Bad Girls Don't Die Review

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Published: April 21st, 2009 by Disney-Hyperion Books
Genre: Young Adult Thriller / Paranormal / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy methinks
Page Count: 346 in my hardcover copy.
Is this part of a series? Yes! According to Katie's website, it is the first book of three.

Summary (from goodreads): Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening - to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey - but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Review: I LOVED this book!! Katie Alender's writing is addicting to the nth and the characters are relateable and just plain awesomeness. I seriously started reading, looked up and was on page 186. By page 206, my notes became "Why must it end???" With that amount of question marks, too. While writing this review, I initially wrote something along the lines of "the most awesome ever" and then tweeted that I could not put that in a review. Jordyn told me I should, so blame her for the fangirling. :P

Plot: One of these days I'll just cut this out entirely. I really dislike writing about plot, it's freaking hard for me. Anyways, like I said, I started reading and lost track of time completely, so the plot doesn't drag in the least. It's not too scary, either. It's not dull in the least, but it's not oh-my-god-throw-the-book-at-the-phone-if-it-rings scary (it's happened). More spooky that scary, which is a good thing because I'm a wimp, especially when it comes to ghosts! There was this one part, though. It's actually in the trailer and I got a little nervous. Because I'm a total wimp and the end of the trailor nearly gives me a heart attack everytime I watch it. Which has been like three or four times now.

Characters: I loved Alexis. Her voice is so relateable and honestly, reminds me of the way I talk. Only, you know, better written. She's just so real. And she has pink hair! As long as she didn't use Manic Panic, we're cool. (I'm a total Special Effects girl. Well, except that one time I used Kool-Aid.)

And Carter. I'm not going to say much about him because I'll gush like a strawberry Gusher which are actually really yummy and I know, I eat like a five year old, but... anyways, he's just so real, you know? Like, you could see him being her friend, not just this movie star/minor deity that she's crushing on. You know? It's just very refreshing.

And the supporting characters were great. One of Katie Alender's talents is creating believeable, realistic characters who even if you don't particularly like *cough*hermother*cough* you still really really want to keep reading about.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: Um. Picture a blank stare here. I got nothing. Oh, I know! The sequel is too far away!

PG-13 stuff: There's very little of anything. I don't remember even any cursing. Other than slightly mature themes (not that kind of mature, get your mind out of the gutter), there's nothing to compell a warning.

Cover comments: I love this cover. It's absolutely gorgeous and haunting and it's as stunning in real life as it is in pictures. (Speaking of, click the picture to enlarge it, it's really big and you can see tons of details). I love the lace curtain and the frame and... I just love it.

Conclusion: I cannot tell you how much I loved this one. It was just pure awesomeness. Alexis was one of the coolest characters I've encountered recently, Katie Alender's writing is incredible and I can't recommend it enough. I really can't say how good it is. Read it, read it, read it! Bad Girls Don't Die gets four and a half roses from me.

Random notes: Apparently, I thought, Good Girl Gone Bad by Rhianna, Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship, and Babydoll Gone Wrong by Skye Sweetnam should be on this book's soundtrack starting the book. I stick with Babydoll Gone Wrong, the other two were influenced by title alone. This also should have been up days ago, but my computer decided to hate me plus... well, I got a little distracted by Facebook games (oh, hush), so... well, at least I've posted it now!
Anyways, hopefully more Halloween themed posts soon!
Peace and cookies,
Laina