Novel Ink: Early Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Format: e-ARC from Netgalley

Series: Darklight (Book 1)

Pages: 320

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: October 2, 2012

Pre-Order this Book: Amazon

From Goodreads:

Darynda Jones, author of The New York Times bestselling series that began with First Grave on the Right, brings us Death and the Girl Next Door, a thrilling Young Adult novel garnering high praise and early buzz from major authors

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? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.

"Unique, witty, and touching—I LOVED THIS BOOK!" —P.C. Cast, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Night Series

Review:

Having read Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series and absolutely loving them, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Death and the Girl Next Door and once again Ms. Jones doesn’t disappoint, this book is fantastic.

Lorelei McAlister has always gotten visions of the past or the future with just one touch, which you would think would come in handy but her visions are very sporadic and most of the time she sees stuff that couldn’t really happen, so she writes them off as nonsense.

Things start getting weird when a classmate suddenly starts turning up everywhere she goes, including standing outside her house all night long and the new guy in school pays extra attention to her. The guys appear to know and dislike one another; you can feel the tension and detestation radiating off of them whenever they are near each other. It isn’t long until Lorelei finds out just how much history is shared between the two and how she is connected to both of them.

Lorelei is a really great character and she’s very easy to like, she’s smart, witty, and feisty. I would love to have best friends like Brooke and Glitch; they are hilarious, outspoken, loyal and completely awesome. This trio is absolutely entertaining, I could read a book just about them and their conversations alone and never get bored.

Death and the Girl Next Door is fast-paced with just enough humor and mystery to keep you captivated until the very end. This is a stay-up-all-night, will-not-put-down-until-its-finished kind of book. Darynda Jones is absolutely amazing, her writing is flawless and the characters are incredible. I can say with absolute certainty that I will read anything and everything she writes…multiple times. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.