Audiobook Review: Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Title: Undead Girl Gang Written by: Lily Anderson Published: May 8, 2018 by Razorbill (Penguin Group) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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..

This book sounded totally up my alley, a little bit fantasy mixed with a little bit of mystery. On top of that I read Anderson's debut and really liked it. So this was definitely on my TBR and when I saw that the audiobook was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Rebecca Soler, I grabbed the audio to listen to this month. And I am so glad that I did because it was fantastic.

One of my favorite things about this book was the voice. Anderson does such a great job writing sassy and smart characters and this book was no exception. I really loved Mila and being in her head. She's sarcastic and snarky, someone who has been shaped by the bad way people have treated her. But she's still got a great heart and is an amazing friend. I think I definitely to Mila a lot. She's a little bit of high school Cassi, but like a better version of high school me. But that being said she was relatable and likable.

The real heart of this book however was the friendships between Mila and her "undead girl gang." Riley, who is her best friend and the reason she brought everyone back. Riley is the most like Mila in that she's snarky and rough around the edges. But they have this really great friendship. They care so much about each other and I could feel for Mila when she lost Riley and her desire to bring her back. But I think I liked the other two a little bit more. June and Dayton are totally different characters. They were the popular girls and not very nice to Mila and Riley while they were alive. However throughout the book you get to learn more about them and realize they are actually really nice people. Dayton is silly and energetic and June is sweet and smart. I loved the friendship they developed throughout the book and it was really nice to see that they could overcome their history. It gave this book a lot of heart and I really enjoyed that.

The other thing that I liked about this book was the plot. Like I said in the intro, it was part fantasty and part mystery. I think I heard that this book was marketed as Veronica Mars meets The Craft and I would say that that is an apt description. There was a subtle magical element to it. What I liked is that the magical stuff wasn't over the top. It very easily could have gotten weird but it didn't. It was kind of a means to an end. The end being the mystery. This book had a really good mystery. It was the kind of mystery that I love in that it was solvable but not obvious. I mean, I thought it was a little obvious but over the years I have gotten really good at spotting red herrings so I can move on to the real culprit. Either way, I liked following along with the characters as the truth unfolded. It was a fast and engaging read that had me engaged from beginning to end.

I really loved this book. It was a great contemporary that had just enough mystery and fantasy for someone like me who doesn't read a ton of contemp, and just enough friendship and character-based moments for fans of more contemporary stories. Not to mention that Rebecca Soler did a great job with the audiobook. She really brought these characters to life and kept me interested throughout the entire thing.

I give Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. This book was really fantastic. I definitely recommend it to fans of YA Mysteries in the vein of Veronica Mars. It's the perfect blend of plot and character moments. You should definitely read it.

Have you read Undead Girl Gang? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!