REVIEW: Social Suicide (Deadly Cool #2) by Gemma Halliday

 

Author: Gemma Halliday

Series: Deadly Cool

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 277

Amazon: Social Suicide

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

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.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Deadly cool was such a fun, exciting and entertaining read for me so I was pleased Social Suicide, the sequel in the Deadly Cool series followed on in the same way.

Hartley Grace Featherstone is working on her first real story for the school newspaper, the suspension of popular girl Sydney Sanders when the day she is due to interview her she instead finds her dead in her swimming pool.

The police believe it is suicide; Hartley believes otherwise and thinks it was ‘Twittercide’ - the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting. So under the direction of the papers editor, Chase Erikson, Hartley sets out to solve the case.

The premise of Social Suicide was very similar to Deadly Cool – a crime solving plot which revolved around the student body of Herbert Hoover High and Hartley trying to solve the murder with the help of her friends. It is a tad predictable; I was able to guess the killer early on in the book but couldn’t guess the motives.

I really like the way Chase and Hartley work together, their relationship is certainly progressing at a more realistic pace than most YA novels which I find to be a breath of fresh air; I am sure they are bound to end up together but the build-up has been nice.

I literally finished this book in one sitting; each of the characters are likeable – the humor between Hartley and her best friend Sam is entertaining and had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions and I liked the beginning of the relationship which is forming between Officer Raley and Hartley’s mother, it is sweet.

Social Suicide is a fun, light hearted, quick and enjoyable read. The murder, mystery plot and Ms Halliday’s wonderful writing held my attention, I am so eager to get hold of the next book in the series.

REVIEW: Deadly Cool (Deadly Cool #1) by Gemma Halliday

 

Author: Gemma Halliday

Series: Deadly Cool

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 320

Amazon: Deadly Cool

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from Deadly Cool but was pleasantly surprised, it was a fun, quick and easy read with an outcome I certainly didn’t expect.

Hartley Grace Featherstone has found a condom wrapper in her boyfriend Josh DuPont’s locker, knowing it is definitely not her he is doing the deed with she seeks him out to confront him but he is avoiding her so she turns up on his doorstep but with no answer breaks in only to find the girl he cheated with, the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club, Courtney Cline in his closet; the only problem is she is dead.

The police arrive to investigate and Josh becomes the prime suspect in Courtney’s murder, especially since he has disappeared but Hartley doubts he could be the culprit and sets out to prove his innocence with the help of her best friend Sam and the Editor of the school paper, bad boy Chase Erikson. As their investigation progresses another body shows up and it appears the killer may be targeting the color guard cheerleaders as well as Hartley for doing her own investigating.

Chase was a fantastic male lead, he was all about the hot story whilst Hartley was trying to clear Josh’s name, I loved the way they worked together despite his reputation; they made a great team and I am glad that as the story progressed so too did their trust for each other, I hope to see a Hartley/Chase hook-up in the sequel.

I literally devoured this book in one sitting; I loved each of the characters, all were fleshed out beautifully – the humor between Hartley and her best friend Sam was entertaining and had me giggling on numerous occasions and I actually enjoyed the banter she had with police officer Raley and the OTT behavior of her mother.

The only thing that had me stumped was the reasoning behind Hartley wanting to help Josh! I would have turned him in for his betrayal and his poor excuse for cheating but she seemed to take it better than I would.

I loved the murder, mystery plot and Ms Halliday’s writing was fantastic, I am so eager to get hold of the next book in the series, Social Suicide.

A fun, humorous, quick and enjoyable read.