Reviewed by Amanda on
Deadly Cool feels like an updated and snarky Nancy Drew. Hartley was written in such a way that I had flashbacks to Evie in Paranormalcy. But it isn’t that Hartley and Evie are similar, it is that their personalities leap off the page at you. Hartley isn’t given to much angst, and she is extremely funny. She texts (and yes, in the shorthand common to teenagers these days), she’s hip and there are a lot of cultural references. She appears authentic for the time. I loved her. But then, I love most characters graced with a healthy dose of sarcasm and snark. They make me giggle in a way that is half-snort, half-bwahahaha.
I liked that Deadly Cool really is a mystery. You get murder, mayhem, and a lot of amateur sleuthing. Are some elements of the story predictable? Sure. But Hartley carries us through it. I was easily hooked and it took some very heavy eyelids before I could finally put the book down. And Hartley is not the only character who is well written: best friend Sam who censors herself, Hartley’s overprotective mom who also happens to be gluten-free and tofu-loving, and bad boy Chase who is very…enticing. Even if I wasn’t so fond of Hartley, I’d read the sequel to Deadly Cool just for a little more Chase.
I wasn’t overly excited about the text-speak, and I suspect this could be an aspect some people don’t like. But then again, Deadly Cool IS a young adult novel. Definitely cringe worthy for us old folk, but it has authenticity. Bottom line, Deadly Cool was a very fun read with mystery and just a hint of romance that has me dying for more. I instantly added Social Suicide to my wishlist after finishing Deadly Cool. Note: I was also really torn between rating this an 8 or 9. I ended up sticking with 8 because a few 9 books I’ve read lately touched me more than this one. It is likely that if I had come off a “not so good” reading streak, it would have rated a 9.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 26 October, 2011: Finished reading
- 26 October, 2011: Reviewed