Review: Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Pub. Date: April 2009
352pp

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?

Bad Girls Don’t Die is Katie Alender’s first novel and I must say “What a fantastic debut!” The writing is Fabulous and the characters are well developed. I was easily pulled into the characters lives and at times felt I was sitting right alongside of them living through their experiences. I love the humorous moments in this book. This book is perfectly written and I found myself believing every minute of it.

This is another one of those books that you don’t want to put down. I absolutely love the plot – it’s amazingly “spooky.” I was shocked at the plot twists in this book, this book definitely kept me on the edge, I was like “Wow! I didn’t see that coming.”

There’s a scene where Alexis and Megan are waiting outside in Megan’s car and Lexi is staring at Megan wondering what’s going on inside Megan’s head, then Megan released her seat belt in a violent release that scared Lexi and at this exact moment my cell phone rang and scared the crap out of me – I must have jumped a couple of inches out of my seat. This explains how wrapped up I was in this book. I must say there are plenty of scenes that would scare the bejesus out of me (Let’s just say I’m glad I was reading it and not experiencing it). Whoa! **Wipes forehead while letting out a long winded breath** Gosh, the stories I could tell you would have you shaking in your pants….

Did I mention ghost/possession stories have always creeped me out? Well, anyway….

I highly recommend you read Bad Girls Don’t Die, you won’t be disappointed. I look forward to reading more of Katie’s novels.

Rating: 5 out 5 stars