Death and the Girl Next Door - Darynda Jones

Fills in YA Horror Square

 

I admit that I didn't have much, or high, expectations for this YA paranormal/horror book, as I had never read DJ before. A quick read that was much more entertaining than the last book attempted to fill in this square. Lorelei was a great MC and I love that she had a sense of humor without being a snarky typical teen. And her friends, Glitch and Brooklyn, were real friends, gently ribbing and all. Unlike what the cover conveys, there is no love triangle! Woo-hoo! No, Lorelei has her eyes on only one boy, Jared (aka Azrael, aka Angel of Death). Along with Cameron (a Nephilim), we get a cast of teens that are more like the Scooby Doo gang than Twilight.

 

As it is a first book in a trilogy, there are some pacing problems and some info-dumping, but much more world building and mythology explained through dialogue. The ending was anti-climatic and served only to give the readers a sense of the plot in the next book. It was fun enough to continue the series after I get done with bingo.