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Bad Girls Don't Die #1

Bad Girls Don't Die

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Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

346 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2009

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About the author

Katie Alender

21 books2,688 followers
Katie Alender (rhymes with “calendar”!) grew up in South Florida. She is the third of four children (three girls and a boy) and the child of three very loving and encouraging parents.

She attended high school at the Palm Beach County School of the Arts, studying Communication Arts. From there, she went on to the Florida State University Film School, which led her to Los Angeles, where she worked in TV production and development before becoming an author.

She enjoys writing, reading, sewing (especially quilts), and hanging out with her husband, her daughters, and her dogs, Scooter and Frodo.

Her first brush with publication was the article “So You Want to Live On Mars?” published in Sassy magazine in December 1991.

Source: http://katiealender.com

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5 stars
11,651 (39%)
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6,037 (20%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,979 reviews
Profile Image for Cara.
290 reviews731 followers
May 29, 2014
When I look at this book I think creepy. I'm glad a goodread friend recommended it to me because I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own because I'm a wuss when it comes to anything remotely deemed as scary. This book is different because though it has that creepy feel to it, I didn't feel overwhelmed by it. Alender kept the balance just right for a reader like me.

Alexis is a spunky teenager who loves photography that is having some family issues. Lately her younger sister Kasey has been acting weird and her mom and dad don't seem to be noticing anything. It's not like they would because their Mom is putting all her efforts on getting promoted and her dad is off with his friends. Alexis steps up like the older sister she is and tries to help Kasey but she starts doing things that border the crazy. Along the way Alexis finds a new friend and a love interest she couldn't have seen coming, all the while trying to figure out the mystery behind Kasey's odd behavior. She'll find out that it's bigger than anything she could have imagined.

I loved how this was set in modern day because we have Alexis who doesn't believe in the supernatural and tries her hardest to come up with another reasonable explanation of why Kasey isn't herself anymore. It was interesting to see how Megan played a role here, and how her story was interwoven with the main character's. I would have liked to have seen more of Carter and how his relationship with Alexis grows because they were definitely cute together. A pet peeve I have is seeing obvious typos in books. I'm not sure if it was because I had an e-copy, but I saw some pretty obvious ones and that is always annoying when you see it. Despite that I thought the story was great and kept me pushing on to read more and more because I just had to know what happened. The title oddly fits and it's not the reason you would suspect. I will be reading it's sequel From Bad to Cursed.

Extra sidenote: This is the first e-book I've read and I gotta say I liked the convenience, but I really missed the feel of a book in my hands. I wasn't able to thumb through pages and look back at things, which I know you can do on the e-readers but I don't remember where anything is?!?!? And no smell of the pages, and seeing the book's cover calling to me. I missed all of that. It didn't effect my enjoyment that much and I will continue to use the e-reader from time to time, but I will always prefer a hard copy of a book any day.
Profile Image for Tori.
228 reviews64 followers
December 20, 2010
**kinda spoilish**

Oh. My. Jeebus. Only way to explain this book is UH-MAZING! I would give it 10 stars if I could. I loved it!! Finished it in about 3 hours. I could really relate to Alexis, her dad gives her the same puppy-dog be my friend look that my dad does. My mom works 24/7 too. Except I don't have a sister possessed by a creepy dead girl doll ghost thing. My house also doesn't have doors that close all by themselves or water that boils on an unlit stove. This book is so unlike all the other books with ghosts and what-not in them. It just kept twisting. First it's one thing, then something happens and it's another and I'm geekin' out the whole time. And Carter. Carter is so AWESOME. OMGEEZ. I... I'm trying to come up with a more insightful way to encompass my appreciation of this awesomeness, but I just can't concentrate. I can't stop smiling either. And giggling. I think my face might freeze this way. Katie Alender, you are amazing. Even though I may never look at dolls the same way again. Glad I decided to collect stuffed animals and not dolls.

So really- Hee!

~Tori
Profile Image for Trupti Dorge.
384 reviews27 followers
November 12, 2015
Have you ever heard of those age old stories where a doll is a ghost? Many times right? That’s exactly what the base of this story is. But such a refreshing take of an age old haunting story.

In the opening chapter Alexis is taking pictures of her old, huge house at 3 in the night. While she is going in after taking the pictures she notices a strange yellow light at one of the windows of her house. This is the first occurrence of something unusual that Alexis notices. Kasey, her 12 year old younger sister is acting stranger by the day. Her eyes suddenly turn from blue to green; she starts using words like oughtn’t and possesses the strength unusual for a 12 year old.

