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Death and the Girl Next Door

(Darklight #1)

Darynda Jones (Goodreads Author)

3.61 · Rating details · 6,348 ratings · 874 reviews

Sophomore Year Was Never Supposed to be This Complicated

Ten years ago, Lorelei McAlister's parents disappeared without a trace, and she is finally beginning to accept the fact that they're never coming back. Life must go on. She's got her grandparents and the support of her best friends, and high school is not quite as painful as she thought it would be.

But This is What H

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Paperback, 274 pages

Published October 2nd 2012 by St. Martin's Press

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3.61 ·

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· 6,348 ratings · 874 reviews

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Jan 20, 2012 Shannon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, wish-i-never-read, 2012, awful-worldbuilding, you-disappointed-me, young-adult, paranormal-romance, angels, demons

I apologize for my gushing status updates in the beginning. Please, don't pick this book up because of them. I'm not sure what happened here, but this book is nowhere near the caliber I expect from Jones. The plot made no sense, the humor dried up, and the male posturing was so over-the-top that it became absurd and incredibly annoying. I had to make a new shelf just for this book - "you disappointed me" - and it saddens me to put it there. If the beginning hadn't been so enjoyable I would've gi I apologize for my gushing status updates in the beginning. Please, don't pick this book up because of them. I'm not sure what happened here, but this book is nowhere near the caliber I expect from Jones. The plot made no sense, the humor dried up, and the male posturing was so over-the-top that it became absurd and incredibly annoying. I had to make a new shelf just for this book - "you disappointed me" - and it saddens me to put it there. If the beginning hadn't been so enjoyable I would've given this 1 star, and perhaps I should do just that because of the spoiled potential.

So, you have the main girl who thinks she's ugly and not special (though of course she's quite the opposite), two sassy best friends, the mean popular girl and her minions, and two preternaturally hot guys who are at each other's throats constantly. And I mean, constantly. If they aren't fist-fighting they're trading sarcastic quips or glowering at one another. Lots of puffed-up chests and ruffled feathers and it gets TIRESOME. And once you learn why the one boy hates the other boy it becomes stupid, especially when he learns the truth and still carries on. Seriously, dude, you're just embarrassing yourself now.

I can't believe this book was published the way it was; there are some parts of the story where the action is so haphazardly pieced together that you're forced to re-read just to be able to follow along. There are also way too many plot points crammed into one book, which adds to the confusion. Was this a paranormal romance? A book about angels? A book about demon hunters? Ghost hunters? Secret societies? Ancient prophecies? How about ... all of the above? And not a single one was fully developed.

This book was a total mess. It felt like a rough draft that nobody bothered to check for continuity or plausibility before sending it out to the printers. It's full of the same old, same old that's being churned out hand over fist and it's so disappointing to see a book like this with Jones's name on it. I honestly wish I hadn't read it and I think I'm going to pretend it doesn't exist because I love Jones's adult series and this foray into YA fiction was a complete letdown.

A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley.
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Jan 19, 2012 Giselle rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook, arc

I became a big fan of Darynda Jones when I read her adult series that proceeded to make me giggle spontaneously for days. Hearing about her new YA novel, Death and the Girl Next Door, prompted a lot of squealing. Within the first 20 pages, I already had taken note of a handful of awesome quotable lines; I knew I was in for a good time!

Lorelei's parents have mysteriously disappeared, and now she seems to have a stalker - or two. Lorelei, as I already expected from Darynda's characters, is witty a I became a big fan of Darynda Jones when I read her adult series that proceeded to make me giggle spontaneously for days. Hearing about her new YA novel, Death and the Girl Next Door, prompted a lot of squealing. Within the first 20 pages, I already had taken note of a handful of awesome quotable lines; I knew I was in for a good time!

Lorelei's parents have mysteriously disappeared, and now she seems to have a stalker - or two. Lorelei, as I already expected from Darynda's characters, is witty and smart, and she can hold her own which is always a plus to create a character that is easy to root for. She also has two fabulous best friends who are lively, supportive, and provide us with plenty of humoristic banter. Now the boys... Cameron and Jared - both hot, both uniquely compelling, both defensive towards Lorelei. Who else automatically thinks Love Triangle? You don't have anything to worry about, however, this book is actually void of any love triangle. Regardless if this is good news to you or not, you can look forward to a sexy, steamy, and swoon-worthy romance.

