Bad Kitty

Written for http://teensreadtoo.com/

BAD KITTY is the story of Jasmine Callihan, amateur super sleuth and trouble magnet extraordinaire. While on vacation with her family in Las Vegas, all she wants to do is lounge around by the pool, check out the cute guy she saw at the snack hut, and, most of all, be a Model Daughter and prove to her dad that she can stay out of trouble. This lasts for all of about five minutes, until a little boy and his three-legged cat entangle her, "literally," in a murder mystery.

Add in a famous fashion model (who happens to be the little boy's mother), an intimidating bodyguard, an insane killer, threatening messages, limo rides, the Evil Hench Twins (Jas' cousin Alyson and her best friend, Veronique), and even show more jail time, and you have one crazy adventure. Not to mention that Jack, the cute snack hut guy that Jas can't seem to stop thinking about, may be more than he appears. Pretty soon Jas' best friends Roxy, Tom, and Polly also crash the vacation, bringing with them a handy Bedazzler and tons of hilarious ideas to aid (and hinder) Jas in her investigation.

BAD KITTY is a fantastic read, and one you might not want to read in public if you tend to laugh while reading. Footnotes sprinkled throughout every chapter act as conversations between Jas and her friends, correcting and adding to the story, and by the end of the book, Jas has come up with sixty hilarious "Little Life Lessons" that everyone should know. For example, "Little Life Lesson 12: If you have your cousin and her friend stand out the sunroof of your limo to give you navigational instructions, be sure that they aren't facing backward to wave at the cute guys in the Porsche behind you when they tell you to go left or right."

The characters are fun and entertaining, the plot hysterical, and you can't help but be swept along with Jas and her friends for the ride. This will definitely appeal to fans of authors like Meg Cabot and Louise Rennison, and for readers who are already fans of the book, Michele Jaffe is hard at work on the sequel.

So hurry to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of BAD KITTY. Believe me, it's totally Visa! (Oh, go read the book and you'll understand!) show less

This is possibly one of the funniest books I've ever read. It's about Jas, who has the unique problem of having trouble follow her wherever she goes -- even when she's trying her best to stay out of it. She's also obsessed with forensics, so you can see where this is going. The novel takes place in Las Vegas and is scattered with some of the most hilarious footnotes I've read outside of a Terry Pratchett novel. We follow Jas as she, and eventually her three best friends, get into (and out of) trouble. I laughed out loud so many times that I lost count. I really hope the sequel is just as good.

Reviewed by Andie Z. for TeensReadToo.com

BAD KITTY is the story of Jasmine Callihan, amateur super sleuth and trouble magnet extraordinaire. While on vacation with her family in Las Vegas, all she wants to do is lounge around by the pool, check out the cute guy she saw at the snack hut, and, most of all, be a Model Daughter and prove to her dad that she can stay out of trouble. This lasts for all of about five minutes, until a little boy and his three-legged cat entangle her, "literally," in a murder mystery.

Add in a famous fashion model (who happens to be the little boy's mother), an intimidating bodyguard, an insane killer, threatening messages, limo rides, the Evil Hench Twins (Jas' cousin Alyson and her best friend, Veronique), and show more even jail time, and you have one crazy adventure. Not to mention that Jack, the cute snack hut guy that Jas can't seem to stop thinking about, may be more than he appears. Pretty soon Jas' best friends Roxy, Tom, and Polly also crash the vacation, bringing with them a handy Bedazzler and tons of hilarious ideas to aid (and hinder) Jas in her investigation.

BAD KITTY is a fantastic read, and one you might not want to read in public if you tend to laugh while reading. Footnotes sprinkled throughout every chapter act as conversations between Jas and her friends, correcting and adding to the story, and by the end of the book, Jas has come up with sixty hilarious "Little Life Lessons" that everyone should know. For example, "Little Life Lesson 12: If you have your cousin and her friend stand out the sunroof of your limo to give you navigational instructions, be sure that they aren't facing backward to wave at the cute guys in the Porsche behind you when they tell you to go left or right."

The characters are fun and entertaining, the plot hysterical, and you can't help but be swept along with Jas and her friends for the ride. This will definitely appeal to fans of authors like Meg Cabot and Louise Rennison, and for readers who are already fans of the book, Michele Jaffe is hard at work on the sequel.

So hurry to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of BAD KITTY. Believe me, it's totally Visa! (Oh, go read the book and you'll understand!) show less

Compared to Michelle Jaffe’s current run of ‘rich white girl with problems’ psychological thrillers (which I have enjoyed), I liked this book a lot more. While the mystery element isn’t as deep or complex as say, Rosebush, this is just straight-out plucky girl detective fluff. And it’s exactly the kind of cotton candy brain fluff that I love to read—interesting characters, a decent plot hook and just plain old fun.