Alexis is a misfit in school, the girl with the pink hair, the one who is always at the sidelines. The cheerleaders group hates her. And Alexis in turn hates them, especially Megan, one of the cheerleaders and one of the popular girls at school. At home too, her mom is too busy with her work to pay much attention to her or Kasey. After a string of incidents she realizes that Kasey is possessed. She tries to find out the mystery behind Kasey’s behavior and the secret that seems to be surrounding her house with the help from an unexpected source. Oh and there is some romance too. Although it isn’t necessary to the story it doesn’t harm either.

For a rebellious teen Alexis is likable and Kasey, in spite of being possessed by the ghost 90% of the time, is quite cute. But then that is exactly what makes the story so creepy. It isn’t the kind where you’ll be so scared that you won’t switch off the lights or jump at any unfamiliar sound. It’s the mystery and the ‘What’s going to happen next’ factor that works so well. Also sentences like ‘It’s going to get worse’ adds to it. Have you ever watched ‘The haunting’ on the Discovery channel? Yes, the same serial which has dramatization of real life ghost stories? This book reminded me of that. It slowly build’s up to a showy kind of an ending.

It’s a page turner for sure. Read it. It’s good.

originally reviewed at http://booksatvioletcrush.com/04/24/b...
Profile Image for Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books).
642 reviews409 followers
June 14, 2018
This book was creepy, and I was all about it!! I've been in the mood to read something scary, and have recently red The Amityville Horror and The Haunting of Hill House, and neither of those ones creeped me out at all, however this YA horror that's been sitting on my shelf for years did the trick! Alexis' sister Kaycee has started acting strange - she's become more irritable, violent, and has started lying to her family. When Alexis witnesses Kaycee's eyes change color right in front of her, she realizes there's something more sinister happening, and she needs help to figure out how to stop it before it's too late.

This book was fast paced, and kept me hooked from page one! I didn't want to put it down. There were some scenes that gave me goosebumps, and horror books rarely cause that reaction in me, so I was pleasantly surprised! I'm looking forward to reading the second one!
Profile Image for Monica.
Author 5 books304 followers
November 4, 2017
Un libro que se lee bastante rápido con una buena trama, algo que de verdad se agradece en estos tiempos. Tiene sus toques lúgubres y algunas descripciones que me pusieron la piel de gallina, aunque debo admitir que el toque romántico y juvenil no me gustó.

El meollo principal se solucionó en un abrir y cerrar de ojos, todo lo demás para llegar a su desenlace estuvo muy bueno pero las ultimas hojas fueron terribles.

Seguiré la saga porque los compré al mismo tiempo y porque la historia fue muy creativa, merece otra oportunidad.
Profile Image for shady boots.
504 reviews1,970 followers
May 2, 2015
Possession? Dolls? Haunted houses? Vengeful spirits? This was exactly the YA horror book I was looking for!

In the beginning, for whatever reason, I had low hopes for this book. But when I started reading it, I was surprised how much I instantly liked it. I've read a lot of books where I constantly check the page number I'm on and I'm like "Ugh, is the chapter over yet?" and I'm so bored. But I also have read a lot of books that just suck me in so much that after a while, when I check what page I'm on, I'm like "Wow, I've read that far already?" This book falls in that category.

Alexis is considered the school outcast, and she has pink hair. And I love her. She was so damn relatable, and I just loved her voice. I can't really say anything bad about her, to be honest, because she never annoyed me.

And then we have Kasey, Alexis's little sister. Dear God, this girl scared the crap out of me. She's thirteen but she acts seven, and she collects a lot of dolls and talks to them. One doll in particular, she found in her house, with glowing green eyes. Let's just say this doll is the only one who talks back to Kasey, and does a lot more than that.

There was also Megan Wiley, the cheerleader who surprisingly has a big part in this book. I liked her because she wasn't the stereotypical bitchy cheerleader, and I liked the part she played in the story. You'll find out some shocking things about her past.

Along the way, we get to find out the history of the vengeful spirit in Alexis's house, and I loved reading all of the background stories. One chapter in particular, near the end, was my absolute favorite.

Besides the scariness, this book also had a very nice romance. The love interest is Carter Blume, a preppy guy who was surprisingly very sweet even when he and Alexis first met. I loved that the romance was very slow-paced, and it didn't take up the whole book, you know? It was put in here and there, but it wasn't a huge part of the book, which I'm glad about. And there was also no rush to say "I love you" in the end. That's always a plus. Because you know how irked I am with the use of the word "love" in YA.

From the way the book ended, though, I can't really see why this is a series, because it would've been fine as a standalone. But hey, I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm going to buy the other two books right now.

