Deadgirl - B.C. Johnson

Title: Deadgirl
Author: B.C. Johnson
Publisher: Curiosity Quills, 2014
Genre: YA Fantasy, YA Paranormal

**I received a copy of this book free from the Author in exchange for an honest review**

My Review:

It took me about halfway through the book to understand really what was going on…and it was frustrating. But it was also worth it. It was definitely worth the patience, and though I didn’t know what was going on, I couldn’t put the book down. I was submerged in the depths of Johnson’s prose. It was an awesome experience.

Essentially, the story starts with Lucy Day, a 15 year old, running for her life from five truly evil-looking guys. When Lucy is shot in the stomach, they take off and leave her there. Lucy is transported to a gray ocean landscape, and wonders if she’s in Hell. However, she wakes up on the asphalt and sees that, though there is still blood from a wound, she is alive. Or undead. She’s not really sure. She goes about explaining her incident to the police and her parents, conveniently leaving off the “getting shot” part, and tries to resume her life. She picks up with Zack, the boy from her date, and her crush for as long as she can remember, but weird things start to happen: whenever she goes to sleep, she wakes up on the gray beach, a strange phantom ball of light is following her at night/a strange man is following her during the day, and she keeps getting helpful texts from a stranger. Oh, and she slowly starts to get so cold that she steals warmth from those around her, leaving them in a stupor. What exactly is going on? Who is hunting Lucy? And more importantly, is Lucy dead? A ghost? What IS she?

I cried at the end. Literally cried, and a book hasn’t made me cry in awhile. There’s a scene that breaks your heart…but I don’t do spoilers, so I’ll leave it out. You’ll just have to read it yourself.

Is it Classroom-Appropriate?

This is a tough one, so I’m going to say it’s not “classroom relevant.” There’s only one swear word, a “F*** it” said by Zack, and the other words are just “effing,” which is not a swear word. No sex. A kiss or two. But there’s nothing to use it for in the classroom. Way more of an at-home novel, and it’s a good one.

Age Range:

I would say 13 and up…the one swear word isn’t that shocking for a teenager. I mean, it’s just one. The rest of the book is very relatable to teens. I’d let my niece read it. Well. Maybe next year, when she actually turns 13. Then I’ll let her.

End Result:

I only read Deadgirl because I received a copy of the sequel from NetGalley, Deadgirl: Ghostlight, without realizing it was a sequel. I messaged the author via Goodreads and he was kind enough to give me a copy of the first book so that I could understand the book I’m reviewing for NetGalley. I’m giving it ★★★★★. I am going right to the sequel to see what happens next…and I’m recommending it to my friends. If you want a truly original story, with a protagonist that actually talks and thinks like a normal human being (and is quite funny, at that), then I would say grab a copy. No stilted dialogue. No boring over-descriptions. No fast-paced confusing action scenes. Just a book that you can’t put down because you want to know: what happened to Lucy Day?