Death, Doom and Detention by Darynda Jones

DJones-Death Doom Detention

DJones-Death Doom DetentionI enjoy YA from time to time.  So, when my favorite adult authors venture into the YA realm, I have to check it out.  When I heard Darynda was going to do a YA, I had to check it out.  While Death, Doom and Detention is the second book in this YA series, if you haven’t read book 1, go pick it up, you’ll be hooked and just dying to get your hands on Death, Doom and Detention.  If you’re like me and already read it, well then you have probably been eagerly awaiting this release.

The normal part of Lorelei MacAlister’s life didn’t just slip away quietly the day Jared Kovach came to town. Nope. The normal part of her life shattered. It exploded. It burst into a gazillion shards of fleeting light.

It went out with a bang.

Goodbye normal.

Hello dark and eerie.

While her best friend, Brooklyn, is focusing all of her energy on helping Lorelei hone her abilities, Lorelei is dealing with the reality that Satan’s second in command has taken up residence inside her body. Oh, and the fact that she has a crush on the Angel of Death. But what a beautiful death it is. If those weren’t bad enough, something sinister has come to town and it wants nothing more than to hear Lorelei’s dying breath as it strangles it out of her. Thank goodness the gang has a supernatural champion. But what happens when the only being who can save them switches sides midstream? How can a group of misfits capture one of the most powerful beings ever created? And will they find out how to bring Jared back to them before it’s too late?

Fans of Death and the Girl Next Door be forewarned, Death, Doom and Detention is quite a bit darker than its predecessor.  I felt there was less of that witty banter between Brooklyn and Lorelei this time around. Where I  felt that the banter between the girls in Death and the Girl Next Door felt a lot like what we get with Charley and Cookie in Darynda’s adult series, even to the point that I sometimes felt I should be looking for Charley & Co to pop up, Death, Doom and Detention felt more like its own distinct series and had its own feel with the relationship between all the characters, but especially between Lorelei and Brooklyn.  This isn’t a negative.  I think this series needed that distinct feel.

As for the darker tone, things get serious pretty quick and stay that way.  The ending is especially a shock.  There was not really any easing in with this series – Darynda just jumps right on in with Death, Doom and Detention.  I have mixed feelings about that.  I’m glad on one hand that we’re getting into the nitty gritty of things quickly, but also kind of sad because these kids are dealing with some pretty hefty stuff and outside of Lorelei and her 2 protectors, if you will, everyone else is just human.    Now, when I say dark, don’t forget this is a YA, so what I think of as dark for YA and dark for adult do differ.  Some readers may disagree on me on the darker tone/feel.  A lot gets thrown at these teens and all of them are just getting clued into the supernatural existence and the majority of them are “just human”.  Maybe I feel it’s darker because there is a lot of different action going on.  Jared disappears for a while, there are other happenings going on that lead to Lorelei having to have a 24/7 shadow, then the dissonance between Lorelei and her grandparents. There is just a lot going on.  For me, this is a big positive.  It makes the pages fly and I was never bored or felt in a lull where I wanted to skip and skim until the next action scene.

The world building is pretty much complete; though there is one pretty big revelation in Death, Doom and DetentionWell, maybe 2.  One leads us to our ending, which while not necessarily a cliffhanger in the traditional sense, it is definitely a shocker and I’m more than eager to see how this turn of events affects the rest of the series going forward.  That said, I would not recommend reading Death, Doom and Detention if you haven’t already picked up Death and the Girl Next Door.

I cannot say enough great things about this series and Death, Doom and Detention. Oh let’s face it, I adore Darynda’s writing and am hooked on both this and her Charley Davidson series.  If you have any interest, even if you’re one of those who doesn’t normally read a lot of YA or is pretty selective on what YA you read, I assure you you will not be disappointed.  Now, who else is counting down to Death and the Girl He Loves?! 

Read Order:
Death and the Girl Next Door
Death, Doom and Detention
Death and the Girl He Loves 
(Oct. 2013)

About Nicole 146 Articles
Attorney by day, Publicist for Barclay Publicity and reviewer/LE (assistant) editor by night. I'm a huge book nerd and love to read. I have 2 dogs, both Labrador retriever mixed breeds, who are very rotten and think they run the house. Let's not lie, they totally do, I just can't them know it ha ha! My usual genre is romance or urban fantasy. I love all things having to do with paranormal, with the occasional good contemp/BDSM/erotica thrown in to spice it all up.

10 Comments

  1. Darynda Jones is a MAJOR favorite of mine when it comes to great authors. Her books, whether they be Adult or YA are SOOOOO GOOD I can’t seem to get enough of them. I absolutely LOVE this review! :)

  2. I just love this series! Darynda Jones I just can’t get enough of. The Charley Davidson series is another one that is just to funny! I can’t wait for the third book in the DarkLight series! Love the blog great review.

  3. Really good review! Darynda Jones is one of my favorite authors. I love both the Charley Davidson series & the Darklight series. ;)

  4. Great review! I’m such a fan of her books! She’s one of my favorite authors. I’ve got the 3rd book pre-ordered :-)

  5. Great honest review, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I definitely enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting the final installment!

  6. Love, love, love Darynda and can’t get enough of both her adult and YA series. My daughter went from child to late teen reading Harry Potter. I would love to go from middle aged to my dotage reading about and drooling over her characters. :)

  7. Nichole, you’re my kind of reader! I couldn’t agree with you more about DDD. This is the “darker” book, but it needs to be that way…think Empire Strikes Back…now we can have a chance to see more “light” in the next book!

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