In a nutshell, this book will give me nightmares and will make me deathly afraid of dolls from now on. In other words, hell yes, I recommend it to you.
Profile Image for ☠Kayla☠.
259 reviews125 followers
September 22, 2020
Though it started off a little slow at the beginning I really enjoyed reading this book. It had just enough spooky vibes to start out the Halloween season without getting fully into it.
Alexis and Kasey are considered weird by everyone around them. Alexis is an outcast who doesn't seem to fit in with any friend group and Kasey is obsessed with dolls, shy, and very childlike for her age. Alexis notices strange things happening in there creepy old house such as doors opening and closing on there own and other strange things. Along with the house Kasey is starting to act really strange to and one day her once blue eyes turn to green, and Alexis knows there's something not quite right with her sister.
This book is a really good teen ghost story. It's scary enough for readers new to ghost stories but not scary enough for readers experienced with them. Though it is still enjoyable for all in my opinion. It had amazing very likable characters and some I was actually surprised that I ended up liking by the end of it. It was a very easy read and the perfect mix of slow and fast paced. I do wish it had a bit more depth to it but since this is the first book in a trilogy I'm hoping the other two will give more depth to the story. Overall a really good read that I'm so glad I picked up. Sadly, I don't ever see me reading this book again, I just feel like it's one of those reads I can only experience once. So it gets a very solid 4 stars.
Profile Image for L.E. Fidler.
714 reviews78 followers
December 6, 2011
this book is terrible AND i loved it. so there, world!

let's start with the obvious: the title.

it's dumb. like stupid-dumb. and the girl on the cover, veiled mysteriously in a curtain, making her look like a demented bride or elaborate victorian doily, isn't doing the book any favors. other than this: when you see it, you need to pick it up and say, "what's this about then?" and then you read it. because it looks awful.

does that make any sense at all?

of course, then there is the plot, which, at its best, is like a rip-off of every teen flick, ghost flick, and ro-co flick out there. we've got alexis, with her pink hair and devil may care approach to education, friendships, and boys. she, of course, is a photographer (artistic, not pretentious), she is in constant trouble with school admin for skipping what she perceives to be unnecessary classes in school spirit, and she hates the cheerleaders. she's got a pesky, socially awkward little sister kasey who collects dolls, a love interest with formerly suicidal tendencies and the amazing physical similarity to a lanky cherubin, oh, and an evil spirit haunting her mishmashed gothic house of terror.

you know, that old chestnut.

there's a whole lot of action as the ghost possesses the weak-willed kasey and proceeds to use her body to steal genealogy projects (which are surprisingly thorough for middle schoolers), cut wires in cars, and make things go bump in the night. or the day. or whenever. there are good spirits, bad ones, charms, and avenging cheerleaders. there's also the prom, pyrotechnics, and psychotherapy...oh, and a girl named pepper.

did i mention this book was awesome?

so, here's the deal. in terms of its utter ridiculousness, of its willingness to embrace how cliched and awful it is, of its ability to be entertaining regardless of its content, i'd give this book 5 stars easily. i would. but because it's trite, and jam-packed with too many plot points (photos, teenaged rebellion, the doom squad, the repressed town culture/forbidden library books, the awkward sister, the bad mother who works so much that she is never around to actually mother, the father who spends most of the book in the hospital after a car accident, the cheerleaders, the boyfriend's sordid past, the ghost herself, the other ghost, megan's backstory, megan's grandmother, the fact that the novel is pretty much a ghost-themed ripoff of "footloose," etc. etc. etc) that never get appropriately resolved, and reeks of regurgitated ideas, the english teacher in me would give it one.

so, let's split the difference. totally a guilty pleasure and totally reading the second one!
Profile Image for Mlpmom (Book Reviewer).
3,098 reviews396 followers
November 5, 2015
Having read a book earlier this year by the author, I knew that I wanted to try all her other work. I had so much fun with the creepy ghost related paranormal vibes from her Famous Last Words that I knew I couldn't resist another one.

When I read the synopsis for Bad Girls Don't Die, I knew this was the read for me.

Let me explain something first to you, I am a huge chicken. I hate scary movies and rarely watch them because I'm just not the same for days, heck sometimes weeks, afterward. But when it comes to a good creepy book? Sign me up! There is just something about reading a story that makes it both better, and worse and this story, definitely had the creep factor, gave me goose bumps and had me looking over my shoulder while reading and I loved every minute of it!