These boys are not without secrets. Once we get a glimpse at what Jared's powers are, a gazillion questions arise: About his abilities, Cameron's strong dislike towards him - basically, just what the heck is happening. I found it exceedingly interesting, unquestionably original, but I was dying for answers; it takes a while before details are finally given up. I was expecting Lorelei, when observing a very surreal scene, to scream for answers, no, demand answers. She doesn't, which was surprising for her character and a little frustrating. She was obviously in some sort of shock and worrying about the boy's injuries, but I still felt like the information was being dragged out needlessly. Cameron makes a huge deal about how Jared does not belong here and is dangerous, he also keeps calling him an "it", yet he refuses to answer any questions. You know, like someone who shows off that they're "in the know" and you're not. Maybe I'm simply too impatient, but this is how it came off.

When we eventually get the inside scoop, we've got an incredibly unique spin on death, the angel of death, and how Lorelei fits into all of this. Knowing the theme of the plot, there is some mention of God and religion but it's kept light and pertinent to the story. This is all followed by thrilling twists and turns, one in particular I found myself stupefied by how awesome and fascinating it was. It's also one that I look forward to exploring in the following installment, which promises to be positively exciting.

Entertaining, unique, and down-right sexy, Death and the Girl Next Door is an absolute must read! The characters are convincing, their relationships and surroundings are realistic, and the parents are present - which I was particularly pleased with. It's not as persistently sarcastic as her adult series, but there's plenty of humoristic, sassy dialogue. For Darynda's first foray in the Young Adult genre I was very satisfied and I'm convinced that fans will undoubtedly enjoy it.

Now to end with requisite Darynda quotables:

"We can't fling short jokes at each other when we're all short." It's just not effective.

"Few things were more disturbing than sticky fingers. Forest fires, perhaps. And people who claimed to have been abducted by aliens."
-Quoted from the uncorrected proof

--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Nov 10, 2011 hayden rated it liked it

Shelves: i-need-you, mega-sucky-cover, boring-action, original-ish, ending-rocked, 2012-favorites, crazy-good, i-need-a-sequel-immediately, made-me-happy-sigh-at-the-end, lots-of-skimming

Review

Darynda Jones, you rock my world.

At the beginning of her writing career, she brought us the stunning First Grave on the Right, which was filled to the brim with laughs and clever wit. After that were the next two books in the Charley Davidson series, which were filled with the laughter and wit, but in even greater amounts. Those books made my spleen hurt from laughter.
Then, on October 2, 2012, Jones did something extraordinary.
She ventured into YA.

The YA genre as a whole has grown a lot ov ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) rated it really liked it

Shelves: role-models, are-you-kidding-me, reviewed-in-2012, highly-anticipating-2012, i-see-dead-people, favorites, arc-2012, annoying-love-triangle, young-adult

As a huge fan of Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series, I was incredibly excited when I heard she was writing YA. Death and the Girl Next Door is one of my most anticipated books this year, and even though it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, I’m overjoyed that Darynda decided to write it. The fact that it wasn’t quite what I expected is actually one of my favorite things about this book: if you decide to pick it up (and you should), you can throw your expectations right out the window As a huge fan of Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series, I was incredibly excited when I heard she was writing YA. Death and the Girl Next Door is one of my most anticipated books this year, and even though it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, I’m overjoyed that Darynda decided to write it. The fact that it wasn’t quite what I expected is actually one of my favorite things about this book: if you decide to pick it up (and you should), you can throw your expectations right out the window.

Here’s what you need to know about Darynda Jones’ YA debut: First, it is about Lorelei McAllister, a 16-year-old high-school sophomore who lives with her lovely grandparents and spends time making mischief with her two best friends, Brooklyn and Glitch. Second, (and I’m sure this will come as a shock), neither Brooke nor Glitch happen to be madly in love with her. Third, there are two hot boys, Jared and Cameron, but there is no love triangle, not even close. Fourth, there are guns – several real ones and one nasty-looking water gun. Fifth, although a secret society is involved, no one gets naked to perform weird rituals. This isn’t The Da Vinci Code. Sixth, just like Charley, Lorelei has a bit of Lorelei Gilmore in her, and I don’t just mean her name.

Death and the Girl Next Door is one of those books that made me laugh so hard I was constantly forced to stifle my laughter lest I wake my poor sleeping child. I stayed up half the night to finish it and even the toothpicks I used to prop my eyes open the next day didn’t make me regret it. Darynda’s trademark humor is present on every page, though she did tone it down a bit for the younger audience. Lorelei and her two best friends can lighten up just about any situation they find themselves in. Darynda Jones can claim all she wants that she’s not as funny in person, but I’ll have to meet her and drink a cocktail or ten with her before I can actually believe it.

