Dead is the New Black

Dead is the New Black was totally cheesy but I loved it! It was like a mix between Supernatural, which is one of my favorite shows and Bring It On, which is one of my all time favorite movies. It was predictable but I still had fun reading Daisy solve the mystery.

And how awesome are the sisters!? I would love to have any/all of their psychic powers. I wish we had more interactions between the sisters but as this is just the beginning to a series, I'm sure we will get some Charmed action going on! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

While all the other women in her family have psychic powers, Daisy does not. This doesn't stop her from secretly trying to solve a murder mystery on her own and with the help of her soon-to-be boyfriend & old friend, Ryan, son of the Police Chief. Daisy's mom frequently helps the police solve cases with her psychic abilities. This case in their town of Nightshade begins to have supernatural - vampire - overtones & the next thing you realize is there are a whole host of supernatural creatures living in this odd town. To help solve this murder, Daisy joins a very pale cheerleading team, goes clubbing, kisses the cute Ryan, and discovers she might not be as "normal" as her family of psychics always thought. A quick satisfy & quirky show more mystery. No blood, even though we're talking vampires, werewolves, etc... This is book one of 8 in Marlene Perez' series that has been really popular with middle school girls. Now I know why! show less

Daisy Giordano, the only non-psychic member of her psychic family, teams up with her friend Ryan to track down a vampire attacking girls around her town.

This was a lot of fun! It's definitely a lighter read, but it's entertaining nonetheless. Daisy is a great narrator, and I loved the dynamic between her and her sisters. They squabble and fight and get on each others' nerves, but they're still family and are there for each other when it counts. I thought Perez did a great job of showing what they all meant to one another.

Daisy's relationship with Ryan is also nicely fleshed out. There are lots of good moments between the two of them as their friendship shifts into something else. Daisy's anxiety over the whole situation came across as show more very real. I also appreciated her non-friendship with Samantha and how it changed as the book progressed.

I thought the psychic elements were incorporated pretty well. Nightshade is a little bit like Buffy's Sunnydale in that there's this whole otherworldly segment of the population existing alongside the clueless normals. Perez doesn't devote much time to explaining this, though, and it's a little unclear as to whether or not the supernatural types are underground or not. Even the normal main characters seem aware that there are vampires and werewolves and such in their midst, but there are a few scenes that make it seem like psychics and supernatural creatures aren't really out about their abilities. There's also a coverup near the end that makes it seem like the psychic characters are shielding the rest of the town from the truth.

Overall, though, this is good stuff. It was a fun, quick read. I'll keep an eye out for the next two books!

(Review copy provided by the publisher. This review originally appeared in a slightly different form on my blog, Stella Matutina). show less

I do love supernatural mysteries, and when they involve teenage girls falling for their best male friend (who has suddenly become super hot) while trying to solve a mystery that might just involve vampires...well, I'm gonna devour it, of course.

Daisy is a charming lead, and I'd like to read more about her. She's smart and sarcastic, and her best friend Ryan sounds *dreamy*. The mystery is a bit lackluster, and the wrap-up was ridiculously brief - on one page Daisy still isn't sure who to trust, the next she's at the bad guy showdown. Huh? The villain was a complete joke, to make matters worse...

However, much was introduced in this obviously first book in a series (is Ryan a normal, too? Where did Daisy's dad disappear to?), that I'm show more interested in following up, so I'll be checking out _Dead is a State of Mind!_ show less

Daisy Giordano is the only non-psychic in a family full of them and could not feel worse about it. Her desire to help out her psychic mom on a case gets herself and her best friend Ryan involved in some strange happenings they never knew could happen. Their hometown, Nightshade, turns out to be a very strange place to live. A soul-stealing vampire is on the loose and is preying on the Cheerleaders of Daisy's high school, and they're dropping like flies. With Ryan's help Daisy is off to discover who the vampire is before it's too late. A romance sparks up between Ryan and Daisy on the way to solving the mystery of how a dead girl (whom they saw with their own eyes) could show up cheering at a pep rally. While searching for the mysterious show more vampire Daisy also discovers she may not be without power after all.

I could not get enough of Daisy's story! Perez's dialog was very well structured, and she had some very funny, snappy moments throughout the book. I found it easy to rally behind her characters, as they shared their high, low, and scary moments. I originally picked DitNB up as filler between books, but I wound up stretching it out for two days, simply because I wanted to live in Nightshade just a little longer with Daisy. Nightshade is definitely a town I would want to visit, though I wouldn't want to live there. All in all, this book was great, and I will most certainly be reading the rest of the series! show less

Dead is the New Black, the first of a paranormal, young adult series, is about Nightshade, a strange town where a soul-sucking vampire is on the loose attacking teenage girls. Daisy, the typical girl from a not so typical family, tries to save the day in between dating her new boyfriend and becoming a new cheerleader.
The novel begins interestingly enough, but the plot takes too many convenient turns with randomness tossed in. That isn't so bad, except when combined with some bad dialog and clichéd and repetitive inner monologue. Not horrible, but I think I'll skip the rest of the series.

"The preferred term is 'undead' or, if you must, 'living challenged," she said, nose in the air. "I'm not a vampire."

This book is about Daisy and her odd life in her odd town called Nightshade. The most popular girl at school shows up on day in all black with freshly bleached white hair and porcelain skin. And she's dragging a coffin behind her.

And thus kicks off the new trend of looking undead in her little town. Luckily, this town has a resident awesome sheriff (dad of Daisy's best friend) who works with a psychic (who is Daisy's mom). Together, these two can typically solve any crime. But these recent murders are stumping Daisy's mom like never before.

So Daisy decides to help her. It's a silly book - something I could have totally show more embraced. However, what I didn't like was Daisy. She's whiny and annoying. She's negative and complains a lot. Maybe it was the dating of the book (2008) but I just don't think this is a typical teen. But I do own book 2 and 3 so I'm sure I'll continue this.....hopefully Daisy grows from this first one. show less