Lily Anderson (1)

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson is a funny, sometimes poignant young adult novel about a teenager's investigation into her best friend's death.

Mila Flores is an overweight, unpopular Hispanic teenager who does not believe her best friend, Riley Greenway, committed suicide. A Wiccan, she decides to use a spell to bring Riley back to life in hopes of uncovering the truth about her death. Unfortunately, she somehow messes up the spell and along with Riley, she brings back two other show more classmates, mean girls June Phelan-Park and Dayton Nesseth, who also recently committed suicide. Mila's spell will only keep the girls "alive" for seven days so the girls immediately begin their investigation into who would have wanted to murder Riley, June and Dayton.

Mila is a feisty teenager who is comfortable in her skin and embraces her outsider status within the school hierarchy. She and Riley were inseparable and she never wavers from her certainty that her bestie would never commit suicide. Mila's reunion with her BFF is bittersweet and fraught with tension since Riley is sometimes a little rude and short-tempered with her.

Mila is determined to make the most of the next seven days even if this means putting up with June and Dayton. She is disappointed to learn none of the girls remember what happened to them before their untimely deaths so their investigation is sorely lacking in information. Although June and Dayton were not Mila and Riley's allies in life, they are surprisingly helpful and cooperative as the teenagers try to piece together the truth about their deaths.

Undead Girl Gang is a charming young adult novel that features a clever storyline and a diverse and colorful cast of diverse characters. Lily Anderson does an excellent job keeping the truth about what happened to the girls cleverly concealed until the novel's somewhat surprising conclusion. Well-written with a funny dialogue and a puzzling mystery to solve, this quirky novel will appeal to readers of all ages. show less

This is almost a four-star read for me. It's certainly an excellent Much Ado About Nothing adaptation, especially given all the wacky Shakespearean peculiarities Anderson renders purposeful and (mostly) sensible. And I did greatly enjoy the love story and the friendships and the depth and detail of even minor characters.

But Trixie, the narrator and our protagonist, was not just challenging to spend 300 pages with, she was also an exhibit in how diverse and often unwelcoming geek culture can show more be. I'm very definitely a geek, but of all the fandoms Trixie rhapsodized about—at least ten, and I'm sure I missed some—I think I only shared three of them. Which would be fine...to each their own...except she often belittled and derided those of other fandoms or those within her own fandoms who couldn't claim her geek expertise.

I get that Trixie's behavior and opinions are supposed to be slightly problematic. (Certainly her tendency to view her best friend as a chicken who clucks and flaps in panic every other moment was off-putting, to say the least.) And she does manage some growth by the end of the book. But if I wanted to hang out with someone who thinks their fandoms and their knowledge of them make them better than everyone else, there are tumblr blogs and subreddits for that.

On a slight side-note...what is it with the Tardis dresses?! I've been to many librarian conferences with so many people wearing them. I admire the devotion to fandom, but there are Middle Earth dresses and R2-D2 dresses and much other fandom couture from which to choose. Why the Tardis?! Does librarian (or librarian author) = Tardis? Is there a secret librarian Tardis society? Do the dresses just fit better than the other fandom ones? show less

High School was already tough for Mila Flores and that was before her best friend Riley and two other classmates died in the same week. While the town believes all three to be unfortunate suicides, Mila knows her best friend and can't believe her death could be anything short of murder.

Determined to find justice, Mila resorts to a spell in the hopes that magic will bring back her best friend and help her find justice. What Mila wasn't prepared for was the spell to actually work. When Mila show more manages to bring back not only Riley but the two popular girls who died before her, they're on the clock. The spell only lasts for a week and no one is handling their resurrection very well.

For every fat girl, for every girl who wears eyeliner and combat boots as armor, for every girl who chooses her own path and damn the consequences, Mila will resonate. Lily Anderson perfectly captures the feeling of being too large for the world around you as a teenage girl, the awkwardness of not fitting the mold. Mila takes no prisoners and will do whatever needs to be done to find justice for her best friend, but underneath the sharp wit and the fuck off eyeliner is a deeply vulnerable and insecure girl who's grief is consuming her.

Undead Girl Gang is a fast paced supernatural murder mystery that's sharp, funny, and surprising. With it's cast of unforgettable and strong characters, this is a stand out book.

Thank you to First To Read from Penguin Random House for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Anyway, this review is based on the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) so some things may have changed from the final version.

Also, I have never seen/read Much Ado about Nothing so... :P

STORY:

"I took in a breath so deep that it burned the back of my throat, killing a sob before it could start. I could taste the eucalyptus baked into my sweater" (pg 90).

Perhaps, not the best quote to start a review with, but it embodies the wonderfully quirky vibe of this book well. Also, I really love the show more trivia/language/sci-fi bits that are constantly present.

The premise of Not Now, Not Ever by Lily Anderson (320 pages) is about a teen going to a genius camp with elimination games as a way to win a scholarship to her dream college. This college is important for Elliot Garboche to take control of her destiny instead of being pigeonholed into to enlisting in the army like her mother or becoming a layer like her father and step-mother desire her to be. Of course, Ever can let her overbearing family members know her true intentions to break away from the mold, so she lies and goes to the camp under the guise of Ever Lawrence. Getting into the camp was easy, but staying is harder than ever for Ever!

Concerning the romance, it is in the background and any progress between Ever and Brandon is slow. Depending on who you are, that might be a great quality this story exhibits. For me, I don't mind the slow start and the focus on the camp itself, but the romance isn't aww-worthy (i.e. no fangirling moments).

Well... The first kiss scene was incredibly cheesy, but the line, "He smiled. 'I really like you, Elliot.'" warmed my little young adult heart.

CHARACTER:
This book has some nice diversity considering the genius camp has contestants from every race and background. For example, the main character Ever has significant Creole ancestry.

Eh, my first impression of Elliot (better known as Ever) was a bit prickly. I thought she was a little combative against a counselor named Cornell in their first meeting. Throughout the story, lowkey Ever needed to mind her own business. What's it to you that someone didn't solve a Rubik's cube? Anyway, she was mad intrusive and a bit judgemental, though the latter is a very common realistic trait she wasn't a character that I actually liked. I think the reason that particular personality trait turned me off is because I try my hardest not to assume things about people (despite it being a knee-jerk human behavior).

However, I like that Ever was very confident about herself especially being a tall girl who did martial arts and loved sci-fi books, especially Octavia Butler.

The rest of the cast never really stood out to me. I'm sure others will connect with the quirky, competitive array of characters, but I was not personally invested in them.

OVERALL:

"Do you ever miss things before they're over?" (pg 174)

It's certainly worth a read. Not Now, Not Ever is also a fun way to learn a bunch of cool trivia with a tiny bit of mystery and romance.

The ending also had a good dash of realism because sometimes YA-fiction, in general, can end either downright angsty or too fairytale happily-ever-after-ish. show less