Saturday, January 12, 2013

Book Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones



Death and the Girl Next Door

by Darynda Jones
Series: Darklight #1
Release date: 2nd October, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 274 (paperback copy bought by me)
Summary from Goodreads:

Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.

Review By Alaiel Kreuz:

If you have already read Darynda's Charlie Davidson series then you already know how awesome she is and how fun her characters are. And if you haven't, huh, let me ask you: Why?!

When I heard that she was writing a YA book I couldn't help but squee of happiness. And then I bought it as soon as I could to add it to my always growing TBR pile. And I finally got to read it. And loved it.

For starters, our main character, Lorelei is a strong girl that has had her share of suffering. For the last ten years her parents have been missing and although her life with her grandparents is amazing she wishes for them to come back. And with the anniversary of their disappearance approaching she just wants to lay low and keep it together.
Luckily for her she's got the two coolest best friends anyone could ask for. Brooke and Glitch are her sidekicks and she just knows that no matter what they've got her back.

I'm a sucker for romance but when strong loyalty also appears in a story then the author has probably won my heart already. But if then you add funny/clever/my-stomach-hurts-after-laughing-so-much dialogues then girl, I'm in love with you.

Then of course we have two amazingly hot and full of testosterone guys that become Lorelei's shadow. And if you are as tired as I am of love triangles you probably just flinched, right? I know I did. But no worries here, it doesn't happen at all :]
As for the hot guys, there is Jared, the guy that Lorelei accidentally touched at the coffee shop and triggers a vision in her mind where he is fighting against a huge monster. Visions are not new to her as she can, sometimes, see the past or even the future. But monsters? That's definitely a new one.
But when she tries to warn him he is gone. And yet she can't get him out of her mind and fears that she won't see him again... until he happens to be a new student in her high school. Instantly attracted to him she is dying to know who is he but they are quickly interrupted by Cameron, aka her personal stalker and the school's official loner, who claims it (Jared) is dangerous and shouldn't be trusted.

From there the plot develops in a series of events that will leave you with a bunch of questions popping in your head, some of those being: Who are Jared and Cameron? What do they want from Lorelei? How did Jared bring back Lorelei after she died?
I was so eager for answers that I enjoyed every second of the ride. And what a ride! It's obvious that there is some kind of past between Jared and Cameron as they use any situation to start throwing punches and kicks at each other.

By the end of the book we do reach some answers... that lead to new questions. Because the ending will make you want to know what is going to happen next pronto. I think this is what I liked best about DATGND, at first it seems like a interesting and funny YA book but by the end of it a more promising and exciting series begins to unravel.

Alaiel's Rating:


If you really liked it, you can order it here:

You can find Darynda Jones here:

7 comments:

  1. I don't have this book but it sounds so fun that I have to buy it soon. And I'm intrigued by that ending!
    BTW, I'm so happy there's no love triangle... phew!
    Great review!

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  2. thanks so much for the great review! i am a charley fan, but not a big YA fan...but i think i will check out daryndas YA series now :) ty!

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  3. Great Review! This is one of my favorite books! I'm dying to get my hands on book 2! :-)

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  4. Great review, I too enjoyed this book very much and like you finished this book wanting to know what's next. (ASAP!) :) I have a feeling the next books will get better and better as we get deeper into this story. I can't wait!

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  5. Awesome review. I really enjoyed this book.

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  6. What a terrific review of DGND! I dont read a lot of YA books but Mrs. Jones put together a YA book with a ton of excitement and teenage crushes that it was hard to put down! Im looking forward to the second book in this new series and cant wait to see what happens next!

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  7. Thank you all for your comments :D I can't wait to read the second book either!!!

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