I don't want to go into too much detail btu if you are still looking for a great creepy read, this is the book for you. It was way creepy than the first book I read by this author and definitely had me thinking about it for a few days after reading it but I still loved every minute of it. Alender will continue to be a go to author for me when I need a good creepy story that will keep me on my toes.
Profile Image for Özlem.
154 reviews90 followers
August 31, 2015
Baktım kitap sürükleyici gidiyor, çeviriyi bıraktım ve kitabı bir solukta bitirdim. Supernatural & Insidious tarzı şeyler izlemeyi seviyorsanız, aradığınız kitap bu. Sadece baş roldekiler liseli gençler o kadar.

Şimdi karakterler hakkında iki çift laf etmek istiyorum:

-Alexis Warren, ana karakterimiz oluyor, çevresindekiler uymadığını ve hiçbir yere ait olmadığını düşünen bir kız. Pembe saçları var. Asi ruhlu, doğru olduğunu düşündüğü şeylerin arkasında, yanlış olduğunu düşündüğü şeyleri de sonuna kadar protesto ediyor. İdealist anlayacağınız. Okulda kendilerine Doom Squad (benim tabirimle Kıyamet Mangası) adı verilmiş belalı bir grupla takılıyor. Beni başlarda biraz sinir etti ama ilerleyen safhalarda kendisini çok sevdim.

-Carter Blume, esas oğlanımız (aslına bakarsanız tek oğlan), mavi gözlü sarı saçlı çekici ve akıllı bir çocuk. Ayy yerim onu falan derdim ama yaşı benden küçük. Sübyancı formatına girmemek için öyle bir şey demiyorum.

-Megan Wiley, okulun ponpon kızlarının güzel popüler kaptanı, Alexis'le baş düşmanken sonradan buddy buddy oluyorlar. Nedenini tabi ki söylemeyeceğim ama kızı çok sevdim.

-Kasey Warren, Alexis'in kız kardeşi ve evet, içine hayalet kaçan vatandaş bu. Zaten Alexis ayıklasın sonra pirincin taşını.

-Pepper Laird, ponpon kızların ikinci kaptanı, Carter'dan hoşlanıyor. Bu kızı sevmiyoruz.

önemli karakterler bunlardı. Vıcık vıcık teen aşk üçgenleri ya da "ay çocuk çok seksi, tüm kızlar onun peşinde ama o beni tüm sıradanlığımla gördü, ben de onu yalayıp yutmak istiyorum" tarzında olaylar yok. Hoşlanma, aşk vs tabi var ama sizi baymayacak cinsten. Bu yönüne bayıldım. Aslında kitabın neredeyse her yönüne bayıldım. Bayılmadığım tek kısmı beni çok korkutup germesiydi. Ama o da kitabın hatası değil, benim ödlekliğim. Cidden, korku bile filmi izleyemiyorum ben :D

Son olarak, OYUNCAK BEBEKLERDEN UZAK DURUN! CİDDEN!

description
Profile Image for Özlem.
154 reviews90 followers
December 29, 2015
Esas yorumum İngilizce versiyonunda. Okumayanı vururum :D Okuyun okutturun bebeğimi ♥ #ilkçevirisiniokutmayaçalışançevirmenmodeon
Profile Image for Giselle.
990 reviews6,647 followers
October 28, 2011
The best definition of this book is Creepy. It's definitely a chilling read. Ghosts; strange happenings that made my hair stand on ends; it was off to a great start. However, I found it so full of clichés that it never developed into anything very intense or much interesting. The lack of originality is easily the biggest downfall of the novel and makes it extremely predictable. I've watched a lot of thriller/horror movies of this kind though, maybe I just have seen it all?

As expected, we have the outcast loner girl who somehow easily gets the hot guy. Not only has this been overly done in YA already, the whole romance aspect in Bad Girls Don't Die didn't have a purpose in the book at all. It never added any charm to the story and only amounted to getting me annoyed with it. The love interest; the awkward dialogue; the character's reactions; it all felt a bit too juvenile for modern day YA. I could see younger teens -12, 13 years old - quite enjoying this.

If you can get passed that and the awkward dialogue, the book is actually not bad; I did enjoy getting spooked. Ghost stories are my weakness. They freak me out, but I can't help myself from wanting to hear them all. The writing is good, simple, and what saved it from a lower rating is that it's a fast read that wraps up quickly and nicely. There's nothing more to say really. Try it if you want a quick and freaky read.
Profile Image for Bern.
192 reviews
February 17, 2020
Sit down your behinds as comfortably as you can, people, because the illustrious uncle Bernie is about to tell you a little story:

There was once a little boy with fire-red hair that owned barbies and had lots of fun with them. He'd marry them with his Max Steel - all of them, because they were all obviously crazy about his rugged good looks and tanned six pack - and then make them have catfights and gossip sessions and whatever else he thought girls did when they looked as fabulous as did his barbies.