Jas is fantastic. She does read a little younger than seventeen at times, but overall she works as a very strong character. I love that while her interest in mysteries and forensics could be tied back to her mother’s mysterious death, it’s gleefully lampshaded in making Jas a perky seventeen-year old girl who show more just happens to use her eyeshadow for lifting fingerprints from time to time. There’s also the detail that Jas knows exactly wants she wants to do when she grows up and that she’s trying to get experience in the forensics field. (Maybe it’s because the vast majority of YA heroines strictly align themselves with the arts. Now I kinda want to read/write a YA wherein the heroine wants to be an accountant. /tangent.) I love that she has an actual relationship with her parents, not too perfect and not too dysfunctional. Her dad doesn’t like her being interested in murder, but it feels genuine given the circumstances of his first wife’s death. Sherri! could have been very easily written off as a vapid trophy wife, but Jas rarely talks down to her stepmother and I love that they have a close relationship.

Jas’s friends border on the outrageous, but this feels like the type of book that her friends’ craziness works. Token Guy Tom is very much the straight man deadpan snarker, but I like that he does contribute to the group. Polly feels like the best friend fashionista, cranked up to eleven. When a character drives a van emblazoned with the name “The Pink Pearl,” it actually crosses the line from ludicrous to being kind of awesome. And then there’s Roxy, with her MacGuyver skills using nothing but noodle implements. Again, it crosses the line into being kinda awesome. But aside from the quirks, I do like the friendship that comes out in the group. The trio worries about Jas, and tries to console her in the dark moments, but aren’t afraid to step up and get into the line of danger. Also, their conversations are hysterical. While the footnoted asides get a little too random and out-of-place, they are very funny and do manage to lighten the situation. I also like the edgy friendship between Jas and her cousin Alyson and Alyson’s crony Veronique. Like the other characters, Alyson and Veronique are exaggerations of the bitchy popular girls, but I like that they have their moments of intelligence and contributing to the plot. You get the idea that Aly and Jas aren’t close, but they will put up with and look out for each other.

The central mystery is one of the weaker parts of the book. The build-up is solid, I actually like a lot of the characters involved, and there’s a lot of potential for good twists and turns. What doesn’t seem to work is the reveal. It’s set-up in the text, but the way the dots are connected are very weak and I had to flip back to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. However, I did like that there’s a very real sense of danger and that Jas and her gang do land in potentially fatal situations. Adding to that, Jas’s fling with Jack is actually handled very well, and I like the question of what side Jack is really aligned.

I have massive issues with the slang used in here. I know Alyson and Veronique are supposed to be exaggerated prissy rich popular girls, but the slang that they use just plain does not exist. Anywhere. I will eat a quart of coleslaw if someone can point me to the use of the phrase “That’s so Mastercard!” unironically. (And considering that I despise coleslaw with the passion of a thousand suns, that is saying something.) I also really didn’t care for the dancing around of the deeper mystery of Jas’s mother’s death—I know there’s a sequel out, but the few times it popped up, it very obviously felt like a set-up to a larger series, and this could work as a decent stand-alone.

But as I said in the beginning, this is a good example of cotton candy brain fluff that’s not so insulting to the reader’s intelligence, but doesn’t take itself so seriously. If you haven’t read Michelle Jaffe before, I’d recommend starting with this book over her newer ones. show less

Jasmine is on her family vacation in Las Vegas, minding her own business, lounging by the pool when the cat attacks. When the cat attacks, Jas manages to run into the middle of a wedding, throwing the bride and the cake into the hotel’s pool. And this is only the beginning of her problems. She’s started getting threatening notes, and the really cute guy from the Snack Hut seems to be trying to off her.

Of course, things can only get more interesting when her friends decide that an intervention is needed, and take a road trip to Las Vegas in order to help out.

This book had me laughing out loud at more than one point – it was extremely amusing, let me tell you. The writing reminded me so much of Meg Cabot’s; the style, the show more characters, everything, seemed so much like something she would write. It was a fabulous for a light, fluffy read.

My favourite part of the book though? It had footnotes – and not just any footnotes. Oh no, these footnotes, they consisted of the characters bantering back and forth like only fictional teens can. It was positively, splendidly hilarious. show less

So. much. fun.

Remind me to never read Bad Kitty in public, because I'm constantly bursting into giggles. There's not many books that makes me literally laugh out loud, but Bad Kitty is definitely one of them.

Jasmine is just awesome, let's face it, and her three pals are just as cool. Jasmine's forensic skills (which are actually pretty legit) paired with Polly's fashion advice, Roxy's gadgetry, and Tom's locksmith skills are a force to be reckoned with. Then throw in some suave Jackness and murder, and you have a winner!

If you want a good laugh -and- a good mystery, then Bad Kitty is definitely for you.

This book was hilarious. I thought Jas's voice was funny and the situations they were in were crazy. I'd LOVE to see this one made into a movie.

It was fivestar material, but the footnotes were distracting and kept pulling me out of the story. Other than that, Good Times!