“A fun, fast read…it will resonate with readers who dabble in any sort of arts, dark or otherwise.” –NPR.org“With a singular and hilariously cutting teen voice, UNDEAD GIRL GANG is sure to be one of the most talked-about YA novels of the year.” –BookPageVeronica Mars meets The Craft when a teen girl investigates the suspicious deaths of three classmates and accidentally ends up bringing them … classmates and accidentally ends up bringing them back to life to form a hilariously unlikely–and unwilling–vigilante girl gang.
Meet teenage Wiccan Mila Flores, who truly could not care less what you think about her Doc Martens, her attitude, or her weight because she knows that, no matter what, her BFF Riley is right by her side. So when Riley and Fairmont Academy mean girls June Phelan-Park and Dayton Nesseth die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.
Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders. But they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.
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I really enjoyed this! I’m so excited to own it for my own collection. Definitely suggest this book for anyone!
receivedan advanced copy
Undead Girl Gang is such a fantastic novel, and part of what makes it excellent is the representation in the novel. Mila is not just some narrator; she is – as she puts it – a fat Mexican witch. However, what she is as well is sensational! Mila is an incredible and vibrant character who seeks to discover who killed her best friend, as well as two other girls at school. She has such a strong sense of confidence, not giving a crap about what other people think of her, showing that beauty and strength come from the inside, come from confidence and not giving a crap about what other people think. That is not only a breath of fresh air as far as female narratives go but also such an empowering journey for the reader to follow. Sure, there are times when her confidence falters, but her wit and strength keeps her from falling into a pit of self-loathing.
The novel is all about finding strength in sorrow, in each other and not needing a man. Of course, that is not what the novel is really about, but the fact that that lines the outer edges of the story is why the story is so compelling. The girls in the novel lived in a way that was detrimental to their self-worth, and together, even in death, they confronted those stereotypes and challenged them, they found unity together. In a way, this is a novel about girl power, but it is also a novel that looks at how people deal with grief. No one handles grief in the same way. Mila is no different. Moreover, the way Anderson combines the sadness with the humor makes the novel brilliant. It flows and has a compelling, realistic component to it that draws the reader into the plot.
While it does have those stereotypes in the novel regarding the mean girls, the novel strips away at those to build character and flush out the mystery of the novel. Nothing is ever just black and white, and the novel showcases that. It allows the characters to grow while also building up this mystery of who killed these girls, a revelation that takes everyone – readers and characters – by, surprise.
It is a fast and easy read with marvelous character development and growth to keep the story entertaining until the bittersweet end.
Seems like I’m in the minority here, but I was pretty underwhelmed by Undead Girl Gang. Maybe it’s because it’s Lily Anderson so I had higher expectations? The writing itself was fine, but the characters and the plot were just…blah. Mila goes on and on about her deep friendship bond with Riley, but when the two of them interacted, I didn’t get that at all. All of the adults in this story were clueless, cruel and/or irresponsible, especially Mila’s parents (whom we see very little of, but DANG). All the girls in the “gang” seemed perpetually annoyed by everything under the sun, and while there were a few funny sections and moments of levity, mostly it all just grated on my nerves. The mystery started out well but then kind of forked into two directions, one of which was a complete fizzle to nothing, and one of which jumped the shark to eyeroll level.
TL;DR: I really really really wanted to like this book – Lily Anderson and witchcraft? Sign me up! Unfortunately, it really fell flat for me.
I received this ebook from First to Read.
When I first saw this in my email I freaked out big time.
Undead Girl Gang feeds my snarky witch feels.
Love and loss, friendships and enemies, & zombies and witches.
Just amazing.. the mix of comedy and mystery is perfect.
Iconic pop culture gold.