Deadly Cool

Deadly Cool (Deadly Cool #1)

Gemma Halliday

Pages: 303

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: Paperback

Source: Library

Age Group: Young Adult

Date Published: October 11, 2011

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.
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.

I've been struggling to write this review for days, because I just couldn't think of anything to say about it. Deadly Cool was silly and fun. Sort of a modern day Nancy Drew with a lot more high school drama and psychotic color guard girls. It wasn't terrible, but it was definitely not one of my favorite books ever. It just kind of... was.

So it starts off with a very angry Hartley searching her boyfriend's locker for evidence that he's cheating on her (he was). And then when she goes to confront him, she finds the girl he was cheating on her with- dead and in his closet. To prove his innocence (he may be a cheating idiot, but she's convinced he isn't the murderer), Hartley and her BFF Sam decide to investigate. They team up with Chase, black-clad, bad-boy extraordinaire, and together they work to solve the murders. It was fun and cutesy, but just a little too cute to have been dealing with murder, you know? I always felt guilty for giggling throughout the book because it was about girls being murdered. But, other than that, the plot was fun and interesting.

I liked Hartley well enough, except she was kind of stupid. She went and met with anonymous people at midnight in the football field, she broke into a potential murderer's house, and told the news that she was working to find the murderer. Just kind of dumb and brainless. Other than that, she was really funny and brave. I did like her overall. Her ex-boyfriend was a moron, and her best friend had no common sense. I liked Chase. He was funny and confident. He was also smart and just didn't care what anyone else thought. He was typically the voice of reason and attempted to talk Hartley out of doing stupid things. He was also hot. I liked that :D

I do have to say that the cover is really pretty. I love the girl's eye makeup and the way the picture was taken. I love that Cool is written in earbuds (makes sense when you read the book). It's just overall very nice.

I give it 3 stars, since it was just kind of in the middle. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. The writing is similar in fashion to Demon Princess and Glimmerglass, you know, narrated by the giggly teenage girl sort of thing. So, if you liked those books, you may want to give this one a try.

Yay!! I got my review done! Go me :D Getting mildly closer to my Bout of Books goal with the reviews (I am so not going to get through 7 books, though).