ARC Review // The Secret Dead Club

Wednesday Thomas sees ghosts. But that doesn’t mean she has to talk to them.

After a terrifying experience in an Arizona state park with a wicked ghost, Wednesday and her mother Olivia sell their RV and move back south to the family home in Alton, Georgia. Wednesday’s determined not to use her gift anymore—until she meets a group of girls who also know about the spirit realm.

There’s free-spirited Miki Okada and Southern belle Danni-Lynn Porter who seem to know about the ghosts who roam the school’s hallways, popular girl Alexa Scott who tells Wednesday to stay away from Miki and Danni-Lynn and not draw attention to herself, and mysterious neighbor Violet Delgado who died last year but still haunts the house across the street. Wednesday feels these girls have some kind of shared history, but it isn’t until Miki gives her an official invitation to the Dead Club that she starts to understand there’s a lot more going on with the ghosts in Alton and the girls who can see them.

And when another malevolent ghost threatens to harm Wednesday, it will take the help of new friends both living and dead to save her and banish the evil being to the spirit realm where it belongs.

The Secret Dead Club has all the makings of a great spooky read. It has a reluctant hero, a diverse friendship group, and a mission to stop a wicked ghost. The history behind Wednesday's family house is perfectly gruesome which works for middle-grade readers. It just took too long to get into this story. 

At the 30% mark, I was still unsure if I would enjoy this by the end. The whole thing with Wednesday calling her mom Olivia was strange. How the story introduces lodestars (a gift that helps mediums escape wicked ghosts) as a memory didn't really work. There could have been an interesting connection with Wednesday and the Callahan ghost throughout the story but he only appeared at the end. The friendship dynamic was okay. The reasoning behind forming the Dead Club brings that emotional pull into the story but I didn't quite care for the members. Danni-Lynn's dad is going to jail but nothing happens with that storyline. Miki was a little too much. I can understand her motivations and hard-headedness but that didn't make me like her. Alexa was actually the most interesting side character but we hardly got to see her. I feel like there should have been more interactions with ghosts and a better way for Wednesday to form these new friendships. The pacing overall felt off to me as well.

I did like how Violet, the dead ghost from across the street, created an emotional and memorable ending to the story. She was what brought everyone together. Overall, I think The Secret Dead Club had a lot of potential but there were a little too many missed opportunities. However, I can see how readers who prefer stories with friendship drama and some supernatural elements would enjoy this. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with a copy of The Secret Dead Club in exchange for an honest review. The Secret Dead Club will be published on August 20th, 2024.