I won’t lie to you and say that this book is without problems – it’s not. The first part felt a bit disjointed, I had some minor problems with the love interest, and there were a few things that made me slightly uncomfortable (revealing them, however, would reveal too much of the plot), but truth be told, I’m willing to overlook it all. I expect hilarity and steaming hot romance from Darynda, and that’s exactly what I got with Death and the Girl Next Door.

If you’re like me and you tend to run away screaming every time someone mentions an angel book (or any other book with religious undertones), get over your justified fear and give Death and the Girl Next Door a chance. Writers who don’t take themselves too seriously are few and far between, but when you find one, you’re in for a treat.

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May 27, 2012 ♥Rachel♥ rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-book, paranormal-romance

Darynda’s signature funny storytelling style. Sexy, mysterious hero, spunky heroine with abilities yet untapped. No love triangle as the description leads you to believe, yay! Fun start to the series, but information was frustratingly slow to trickle in, and the heroine was slow to clue in on a few obvious conclusions. Lorelei King’s narration makes up for most of that. I plan on listening to the next one.

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Sep 01, 2012 equilibri rated it did not like it

Shelves: burn-in-book-hell, ya-super-naturally, wtf-was-that, this-cup-of-tea-is-not-for-me

DNF award!
This book was bizarre, and not in a good way. The narrative was incoherent and disjointed. The main heroine was trying too hard to be funny, but actually came off as pretty lame. And the lame jokes went on and on.
The worst part? Several pages into the book, the silly twit lays her eyes on some tall muscled guy for a second, and from then on it's an unending ode to his 'hotness'. For pages and pages I got to slog through lines like these:

“So he’s hot.” “Can you say blazing inferno?”
“You DNF award!
This book was bizarre, and not in a good way. The narrative was incoherent and disjointed. The main heroine was trying too hard to be funny, but actually came off as pretty lame. And the lame jokes went on and on.
The worst part? Several pages into the book, the silly twit lays her eyes on some tall muscled guy for a second, and from then on it's an unending ode to his 'hotness'. For pages and pages I got to slog through lines like these:

“So he’s hot.” “Can you say blazing inferno?”
“You know, when you told me he was good-looking,” Brooklyn said without taking her eyes off Jared, “I had no idea you meant godlike good-looking.”
It was the new guy. And his eyes were amazing. Dark, steady, penetrating.
His dark gaze was startlingly intense. The contrast of molasses-colored eyes and hair made his flawless skin appear almost translucent. The effect was haunting.
I had never seen eyes so dark, nor a face so perfect.
A mental image of his flawless face materialized in my mind.
A strong jaw the next. Lashes, thick and impossibly long.
The boy was tall, strong and solid and … breathtaking. Every move he made was powerful, full of strength and dangerous grace.
I looked up just in time to see Jared walk in. My stomach clenched at the sight of him.
His deep voice, velvety and rich like hot chocolate, tugged at my insides, warmed them.
His voice was deep and smooth. It slid over me like warm water and caused a sharp tug in my belly.
A half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes lifted one corner of his incredible mouth. I couldn’t seem to look away. His lashes lowered to fan across his cheeks as if overcome by a sudden jolt of shyness. They were long and thick, just like in my vision, and made his eyes sparkle. I felt that sharp tug at my insides again."

Somewhere between all the squirming insides, drooling and breathlessness, the storyline seemed to have fallen by the wayside. For me, it was slow torture. If you enjoy that kind of thing, by all means, have fun with Jared's "blazing inferno of hotness". ...more

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Feb 22, 2017 Jen ♥Star-Crossed Book Blog♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: love-makes-my-heart-happy, insta-not-used, romance-forbidden-or-starcrossed, giggleworthy, romance, paranormal, young-adult

Death and the Girl Next Door was so much fun and a quick read. The story-line was easy to follow, and within those first few chapters I knew some of the characters and I would get along just fabulously. There was a wonderful mix of personalities, and I loved how many of them had sarcasm as their form of humor. While I had a few hangups with some of the people, and not wanting info dragged out longer than should need be, Death and the Girl Next Door was still exactly what this paranormal lover wa Death and the Girl Next Door was so much fun and a quick read. The story-line was easy to follow, and within those first few chapters I knew some of the characters and I would get along just fabulously. There was a wonderful mix of personalities, and I loved how many of them had sarcasm as their form of humor. While I had a few hangups with some of the people, and not wanting info dragged out longer than should need be, Death and the Girl Next Door was still exactly what this paranormal lover was looking for.

Nothing would ever be fine again.

