The reason I chose to read this book was that I was between books and wanted a new one, so I grabbed a book with an interesting cover off the shelf, not expecting much.

Bad Girls Don’t Die turned out to be much better than I originally thought and scarier, too, and almost had me jumping out of my seat. I’d give this book a 3 out of 5 on the scary scale, 1 being Is this supposed to be scary?, and 5 being I will never sleep again, because there were moments where I squealed if I heard any noises.

The overall score of the book is 4 out of 5 for having a little bit everything: romance, drama, action, paranormal activity. It’s just a really diverse book, but the theme that comes into play despite everything is family.

The main character in this book is Alexis Warren, a girl with a tough attitude and the pink hair to prove it. Alex’s weakness is her younger sister Kasey, who she is really protective of because she is so shy and lonely.

Alex is also really into photography, stealing candy from children and terrorizing townsfolk. Not so much, actually, but most people believe she does. The way people see Alex and her sister changes throughout the book, and their personalities become almost opposite of who they were before, which opens doors for Alex and closes them for Kasey.

Kasey is very different than Alex. She lacks the confidence to make friends or stand up for herself, so Alex becomes her bodyguard. Alex’s babying of Kasey definitely causes conflict later in the book because Kasey wants to be treated like an adult, like most teenagers do.

The book opens up with Alex waiting for the perfect moment to take a picture, and when it comes, she snaps it and her sister scares her half to death. She soon notices a strange glow near her bedroom window and hurries to take a picture of it. When she realizes that it’s not coming from a central point but floating, she rushes inside.

After that, Alex starts to notice weird things happening around her house like cold breezes out of nowhere, doors closing on their own and the smell of rotten eggs lingering around. She begins to think that she is losing her mind, but soon realizes that it’s not her at all. Kasey has been acting strange, forgetting conversations and events that recently happened.

What’s going on? Are Kasey’s eyes turning from blue to green because of some contacts, or is there something much darker going on? If you love Mary Downing Hahn books, you will love this book.