Dead End Girls, Wendy Heard
Dead End Girls, Wendy Heard
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Dead End Girls

Author: Wendy Heard

Narrator: Natalie Naudus, Taylor Meskimen

Unabridged: 8 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/10/2022

Synopsis

Determined to escape suffocating expectations and menacing families, two desperate teens fake their own deaths in this queer contemporary thriller perfect for fans of The Twin and Five Survive.​

In one week, Maude will be dead. At least, that’s what she wants everyone to think. After years of research, Maude has decided to fake her own death. She’s figured out the how, the when, the where, and who will help her unsuspectingly. The why is complex: revenge, partly. Her terrible parents deserve this. But there’s also 'l’appel du vide,' the call of the void, that beckons her toward a new life where she will be tied to no one, free and adrift. Then Frankie, a step-cousin she barely knows, figures out what she’s plotting, and the plan seems like it’s ruined. Except Frankie doesn’t want to rat her out. Frankie wants in.

The girls vault into the unknown, risking everything for a new and limitless life. But there are some things you can never run away from. What if the poison is not in the soil, but in the roots? This pulse-pounding thriller offers a nuanced exploration of identity, freedom, and falling in love while your world falls apart.

"A clever page-turner that I couldn’t put down."—Natasha Preston, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author​

A YALSA Amazing Audiobook for Young Adults
A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A Rainbow Book List Selection

About Wendy Heard

Wendy Heard was born in San Francisco and has lived most of her life in Los Angeles. When not writing, she can be found hiking the Griffith Park trails, taking the Metro and then questioning this decision, and haunting local bookstores.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Claude's on June 11, 2022

Hi Disbelief Hey Claude, how are you going? I'm okay. You, however, have a problem coming your way. Oh no! What's happening? You're being suspended Not again! Seriously, the plot is so preposterous at points it's crazy. I found Maude to be quite unlikeable but I really enjoyed Frankie's character and thei......more

Goodreads review by Anne on March 22, 2022

If you are a big fan of Wendy Heard like I am, you will absolutely love this book! Told from two perspectives, the novel focuses on Maude and Frankie, young girls who are unhappy with their lives and are desperate to get away and build better futures for themselves. Maude is savvy and street-smart s......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on July 01, 2022

What a ride! This is a fast-paced sapphic thriller about two teenage girls who fake their own deaths to escape their family situations, and I devoured it in a day. Highly recommend if you enjoy a somewhat morally gray heroine and lots of high stakes shenanigans!......more

Goodreads review by Toya (thereadingchemist) on June 24, 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed She’s Too Pretty to Burn, so I had really high expectations of Dead End Girls. That being said, this book just didn’t hit the way that I wanted it to. What Heard does well in this book is really capture the essence of two desperate teen girls who will do anything to get out of t......more

Goodreads review by Rowan's Bookshelf (Carleigh) on July 18, 2022

Kind of fun thriller, kind of annoying characters that get into not-that-interesting situations because Frankie is literally the most oblivious person on Earth. Frankie's reasoning for wanting to be dead is at least understandable in a teenager-way. Unfortunately she thinks nothing through, trusts e......more

Quotes

Praise for Dead End Girls:

"What a wild runaway ride! Maude’s sharp mind and intricate death plan was brilliant. I was rooting for her and Frankie the whole time. A clever page-turner that I couldn’t put down."—Natasha Preston, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

“This fun, dark, fully queer thriller embraces its premise without pulling any punches. A romantic thriller that takes “Be Gay, Do Crime” to heart.”

 —Kirkus Reviews

“Utterly addictive. Dead End Girls is a riveting, holds-no-punches thriller with the deeply relatable adolescent hunger for escape and reinvention at its core.”—Kit Frick, author of I Killed Zoe Spanos and Very Bad People

“Wendy Heard writes smart, edgy thrillers that often explore LGBTQ and coming-of-age themes, and Dead End Girls promises to continue that reputation. In what feels like the lesbian version of Cruel Intentions I always wanted (I mean, who even remembers Ryan Phillippe these days), two stepcousins become obsessed with each other—and with faking their own deaths.”—Crime Reads

"Freedom, identity, and unexpected love collide in a pulse-pounding thrill ride."—Mindy McGinnis, Edgar Award-winning author of The Female of the Species

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