Hope is the “Sick Girl” suffering from cystic fibrosis that demands daily, routine care that is mainly provided by her overworked mother. The teenager is tired of her day-to-day life being overpowered by her mom’s constant babying and her best friend Ethan being both overprotective and dating another girl. On top of that, she’s worrying about how they’re going to afford her monthly medications, let alone college in a year.

Her life dramatically shifts when she receives a strange invitation from something called The Society promising her money if she’ll participate in a strange game centered around dares. While at first, it’s an invitation, she realizes after she starts to play that the game isn’t voluntary at all.

The thriller progresses as Hope and four other girls from different social circles play a dangerous game first in the hopes of money, then only of surviving while they all struggle to figure out who’s behind the entire situation.

Upon cracking open the book, my first impressions faltered. Instantly, the teenaged character Hope is clichéd. The opening lines read like any basic, youth fiction thriller novel, relying heavily on the first person narrator to tell us everything. The voice itself of the character is vaguely unnatural, teenager-from-a-can in style which leads to canned, forced conversations as the mother and sister Jenny are introduced.

Soon after, the required love interest is introduced along with the competing hotter, more popular, more wealthy other girl.

As the plot progresses, my original complaints still stand. Several of the elements, including the characters, their development, and especially the love interest Hope has are standard and unoriginal. However, the concept behind the plot, the basic concept that drives the novel is engaging. Without too much prodding, I could find myself surprised by the novel as I let it unfold.

Eventually, when the suspense is really developed, the scenes that could have packed the most impact are heavily underplayed and minimally depicted within the books, which for me, greatly undermined the build up; however, for younger readers just starting to dabble in the realm of suspense and thrill, it is a perfect buffer.

For young readers who want to avoid being exposed to really graphic scenes, language, or difficult texts; this novel can provide them with the thrill they want to read without the depth or fear of a more advanced thriller.

For more advanced or mature readers though, like Hope herself who learned some letters shouldn’t be opened, not all books should be either. If you’re interested in a thriller or mystery that does pack the punch I wished this book had, try Romeo by Elise Title for a sexually charged, serial killer based thriller/mystery or Shatter by Michael Robotham for a more psychological thriller.

Overall, Krys relied heavily on classic, overdone teenaged clichés and underplayed the dramatic, violent scenes that could have heightened the fear aspects of the novel and the portrayal of cystic fibrosis that could have provided a unique perspective to teenaged voices. I like the base idea, but would have preferred it written with a dramatically more developed set of characters that at the roots could have sprouted a more diverse and realistic set of relationships and voices within the book. Despite the complaints, the plot is interesting and a plenty satisfying quick read.

This book is set to go on sale November 8, 2016. Grab it right away for yourself, if you’re interested or, if you know a young reader who’s searching for good, but appropriate youth thrillers, purchase it for an upcoming holiday gift.

This book was reviewed based on an Advance Reader’s Copy, the final version of the book upon published may be different than what exactly was reviewed.

Dead Girls Society

Fiction

By Michelle Krys

304 pp. Delacorte Press. Paper, $17.99