The dead come back to life again in Gail Giles’ Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters—but is the Jasmine (Jazz) Reynolds that returns really who she seems to be? Sunny Reynolds is only 14-years-old when her older sister is reported dead, killed by a fire that made her entire apartment complex in New York City go down in flames.
Sunny quickly becomes the only thing barely holding her family together. Most days, her mom is unable to do anything, including taking her anti-depressants, and her dad found that his way to bear the pain was avoiding being at home as much as possible. Bars where he can exist in a drunken, numbed state, become his home. This downward spiral had begun the day Jazz left for New York without warning, with big dreams of becoming an actress. News of her death, however, only escalated the situation. Her absence is crushing to the family, so when a mysterious letter arrives that promises her return, everyone but Sunny instantly improves.
The Jazz that Sunny knew is nothing like the one who everybody else saw. Years of being manipulated and ignored leaves Sunny hardened to her family, and just as expected, the instant Jazz just might be back, Sunny is cast aside, barely considered her parents’ daughter. But then, Jazz returns, and when she does, she’s different. With a different face and a different voice—the girl who comes home isn’t Jazz. But Sunny’s mom embraces her, welcomes her in. And this “Not-Jazz” seems to so much about their family. She makes jokes about their grandparents, brings up old memories, and she almost seems like Jazz, just in a different body.
The thriller is suspenseful throughout the entire book, uncertainty within each page. Every moment with “Not-Jazz” is tense. She might be sweeter than the real Jazz was, but something is off. Some of the characters’ decisions can be frustrating. For instance, none of the characters know if she’s dangerous. Yet she’s sleeping in Jazz’s room, being treated as the missing daughter. The plot also grew stagnant in certain parts, with no progress really being made toward the resolution.
Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters presented a fascinating premise in a dysfunctional family. The book was quickly wrapped up, and the unsatisfying ending may put a damper on the story. However, Giles delivers a chilling thriller that leaves readers captivated from start to finish.
