Review: Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday (Deadly Cool #1)

Title: Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Published: October 11, 2011 by Harper Teen

Source: Purchased

Format: Paperback

Challenge(s):  ABC Challenge, 2012 TBR Pile

Grade rate: A

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer’s next victim.

My Review

Deadly Cool was such as fun read!  It was a light, easy to read book and at time hilarious. 

Hartley is our protagonist and the story is told from her point of view.  She is a down to earth kind of girl, smart (although too trusting), beautiful, and not extremely popular, which is refreshing to see she didn’t care too much about. It seems like bad luck follows Hart, just as bees follow honey; the good thing is that she overcomes this easily.  I love Chase, he is not only handsome, but different, brilliant, and he cares about Heart a lot.  Sam is such a good friend and I love her for it.  It is also nice to see that the parents of our characters were caring and present (for a change!)

The story is very good.  I have to confess that I never suspected the culprit until the last moment when Hart found out.  As I mentioned before I love Hart’s sense of humor, she is ironic and snarky at the same time. The writing is easy to read and the book went by really fast for me.  I’m a new fan of the series and I can’t wait for Social Suicide which will be published next month.

About the cover:  I actually selected the cover of Deadly Cool for my Top 10 most beautiful covers last week.  Those eyes are gorgeous, and the headphones that form the word “cool” are, well…cool.