Thursday, March 14, 2013

Death, Doom and Detention by Darynda Jones

Death, Doom and Detention by Darynda Jones
Release Date:
March 5, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: Publisher

Summary

The normal part of Lorelei MacAlister’s life didn’t just slip away quietly the day Jared Kovach came to town. Nope. The normal part of her life shattered. It exploded. It burst into a gazillion shards of fleeting light.

It went out with a bang.

Goodbye normal.

Hello dark and eerie.

While her best friend, Brooklyn, is focusing all of her energy on helping Lorelei hone her abilities, Lorelei is dealing with the reality that Satan’s second in command has taken up residence inside her body. Oh, and the fact that she has a crush on the Angel of Death. But what a beautiful death it is. If those weren’t bad enough, something sinister has come to town and it wants nothing more than to hear Lorelei’s dying breath as it strangles it out of her. Thank goodness the gang has a supernatural champion. But what happens when the only being who can save them switches sides midstream? How can a group of misfits capture one of the most powerful beings ever created? And will they find out how to bring Jared back to them before it’s too late? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

Death, Doom and Detention is a combination of a paranormal romance and contemporary teenage novel. I suppose every YA paranormal romance fits that description, but it feels particularly pronounced in the Darklight series. That's a compliment, not a criticism. I enjoy the juxtaposition between Lorelei's role as a prophet and her life as a normal girl with friends, homework, and petty high school drama.

In many ways, Death, Doom and Detention is a typical "second book." Jared, Lorelei's hot Grim Reaper/Archangel lover boy is absent for much of the novel. Thankfully, this book avoids the stereotypical love triangle (at least one involving Lorelei). There is one, actually, but it's so brief and fits into the context of the plot that it's understandable.

Lorelei is trying to come to terms not only with the recent revelation that she's a prophet but also that she is possessed by a demon. Plus, Jared is now keeping his distance from her. Like a typical teenager, her parental figures, her grandparents in the case, bear the brunt of her moodiness. It was tempting to pass her off as being whiny to two people who have her best interests at heart, but if my family had hidden such things from me and discouraged my boyfriend's attentions, I'd be rather peeved as well. I thought she was realistically written.

The highlight of this series for me continues to be Brooklyn, Glitch, and Cameron. Jared is a hot sexy angel guy who is the perfect combination of dangerous and utterly devoted lover, but his is just not the personality type that sets my heart a-beating. To each her own. I am much more into the dark, loner, angry protector type that is Cameron. I picture him being rather emo and goth, which I know is not correct. I love his sarcasm and the tension between him and Jared. Glitch and Brooklyn are super fun best friend characters. They remind me of puppies - Brooklyn is a perky toy poodle and Glitch is something goofy like a cocker spaniel. They are always at Lorelai's side and know just what to say to lighten the mood - both for Lorelai and the reader.

While Jared is absent for large swaths of the book, this isn't a novel where the action dulls without the lead guy's presence. Lorelai and her friends encounter numerous danger with and without Jared. Plus, the mystery of his disappearance drives a large part of the book. The book is never an uber-pageturner, but it also never drags. A nice comfortable pace.

I only have a few criticisms. First, an overuse of the word "heck." It fits Lorelai, being the granddaughter of a preacher, but a few more swear words from the other characters would be more realistic (to the characters' credit, there are a few) - and this is from a person who does not like reading a lot of swearing in books. Second, I hate it when people don't use the serial comma/Oxford comma. It should be "Death, Doom, and Detention." Nerd alert - sorry.

All in all, Death, Doom and Detention is a fun continuation of the Darklight series. I'm excited to read the third installment and have put Ms. Jones's adult series even higher on my TBR list. A recommended read!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

12 comments:

  1. Funny, I didn't realize the use of swear words in this context :) And I agree with you on Cameron - he's an awesome character and I love him so much!!!

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  2. Glad to hear you enjoyed the sequel overall, despite it being a typical second book. I still need to read book one, but I'm glad to know the series doesn't drop off in quality. I think the heck will totally annoy me, but I'm glad I have a heads up in advance. Great review!

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  3. LOL--love your nerd alert! I'm struggling with that right now because I'm teaching journalism this year and, in journalism, the style is to NOT use that comma before the "and". It's a habit that I have a hard time breaking!

    So need to check out this series! It sounds right up my alley.

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  4. I'm really glad to know that despite Jared's absence this book doesn't fall into the love triangle trap. That was my biggest fear when starting this series, and I'm thrilled it's still not happening in book 2:) Can't wait to read this Alison!

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  5. I think that this is book that I will love. It sounds like my kind of story. I;m glad that it doesn't turn into a love triangle. Geesh, I have had enough of those. Nice review :)

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  6. Dangerous and devoted sounds like a great combo to me, so yes please on Jared :)
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  7. Nice review! I liked the first one in this series, didn't love it, but it's definitely a nice lighthearted paranormal YA read! Already have this one in my TBR mountain and hope to get to it soon!

    Even as someone with an English degree, I myself can never remember the rule of that comma thing! I mean sometimes there's a comma and sometimes not. My first instinct though is to add one though, espeically if it's a list like this one!

    Once again great review! I feel prepared for this book. And yeah, I definitely liked Cameron a lot more than Jared too for some reason. Guess it was his "bad boy attitude!"

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  8. This definitely sounds like my kind of book, so I need to look up this series on Goodreads for sure!

    Also, last week, you asked me about my GFC on my WP blog - I've written the tutorial today if you're interested, Alison.

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  9. I mentioned this before, but I still need to read this series! I'm glad that you mostly enjoyed it. I need to try to get caught up on the adult series then I may pick this series up.

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  10. I can't decide if I want to read this one. I read the first book, and I thought it was okay, but I wasn't amazed. I agree, I definitely liked Brooklyn, Glitch and Cameron the most. They had great personalities.

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  11. I keep hearing good things about this author and her books, I really need to get a move on and read this series.

    It doesn't sound like it has too many faults, I love your comment on the title and the missing comma!

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  12. Haha, well those criticisms don't sound so bad! Though I have to say that the missing serial comma annoys the heck out of me, too! Heehee. You make this series sound so fun!!

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