Book Review: Deadly Cool #2: Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

RATING:

Genre: Young Adult > Contemporary > Mystery | Humor

(Deadly Cool #2)

Twittercide [twit-er-sahyd]: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went… a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the Homecoming Queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos…

*****

Well, i didn’t laugh my pants off while reading Social Suicide. However, the fun was constant throughout the book. I chuckled time after time! I didn’t even try to guess who the culprit was because i’d rather enjoy Hartley‘s wacky investigation on the murder. and I did. 🙂

Sam‘s a standout in this sequel. I lover her deadpans! and Chase… Ha! Even i will be as clumsy and assuming as Hartley was when it came to him. C’mon, Gemma Halliday, give me more Chase swoon moments! but i already love Hartley’s hit-and-miss with him. =)

Both Deadly Cool and Social Suicide are equally good, but i enjoyed this sequel a little bit more. Just a little bit, because up until now, i could not remove from my memory the hilarious bedroom scene from book 1. LOL

 

Book Review: The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

RATING:

Genre: Young Adult > Dystopia | Post-Apocalyptic

(Reapers Series)

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can’t remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

Literary Awards: Philip K. Dick Award Nominee (2010), ALA Alex Award (2011)

*****

It will always be the zombie books that will make me cry. So strange. But it’s true. There was Feed, then Dust & Decay, and now, The Reapers are the Angels. two days has passed since i finished this book and yet… i was still devastated. =(

Temple is uniquely at home at zombie-infested America. Even more fascinating is her being uncomfortable in those enclaves filled with people trying to just get by. She rather be travelling and smelling the rotted and acrid smell of the undead. She’s going to my list of the best kick-*ass heroines ever! Another strong-willed and skilled girl who I will worship for her tenacity and guile to stay alive.

Somehow, Temple and Moses Todd has what I call a weird and f*cked-up relationship. It is by no means friendly and yet there’s a mutual respect. How the author develop their relationship is unbelievable. It was my favorite aspect of the story. =)

The Reapers are the Angels hit me hard. Darkly humorous and grotesquely satisfying, it will make any zombie fans ask for more gore. and some. Mr. Alden Bell, you made me cry. But I still want more.