Devin Rhodes Is Dead review by dancechicka
Devin Rhodes is Dead
Age Range - 12 and up
Genre - Fiction

LitPick Review

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Age at time of review - 15
Reviewer's Location - Leopold, Missouri, United States
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Devin Rhodes is dead -found at the bottom of Woodacre Ravine, buried in her parent's flower garden, lost to the world she loved so much forever. And it's all Cassandra Kirschner's fault. She can recall that night vividly - the blind date, the tense conversations, the giant blowup, and the back of Devin's too-white shirt as she runs from the mall parking lot, never to be seen again. Her parents are devastated, the town in a near panic, the killer still on the loose. And it's her fault. Tormented by guilt, Cass struggles to function without her best friend. She remember how it was in what she calls "before" - Devin's boy-crazy antics, the two of them buying friendship charms, the bad-tempered spats getting more and more frequent. But when Cass starts to feel long, cold fingers running up her spine and the slightest hint of a cool breeze around her head, she starts to realize that maybe Devin Rhodes isn't quite so dead after all. "The invisible fingers move from my shoulders, tapping, touching, and slowly curl themselves around my neck. They begin to tighten, and I want to scream, but my throat constricts and nothing can get in or out. Not words. Not air."

Opinion: 

I thought that this book was a good read, albeit a short one.  I found the plot pretty airtight, and the tone was just the right amount of creepiness and intrigue. The regular chapter switches from the times before and after Devin’s death kept me interested and in-focus.  Kam was skilled with her language, keeping the vocabulary easy enough to read yet eloquent enough to fit the overall eerie tone of the book.  One thing I did have a hard time doing was connecting with Cass.  I found her to be a little too woe-is-me and petulant for my tastes, but hey, I really can’t judge someone whose best friend just died.   All in all, a good, quick read for someone looking for a little pop to add to their winter reading list.

“I can’t think; I can only run.  I can only run from Devin.”

I would recommend this book for ages ten and up.  There are, of course, themes of violence and death, and although a very small amount of profanity is used, I feel it would be best for younger children to wait to read this book for its central themes.

Plagued by broken memories and driven by guilt, Cass struggles to find the answer to the biggest question of them all—who killed Devin?  Read Jennifer Wolf Kam’s new novel Devin Rhodes is Dead to find out!

Rating:
4
Content Rating:

Content rating - some mature content

Explain your content rating: 

Violence and death as themes; slight usage of profanity
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