Book: Girls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington
Reviewed by Deb.Reads.Books
Girls Who Play Dead is a high school thriller, surrounding the murder of Prophet Lake’s it-girl, Erin. Kyla Graves is Erin’s best friend, the duck to Erin’s goose. They were inseparable. Mikky, Kyla’s brother, returns to his hometown to finish high school after moving away with his mother, in order to be there for his sister. Mikky is determined to find out what happened to Erin, in order to protect his sister. This thriller took many twist and turns through the story of teenage viciousness, romance, the cutthroat beauty industry, and what lengths one will go to protect their family.
Girls Who Play Dead was fantastic. It stands out with its dark themes, considering it’s a young adult novel. The book started out pretty slowly, but once it picked up, I realized that the build up really did lay the ground for a lot of the twists and turns. I could not put this book down once I got half way. The ending was unexpected, and I felt that Joelle Wellington did a fantastic job tying everything together. It’s written in duel POV between Mikky & Kyla. Mikky (Kyla’s brother) is the standout character in this book. He never lost faith in Kyla and fought his own demons (anxiety & depression) to be there for her. The rest of the lead characters - they toe that line of good vs. evil, but they all have their reasons. Everyone handles grief differently, & while everyone’s motives weren’t fully altruistic, they weren’t all bad either. Even Erin isn’t the diabolical dead girl that you want her to be. I also loved the BIPOC, queer, & non-binary rep in this story. Girls Who Play Dead is worth the slow burn beginning for an edge of your seat till the last page ending.