Death and the Girl Next Door (Darklight, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

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

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

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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Mar 31, 2013 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

If you are like me , then you would have read and devoured Darynda Jones's series starring the awesome kick-butt female Charley Davidson and the Angel of Death - Reyes. Now author Darynda Jones has written a similiar tale aimed at the teenage audience.
Death and The Girl next Door introduces us to three main characters and a minor who plays a big part. We have our female star Lorelai who ten years ago was out with her parents and then they vanished into thin air never to be seen again , Cameron ...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Purple rated it did not like it

Shelves: didn-t-like, young-adult, uf, series

I am so glad this was over. The only one interesting here is best friend Brook. The others, forgettable. Definitely not exciting. I had expected more considerng the Charley Davison series. I was let down. Interesting part came only when I'm almost finished with it. Disaapointing really. ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Michelle rated it liked it

Shelves: darynda-jones, read-in-2013

I picked this up because I am a huge Darynda fan, however it took me a while to get into it. I loved the last few chapters though and the revelations will have me picking up the next book.

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