Ok, So What Had Happened Was: This girl Kayla Sloane was pronounced dead and her death was ruled as an accident, leaving an invisible dead someone feeling QUITE feisty. Then there’s Jade, new girl on the block, who is mostly excited to live up her dream of having a posh upper-class-looking house in a city with an actual assortment of real live teenagers who don’t have names like Bubba and realize the value of taking the SATs. Until peeps at her new school start whispering behind their gossipy hands and she has no clue why. Turns out, girlfriend is putting up her feet in the living room where a dead, possibly MURDERED, girl used to throw parties and kiss boys. And, as she soon discovers, still
Just so you know: I’m an unabashed Kim Harrington fan. Her last two books were light and fun with a small dose of sobriety, you know with them being about murders in need of solving. So it’s really no surprise that I’d not only silently prayed to the literature gods for this book but that I appreciated every page that was turned in spite of its imperfections. Because it DOES have some flaws, some holes in the plot that beg the need for suspension of disbelief.
Even so, it’s always fun to read a story where the villain isn’t exactly who you expect it to be. Don’t get me wrong, for you masters of deduction, THE KILLER may be easy to peg. But the killer and the villain, in my book of principles, aren’t exactly the same. Because the spirit in Jade’s house is not Kayla the Friendly Ghost; she’s Kayla the Step Beneath Regina George. The mean girl who ruled her circle with fear and intimidation and lies; we’ve seen her type before. And while I wasn’t exactly TERRIFIED BONELESS of her, she had her creepy moments and was just a bone-deep mean and vindictive troll who’s only slightly pitiful in that she was probably never loved (mostly by her own fault, but STILL). There’s no ‘be at peace’ disappearing act in her cards. She was too awful, never learned or grew.
The sense of urgency to find the killer is balanced out by the thrill of chasing down clues, evidence, and suspects. I myself had a manageable list, but I will confess that I didn’t guess the true identity of the killer, though I wasn’t shocked, until THE MOMENT they turned around and did the dramatic gasp and requisite ‘it was you!’ And in the midst of all that supernatural turmoil and dramarama among Kayla’s disciples and boy toys, our girl Jade is busy falling out of her pants for the sad, tortured Donovan, with awesome blue eyes and artistic inclinations. He’s not my favorite guy ever—Jade isn’t my favorite girl, for that matter—but I buried my head in all the delicious chemistry anyway (but, I AM a teeny bit disappointed there wasn’t much tension or buildup). It was so easy to just lose myself in the fun of it.
As someone who really digs Harrington’s stories, I had no outstanding problems with The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington. It’s fun and thrilling and I was more than happy to give away the precious little time remaining from my Sunday to meet Jade and Co.
I requested this title from Scholastic via Netgalley.
11 comments:
The killer was VERY easy for me to peg in this one, but I still enjoyed it a lot! I so agree on the original cover - they should have kept it! Can't wait to see what Harrington writes next - I'm a big fan of her work too! :)
I'm really interested in this one, it sounds so intriguing and fun. I haven't read anything else by Harrington but I've heard nothing but good things. Can't wait to read this!
Oooh, hai friend! I'm finally back and getting to see your pretty new blog design!
I have to disagree on the cover of this one though, I HATE the new one, and much preferred the ARC. This one just looks really swoony-too-much-eye-shadow-cliche to me. But then, I probably wore too much eye shadow when I was that dead chick's age too.
I have yet to read any Kim Harrington, but this one is sitting on my shelf, so I'm glad to hear you unabashedly fan girling her, despite flaws in this one. Certainly sounds like more ups than downs, and sometimes I can suspend my need to poke at plot holes when I enjoy the characters and action enough.
Hmmm I do like the sound of this one, but you found it a little disappointing, and I am one of those annoying people who guesses killers/twists easily so I have a feeling I might find this one a little predictable. I have also never read a Kim Harrington book (for shame)
Cait x
Add Kim Harrington to my list of never read, but REALLY want to read authors (it's uhh... kind of a long list, embarrassingly). I'm all for murder mysteries that are still light and fun. And even if it wasn't the best mystery ever, it sure sounds like it has a lot of merit still. I would say I want to read Clarity even more than this one, so I'll probably start there - I just need to read for myself what all this fuss is about!
I'm slow as honey dripping downhill. I was so sure I knew who it was that I forgot to consider anyone else in case my brilliant deduction FAILED miserably. The original cover is FULL of the ghosty vibe which is why it's slightly disappointing that its no longer the final cover. ME TOO, ME TOO. I just love the shoes off of her!
April! As one fangirl of Regina George to another, I have to say Kayla isn't as awesomely horrible as Regina, but she's close enough. It's a pretty good book, fun and fast and creepy. :D
It definitely is ALL THAT. It may not be the best book, but it's so much fun to read. AHHH, YOU SHOULD READ CLARITY.
*tackleglomps* I MISSED YOU. AND THANK YOU BECAUSE I LIKE IT TOO.
I like both, but I would've loved it better if they stuck by the old one, definitely.
Oh, you MUST read Clarity. It's just another fun book, nothing too exciting, but I just love the heck out of it. This one isn't AS good, but neither stories are perfectly awesome. And as long as you can sit back and relax your way through both, you'll have fun with Harrington's books too :D
You would probably find it predictable because you're not nearly as gullible as I, but you might still have fun with it... ALSO: READ CLARITY
YOU HAVE SO MANY PEEPS YOU HAVEN'T READ. You're neglecting your duties, Aylee -_- Read Clarity first, 'cause I think it's better than this one, though this is a solid book. They're just fun little mysteries and I love the heck out of Clare and Co.
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