Temple Mathews

The new elements are almost all much better than you'd expect a sequel like this to be, but Eric, Triton and (to a slightly lesser extent) Ariel are all oddly bland and without personality here. Most of the songs -- admittedly not all -- are very forgettable, and the animation quality is quite uneven. Oddly, the two new comedic sidekicks and the villain's sidekick are by far the three characters standing out as most memorable here. Making the villain Ursula's jealous sister also seems a bit show more lazy -- would it not have been much more interesting and fit better for the film's themes if the villain was Ursula's mother? show less

Ugh, this book was such a miss for me. I read the blurb and got so excited but I think that just made the let down even worse.

Echo is supposedly a bad girl. We get that from the title. I didn't realise that she would be a total self-absorbed selfish jerk. The one time she shows an inch of caring about other people is in the last pages (which, incidentally, felt like a cop out of an ending.)

This book really reinforces the stereotype of needing love. When Echo finds herself dead, she is sad show more because she misses her boyfriend, her one and only true love that she cannot live without. Well, Echo, you're dead. And no one cares. But then she meets this handsome stranger, and for a moment, it seems like she's moved on because she's falling in love with him. But no. She goes back to the other boy and tries to screw up his life by moaning at him. Ohmygoodness. I want to slap her and get her priorities into check.

The ultimate way Echo died was just eh. I like thrillers. I like mysteries. I like well developed plots that drop hints every few pages about what might have happened so that I come up with theories that get proved wrong and right. This? None of that. None of the above. The way Echo died was ultimately weird and creepy. It would have been less weird and creepy if it had been set up properly and introduce sensitively, but it felt like maybe the author realised the book needed something interesting in it. Ugh. Really insensitive handling of a topic that I really didn't buy happening.

Characters were developed strangely. The director of the home had a sad back story that kind of took over for a chapter, but it was really creepy and again gave no thoughtful discussion to a valuable topic. Don't get me started on Cole and instalove because I'll rant for years. Other characters simply seemed to be cute ideas the author had but didn't feel like expanding into real characters.

I'm really disappointed by this book--I was so excited and I generally love most books from this publisher. I definitely would have stopped reading around 35% if I hadn't been reading to review; even then, I had to skim a lot of it to get through all the moaning and complaining.

Teenage girls should not read this; all it will do is reinforce the idea that they need love to be happy. I do not recommend.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

This book had an odd start, but I started to really get into the story when Echo realized she was dead and needed to find a way to resolve her unfinished business. As she learns about her new ghostly state and makes friends with fellow ghosts, Echo also tries to uncover what happened to her - she haunts her high school rival, her boyfriend, and others. Echo is not a perfect person and I appreciated how she learned to confront her own flaws. This was an engaging read, nearly a thriller, with show more plenty of paranormal elements. show less

I received an ARC of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway program (back in 2017!) in exchange for an honest review.

A bit late to the game on this review - I misplaced a box of books while moving, and finally found it amidst my COVID cleaning. This was such an engaging read, it is evident from the early pages that the author has written for TV and film; when describing the plot to friends and family, they repeatedly said "that book sound make a great movie". The story initially has a show more strong "Sixth Sense" vibe, moving gradually towards "Casper the Friendly Ghost", while the teen drama/supernatural romance lends a "Twilight" feel. (Okay, done with the film comparisons.)

Temple Mathews is a great writer, and Bad Girl Gone was an enjoyable, thrilling read for young adults and plain, ol' adults alike - nothing like a good bit of teen drama and escapism in these surreal times. show less