As Dead as it Gets
by Katie Alender
Book Jacket Summary
3 months have passed since Alexis witnessed Lydia's death, and the only thing she wants is to have her life back to the way it used to be. But normal people don't see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Nor do they have to deal with regular instructions from the angry ghost of Lydia, sometimes even terrifying attacks. It started out to seem that Lydia just wanted revenge on Alexis alone. But one night, a girl from school disappears one night, and then Alexis spots one of Lydia's signature yellow roses on that same girl's dresser the next day. It soon becomes realized that several of Alexis's friends are in serious danger, and that she would be the only one that can save them. While attempting to intervene, Alexis realizes that her enemy is much more powerful than anything she's ever faced before... and that its fate is intertwined with hers in ways she could not possibly even imagine.
Quotes
- "Everyone has weaknesses, but that doesn't make you weak."
- "There was no use imagining the worst at this point. I was living it."
- "You can leave a door open for your 'friends,' but the truth is anybody can come in through that open door. And how do you know these friends are who they say they are, anyway?"
- "I've been bad. I've been good. Weak and strong. Brave and afraid. A hero and a killer."
- "But i wouldn't tell them a thing. The less they knew, the better. I was positive of that. Ignorance is bliss, and the opposite of ignorance is the opposite of bliss."
Notice and Note
- Again and Again: things keep changing throughout the book.
- Tough Questions: everyone wonders if the green-eyed girl is even Kasey anymore.
- Memory Moment: Alexis sees a yellow rose on the missing girl's dresser the day after she goes missing.
- Aha Moment: Alexis realizes Lydia's ghost is much more powerful than her.
- Words of the Wiser: "Somehow suspension sounded way worse than detention. Detention happens to everybody. Suspension though- that's for the sociopaths."
Dig Deeper
- Themes: fear, suspense
- Symbolism: the yellow rose found was Lydia's "signature".
- Role of the Narrator: Alexis is telling this story. (1st person). It would've been very different if it was told by anyone else. It could've been told by the girl that went missing or even Lydia herself.