Death and the Girl Next Door (Darklight, #1)

by Darynda Jones

Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace.  Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home.  For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be.  Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it,  standing outside her house in the dark, night after night.  Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school.  Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity.  What does Jared know about her parents?  Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei?  And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? 

• ISBN10: 125001722X
• ISBN13: 9781250017222
• Publish Date: 2 October 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: St. Martin's Griffin
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[littleread1]

***WARNING*** This review contains MINOR spoilers, such as if there is a love triangle or not. If you don't consider that a spoiler, or don't care if you know that or not, then read on.

This is my first book by Jones - yes I KNOW I NEED TO READ HER OTHER SERIES - I even have the first book, give me a minute here, I am trying to get caught up, and I was not disappointed!

I wasn't hooked from the start though, it took me a minute to get into the story. At first I thought it was going to be a typical YA love triangle and I was rolling my eyes. We have Lorelei, "Lor" for short, who has a near death experience. Then we have Jared and Cameron, both extremely powerful, both extremely aggressive, and both acting super weird and fighting over her. So I was terribly excited when Cameron started paying attention to the friend. THANK GOODNESS NO TRIANGLE.

I did have a bit of a hard time seeing the attraction Jared had to Lor. He was pretty instantly enamored with her, but he is so quiet and doesn't talk much I just never got WHY. I totally get why she likes/loves him though. I love him too. Even with him being, well, what he is. Or maybe especially because he is what he is.

All in all, once I got sucked in, I couldn't put the book down and IMMEDIATELY went and bought book 2. You know I liked a book when I go for book 2 right away. Always a good sign.

[Melanie]

Listening to audiobook.

I love this narrator and author. Let's see how I handle them in YA.

This book was cute. I'm not a huge fan of YA, but I really liked this author and narrator. The first thing that took me a while to get over was that I kept associating the voices to the voices from Charley Davidson. For example, this new boy in school named Jared uses the same voice as Reyes. Glitch, the main character's best friend, his voice is a lot like Uncle Bob's. In my mind, I kept wanting to put the characters in the wrong place.

The story starts off a little slow. It takes a long time to figure out who is what. Everything is explained, but not until the very end.

The jokes were cute, but they weren't the LOL funny of the adult series, but then this does not surprise me. I think the author did a great job of staying funny while staying in the YA appropriateness (I can't believe I just spelled this word correctly the first time. I wasn't even sure it was a word.). It is great if you want some light reading while still getting some humor. Definitely funnier than most YA books.

[kimbacaffeinate]

3.5 I was excited to get my hands on a copy of Death and the Girl Next Door because Darynda Jones is one of my favorite adult authors and I was anxious to see what she would bring to her new young adult series. As the first book in the Darklight series Jones introduces us to some interesting characters, a couple of swoon worthy guys and um -death.

It has been ten years since the McAllister’s disappears that left their six year old daughter behind. We meet Lorelei McAllister and her sidekicks Glitch and Brooklyn as they enjoy coffee at the only place in their small New Mexico town to hang out. Right away I liked the three of them and their banter was hilarious. When Lorelei goes to wash her hands she accidentally brushed up against a handsome stranger, and immediately has one of her visions. In it this boy is fighting a monster that claws his chest. The premonition scares her and she tries to warn him but he’s gone. The tale that unfolds was humorous, romantic, and action packed. It laid the groundwork for an exciting new series.

Jones has an incredible talent for bringing characters to life. I really liked Lorelei, Glitch and Brooklyn. This trio was so funny, and I found myself highlighting snarky things they said. I loved how they stood up for each other and supported one another. The language, notes and comments Lorelei and Brooklyn used to describe people (guys) had me giggling. Jared and Cameron two swoon-worthy boys are both looking to protect Lorelei. I know you just shivered. Didn't you? You were thinking, “Oh, no not the dreaded love triangle!” Well guess what…there isn't one! We do kind of get an insta-love type thing but I survived and you probably will too. Cameron and Jared were likeable; despite some Neanderthal tendencies and an abundance of testosterone. I loved Lorelei’s grandparents and appreciated that Jones involved them in the tale. A nosey reporter and people searching for clues shake things up and add suspense to the tale.

The world-building was fascinating, from the strange disappearance of Lorelei’s parents, to the mystery surrounded her premonitions and the boys. The tale started off slowly and felt a bit awkward to me, but it quickly picked up and I found myself swept up in the action. I like how Jones’s slowly reveals things and then throws in twists and turns keeping me enthralled. The story is not without issues but as the first book in a series, I am hoping these loose threads and unanswered questions are revealed in the next book. The romance was sweet and gooey and I am sure it will have many of you swooning. The ending was fast and furious and ohh the things that were revealed. EEP! While there is no cliffhanger, we are left with a glimmer of things to come and I look forward to reading more.
I want to thank St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[MurderByDeath]

I don't read a ton of YA, but I picked this one up especially because I'm a huge fan of Ms. Jones' "First Grave..." series. I loved this book, I picked it up and did not put it down again until I'd read the last page *and* the excerpt from the next book. All the great witty dialogue I've come to expect and adore from Ms. Jones writing, set in a teen universe. I love the strong focus here on the mythology of Angels, although I wouldn't have normally picked up a book 'about' angels. All of the characters are just excellent, the word play amongst them all is just a pure joy to read, although I worry about Glitch and his place in all of this.

I just had a really great time reading this story and I eagerly await the next book.

[Cocktails and Books]

I love Darynda Jones. She creates these characters that are witty and charismatic that you instantly fall in love with them. With the Darklight series, she taking that same formula and given it a YA twist.

Our heroine Lorelei, a sophomore in high school, and her friends Brooklyn and Glitch, find themselves in the middle of a biblical battle between light and dark. With the help of her friends, and hot archangel Jared, Lorelei discovers there is more going on in their small New Mexico town than they ever imagined and they are right in the middle of it.

I loved Lorelei, Brooklyn and Glitch. Alone, I'm sure these three would just be regular 15 year olds. But when they're together, they become a comedic trio that make it an absolute joy to read. There is a bond between the three that is quite evident by how they interact with each other. They can be snarky one minute, lovable the next and a fierce battalion protecting one of their own after that. Even if they didn't believe one of their own 100%, they never left that person's side.

And I can't write this review without taking about Jared. Darynda Jones has a knack for creating these broody heroes who ooze hotness (can you say Reyes??). She's done an excellent job of having Jared teeter on the edge between the hot guy with the jerk appeal and the guy who feels almost too much. He's the right balance of both for Lorelei and quite frankly, for the reader too.

This was a fun book to read. The comedic elements mixed perfectly with the suspense around Jared and the biblical implications we are introduced to. This is a book that will definitely appeal to adult paranormal readers, while giving the teens someone to swoon over.