Sunday, July 18, 2010

Bad Girls Don't Die, A Review


The cover caught my attention in the bookstore but it was a little line on the back that made me buy it. "Fans of classic young adult ghost stories should welcome this solid offering." As a big fan of the old young adult ghost stories I was definitely intrigued. And it actually does read like and old Point Horror novel.

Our heroine is the feisty Alexis, a girl who speaks her mind, dyes her hair pink, and has a grudge with the cheerleaders for chasing her only friend away. At fifteen she's pretty lonely. She hangs out with the Goth kids at school because no one else will hang out with her, but she doesn't really like them. She hides her loneliness by focusing on her photography.

At the start of the book she's trying to get a good shot of her historic home with the moon behind it at three in the morning. Her younger sister comes out to see what she's up to. While out there they both witness a strange light floating near a tree. Alexis ushers her sister Kasey into the house but notices the light seemed to follow them.

The next night Alexis finds Kasey hiding in the basement and the girl insists Alexis tell her a story. Kasey is thirteen and obsessed with dolls, acting much younger than her age. Alexis humors her with a story that comes to her all too easily and with striking clarity. After that strange night she notices changes in Kasey's behavior. More childish, moody, using old fashioned language, and most startling the color of her eyes changing from blue to green.

Alexis tries to rationalize the strange instances and keep herself preoccupied with her photography, but then her father ends up in the hospital, and it becomes clear Kasey's planning something horrible. She finds unlikely love interest in the preppy class vice-president Carter, and a friend in her nemessis, the head cheerleader Megan.

The characters are very believable and three dimensional. There's more to Carter and Megan than what meets the eye. The story is pretty much a typical ghost story but Alexis is a very witty narrator and makes you want to read more about her. The ending was cleaned up a little too neatly but it is a first novel so I can forgive that. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the old ghost stories. ^_^

3 comments:

Katie Alender said...

Hi, Deathycat! Thanks for the review! I'm inclined to agree with you about the ending... since I had to undo it all when my publisher decided to turn the book into a series. (But I found some loose strings hiding in there after all.)

If you ever enact my book with Bratz dolls, you will probably hear me squee across the internet.

:-)

Deathycat said...

Of all people I never expected you to comment. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait for the sequel. ^_^ A Bratz doll reenactment could well be in the works. ^_-

Sadako said...

Haven't read this but it looks really awesome. Love the cover, too.