Bad Girls Don't Die (Bad Girls Don't Die #1)

Everyone go read it!

Reader reviewed by BrielleBookworm

  First off, I'd like to recommend this
book to you if you like ghost stories. I loved this book so much, and I
think it may be in my top five favorite books of all time.



 "I crept down the hall to Kaysey's room. Inside, the only light
was a faint slant of yellow spilling in from the hall, illuminating a
little display of threadbare rag dolls on the other side of the room.
When my eyes had adjusted and the lumps of blackness had taken on
furniture shapes, I began searching for her bookbag."  



  Warning: There may be some spoilers in here, but I'll keep it to a minimum. 


This book is fantastic. I couldn't put it down, not for anything. 

Dinner's ready? Be there in a minute. 
Brielle, come with me to the store. Let me finish this chapter. 

Bri, there's a flaming cat outside your door. That's nice.

   Personally,
my favorite chapter was probably everybody's least favorite. (**SPOILER**)
 It's the
chapter where the doll is trying to get Shara to kill herself and and
her daughter. Shara pushes Megan out of the door, overpowering the doll
and saving her daughter.

     Alexis, the MC is humorous,
memorable also. I love her thought process and her obsession with
photography. She isn't a girl you'll easily forget, and it isn't just
because she has pink hair.

  Kaysey, Lexi's sister, is the perfect
mix of creepiness, charming little girl, obsessive freak, and
bittersweet sibling. She's your average little sister, except for the
fact that she's been possessed by an evil spirit, who's bent on
revenge, even if it means murder. Kaysey seems very real, so much that
while reading the book, I wanted to save her. I wanted to smack her when
I found out she had done something stupid.
  I give it five stars.

***
This review originally came from :
http://awesomebookworm.blogspot.com/2010/12/bad-girls-dont-die-review.html
This is my blog. The review above is mine. This entry is not word-for-word copy and pasted. A few sentences have been re-worded and spelling errors have been corrected.

Reader reviewed by Nicole M.

       While living in an ancient house that has a terrifying past with her annoying family, Alexis and her sister Kasey find an unwanted guest in their house. Water is boiling in a pot on a stove that is off, weird smells along with cold rushes of air also Kaseys eyes change color and she cant remember a thing! This teens life turns into a tragedy!

        This nerve-racking book is best for young adults who love a good spine chilling thriller. Truly nail-biting I could not put the book down. I picked this book because it was unpredictable and interesting with a twist of romance and high school teen life. The book was fantastic but I hated the cover and title. Most people wouldnt want to read this book because of it. This book truly shows to never judge a book by its cover.

Reader reviewed by KJ

This book was so good! The plot was really unique and Katie Alender really made the characters seem real. It was horror, but not Stephen King horror. It was a book that kept me up at night reading, but not so that I was afraid to sleep! Alexis could be any high school girl and she was a character I would like to know. The writing style had a nice flow and while I was reading I had a hard time putting the book down! Ive heard tale of sequels to this book, so Im really looking forward to reading those! All in all I would highly recommend Bad Girls Dont Die. This was a fantastic debut novel and Im looking forward to reading what Katie comes out with next!

Reader reviewed by Lexie

Very few young adult books keep the suspense going enough to terrify me. The Sweet Valley Twins books 97-100 (Too Scared to Sleep, The Beast is Watching You, The Beast Must Die and If I Die Before I Wake) and Saundra Mitchell's recent Shadowed Summer
are part of the list. Thats the honest truth. Not terrified in the
Freddy Kruger sort of way, but in hits too close to home sort of way.

Alender
does a wonderful job of creating atmosphere and tension. The
progression of Kaseys behavior is steady and believable. Especially
with their mother constantly working to earn a promotion and their
fathers inability to relate to them anymore, the fact that Kasey
begins to act out to gain attention is perfectly understandable&right?

It
was a little odd for me to see some of the things that Kasey did
explained away so easily. Ive done that before for my younger sister
and didnt really think twice on it. Irrational mood swings,
destructive behavior&even though there is a supernatural reason for
Kaseys behavior, it could have very easily been self-destruction and
schizophrenia.

