Review : Death and The Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones
Title : Death & The Girl Next Door
Author : Darynda Jones
Publisher : St Martin's Press
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?
Personal Thoughts
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?
Personal Thoughts
I've read and really enjoyed Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series. Peppered with humor, it's the kind of series that will have you howling in laughter even when you're in public. So, there's no doubt that I was pretty excited when I saw that Darynda had written a YA book. Although the cover seemed like a bad photoshop job, I still decided to give it a shot, because I knew the author would have me laughing like crazy. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Instead of laughing, I found myself frowning in frustration on numerous occasions. It pains me to say this, but Darynda Jones' YA series was a failure for me.
Lorelei's parents mysteriously disappeared years ago. 10 years later, Lorelei is learning to deal with her hardship. Things start getting weird when Cameron, a loner keeps turning up every time she turns around. Soon after, a sexy new mysterious guy,Jared joins school. All these events lead to Lorelei life turning upside down.
Lorelei was a likable character, with her bubbly nature. She was sweet, down-to-earth and a smart girl, so enjoying her character wasn't so difficult. Plus, she would say the most hilarious things at times. However, I didn't feel much for the secondary characters in the book. Part of me felt like they were like every other character I've come across in YA books, so they didn't impress me. That was especially true when it came to Jared. He was depicted like most YA boys are depicted. In the end, I didn't that any of the characters were really memorable. However, I did enjoy the characters of Lorelei's 2 friends. I thought they were quite refreshing and I liked that they were a major part of the story.
As for the plot, I thought it was slow and to be honest, incredibly boring. The pace was too slow moving for my tastes. Also, I felt like the focus was too much on the romance. I like the romance to take the back-seat when reading a YA book but that wasn't the case with Death and The Girl Next Door. In addition, the romance wasn't even interesting according to me. It felt too much like instant-love and I never got a feel of the so-called chemistry that existed between the two characters.
I do have good things to say about the writing though. Darynda Jones is as funny as ever. She has this tactful way of inserting humor into any serious situation and I loved that she managed to do so with this book as well.
All in all, I didn't have a particularly positive experience with Death and The Girl Next Door. Perhaps, I set my bars too high for this novel. I honestly don't think I'll be on the look-out for the next installment in this series because there are much better books out there! Hopefully, you guys will have a better experience with this book. If not, I recommend you check out Darynda Jones' Chareley Davidson series. They are definitely a lot more entertaining than this book!
Rating
Cover : 3/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 2/5
Writing : 2/5
As for the plot, I thought it was slow and to be honest, incredibly boring. The pace was too slow moving for my tastes. Also, I felt like the focus was too much on the romance. I like the romance to take the back-seat when reading a YA book but that wasn't the case with Death and The Girl Next Door. In addition, the romance wasn't even interesting according to me. It felt too much like instant-love and I never got a feel of the so-called chemistry that existed between the two characters.
I do have good things to say about the writing though. Darynda Jones is as funny as ever. She has this tactful way of inserting humor into any serious situation and I loved that she managed to do so with this book as well.
All in all, I didn't have a particularly positive experience with Death and The Girl Next Door. Perhaps, I set my bars too high for this novel. I honestly don't think I'll be on the look-out for the next installment in this series because there are much better books out there! Hopefully, you guys will have a better experience with this book. If not, I recommend you check out Darynda Jones' Chareley Davidson series. They are definitely a lot more entertaining than this book!
Rating
Cover : 3/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 2/5
Writing : 2/5
Comments
Post a Comment