Bad Kitty (Bad Kitty #1)

Girl + vacation in swanky hotel = perfection.

Right?

Not for Jas. Besides having to deal with her overprotective father (a.k.a. the Thwarter) making sure she doesn't get carried away with her forensic crime passion, there's also a guy who might be interested in her but more likely is a cold-blooded killer, her evil cousin and equally evil clone and this evil cat that keeps sinking his claws in her at the most inopportune moments.

Trouble? Obviously, but in the funniest way possible.

This book wasn't completely The Funny YA Novel I was looking for. There was more than a little innuendo, and I was not sold on the whole "hottie's looking my way, it must be true love" aspect - way too cliche, and not at all my flavor, if you know what I mean. When Jas's friends get involved, though, there's more than a few scenes where I just couldn't keep in a chuckle. It's like the Scooby Gang, but minus the talking dog - and no ghosts. This is the type of no-angst, no-pain novels that you just need to keep on the side for when YA dystopian/the end of the world is nigh/paranormal creatures are out to drink my blood ahh save me storylines are getting you down.

Also, who can't at least feel for a heroine who wants to bust the real-life bad guys? I might not want to make my career in crime science, but I definitely can't help but follow along with a good mystery - Jas can't either, which is why you can't blame her for most of the hijinks she gets herself into.

And a best friend who loves pink, but talks on her radio to truckers in order to get Intel - priceless.

Final verdict: Need some mind candy? Look this one up. You won't regret it.

Reader reviewed by Lea

Jas Callihan is the perfect sleuth, and the perfect magnet for trouble. Jas is hilarious, and her footnotes provide even more laughs as you get inside her head, and conversations. Whenever I thought I had it right, another plot twist caught me by surprise. Jaffe's work is hilarious, and highly entertaining.

Reader reviewed by Sage

Jasmine just want to enjoy her vacation in Vegas and prove to her dad that she can be a Model Daughter but because of one Bad Kitty she is throttled in a giant Vegas mystery. Can She solve it before it is too late?

This was a great book that left me guessing till the very end. The side comments were hillarious and i thoroughly enjoyed each moment of this book.

Reader reviewed by stephanie

Reader reviewed by Holly

Jasmine is on vacation when she gets mixed up in a wild mix of bad cats, crazy hitmen, and one hot guy. How did she get into all this mess? Well, we'll just say it's the cat's fault!

This book is VERY entertaining! The lingo in the book is also great. I love the way that she use footnotes in the bottom to carry on conversations between some of the charcters! I can't wait to read the next one that comes out in July, titled Kitty Kitty.

Reader reviewed by Tasha

Jas is a 6 foot tall seventeen year old who loves a good mystery. The thing is, her father can't stand her gallivanting around trying to solve these mysteries. After a summer spent being a medical assistant at her uncle's practice she is ready to take her annual summer vacation with her family. Her first day in Las Vegas, at the glamorous Venetian hotel, seems to be perfect. The sun is shining and Jas is having a wonderful time eyeing the hot guy standing by the snack bar. Then her evil cousin Alyson and her henchman Veronique have to come and disrupt the peace. Not only does Jas have to endure this, but then a hairy orange furball of a cat jumps on to her and claws into her skin. OWWW! She runs trying to get the cat off, but only stops when she knocks over a 5-tier wedding cake and sends the bride into a pool. After being taken to a "jail" cell, she is released by the chief of security himself, Mr. Curtis. He seemed to be even thanking her for ruining the wedding! After the accident she realizes that the reason she was let go was because the cat that had caused so much trouble belonged to the super famous Fiona Bristol's son Fred. There even seems to be a mystery surrounding Fiona's life, but Jas is trying to be a model daughter and tries as hard as possible not to get involved. Her attempt fails when she is surprised by a visit from her three best friends, Roxy, Polly, and Tom, who convince her that she must and try to solve whatever mystery there might be. With the help of her friends Jas starts to uncover lots of little clues, and one thing leads to another. Before she knows it shes wrapped up with the cute guy at the snack shop, and has fallen into a case that seems to be way over her head. Will Jas be able to solve the mystery? Will she make her father find the good in mysteries?





This book was really good. At first I was a little leery, but then I just loved it. It's almost like a modern Nancy Drew, but a lot more sassy. Jas makes a great main character. She is quirky, funny, and up for anything. With her three sidekick friends she seems unstoppable. I loved how each character had one thing that was crazy about them. For example, Polly loves BeDazzlers, Roxy is obsessed with Aliens, and Tom is head over heels in love with Polly. This really added to the quality of the book. One thing that I didn't like about the book was the footnotes. It seemed like there was a completely different story going on within the footnotes, which confused me a lot. Excluding the footnotes though the book was great. There were many turns that kept you guessing until the last chapter and many surprises that made me laugh. All in all a great mystery that I recommend to everyone.

Reader reviewed by ambeen

Bad Kitty is a fast paced, laugh out loud novel. It is delightful from start to finish. The characters are all well portrayed and original. The humor is also very original and a refreshing departure from the same old jokes and situations that can be seen in other novels.

The footnotes in Bad Kitty were funny, but at times distracting. It was certainly another element to set Jaffe's novel apart from the rest, but at the same time, the footnotes could have easily been inserted into the ongoing scenes and dialogue. In spite of this slight distraction, Bad Kitty is a fun and colorful novel to be enjoyed.

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Jas wants to spend her Las Vegas family vacation as a Model Daughter. Which means trying to distance herself from the trouble that usually attaches itself to this detective-wannabe. But after being practically mauled by a mean cat belonging to a young boy named Fred, Jas finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. Who is after Fiona, Fred's actress mother? Could it be her husband, Red, who was blamed for murdering her lover and then disappeared after escaping from custody? And who is this extremely cute boy Jack, anyway? Why is he warning Jas to stay out of the Fiona and Fred's business?

Fans of Meg Cabot's works will surely be delighted with this cute mystery story. Jas's friends are hilarious, and I have hardly ever seen a better usage of footnotes than in this book. Read it while the summer's still hot!