The suspense part of the book is well developed
and even if Alexis is not always sure of what is going on, we know
enough of the puzzle to say No Alexis! Wrong assumption! in
exasperation. As for the non-Kasey supernatural portions I liked those
the best. Perhaps Im biased (much of what got Alexis in trouble in
school I often caused during my HS years), but I think Alender
perfectly captured the High School scene.

From the
cheerleaders to the outsiders to the posers and not quite sures, they
all inhabited certain stereotypes expected, but very often surprised
me. There were, of course, several who still fit the bill perfectly of
Queen Witch of the School, but in the end they werent given a lot of
time.

My only gripe is that certain things arent tied off
well. I wasnt really sure why Megans grandmother chose to open up to
Alexis about Megans mother, but not to Megan. I wouldnt think it
normal to tell your granddaughters houseguest private information you
havent even told your granddaughter yet. My guess is that it had to do
with how Megans mother died, the circumstances surrounding that, but
its not addressed or explained.

Read the book with the lights
on. Its not scary, but it might make you a little paranoid about
shadows and strange lights for a little while.

((reprinted here with author's permission))

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

Alexis thought that she was just a normal girl with a dysfuctional family. Her sister is doll obsessed and she thinks nothing of it, but should she? After looking into some family history, Kasey begins acting very weird. Her beautful blue eyes turn green sometimes, she sometimes uses language that seems years and years old and she doesn't remember things that happen. She believes it's all in her head, but when it becomes something more can she change it all?

I really liked this book, creepy as it is. The way Alexis handles everything is really well; she doesn't back out of it... she fights it. This is a good novel that just came out, I would recommend it to all ages sixth grade and up.

Reader reviewed by Deltay

In Bad Girls Don't Die, Katie Alender has spun a chilling tale. Alexis is an intriguing character - seemingly sterotypical at first, but after delving into her personality and throughout the course of the novel, she's animated, unique, and defies classification. A spunky rebel with pink hair and a flair for photography, her snarky and at times slightly sarcastic tone provides an amusing narration.

"To me, taking digital pictures is like finding something. But working with film is like making something." - Alexis Warren (Alender 88, ARC edition).

I don't know, Alexis - being one who works mainly in digital, I'd say that with post-processing and whatnot, digital photography can be making something too. ;) Alexis holds appeal, drawing in the reader with her quirky imperfections, making her all that more realistic. (That, and the fact that I've had pinkish/red hair at one point too.) In fact, I kind of wish I had the guts to go around sticking bumper stickers on the teachers' cars in the lot as well.

Overall, characterization throughout the novel was consistently beautifully done. Megan, Kasey, her parents - all hold attributes that we can all probably relate to, on some level at least. Carter is dreamy and a geniunely nice guy - the kind which [female] readers will definitely wish they knew, and [male] readers would want to be. Alender's impeccable skill in characterization definitely comes to light upon closer inspection of how her characters seem to fit the typical sterotypes at first - the cheerleader, the rebel misfits, the overachieving nice guy - but as the story progresses they come out of the woodwork and show how they transcend these flat classifications.

Personally I would have liked to see a big more sha-bam in the argument advertised in the teaser on the back of the book, a little more action in the climax, and a little more development in Carter and Alexis's relationship, but Bad Girls Don't Die manages to take on enough of a timeless quality that it's pretty much negligible.

Now, Bad Girls Don't Die - ghost story, right? Wrong. It's that, but it's also so much more. Sure, because of that paranormal aspect there are things involved that can't be avoided; but Alender has managed to put a unique spin on it through plot twists and beautiful characterization. Diction choice was well done, and credible. So what else is Bad Girls Don't Die? Well, it's definitely chockful of mystery. And this is definitely a well woven one - it keeps you guessing and tosses in red herrings - all in a setting that could very well be next-door.

With great flow, beautiful characterization and intriguing mystery, Bad Girls Don't Die is definitely an April release to be checked out. If you scare easily, unless you plan on finishing the novel in its entireity, I suggest not starting late at night. Whoosh. The book transcends classification as much as its characters transcend sterotypes - a brilliant debut for Alender.