Lorelei has had visions for as long as she could remember and it would occur, at times, when she touched someone. The visions would be a peak into that person's life, whether it was a glimpse into their past or their future. There were also times when the visions didn't make any sense at all. But regardless, I loved how she accepted that this was just a part of who she was. And her two best friends, Brooklyn and Glitch, did too.

"Oh my god," Brooklyn said. She swung her surprised look at me. "Just what did you two talk about this morning?"
I beamed, not daring to breathe as he walked towards us. "Oh, you know, the usual. School. The weather. How many children we want."
I expected Brooklyn to at least giggle, but apparently her current state of shock had immobilized her vocal cords. What I hadn't expected, however, was the faint laughter from Jared. He lowered his eyes like before, as though embarrassed by what someone had said. As if embarrassed by what I'd said. No way could he have heard me. Not from that far away.

But things started to get weird when the class loner Cameron, who they've known since grade school, started appearing everywhere Lorelei was. Including outside her house all night long. Creepy! And then things become even stranger when we met the new hot guy at school, Jared. Jared had a lot mystery surrounding him from just his name (I was like uhhh really, that's how you're going to play it?! Lol) to how he made Lorelei feel. So when push comes to shove, and Lorelei's whole world explodes on a city street, things got a lot more interesting!

He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. His warm breath sent shivers cascading over my body. “You intoxicate me, Lorelei McAlister. You will be my downfall.”

I absolutely loved Lorelei. So I was happy to struggle right along with her, with not only trying to figure out what some people were, but also who was good and who was bad. Because while she'd always known Cameron, he acted a little psychotic lately. And while she didn't know anything about Jared, he made her heart do crazy things and I wanted him around just as much as she did. So be warned, there was a little bit of insta-love going on in this book. But regardless, I loved both of those boys! Cameron and Jared were broody, grumpy, held on to their secrets extremely tight and I just wanted to learn everything about them. And don't worry, there wasn't a love triangle at all.

“.....My desires are a bit more...self-serving.” he said with a wry gleam. “So, no, Lorelei, I should not be here. In a thousand different ways, I shouldn’t be here.”

Normally friends can fade into the dark when supernatural elements get involved, but thankfully Brooklyn and Glitch got to learn right along with Lorelei. Btw, I loved Brooklyn. She was funny, warm and I saw a lot potential for a possible future love interest for her. But Glitch? *shrugs* He never won me over, I never connected with him and I just didn't care about him. I'm sorry Glitch. Another thing I never connected with were the twins, Ashlee and Sydnee, and I didn't get Lorelei's hatred towards Brooke - those were people they all went to school with. But even with my issues towards not understanding feelings or not caring about certain characters, it was still so easy to become lost in their world. I absolutely adored this book, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the series goes! Plus I can't wait to spend more time with Jared so I can fall even harder for him, and Cameron too!

PS Yes, I know I didn't talk a lot about what happened in the story, but but but spoilers. It's hard to say anything without giving everything away. ;)

For more of my reviews, please visit:

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Jul 19, 2012 Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: masochists, or twilight and/or house of night fans

Shelves: angels, fiction, dark, reaper, romance, two-stars, young-adult, attack-of-the-wild-snark, recieved-to-review, religious

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the Goodread's First Read giveaways. It was sent from the publisher in exchange for a review. This will not affect my review, and I will give my honest opinion. This review also has reaction!gifs.

Back Cover: 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 year ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 Jody McGrath rated it liked it

This would have been really good except for two things.
1. Insta-Love
2. Predictable

Still worth a read though.

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Sep 25, 2012 Jasprit rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley, paranormal, out-2012, ya, read-in-2012

3.5 stars

Darynda Jones is an author whose books I’ve always been curious about. With my friends singing high praises of her Charley Davidson adult series, I was given the extra push when I heard she was dipping into the YA, something that was completely new to her. I like it when authors try something outside of their comfort zone. So I was willing to give it a try.

Lorelei has been living with her grandparents for the last 10 years after her parent’s disappearance; there’s never been any clear e 3.5 stars

Darynda Jones is an author whose books I’ve always been curious about. With my friends singing high praises of her Charley Davidson adult series, I was given the extra push when I heard she was dipping into the YA, something that was completely new to her. I like it when authors try something outside of their comfort zone. So I was willing to give it a try.

