Jessica will never forgive herself.
Five years ago, her brother and best friend were murdered. She found the bodies. The killer confessed. But what haunts her most from that night is that she ignored a call from her best friend.
Then the killer’s brother shows up at her door, insisting the wrong person went to prison.
And she’s about to find out…
Some truths are better left buried.
The Dead Girls Book Club series are stand-alones, interconnected by the characters that fans know and love. These twisty, domestic psychological thrillers can be read independently, and are perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, and Kiersten Modglin.
After reading and loving The Dead Girls Book Club just over a month ago, I knew I had to pick up Dead Girls First. This is the second book in the Dead Girls Book Club interconnected series, and while this story takes place at a different point in time, there are intersecting characters that connect both books. You can read this one as a standalone, but you’ll find it much more immersive if you read the first book beforehand, and you’ll have a few fun “a-ha” moments! Like book one, the pacing is relentless, and the story explores similar themes of grief, trauma, guilt, revenge, friendship, and healing. The mental health representation is even more pronounced in this book, as the FMC experiences intense survivor’s guilt, intrusive thoughts, and a fractured mind with hallucinations. There are also some great tropes—cold case mystery, wrongful conviction, amateur sleuthing, dark secrets, found family, and more!
This book is told from the first-person POV of Jessica Marquez. It begins with a dramatic prologue that shows you her fractured state of mind before jumping back three weeks to reveal how everything got to that point. Five years earlier, Jessica found her brother Marco and her best friend Theresa dead, and you can feel the guilt she carries after ignoring a phone call from Theresa on that fatal night. Every year on the anniversary of their deaths, she’s tried to visit the convicted killer in prison, but her requests are always denied. This year, though, she’s determined to get revenge. Without giving too much away, when a shocking event occurs, Jessica questions everything she’s believed for years and becomes a relentless amateur sleuth determined to uncover what really happened to Theresa and Marco. Along the way, she connects with Mandy and Sam from her trauma support group, who become unlikely allies. Their strong female friendship has some major found family vibes, but I did have to suspend my disbelief with how quickly they were willing to put themselves in danger and potentially face serious consequences for someone they barely knew.
Jessica is a complex, frustrating, and reckless character, but I admired her vigilante-style refusal to stop until she got to the truth. One of the most compelling parts of the story is Jessica’s ongoing conversations with Theresa. Theresa isn’t a ghost but a manifestation of Jessica’s grief and fractured mind, and there are some very emotional scenes between them. Again, I had to suspend my disbelief at how often she spoke to Theresa, especially in front of others, with such detailed conversations and during moments filled with action—it’s far-fetched but still very compelling!
The short chapters, many ending on mini cliff hangers, intense dialogue, and lots of action scenes make this extremely bingeable, especially with the audiobook being just over seven hours. In the second half, I had no idea where the story was heading, and Jessica is so unpredictable that a few of her actions completely shocked me. The ending is satisfying and gave me the same vibes as the original The Dead Girls Book Club—again, I recommend reading the books in order! I’ll be reading future books in this series and am curious which character will take center stage next!
If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers with mental health representation, strong female friendships, and fierce female leads, you’ll probably love this book and series! Zia is a really underrated gem of an author!
Narrator Performance
Dead Girls First is narrated by Dennice Cisneros. This was my first time listening to this narrator, and I was impressed by her emotional delivery and how expertly she paced the story.
Early in the book, Jessica is still consumed by what happened to her brother and best friend five years ago, and Cisneros does a great job portraying her as someone who’s haunted. You can hear the guilt and pain in Jessica’s voice as she struggles with nightmares and memories. One of the strongest parts of the narration is Jessica’s conversations with Theresa. Theresa appears like a ghost, but she’s a manifestation of Jessica’s grief and fractured mind, and their exchanges are narrated so vividly and are incredibly compelling. Cisneros gives Jessica a softer, more vulnerable tone when she speaks to Theresa, almost as if she’s talking to the only person who understands her and who she needs to hold onto.
She also does a great job giving distinct voices to the supporting characters, including a convincing Southern accent for Mandy and believable male voices for Detective Romney and Jessica’s elderly neighbor, Mr. Hendrix.