So yeah, the redheaded little boy, the barbies and their husband had a great relationship up until he was ten and decided to get rid of all his toys because he was "way too big" for them now. So they were given to god-knows-who and never seen again.

Sad, isn't it?

But you must be wandering who the hell was that dashing little boy with such great taste for toys and what the hell did his story have to do with Bad Girls Don't Die.

The boy, as you must be utterly shocked to find out, is moi and this story pertains to Bad Girls Don't Die on the grounds that I am VERY happy that I got rid of all those dolls I owned, because if I still had just one of them in my possession, I'd be suspiciously eyeing it all day and waiting for its eyes to glow and my mind to be filled with a very scary and girly voice demanding me to do murderous things to my friends, neighbors and relatives.

That's how much this book is insane, it makes dolls be forever terrifying and I will honestly live a happy life if I never see one again.

I will happily reread this book someday, however, since it was some of the most fun I've had with horror books in a loooong while and I really liked the writing, the characters and the plot. The prose wasn't oh-my-god-where-have-you-been-my-whole-life perfect but it was so enthralling and fit so perfectly with the story being told I couldn't help but get sucked into the life of Alexis, a fifteen year old girl who has difficulty dealing with other people because, according to her, they're always trying so hard to be something they're not and they end up never sounding real.

I could easily devote a whole essay on how much I liked Alexis - even though it took her eons to figure out something that I'd got from the get-go, but hey, she didn't get a blurb of her own life - and how different she was from most other YA main characters. She wasn't a mary sue, nor was she one of those "anti-mary sues", girls so tough you can practically see their penises, no. Alexis is just a girl who's not very easy to be dealt with, but then again, neither are most people around her. And when her little sister Kasey starts acting weird - weirder than usual - she realizes something, something dangerous, is up.

I'll stop here because I could gush about this book all day long and not make my point across, so I'll just say that if you like YA's, or if you just like horror or even if you just like awesome main characters that act like real people, THEN YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE. NOW. READ IT NOW. I DARE YOU.

This book is pure damn joy at its finest, people. I kid you not.



P.S.: If you're wondering why I gave it four starts despite loving it to the moon and back, it's what i said: it took Alexis ages to figure out something stupidly obvious and that angered me a LOT for a while.
Profile Image for Megs ♥.
160 reviews1,308 followers
December 6, 2011
This book was alright. It wasn't nearly the best book about paranormal activity, but for a book intended for younger teens it was okay.

Lexi is a girl that doesn't like cheerleaders or preps, yet she also doesn't fit in with the "Doom Squad" which are a group of kids she currently hangs out with who also hate cheerleaders or preps. I liked Lexi.

This book has a little of everything in it too. A little paranormal, a little mystery and suspense, and even a little romance.

I thought the story flowed well with a smooth, fast pace that never got boring.
Profile Image for Yan.
348 reviews77 followers
March 5, 2009
Bad Girls Don't Die was a chilling read that had an odd twist of humor. There were moments where my arms were covered in goose bumps and all of a sudden, it wasn't what you had not expected. It was actually somewhat funny, the scenes. However, it comes out more of an awkward—I’m not crazy—laugh. Extraordinary in that sense of way.

“I dreamed I was standing on an island in a swamp full of alligators…I saw Kelsey swimming towards me, blissfully unaware of the predators…I pulled out a rifle, and I shot any alligator that got close to her. Then Kelsey was with me on the island, braiding my hair and singing me Christmas carols. And a battered doll in a ripped petticoat came out of the water and walked over to us, but Kelsey couldn’t see her. And the doll pointed at Kelsey and looked at me and said Your sister is crazy.”

What I loved most about this quote was the randomness of it. Seriously, I love random stuff but when you include it with some not so random information, only to you of course, then it makes it only so much more fun. A little giggle to yourself looking crazed to the world through their eyes makes it so much more sweeter.

Aside from that, outside of its original content, this passage may not seem so frightening, but it left me in chills…well until the part about your sister is crazy. The main fear is the dolls, the true demonic force behind it all. Even in real life dolls are creepy to me. I’m talking about the classic porcelain ones, the ones that are so lifelike you just can’t stare them in the eye. So here I was, just anticipating something horrific about to happen, and bam, there goes a funny little surprise. So an awkward, half hilarious, half scared, laugh is elicited.

Almost all the characters are so well done. The secondary characters are of course in the background, but also giving more depth to the main character. But that doesn’t just stop there, some of them even have a bit more life in them. Carter, the male protagonist as well as being a secondary character, gave Alexis more of a girly flare that doesn’t show anywhere else. But he also has a dark past that gave him more depth. Alexis was the older sister, the person who cared for her, as well as the one who’s more than what she appears.

