Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.
So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls 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.
5 STARS
I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I fell in love with this book!! If I round up all the elements I am currently interested in and have been looking for in other books to read, Undead Girl Gang ticks off each box. What I was personally excited to see this book had in terms of diversity and themes were: fat, Wiccan practicing characters, girl friendships, and dark humor. Other diversities include a Mexican fat main character and a black fat side character. This book was Heather's meets Veronica Mars meets Charmed and I was incredibly here for it, considering all three of those are definitely in my top favorites.
Our main character, Mila, was my favorite out of all of the characters. The rest of the characters could be borderline unlikable for a good portion of the book but I think Mila was an easily likeable character for me. Her dark humor, loyalty to her best friend, and her perspective on the events that happened to her within the story were all ones I could either relate to or get behind. Her best friend, Riley, was one I didn't like as much. Before we meet Riley, Mila hypes her up as this really great best friend who is this incredibly cool outspoken witch. But instead the person we meet is kind of annoyingly grumpy and stand offish for most of the story. I wanted to see more of their friendship and more of why Mila loved Riley instead of Mila telling us how great it was before she died. I really enjoyed the character arcs for both June and Dayton. They are introduced as these mean girl bullies who made Riley and Mila's lives hell in school and we see them grow and learn even after their deaths. I really loved how the girls became close as a group but also the friendship that forms between Mila and Dayton, I found it incredibly sweet. I know I mentioned the characters (other than Mila) were a bit unlikable for a good chunk of time, but I never hated them and I always wanted them to succeed in their mission. I think I liked them more as the story progressed but I almost always liked them more together than individually. Out of the characters, the one character I wish we got more of is Aniyah. I know that Mila tended to be cold and distant towards people that weren't Riley because it was a defense mechanism to not let anyone in or hurt her, but Aniyah seemed to get the shit end of the stick sometimes. Despite trying to be support for Mila, someone who for as far as Aniyah knows, has lost her best friend, she never gives up on trying to be a decent person and check in on Mila.
The plot itself is a mystery, because the three dead girls, Dayton, June, and Riley, are trying to figure out who killed them in the seven days they have "visiting" Mila. I have to admit that I guessed the killer early on, but honestly wasn't sure if I was right until it was revealed. So I am not sure if it was pure luck or if I saw some clues without realizing and made it out but was hesitant about my crime solving skills. Either way, I hate realizing who is the killer before it's revealed. Sure, it's a bit of an ego boost, but mystery plots are one of the only times I actually like being surprised. It is way more fun. However, I didn't know the why/how etc so I was happy to be surprised in that regard. Like I said earlier, I really enjoyed the forming friendship between the girls and I enjoyed seeing June and Dayton dabble a little in Wicca/witchcraft to figure out who is their killer.
Personally, I think I should mention I listened to this on audiobook while reading along (and swapping back and forth from listening to physically reading my library copy). As I keep enjoying audiobooks I am coming to the conclusion that reading books while listening to the audiobook enhances the story for me a lot. Especially if the narrator is a good one and I think the audiobook was definitely in the category of a good one. I think listening to audiobooks, at least for me, makes me love the story more or at least enjoy it more. The narrator for Undead Girl Gang, Rebecca Soler, did a fantastic job with acting out the story. I felt the sass, anger, angst, and all other emotions in her voice as she read the dialogue and narration which easily made me enjoy the story even more.
I really enjoyed Lily Anderson's writing. So much so that I am interested in checking out her other books because they sound really good too! I think this is definitely the one that is right up my ally but I am also really interested in her book The Only Worst Thing Than Me Is You. I really loved the dialogue. Mila has this dark humor that I really related to and I really loved her crush on Riley's brother Xander. I think a lot of the time fat characters don't talk enough about lust and sex because fat bodies are seen as unattractive, but Mila is pining for this boy. I think fat girls talking about sexual tension/drive/desire is something that needs to be normalized more and this book certainly does that. I also though that the gore that was described in the book, although not incredibly intense, made me feel a little gross. In a good way and a way that the author definitely wants from her audience. Because the girls are 2-3 weeks dead by the end of the story the bodies don't stay in the best shape and it's described in the grossest ways. I loved it.
I was very interested in both Mila and Riley practicing Wicca because it is something I have been reading up on and learning about. I really enjoyed how it was discussed in this story and I honestly want more of Mila and Riley practicing. I am a huge character driven story. Nothing could happen and I'd still read the book if the characters are interesting enough! And I'd easily love a story about how Riley got Mila into it, more backstory on their family dynamics because both Riley and Mila's family do not approve, and their relationship with Toby, the older woman who owns a Wiccan shop that they frequent.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. Although I'm so glad I read it I almost wish I read it closer to Halloween because I think it would have been a really good lighter Halloween read! I think2018 is just the year that I see myself in a lot of characters because when it came to the fat reputation in Mila's case particularly I saw so much in her. She is always envious of Aniyah's sense of style as another fat girl, and I could really relate to that because I see so many gorgeous fat women rocking amazing outfits but you'll find me in the same outfits because clothing is way too expensive. So it was small moments like that where I really related to Mila.
If you've read Undead Girl Gang, I'd love to talk about it.
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