{Review} of The Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox

The Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Paranormal
THEME: Ghost
RECEIVED: ALA

BLURB:

When Charlotte comes to after being pushed onto the subway tracks, she is informed by a group of teenage girls that she is dead…they all are. Meet the Dead Girls Detective Agency. With the support of these dynamic girls—including fashionable Lorna, who can’t wait to find out if the devil actually wears Prada, and nerdy Nancy, who insists on staying in limbo to help out other girls—Charlotte follows leads and tracks down clues to solve her own murder. With plenty of juicy mysteries and some pretty cute guys, readers are sure to fall in love with this fun and suspenseful page-turner!

REVIEW:
When I hear that fans of Mega Cabot would love this new Young Adult series, I was excited to dig into this ghostly world. Though I found this book pushing a little too much towards cute, I enjoyed the mystery and the world of the ghost very exciting.

The Dead Girls Detective Agency follows Charlotte a young girl who has just been pushed in front of a train and is now a ghost. She immediately wakes up to find another young girl who explains that she is dead and that those who had unexplained deaths remain in this world until they solve what happened. Thus introduced Nancy, Lorna and Tess that are fellow teens who are trying to find out about their deaths as well. Together they try to help Charlotte solve her murder and learn that even those closest to her had a lot of big secrets.

Charlotte, for a young teen that has recently been killed, she takes being a ghost with a lot more ease then I would. She’s a sweet girl, average among her classmates and was dating one of the hottest boys in school. I really enjoyed going behind the scene of her life with the other Dead Girls to see how her “friends” and “enemies” really thought of her. Even as a ghost there are many rules she must follow and she even learns that she possess some ghostly abilities.

David, the boy Charlotte thought was her soul mate had an interesting twist to his good boy persona. T his guy turns out to be a total loser and jerk, not long after her death does he attract every girl in school. He takes the attention and pretty much Charlotte sees whom he really is and that she’s not missing out on anything anymore.

The Dead Girls of the Agency, Nancy, Lorna and Tess, were fantastic secondary characters and I’m curious to learn more about what happened to them. We do get some insight on Tess, who is the “mean” girl of the group. But over all they made for some humorous scene and great pals to Charlotte. Each girl is hoping to one day find their key, that opens the “BIG” red door to their possible afterlife. A lot is unknown about what really happens behind those doors.

There is also an outsider to the group and his name is Edison. He is the supposed “love interest” of Charlotte and the ultimate bad boy. For me I didn’t really care for him as a character and so far the romance isn’t much discussed. But I think that may be because this book was more to introduce Charlotte. He has some connection to Tess, which made me curious to his death as well.

Overall the ending was a little too fast, it’s a pretty long book but we get some major juicy parts at the end that introduce what might be happening in the next book. This is a book that has a lighter mood for such a usually dark topic, but I thought it was a fun mystery story that had great characters and a unique take on the ghost world.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a paranormal mystery with lots of fluff and a bit of romance.  I would of given this book 4 stars but not being able to like the love interest bothered me a bit and I felt it was a little too much fluff. Fans of Meg Cabot’s Mediator series and Tara Hudson’s Hereafter series will enjoy Suzy Cox’s The Dead Girls Detective Agency.

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ALA Day 1 : Great upcoming titles!

Today was the first day for me at ALA! I had a blast! It was a short visit since the exhibit hall opened at 5:30 and closed at 7:30 but it was such a welcoming environment of readers, writers and publishers. I also got some great reads roaming down the isles that I wanted to share some of those titles with you. Stay tuned for more titles this is just a sample! I'll be taking pictures and video tomorrow! But put these titles below on your TBR pile!

 Legacy: Cayla Kluver: June 28th Harlequin Teen

 

In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.

When the palace guard captures and intruder— a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy— Alera is alarmed… and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.

In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff: September 2012
A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.
But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Magisterium by Jef Hirsh : October 2012

On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn's only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn't for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn's mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father's work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run---with only one place to go.

With MAGISTERIUM, Jeff Hirsch brings us the story of a complex, captivating world that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: September 2012

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.