A major highlight of the narration is the intense race-against-time scenes when Jessica, her friends, and Joe travel to Bali searching for answers. Cisneros increases the urgency and intensity in her performance and narrates the action scenes with excellent pacing, making it almost impossible to stop listening. The final climactic scenes between Jessica and Audrey had me on edge, and Cisneros captures all their tension, anger, and desperation. While Jessica isn’t always the most likeable character because of some of the choices she makes, Cisneros’s portrayal highlights her vigilante-like need to uncover the truth. The final scenes involving the Dead Girls Book Club had a nostalgic vibe after reading the first book and were delivered in a way that captured the spirit of the series.
If you enjoy binge-worthy thrillers with complex characters, mental health representation, and badass female leads, I highly recommend both books in this series on audio!
Narrator Performance
Dead Girls First is narrated by Dennice Cisneros. This was my first time listening to this narrator, and I was impressed by her emotional delivery and how expertly she paced the story.
Early in the book, Jessica is still consumed by what happened to her brother and best friend five years ago, and Cisneros does a great job portraying her as someone who’s haunted. You can hear the guilt and pain in Jessica’s voice as she struggles with nightmares and memories. One of the strongest parts of the narration is Jessica’s conversations with Theresa. Theresa appears like a ghost, but she’s a manifestation of Jessica’s grief and fractured mind, and their exchanges are narrated so vividly and are incredibly compelling. Cisneros gives Jessica a softer, more vulnerable tone when she speaks to Theresa, almost as if she’s talking to the only person who understands her and who she needs to hold onto.
She also does a great job giving distinct voices to the supporting characters, including a convincing Southern accent for Mandy and believable male voices for Detective Romney and Jessica’s elderly neighbor, Mr. Hendrix.
A major highlight of the narration is the intense race-against-time scenes when Jessica, her friends, and Joe travel to Bali searching for answers. Cisneros increases the urgency and intensity in her performance and narrates the action scenes with excellent pacing, making it almost impossible to stop listening. The final climactic scenes between Jessica and Audrey had me on edge, and Cisneros captures all their tension, anger, and desperation. While Jessica isn’t always the most likeable character because of some of the choices she makes, Cisneros’s portrayal highlights her vigilante-like need to uncover the truth. The final scenes involving the Dead Girls Book Club had a nostalgic vibe after reading the first book and were delivered in a way that captured the spirit of the series.
If you enjoy binge-worthy thrillers with complex characters, mental health representation, and badass female leads, I highly recommend both books in this series on audio!
Dead Girls First is narrated by Dennice Cisneros. This was my first time listening to this narrator, and I was impressed by her emotional delivery and how expertly she paced the story.
Early in the book, Jessica is still consumed by what happened to her brother and best friend five years ago, and Cisneros does a great job portraying her as someone who’s haunted. You can hear the guilt and pain in Jessica’s voice as she struggles with nightmares and memories. One of the strongest parts of the narration is Jessica’s conversations with Theresa. Theresa appears like a ghost, but she’s a manifestation of Jessica’s grief and fractured mind, and their exchanges are narrated so vividly and are incredibly compelling. Cisneros gives Jessica a softer, more vulnerable tone when she speaks to Theresa, almost as if she’s talking to the only person who understands her and who she needs to hold onto.
She also does a great job giving distinct voices to the supporting characters, including a convincing Southern accent for Mandy and believable male voices for Detective Romney and Jessica’s elderly neighbor, Mr. Hendrix.
A major highlight of the narration is the intense race-against-time scenes when Jessica, her friends, and Joe travel to Bali searching for answers. Cisneros increases the urgency and intensity in her performance and narrates the action scenes with excellent pacing, making it almost impossible to stop listening. The final climactic scenes between Jessica and Audrey had me on edge, and Cisneros captures all their tension, anger, and desperation. While Jessica isn’t always the most likeable character because of some of the choices she makes, Cisneros’s portrayal highlights her vigilante-like need to uncover the truth. The final scenes involving the Dead Girls Book Club had a nostalgic vibe after reading the first book and were delivered in a way that captured the spirit of the series.
If you enjoy binge-worthy thrillers with complex characters, mental health representation, and badass female leads, I highly recommend both books in this series on audio!
