Book Review: Dead Girl - Tessa Marie

Title: Dead Girl
Author: Tessa Marie
Genre: YA - Coming of Age, Bullying, Romance

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Blurb:  If her mother wasn’t watching, Kylie Presby would punch Queen Bee, Natalie Silvers, in the face -again. But as Kylie wipes her tears away with the layers of toilet paper encasing her car, she knows she can’t retaliate like she did last time. Her dead mother wouldn’t approve. Kylie no longer cares about popularity. Invisible would work just fine.

Then the new kid, Braydon, mysterious, good looking and too clever for his own good, shows up and sacrifices his social status, becoming Kylie’s shield from the front line assault. After enough chocolate ice cream and movies it’s as if they’re best friends. Crazy, since Kylie knows so little about him.

As Natalie continues her relentless attacks on Kylie another person deals with his own line of bullies. Jack Stine was popular until his deepest secret was revealed and his friends abandoned him. Kylie and Jack bond over their tormentors and form an unbreakable friendship.

Three lost souls each with a story that binds them together, but will it be enough when the bullying goes too far and secrets are revealed?

My Review:
I'm on a roll here.  It is completely unintentional that I keep picking up these books that have to do with school bullying, self-esteem issues and the like.  Maybe I should start paying more attention to blurbs, but when we're talking about already loved and trusted authors - I rarely find the need to do so.

What I Loved:  I will never get tired of authors writing about things that matter.  I've already said it, but books speak volumes, and change lives.  If only we could get the books that matter into the hands of as many people as possible.  I love sparkly vampires as much as the next person, but I also love books that compel me to be a better person, to love others more and to not give in to mainstream.  And that is what Tessa Marie does in Dead Girl.

I really liked the fact that Kylie is not a flawless person.  She makes mistakes, and there were times I wasn't very found of her as a person.  Every character in this book had lessons to learn and character development, and at some point, they all said or did things that made me think, 'what the heck, man?'  But I felt like this contributed to the story and made it more realistic.

If I am completely honest, I feel like this is the best book (that I've read) by Tessa Marie to date.  I was engrossed from the start and I had to know what happened to Kylie, Braydon, and Jack.  I was intrigued by their secrets.

Not So Much:  I really would have liked to have seen some additional consequences for the biggest culprits of bullying.  I know that there are some 'natural consequences' at play, but gosh - expulsion from school or something.  Or I might have been happier if the school started a campaign or something proactively against bullying.

The Verdict:          


Even if I did want more at the end, I do feel like this story was perfectly executed.  I loved it!  I look forward to whatever is next from Tessa!  This is another book perfect for younger and older teenagers.