The action was predictable in some areas, but not so in others. The mystery aspect and the road to uncovering it was wonderfully done and left no real questions behind.

Overall: A great book to pick if you’re in the mood for creepy little dolls. Okay so it’s much more than that. Just read this book if it sounds interesting to you, trust me, it’ll be better than you expected. I took it for granted and now I’m in contentment after reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Gem (The Creepy Geek).
507 reviews247 followers
October 28, 2018
3.5 rounded up because I think it deserves it lol!

I really enjoyed this. It was spooky, it had possession and a good vengeful spirit background. I enjoyed there being a good, helpful spirit and also the fact that one of the cheerleaders ended up being the most knowledgeable about hauntings.

Overall, the storyline was great, the writing was pretty good and I had a good time reading it and it creeped me out.

The reason I would give it 3.5 rather than 4 is I felt like it took a while to get there and that Alexis didn't really DEAL with it very efficiently. Like, she knew her sister was possessed but still went back to the house alone, slept there and never warned her mum. It felt like things that I guessed chapters before took her way too long to see. Also, I wanted more from the romance. I did enjoy it being these two teenage girls from different social cliques banding together, but Carter had the potential to be a really awesome character but there wasn't enough time spent on their story so it felt a little tacked on and underdeveloped.

My favourite thing about this was Megan's backstory. When Alexis had the dream and saw what happened with Megan and her mum I welled up. As a mother myself it really hit something inside me.

Overall an enjoyable, spooky read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Louisa.
497 reviews393 followers
October 27, 2013
Come play with us, the whispers begged. Come play with us.


I've been dabbling in "scary" novels for the past two months leading up to Halloween. Even Stephen King's Joyland didn't have quite the impact it had on me than Bad Girls Don't Die. Score one for actual frightening YA ghost stories!

I think your enjoyment of this hinges on two factors: whether you have a little sister (no seriously), and whether you're a fan of more straightforward ghost stories. The MC, Alexis, lives in a big old house wracked by past horrible events. Her little sister Kasey starts acting strangely - going into Alexis's room in the middle of the night, being mean, stealing her classmates' genealogy reports for no apparent reason, etc. I literally started wondering if my own little sister would open the door to my room and do the things Kasey did. Also, the story involves spirits in the conventional form. While I guess some people might view this book as forgettable, it genuinely did scare me - which is all I ask of a paranormal novel.

The romance in this is pretty subtle, but also very teen-ish. I do appreciate how it didn't veer into insta-love, something I was afraid would happen given how Alexis starts thinking about Carter. I also like how the typical cheerleader was painted in a different light.

It won't take long for you to finish this! Just probably don't read it in the dark alone like I did. Definitely recommended for a pre-Halloween read. ;) I know there are sequels, but honestly this book stands fine on its own.
Profile Image for Amber J (Thereadingwitch).
1,041 reviews72 followers
July 25, 2022
So I enjoyed it. I generally really like ghost stories. I read a lot of children's horror and this read a lot like that. Not that I don't enjoy it, but I was expecting something a little more I guess. But the story was fun and the ghost part was fairly disturbing.

The MC was a little much for me though. She tries so hard to be different and antisocial, then criticizes others for the same thing. The few friends she does have in the beginning she is basically using so she's not completely alone, and she judges everyone else around her without knowing them at all. Mind you she is a teenage girl, so I can work with it.

All in all, I will continue the series. While this one was a bit predictable I can see potential and maybe the author and work of this and get something great out of it.
Profile Image for ✦BookishlyRichie✦.
641 reviews1,052 followers
March 15, 2011
3 words. WHAT THE F*CK. 53 pages in: nothing creepy happened. 138 pages in: still waiting...
It's a damn ghost story for R.L. Stine sake!!! The little girl "Kasey" is supposed to be creepy... but she wasn't. the sister "Alexis" just bored me to death. I really hate when books take 200 damn pages to get the freaking point. The funny thing is... a lot of people enjoyed this book and I can't see why. it had nothing unique and was like a bad episode of "Are you afraid of the dark?" (which is one of my favorite shows.) Come to think of it there was an episode where this house was haunted and a girl was slowly turning into a doll... hmmm... weird. All in all this book was very boring and the ending was blah. I love fast paced books I don't know anyone who doesn't... I for one don't like a book to take 200 pages to get spooky or exciting. If a book is 500 pages then those 500 pages better be the best shit I have ever read. I don't get sometimes how author's can write so much and a majority of the 500 is boring and unneeded. that's all I got to say & there will be a video review on this book. I need to speak on this to my youtubers :)

