Pretty Dead Girls

When it comes to any true crime teen edition story, I always refer to Pretty Little Liars (PLL). With Sarah Shepard being a journalist in her early writing career, she had a talent for writing intriguing first lines and believable characters. After reading her entire PLL series, it was really hard picking up another teen noir book by a different author. It’s like having a substitute teacher; You’re just waiting for the real teacher to come back and enjoy class with. While reading Pretty Dead Girls, I had to remind myself that this is a different author with a different writing style. I’m so used to Sara Shepard’s writing that I find myself comparing new authors to her a lot. With that said, I will give Pretty Dead Girls my full attention without comparison. But, I might have some referrals for support. During the first few chapters, I got this Beverly Hills 90210vibe with all the characters being wealthy and beautiful. It’s like standard that anyone from south California is a beach babe or buff, even though that’s not always true. It’s crucial for authors to setup the tone and goal of their novel within the first 20 pages. That was definitely established with this novel. It set up the characters, their roles, and the incident that would propel all of them on a terrifying journey. I’m going to break my rule once just for this statement. This novel is like a combination of PLL and The Merciless by Danielle Vega. Why? Because it has the mystery and suspense of PLL and the sadistic thrill of The Merciless. With this novel, I had some moments where I enjoyed it and others where I cringed or rolled my eyes. I read teen books, I know what to expect: high school romance, drama, and stereotypes. My biggest issue with this novel was the vulgarity. I’m very old school about how teens should behave and talk to one another. I believe that there’s a reason for everything. If a teen character is overly confident in herself then she’s making up for an insecurity in her home or personal life. Or, if a teen character is consistently aggressive it’s because of his upbringing or environment. The characters in this story were a difficult to relate with. Maybe it’s because they are from a part of the country I’ve never been to, so I don’t know what the norm is over there. Penelope came across as two-faced. On the outside, she was miss-overachiever, but on the inside, she was fiendish. In a way, she was like Brooklyn from The Merciless III. There’s evil insider her that’s just waiting to come out. However, what I did like from this story was the writing style. Even though some of the descriptions were random or oddly placed, I enjoyed the wording. Monica Murphy knows how to capture people’s behavior and thoughts into words I wouldn’t know how to describe. She’s like a teen Pat Conroy. My only suggestion is to tone down the vulgar language, mostly because middle schoolers are also reading teen books. I will have to discover more of Monica Murphy’s novels and find the next Sara Shepard

#prettydeadgirls #MonicaMurphy