Lorelei has been living with her grandparents for the last 10 years after her parent’s disappearance; there’s never been any clear evidence as to what happened, so Lorelei lives in the hope that one day they will return. Lorelei is lucky to have two best friends Glitch and Brooke to help keep her sane through the stressful times. They know what she’s been through and what she’s capable of yet are still there for her constantly. When strange things start happening with Cameron Lusk the school loner suddenly stalking her and a gorgeous boy Jared starting their school, Lorelei is creeped out but excited at the same time. She’s happy as she likes Jared and he seems to want to spend time with her too, but Cameron constantly keeps butting in, she has no clue what’s up with these two and she doesn’t really want to find out. But despite this she is dragged into the middle of it, if Lorelei thinks her life was bad it takes a turn for the worse.

What I loved about this book was that I was immediately drawn into Lorelei’s world. Books which take such a long time building up to something big which isn’t even big at all I tend not to have the patience for. But Jones sure knows how to get things kick started; she’s not one to beat around the bush. Lorelei finds herself smack bang in the middle of a tug of war competition between Jared and Cameron. Usually I’m quite quick to pick sides between two male characters, but I found that neither Cameron nor Jared were fully able to win me over. As the book progressed I did like the character development of both characters but neither of them made a massive impact on me. I admit Jared occasionally made me swoon (one favourite scene which comes to mind is the shower scene ;). He was always the gentleman in my eyes despite Cameron’s accusations. Cameron on the other hand just bugged me; he had this huge big secret which I’m still constantly thinking about. He seemed to know everyone’s life story but didn’t seem to want to share it. Consequently most of the time Cameron had me utterly baffled! I think another reason Cameron and Jared didn’t work for me was because they were constantly in each other’s faces, not one time did they agree with each other, the constant manning up and puffing their muscles did eventually lead to a few eye roll moments.

This book was definitely made for me by Lorelei’s friend Glitch and Brooke, with these two around there was never a dull moment, the constant banter, winding each other and Jared and Cameron up lightened the mood loads, when you had two big giants squaring off all the time, a joke from these two would have me cracking up.

Despite the great start, this book did drop off quite a bit in the middle I found it hard to pay attention with the repetitiveness, but thankfully the book picked up its brilliant pace it originally started off with in the last 30% or so. It also threw a nice couple of surprises in the mix which I for one didn’t foresee. Death and the Girl Next Door was a very promising to start to this series, I’m quite eager to find out how things will pan out in the next book; Death, Doom and Detention.

Thank you Sam for reading this with me!

This review can be found on The Readers Den ...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio

Quick review:

Cover: Nice
Rating: PG-13
Thumbs Up: 4
Overall: Entertaining and kept my attention
Characters: Solid
Plot: Twist and double twist to a story of life and death
Page Turner: Yes
Series Cont.? Yes
Recommend: Sure
Book Boyfriend: Cameron

SUMMARY (50 words or less)

I love the Charley Davidson series. So, I wondered what Darynda would do in YA. I’m not sure what I expected but it was good. Not Charley good, but a lot better than many YA series I’ve read. There were laughs, not as many as Char ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was ok

I am so, so disappointed in this book. I am a huge fan of Darynda Jones after reading her Grave series, and I was expecting much more than this. It's not a terrible book, I guess, but it is very slow and confusing. There is not much action, despite the fact that its two main male pro/antagonists spend much of the first half of the book fighting and beating the living crap out of each other. Not much is explained by anyone, and i found myself increasingly frustrated with the chauvinism with which ...more

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Jul 23, 2015 Nurse Lisa In Ohio (PRN Book Reviews) rated it really liked it

Shelves: drama-comedy-chick-lit, in-a-series, via-audible-or-any-audio-program, young-adult, mystery-other, review-completed, paranormal, romance

Title: Death and the Girl Next Door, book 1, "Darklight" series.
Author: Darynda Jones
Published: October, 2012.
Format: audiobook via www.audible.com
Narrated by: Lorelei King
Genre: Young adult, paranormal, fantasy, mystery, drama, legend, spirituality, demons, possession, fiction.
Read (listened to): July, 2015.
My rating (0-5 scale): 3.75-4.

Brief remarks:

Very intriguing story, truly! Not Charley & Reyes (OBVS, lol), but a solid young adult novel built of a good storyline. I'll stick with it. : ...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Van (Short & Sweet Reviews) rated it did not like it

I am a fan of Jones’s Charley Davidson’s series and when I heard she was coming out with a YA series I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! Death and the Girl next Door is NOT what I expected. Our Main heroine Lorelei is your typical sophomore, who enjoys hanging out with her two best friends Brooklyn and Glitch. Things start to get weird when the school loner Cameron begins stalking Lorelei, every time she turns around she sees him lurking in the corner. Lorelei always had visions; some come tr I am a fan of Jones’s Charley Davidson’s series and when I heard she was coming out with a YA series I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! Death and the Girl next Door is NOT what I expected. Our Main heroine Lorelei is your typical sophomore, who enjoys hanging out with her two best friends Brooklyn and Glitch. Things start to get weird when the school loner Cameron begins stalking Lorelei, every time she turns around she sees him lurking in the corner. Lorelei always had visions; some come true while others are just random and bizarre. Things get stranger when a boy from Lorelei’s vision shows up at her school! Next thing you know Cameron and the mysterious Jared are fighting over her.