- Richard
Profile Image for Arwen56.
1,218 reviews308 followers
March 15, 2015
Bé, dai, pensavo peggio. Invece è una “ciofeca” di tipo classico:

1) c’è il solito spirito incazzato come una biscia, che vorrebbe vendicarsi dei discendenti di coloro che gli hanno fatto del male (e non ha neanche tutti i torti, perché di sicuro non si potrebbe candidarli al Premio Nobel per la Pace);

2) c’è la solita anima candida e sensibile alle atmosfere, che diventa facile preda degli struggimenti di quella creatura antica che vagola per la casa;

3) e c’è il solito, improbabile eroe, che pensava di essere una schiappa, invece è un cuore impavido.

Io, ovviamente, sono fuori target per un romanzo del genere, però mi chiedo: davvero un odierno adolescente si lascia prendere da questi improbabili accadimenti? Naaaaaaaaaaaa … non ci credo neppure se me lo giurate. ;-)
Profile Image for Margaret Stohl.
Author 106 books6,034 followers
June 21, 2009

Scary dolls are even scarier than scary clowns. When BGDD really gets going, it *really* goes there, and I loved every minute of it. I agree with the reviews that say they wanted to read more about all the characters, and so I am v. excited to hear that BGDD is now a trilogy! Yay for good book mitosis! Because this is a good book; the writing is funny and real, the story unfolds to epic proportions, and the MC is a likeably grouchy departure from our usual YA heroine. I can see why this book is getting so much buzz, and it's well deserved. Alender does for EEEE-vil what Carrie Ryan does for Zombies. Spooky, stellar debut!

Profile Image for Lale.
139 reviews4 followers
September 5, 2017
Bu kitabı okumak çok iyi geldi gerçekten. Mükemmelden ziyade, okurken iyi vakit geçirten ve bir süre sonra unutulup gidecek kitaplardandı. Korku türünde bir kitabı ilk okuyuşumdu. Bununla başladığım iyi oldu doğrusu. Bunun gibi bir YA kitabında bile ürktüysem usta bir yazarın yazdığı romanda ne yapardım bilmiyorum. Korku filmleriyle de aram iyi değildir zaten, bu tür ile mesafemi korumayı düşünüyorum.

Yazarın gerilim yapmaya çalıştığı yerler dışında okurken Supernatural ı hatırlattı. Bir ara Dean'ın bir yerlerden çıkmasını bekledim. Dean özlemimi pekiştirdi kitap resmen. <3 Ah burda olsaydı da hayaletin mezarını yaksaydı :D
Profile Image for Wendi Lee.
Author 1 book479 followers
September 9, 2017
*4.5 stars*

This was a great haunted house/possession novel! I liked how it didn't play into the typical YA trope of insta-love, instead focusing on female friendship, and the bonds between sisters, and mothers and daughters.

I'm almost disappointed that there's a sequel, because this novel is really strong as a standalone ... but I'll reserve judgment until I read the next book.
Profile Image for Jennifer Wardrip.
Author 5 books511 followers
November 4, 2012
Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Alexis might not be perfectly well-adjusted to high school life, but she finds her niche as an outspoken pink-haired smart-aleck quite satisfying, thank you very much.

Her four-person family is far from perfect, but they have always managed to get by, in their spooky architectural jumble of a house. Alexis' mother spends more time at work than at home, but so do millions of other moms across America. Kasey, her doll-obsessed little sister, is sometimes too passive for her own good, but hopefully the doll-collecting is something she will grow out of. As for her father, they aren't exactly close, but he could be worse.

One night, after a family argument leaves Kasey in tears, Alexis comes to the rescue in the role of comforting big sister. Kasey requests a story, so Alexis soothes her with a made-up story off the top of her head. Since it is for her baby sister, the story revolves around a little girl and her doll, Kasey's favorite topic. Naturally, Alexis doesn't think much of the story, though come to think of it, it is a bit strange at how smoothly the spontaneous story rolls off her tongue.

However, shortly after Alexis' tale, Kasey starts behaving weirdly. More strangely than normal anyhow. It starts small, with her eyes sometimes changing color from blue to green and using old-fashioned language, like "oughtn't." At first, Alexis tries to brush away her foreboding feelings, deeming the odd vibes she is getting from Kasey as a figment of her imagination, nothing serious.

When mysterious lights appear in the middle of the night, doors close themselves, and the air conditioner goes haywire to the point where Alexis can see her breath in the house, she knows it is no overactive imagination. She has no idea what exactly is going on, but something weird is happening in their house, and much as she hates to admit it, Kasey has something to do with it.

