case forces you to keep moving regardless. Those are just my rambling thoughts.

Overall, I loved this book and had such a fun time reading it. I'm so glad I got to experience it and the audiobook was good as well. I'm a horror fan so this story hit for me even when I was confused on what she was at first but the ghost vs. ghoul thing makes more sense as the book goes on. I recommend it for a good time!

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC. All opinions are my own. Now, on to the review.

I was super disappointed and DNF’d this book. The premise sounds phenomenal and I dove right it. Triger warning for parental abuse further in the review. I don’t recall if there was a warning in the book itself.

Unfortunately the writing and delivery doesn’t offer what the premise promises.

First of all, it’s kind of obvious from the jump that the main character is a ghost/at least not alive. Which I thought was interesting. Maybe it would end up being like she haunts people, or whatever.

The rules were extremely unclear on how ghosts actually work. See, there are these other kids that she meets and ends up staying with. They’re living in this old house that’s basically off limits and considered haunted. Well, they’re trying to help her, I guess. And they’re all odd.

Here comes my first big, big, issue. The way one of the characters speaks. It’s so annoying. It isn’t cute. It’s like some mix of old dialects from previous decades. Like when people make movies and have anachronistic language and dialogue that makes no sense.

This character speaks like this the entire bit that I read. And it was annoying because I was sitting there having to reread and reread so many passages where he spoke. It wasn’t cute. I couldn’t stand when this character spoke. It gave me a headache.

Now, back to the weird ghost rules.

Like I said, she was dead, that was so easy to see. With what she was going through, there was no way she was alive. But she goes back to school to deal with her ex-boyfriend and people see her. They interact with her, her mother touches her. She gets dragged away by the arm.

But the group of kids that are obviously also ghosts? No one seems to really see them. Even when they’re right there. Even when the main character is looking at them and other people are looking where she is, they don’t seem to see them. But then she and the annoying character get food and he can eat and speak to people and be seen and heard. What are the rules?

Then there’s this ghost that is all charred up. I read kind of far into this book, not like 75% but still. And there was this charred ghost that seemed to have no real purpose other than to be scary to see and then be gone.

Look, if you enjoyed this book, good, I’m glad for you. Happy for you.

I couldn’t get into it. The writing, everything, the style and characters made me not want to keep reading. It took me months to try to get through it and I had to give up because I just couldn’t do it.

I can’t recommend this book because it was just infuriating to read. Which was a big bummer because I was so looking forward to it.

As for my star rating? 1 star. I couldn’t stand it.

The title, the cover, and the plot were very very promising. However, the actual reading experience was subpar for me, unfortunately. I couldn't really get into the story until the very latter part of the book. The 'reveal' and aftermath was enough to make me consider 3 stars, but then a piece still felt slightly unresolved by the very last sentence. So for me personally, it remained a 2 star read, or 2.5 to be more precise. The supernatural aspect didn't quite feel "realistic", and while all of it would entirely be fiction, I was still hoping for it to feel more believable and I do think there is a better way to do that. Having said that, I really appreciate the opportunity to receive this copy, so thank you for that!

I wasn’t able to finish this before the publishing date which sucks because I was so excited to read this.

As soon as I saw this available as an arc I knew I had to give it a go! I loved it. A thrilling read, fast paced.. will upload full review shortly 🙂

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book! I struggled a bit at first but then I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down! I love thrillers and this book gave me Pretty Little Lairs vibes! The story brought me straight into the world!