Oct17

Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

by Christy on October 17th, 2012
Posted In: Uncategorized


Title: Death and the Girl Next Door
Author: Darynda Jones
Published: October 2, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Series: Darklight, #1
Source: Publisher for review

Purchase from Amazon

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?

Let me start off my saying that I’ve read the first book in Darynda’s Charley Davidson series and loved it, so I was excited to read her new young adult book.  If you are at all familiar with Darynda’s writing, then you know her books are full of witty, fun characters.  Death and the Girl Next Door is no different.  I enjoyed this book a lot!

The characters in Death and the Girl Next Door are absolutely great, and they are what really makes this book.  Lorelei, a sophomore in high school, lives with her grandparents after her parents disappeared when she was ten.  She’s short, smart, and funny!  She loves her two best friends, Brooke and Glitch.  Seriously, these three are a riot.   What I also love about the friendship, is that they are all in on what’s going on together.  Lorelei doesn’t try to hide what is happening from them; they all face it head on, even if it means ditching school.  Then there are the two mysterious, hot boys.  Cameron and Jared.  Don’t worry, a love-triangle is not included.

The premise of DatGN is really interesting, but I don’t want to give too many specifics.   Lorelei may not have long to live, because Death is coming for her.  She suddenly has two bad boys showing interest in her; one completely mesmerizing, and one is being totally creepy.  When unexplainable weird things start happening, she knows there is more to them than she could ever imagine.  Death may have met his match.

As much as I loved this book, though, there were a few things that bothered me.  They are somewhat minor, like a small inconsistency.  However, the overall genuinely good feeling of the book far outweighs any complaints I have.  Death and the Girl Next Door is definitely a book worth reading, and is a great start to a new series.  I can’t wait to read the second book, Death, Doom, and Detention.

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