Review of Bad Girls Don't Die

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
Official Site
Description:When Alexis's little sister Kasey becomes obsessed with an antique doll, Alexis thinks nothing of it. Kasey is a weird kid. Period. Alexis is considered weird, too, by the kids in her high school, by her parents, even by her own Goth friends. Things get weirder, though, when the old house they live in starts changing. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Kasey is changing, too. Her blue eyes go green and she speaks in old-fashioned language, then forgets chunks of time.

Most disturbing of all is the dangerous new chip on Kasey's shoulder. The formerly gentle, doll-loving child is gone, and the new Kasey is angry. Alexis is the only one who can stop her sister — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?


Review: I've never really read creepy books. I'm not really a fan of scary movies, and I don't like the dark. Catch my drift? I don't do scary. When I picked up Bad Girls Don't Die, I thought it was about a small, bookwormish girl who looked afar at a popular, rebel girl. But noooo. Bad Girls Don't Die is about curses, ghosts, backstories, and sisters.


The novel tells the story of Alexis and her sister Kasey. Alexis is the girl who doesn't have much friends, loves photography, and cuts classes. She hates the cheerleaders and would rather read than hang out with people. Her and her family move to this old creaky house (That was their first mistake..) and really don't fraternize with their neighbors. Kasey, on the other hand, is younger than Alexis. She's obsessed with dolls. The rag kinds, the glass ones, and the ones with eyes that follow you. Kasey is a little strange, but whose little sister isn't? But being accused of breaking a girls arm over her making fun of Kasey's doll is a little more than strange.


Bad Girls Don't Die could be classified as a mystery, because Alexis is trying to find out what's going on with her sister, who suddenly is using big words, and she's trying to understand why she feels a presence in the attic. Why, when she took a photo of her new home, she saw a greenish orb. Who her sister's new "friend" is. And why her sister can't seem to remember doing  things Alexis knows she did. 


I've said it before, and I've say it a million more times: I love books with backstories. Stories that go back years, centuries. Curses that run in families and grow stronger each generation. Like the Beautiful Creatures series. And the chapter that reveals everything? Oh god...  Bad Girls Don't Die has a biiiig backstory. About the thing in Alexis's house, about one of the cheerleaders, and about some of the people in town. Everything is connected. 


I would recommend Bad Girls Don't Die to those who like a good mystery, some creepiness, and a lot of heart racing "RUN RUN" moments.

"All this time I'd thought Kasey was kind of on the verge of something, and suddenly it hit me that what if, you know, it wasn't her. What if it was me? Can you go crazy without knowing you're crazy?"   

-pg 94, Bad Girl's Don't Die