Events spiral rapidly out of control, as midnight wanderings progress to thievery and even attempted murder. Alexis has no idea who to turn to - does anyone even believe in the supernatural anymore? People might just lock Kasey up as schizophrenic, but Alexis knows better. Her little sister is not crazy. Kasey is possessed.

Katie Alender's BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE is a haunting tale of one town's murderous history and a ghost that wants revenge.
Profile Image for Melissa Chung.
905 reviews321 followers
June 9, 2016
Paranormal YA read that wasn't bad. It wasn't super amazing either. I'm giving it 3 stars because it did keep me engaged. I wish it was a little bit more scary. The ending was rather disappointing as well.

Alexis is a 15 year old amateur photographer. Her sister Kasey is in middle school and collects dolls. LOTS of dolls. Her obsession has gotten out of control and she has slowly lost all of her friends. One night Alexis is outside taking pictures of her creepy old house in the moon light when she sees a glow near her window.

At this point the book takes off in an interesting way. I love creepy dolls! I love possession! So this book had a lot of things going for it.

The thing that confused me was why everyone hated her. Yeah so she was a good girl. She liked to speak up for different causes. How can a girl like her have only had one friend and then no friends. The doom squad was okay. Every school has the loner kids or the emo kids...the misfits. The cheerleaders were as snobby as they were supposed to be. So I can see why they wouldn't want anything to do with the doom squad. But how did Alexis get to be with them? Just cause her friend moved away? The whole fat shaming didn't make any sense.

If we take away all the teen drama and just focused on the creepy factor of the book doll possession the book is still a 3. Yes the sister was possessed and she did it effectively. What I didn't like was the ending. The '7 months later' chapter was really lame.

This review is pretty lame, I know...I just am on the fence with the whole thing. It was okay for a creepy book. I do own the second one so I'll read that one too. I just don't think it's a keeper series.
Profile Image for Mark.
230 reviews35 followers
December 26, 2010
Scary. As. Hell. I had heard great things about this book, and wasn't disappointed. And now there's a follow-up coming out? Count me in, after I turn on all the lights in the room. From the front cover of this book, to the last chapter, Alender had me hooked.

Alexis lives in an old, haunted-looking house with her parents and younger sister, Kasey. Kasey has always been a little odd to Alexis, but lately her behavior has been getting more disturbing. When Kasey starts using words that normally don't belong in her normal vocabulary, and moving around the house at odd hours, Alexis starts to worry. When she notices Kasey's eyes turning from their usual blue to bright green, Alexis gets seriously scared.

Alender does a great job of ratcheting up the fear factor in the book, without resorting to cliched scare tactics. She establishes an ominous tone, and a sense of foreboding with each chapter. As Alexis teams up, reluctantly, with the head cheerleader at her school, in an effort to help Kasey, the book takes turns which are even more sinister. I cannot wait for the next book, although I'm wondering how Alender can top this one.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
277 reviews884 followers
Shelved as 'didn-t-finish'
October 3, 2017
Alright, so, while I did post an update saying that I was impressed with the writing and characterization, I realise that I am not 14, therefore I am not the target audience for this book, and I don't need to be reading it.

I actually think this is a really decent book for what it is, but I would definitely classify it as "Super YA," meaning that it's meant for kids under the age of 16. Nonetheless it is quite well written, and the main character Alexis is a spunky outcast without being totally stereotypical and irritating.

Unfortunately there is a lot more "trials and tribulations of highschool" than there is "my sister is possessed by the soul of a haunted doll" for me to be invested enough to see where the story goes.
Profile Image for İzel Çeçin.
196 reviews1 follower
September 24, 2016
çok. gerildim. çok gerildim.
ya böyle kitapları okurken istemsizce arada odayı kontrol ediyorum. resmen ödüm koptu kitabı okurken. alexis carter ve megan baya sevdiğim karakterler oldu. ayrıca yazar açıklayana kadar olaylar gizemini korudu, ki ben genelde böyle kitaplarda sonunu okurken tahmin ederim bu kitapta tahmin edemedim. ama gerilme kısmı beni sinir etti, rahatsız edici bi hisle okudum kitabı bu yüzden 4/5
Profile Image for Serpil Çelebi.
Author 8 books10 followers
May 17, 2016
Hayaletli bir hikaye. Kurgusu da güzel. Korkar mısınız? Gece okursanız muhtemelen evet. Yazarın korkutma kabiliyeti var kuşkusuz ama bu bir genç yetişkin romanı. O yüzden korkuya çok ağırlık vermemiş. Kitap kısa, yine sürükleyici, ana karakter biraz ilginç.
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