I truly wanted to like this book, but I found Lorelei extremely annoying, and the story’s mystery too dragged out. I’m probably in the minority who didn’t like this book. When Jared first shows up at school, Lorelei didn’t really freak out that this is the SAME guy from her vision. Instead she’s drooling over how amazingly hot he is, and he of all people noticed someone like her who is pasty white and plain (she said so herself). In another scene in the first half of the book, we have Cameron and Jared fighting over Lorelei, Cameron tells Lorelei to stay away from Jared because he’s the dangerous bad guy. While Cameron tries to get Lorelei away from Jared, what does Lorelei do instead? She attacks Cameron and defends Jared! WTH? She doesn’t even know Jared and Cameron may be the school’s loner but at least she knows of him since the third grade (or was it kindergarten, I forgot). If I was in her situation, I wouldn’t trust either dudes.

The book’s pacing was slow, I found myself constantly losing interest or not caring about what’s going on. In the first quarter of the book, Lorelei is demanding answers to what is going on around her. Why are Cameron and Jared fighting over her? Why are they both so freakishly strong? What is Jared? etc. Instead of getting answers, the characters beat around the bush about it. This drove me nuts! I pushed on hoping that things would get better but not so much. Once I found who was what, I was a little surprised since I wasn’t expecting the book to be about certain paranormal beings but it still didn’t make up for the majority of the book.

Overall I felt this book lacking in the story, character development, and world-building. The world-building didn’t feel put together until towards the end of the book where readers finally get some answers. Death and the Girl next Door didn’t offer anything new or exciting to the YA genre, the elements found in this book can be found in numerous of other YA title in the market today. This is a start to a new series, and one I won’t be continuing. From the other reviews I’ve seen, many seem to really love this book, so while it wasn’t for me it might be for you. I suggest anyone who’s still interested in this book to maybe read a chapter sample or excerpt, or borrow from friend/library before thinking about dishing out the $10. ...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Taylor rated it it was ok

See more of my reviews at my blog: http://readsoverneeds.blogspot.com/

My initial reaction when I first got my hands on this book:

description

I really, really wanted to like this book. I'm a HUGE fan of Darynda's Charley Davidson series, and I thought that in this novel she'd bring the same amount of witty comments, sexy heroes, and capable heroines. I was wrong. In actuality, I'd give this book 2.5 stars, and let me take you through my reasons why.

What I Liked

1. Lorelei's relationship with one of her best f ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Crystal rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2012

This book in my opinion is pure fluff. I can't think of any other way to describe it, it is just fluff. The plot took a major backseat to the insta lurve between Lorelei and Jared. I am all for romance in a book, but when you have demons, reapers, angels, and prophets I expect way more than a story filled with "oh he is hawt" and "I want to kiss him".

Lorelei, after surviving a near death experience gets caught up in a battle between Jared, the guy she thinks saved her, and Cameron, the guy beati This book in my opinion is pure fluff. I can't think of any other way to describe it, it is just fluff. The plot took a major backseat to the insta lurve between Lorelei and Jared. I am all for romance in a book, but when you have demons, reapers, angels, and prophets I expect way more than a story filled with "oh he is hawt" and "I want to kiss him".

Lorelei, after surviving a near death experience gets caught up in a battle between Jared, the guy she thinks saved her, and Cameron, the guy beating Jared up for being something that surely nobody can be. After finding out the who's who game Lorelei decides to side with Jared and figure out exactly what all this prophet stuff is about. Joined by her friends she discovers that things in her town are not what they seem and the guy she is falling for could very well bring death upon everybody. That is in a sense what this book is about. There are a few twists and turns along the way and something way more sinister working among them but if I reveal that then there won't be any point to reading the book so I am just going to leave it at that.

Honestly the plot of the story is kinda brilliant, but I don't know if I can read 200 pages of nothing just to enjoy 50 pages of brilliance. The story was so slow and fluffy until the middle of the book where we finally get a glimpse of the hidden plot. All to soon though we are thrown back into sarcasm, mind numbing jokes, and that all too familiar inst love. The last 10 pages finally FINALLY showed me what this book is really about and loved those last 10 pages. The plot jumped out and took hold for the ending and I am a little mad about that. I wanted the whole book to be this way. I didn't want to read Lorelei's internal monologue questioning if she was worthy enough for Jared, I wanted to read about the kick arse demons!

