Dead Rules by Randy Russell
pages: 384
released: June 2011
publisher: HarperTeen
cover love: ♥♥♥♥
Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever. But Jana’s destiny was fatally flawed. And now she’s in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch. Michael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana’s life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon. But things aren’t going according to Jana’s plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break. (from Goodreads)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 11/21/2011 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET
Review:
As soon as I saw this cover and read the blurb, I knew I had to have this book. Jana Webster dies from a serious crack on the head with a bowling ball. When she awakens, she’s on a school bus, headed to her first day at Dead School. Though she’s weirded out by her frigid body temperature, roommates that spit up feathers, have darts sticking out of their heads and that sometimes have blue-toned skin, she figures she’ll just try and adjust while waiting for Michael, her boyfriend true love to kill himself to join her…I mean, how could he live without her, right? But that soooo didn’t happen. No biggie, she has a plan b! She’ll just help fate along and kill him herself.
Dead Rules was a really fun book to read, it was cute and morbid at the same time. Instead of being serious and painful, Randy Russell plays up the more joking side of ghosts and death. Even in Dead School, there are rules (so many rules, my own head was spinning) and there are cliques: Jana and her friends are Risers aka the good kids. They perished accidentally. Then there are the Grays, the ones who committed suicide. Angels are the beautiful virgins and then there are the bad kids: the Sliders. The ones who died doing bad things. Here enters Mars Dreamcote (pulse quickening…everybody get ready to swoon). Mars is the bad boy with a good soul and though Jana is repeatedly told to stay away from him, really, who can resist that kind of temptation? She feels a strong pull towards Mars and the warmth of his touch but she tries to turn it off, thinking only of Michael. She knows she must become a Slider to regain a connection to Earth so she can carry out her plans. I also liked that the author used a third-person narrative, so you get to know how her other classmates died and follow Mars around when he’s not with Jana. You also get to see what Michael is up to on Earth, which is very important to the story…
Okay, I can’t say much more without spoilers but the ending is superb! I loved it and it left a smile on face for awhile. Dead Rules is a cool read with some pretty fun characters and I’ll be looking out for Randy Russell’s future releases.
3