May 15, 2011
A group of social-climbing high-school girls makes a deal with a demon in this sassy, easily digestible horror story.
After saving her little sister Kasey from demonic possession in Bad Girls Don't Die (2009), pink-haired, confident Alexis hopes her time battling fiends is over. When Kasey starts high school, however, she falls in with the Sunshine Club, a group of girls who turn out to be involved with the demon Aralt, and Alexis, hoping to protect her sister, joins the club herself. Although it takes some time for Alexis to realize she has become possessed, her condition is no secret from readers. The author effectively blends Alexis' take-charge, nonconformist personality with Aralt's aggressively sunny, obsessively image-conscious influence. Life becomes easier with Aralt's help: Alexis heals quickly from injuries, manipulates her suspicious boyfriend and attracts the attention of well-placed adults, some of them also Aralt's devotees. The tension comes from watching Alexis' demon-fighting resolve weaken and uncovering clues about the true cost of Aralt's seeming benevolence. A few nasty fat jokes undercut the novel's ostensible stance against looks-related bullying, and using a girl who walks with a cane to represent the most desperate of losers is tasteless and unnecessary.
Otherwise, a smooth and not-too-scary page-turner, with room in its conclusion for a third installment. (Supernatural thriller. 12 & up)
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
June 1, 2011
Gr 9 Up-Sixteen-year-old Alexis Warren's younger sister has just returned home after a year in a mental hospital, having been possessed by an evil spirit. School is starting, and Lexi is worried that Kasey, 14, will have a hard time fitting in. When Kasey joins a group of outcast girls in the Sunshine Club, and then the girls begin to become popular, Alexis feels that something is amiss, so she and her friend Megan join the club as well. But when they swear an oath to Aralt on an antique book, they, too, become ensnared in the trappings of the club. Aralt, an evil spirit, gives them charm and confidence, but what they don't yet know is that he demands a sacrifice. Alexis is sworn to Aralt and is at the same time suspicious, but now Kasey saves the day. The novel takes time to get going, and while it could stand alone, it makes more sense after one has read Bad Girls Don't Die (Hyperion, 2009). Still, this creepy ghost story does finally grab readers, and fans of the first book will enjoy it and be pleased that the ending leaves the door wide open for another installment.-Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada
Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2011
Grades 7-9 Lexis' younger sister, Kasey, is back from spending 10 months in a mental hospital in this sequel to Bad Girls Don't Die (2009). After Kasey joins the Sunshine Club, which is filled with beautiful, poised, and popular teens, Lexis is certain something is amiss, and with a friend's help, she tries to infiltrate the club to uncover exactly why and how everyone, especially Kasey, is changing. Once again, Alender mixes ordinary high-school drama with the supernatural, asking the subtle question: Exactly what would we do and what would we sacrifice to be beautiful, poised, and popular?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2011
Alexis and her sister Kasey (Bad Girls Don't Die) have joined the innocuous-sounding Sunshine Club. In service to a spirit called Aralt, club members gain beauty, smarts, and success--but at a price. In this suspenseful, well-plotted novel, Alender dexterously juxtaposes Alexis's desire to both resist and give in to Aralt while conveying the girls' disturbing but believable need for perfection.
(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)