The Girl Who Would Not Stay Dead by Stephen Simpson is a Young Adult Horror Novel that follows Delaney Quinn, a meticulous teenager whose life is defined by order and checklists until she goes on a school expedition to the Amazon.

During the trip, she is scratched by a mysterious plant known in folklore as the Viper’s Kiss, which grants her unnatural healing abilities.

Upon her return to England, her teacher Mr. Newman—who views the plant’s influence as a dangerous contamination—murders her to prevent the spread of what he perceives as a disease.

However, the plant’s power allows Delaney to undergo a supernatural resurrection, clawing her way out of her own grave weeks after her funeral.

She is met by Rory, a mysterious figure who has been monitoring her and reveals the existence of a secret lineage of people changed by the vine.

The story concludes with Delaney accepting that her old, structured life is over as she begins to navigate her new existence as someone who has walked backward from the grave.