Reviews

Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard

milkteaser's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

2.5

i don’t know how much suspending my belief can take. the whole plot was ridiculous

i didn’t particularly care for maude or frankie. the writing style was too juvenile for my taste.

lxmns's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A really interesting and intense story, however I thought the main characters seemed really messed up at times, yet it wasn't ever addressed, which pulled me out of the story.

Also, I get that Maude and Frankie weren't blood relatives, however they were step-cousins, so the romance between them felt kind of weird at times. Honestly, I wouldn't ever look at my step-cousins that way (yes I do have step-cousins, so I know what it's like a little bit)

kara_f33's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

notmaiareading's review

3.0

This book was okay, it was an interesting premise but I feel it could have been executed better with more. 

janagaton's review

3.0

As expected, Wendy Heard's other book, She's Too Pretty to Burn is far superior. I liked some of the discussions in this book, as well as the sapphic & non-binary rep, but the overall storyline felt too stale for my liking. Maybe it's because I read Hello Girls by Britney Cavallaro & Emily Henry a couple years ago, which had a similar plot. My favorite part was the reason Frankie wanted to fake death and the twist that came with that. Otherwise, it was an okay YA book about two girls running away together.

makshea21's review

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

zoes_human's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

itputsthebookupontheshelf's review

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little different than I expected, but in all the right ways.

I loved the way the story takes multiple turns and goes into so much crazy detail of what happens along the way. I didn't see a lot of that coming, but it added so much to the story.

The characters were great! Maude and Frankie go through so much just to get away from families that don't give two sh*ts about them. They want a meaningful life, not one lived for others. They teach eachotger a lot, about themselves and each other. The relationship that blooms between them is something neither of them expected, but everything they both needed.

Loved it! I will definitely be checking out the authors other works.

*Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for a #gifted copy of this title.

ella94's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ghq's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I found this book really fun and heartwarming. My main issues are that some of the choices the characters make don't line up with their personality, so it made some of the situations hard to believe. I also feel like this book could've explored themes such as internalized homophobia, classism, etc. in a much more nuanced way.