Thursday 19 April 2012

Dead Rules by R.S. Russell

Pages - 374
Published by Quercus in March 2012

Jana had the jitters.
It was her first day at her new school and everyone on the bus looked distinctly peculiar. She felt her face with both hands to be certain she was dreaming. The inside of her mouth tasted like strawberries. She didn't remember eating breakfast. 


Goodreads Summary
When high school junior Jana Webster dies suddenly, she finds herself in Dead School, where she faces choices that will determine when she, a Riser, will move on, but she strives to become a Slider instead, for the chance to be with the love of her life--even if it means killing him.
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This really is a breath of fresh air when it comes to paranormal fiction. This book goes to a completely different level where you find yourself smirking at the actions of the lead character Janna. If you ever watched the American series 'Pushing Daisies' and loved it, you will really enjoy this book - the humour is exactly the same, very dark. 
Jana is a bit delusional to begin with. She is convinced that Michael is the love of her  life and that they must be together. She is utterly obsessed and you find yourself clenching your fists, desperately want to give her a good slap to knock some sense into her. She is lost in the idyll of romantic love that nothing can break the surface to show her what is really going on.  She seems to be in no doubt that he feels exactly the same way as she does, however as the story progresses we realise that Michael may perceive the relationship in a completely different way. You enter this book with one perception of the characters and leave the story with a completely different view of them altogether. 
I didn't like any of the living characters at all. They were  a really nasty bunch; who treated Jana badly from the start. If honesty had been a focus from the beginning, none of the events that followed would have happened. However if that had been the case, there wouldn't have a story! 
This book does seem to give good advice to teenagers whether the author actually realised this to begin with.  It shows that you shouldn't believe everything you hear about a person as they may not be as bad as they are portrayed. It also makes you realise that rules are made to be broken. 
This is a quick, entertaining witty read showing the other side of death. It is definitely worth a read, if you want to see dying from a unique point of view. 
I really do think this book would make an excellent movie; the characters who carry their deaths like quirky fashion accessories, a cracking story and bundles of black humour. 


5 comments:

  1. This sounds great. I used to enjoy watching Pushing Daisies. I need to add this to my wish list!

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  2. This does sound brilliant. It's on my wish list!

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  3. This sounds really good. I love Six Feet Under and Pushing Daises, will add it to my wish list. x

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  4. I've wanted to read this for a while...it sounds so interesting, plus I love the cover!

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  5. This sounds really good. The cover reminds me of the original Pretty Little Liars covers though!

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