So if the next book has more demons and dark I will probably read it but if it continues on being fluff I am going to have to say bye bye to Lorelei and company and hope they all get their HEAs even though I have no idea how that will be possible.

...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Joy (joyous reads) rated it really liked it

I am a huge fan of Ms. Jones. She’s a brilliant story teller and a master in the art of sarcasm. Why it’s taken me a long time to read this book escapes me. Going into this book, I was expecting more of the same. I was expecting Lorelei to be like a teen Charley Davidson: hilarious, sarcastic, and one with a huge personality. I’ll tell you right now that if you’re going to keep the same expectations prior to reading this book, you’ll be in for a disappointment. Lorelei is nothing at all like Cha ...more

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Dec 27, 2017 Jacklyn (ReadingBliss) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own-read

This book made for cute and funny company while I was sick in bed over Christmas week. I feel the cover and title says it all and really relates a strong correlation to what's between the pages to the potential readers. There is no love triangle, so never fear you triangle haters. The boys compete in other interesting ways, however, that add flavor to the backbone of the mythologies this story is heavily based on. Many familiar, but popular tropes are ever present but not without their own accom ...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Mel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-romance, arc, series, favorite-authors, young-adult

Full review to come...Darynda Jones is brillant. She has created a series full of riveting plot twists and young love to ensnare teens and adults alike. I loved this book and cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

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May 28, 2013 Kerrelyn Sparks rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this! Darynda has such a fun, sassy voice! I will be definitely reading more from her!

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Aug 30, 2012 Rose rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc-or-galley, young-adult, paranormal, fantasy, tbr-challenge, supernatural, urban-fantasy, romance, contemporary

"Death and the Girl Next Door" represents a smorgasbord of every YA paranormal stereotype there is and couples it with a bag of chips. Well, maybe not with a bag of chips, though I almost wish the chips were there, because then it would at least provide something different to the mix.

Long story short, I was quite disappointed with Darynda Jones's start to her new YA series. That's not to say that it didn't have moments I thought were worth merit, but seriously, how many mediocre insta-love, anta ...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Lauren rated it it was ok

I received this book free from goodreads. I wanted to push all the books that I had to read back so that I could read this and push out a review since this is a book that has yet to be released. My problem with this book is the lack of originality. I am sick and tired of Young Adult books (from a female's perspective) that follow the same pattern: Narrator is a plain looking girl (or so she thinks) who is attracted to a guy who is so beautiful it should be illegal. This boy does not glance at AN ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Yodamom rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-author, mystery, romance, first-reads, ya-books, fantasy, urban-fantasy, yummy-men

Lorelei, has to live with the pain of her parents disappearance. The ten year anniversary is near and her two best friends stay near her during this period to comfort her. Everything is going normal till Lorelei brushes against a tall, dark, boy who starts an avalanche of change in her life.
When she touched people she gets visions or predictions she's not sure which. Most of her past visions have been pretty mundane, till the dark haired stranger. When she touched him, she saw something that lef ...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Samantha rated it did not like it

Shelves: tbr-own, abandoned, what-the-eff-just-happened

I can't believe how disappointed I am in this book. Especially considering how much I absolutely LOVE the Charley Davidson series.

It's almost baffling how Jones can get it so right with Charley, and yet so very wrong with this one. I can see the same quirky sense of humor trying to come through in Lorelei, but it doesn't quite work. Instead, she and the characters come off as vapid and shallow. Not to mention, Lorelei is almost physically incapable of putting two and two together.

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Jan 12, 2012 Heidi rated it really liked it

Three and a half stars: A solid beginning to a new, entertaining YA series.

Lorelei is prepared to spend the week with her two best friends, Glitch and Brooklyn, in order to take her mind off the anniversary of the disappearance of her parents ten years ago. The trio is piled into a booth at the local coffee shop, busy making plans. When Lorelei excuses herself to use the bathroom, a brief brush of her hand in the darkened hall spurs a strange vision in her head. Lorelei is no stranger to visions ...more

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Mar 31, 2018 Kayla rated it really liked it

A really fun and entertaining novel!

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Nov 11, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed-by-sheila

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A love triangle with a nephilim and an archangel. And I thought my high school drama was bad.

Opening Sentence: The small town of Riley’s Switch, New Mexico, had only one coffee house, and I sat at a booth in it with my two best friends.

The Review:

Best-selling author, Darynda Jones, takes on young hearts and paranormal mayhem with her debut Young Adult novel, Death and the Girl Next Door. Small town girl, Lorelei, is about to get a crash cour ...more

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May 15, 2012 Danny rated it it was amazing

Read Full Review at Bewitched Bookworms

Classic Motives with a thrilling paranormal twist (but... I won't tell!)

Girl meets mysterious, sexy boy and learns that there is a paranormal world out there and must embrace her powers to save the world. Heard before? Yes me too! Is it getting old? No. Not for me! It always depends on how you spin the tale, how you develop the characters and how you embrace the story. I love stories like this – I just love them. Which is why I was more than eager to di ...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Anjana rated it really liked it

When I found out that Darynda was writing a young adult series, I literally squealed in joy. Not because it's young adult but just because it's another book by Darynda. She's definitely the coolest author I know and one of my favorite authors EVER.
Going in, I knew that it was going to be awesome and I was so right. I finished this book in one go; I stayed up until 3 AM reading it because I just. couldn't. put. it. down.

Lorelei's parents went missing when she was a child. No one knows what happen When I found out that Darynda was writing a young adult series, I literally squealed in joy. Not because it's young adult but just because it's another book by Darynda. She's definitely the coolest author I know and one of my favorite authors EVER.
Going in, I knew that it was going to be awesome and I was so right. I finished this book in one go; I stayed up until 3 AM reading it because I just. couldn't. put. it. down.

Lorelei's parents went missing when she was a child. No one knows what happened to them, they just disappeared one day. It's been years since the incident and on the anniversary of the day her parents went missing, a new boy shows up at school; A ridiculously hot, mysterious boy who's pretty much the epitome of tall, dark and handsome and ever since he popped up, things around Lorelei have gotten really weird.

Death and The Girl Next Door has all the awesomeness, if not more, of Darynda's Charley Davidson series. Just as I expected, Lorelei is a witty, smart, fun and kick-ass protagonist.
I found her thoughts/narration endlessly amusing and was laughing out loud so many times while reading this book. Lorelei and Jared literally had me glued to the pages. They're the kind of characters that just draw you in; especially Lorelei, who you can't help but appreciate for being so real.

You know how every author has a particular strength such as character development, writing style, plot etc? Darynda's strength(s) is all of them. This is one of those incredibly rare books where I found myself attached to not just the protagonists but even the supporting characters. Glitch and Brooklyn are amazing best friends and along with Lorelei, the three of them make an incredibly cool team that makes you wish you were a part of. As for the story - there isn't a single cliche moment in it. It's unique in a way that only Darynda can make it with her humorous and entertaining writing.

With a strong plot, sexy romance, brilliant and lovable characters, Death and The Girl Next Door is pure epicness all-around. There's so much more I want to know and I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book in this series! ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Pyxi rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone that enjoys PNR

Shelves: books-i-devour

*I received a complimentary copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Death and the Girl Next Door was an enticing start to a new Paranormal YA series by the bestselling author Darynda Jones.

Lorelei MacAlister may look like your average sophomore in high school. She tries to stay of the radar as much as possible; she has two of the greatest best friends a girl could ask for. She also has the full support and love of her grandparents. And with the tenth anniversary of her parents’ disa ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
1 Star?	1	3	Jul 22, 2015 09:00AM
WORD GAME; starting with Jared	1	7	Feb 18, 2015 03:56PM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Death And The Girl Next Door, by Darynda Jones. START DATE: January 8, 2014.	31	23	Jan 10, 2014 02:37AM
Between the Covers: Meeting tomorrow!!	2	7	May 30, 2013 01:46PM
Reviews for the L...: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones (Darklight #1)	0	17	Oct 11, 2012 02:06PM

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About Darynda Jones

Darynda Jones

11,740 followers

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press, the Charley Davids ...more

Other books in the series

Darklight (3 books)

Books by Darynda Jones

First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)

Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson, #2)

Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson, #5)

Sixth Grave on the Edge (Charley Davidson, #6)

Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson, #3)

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Quotes from Death and the Gir...

“If Cameron kidnaps you, kills you, then buries your lifeless body in a shallow grave in the desert where your remains lay decomposing for several decades until they're accidentally discovered by some guy on a journey to awaken his spirit at the Salinas Pueblo Missions, can I have your iMac?"
I gaped at her. "You've really thought this out.
"I love your iMac."
"I love my iMac too, and you're not getting her."
"But you'll be decomposing.” — 68 likes

“What did one say to a stalker? Um, pardon me, Mr.Stalker, but could you, like, not?” — 63 likes

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