Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

Review of Social Suicide

Title & Author:
Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday
Publisher:
HarperTeen
Publication Date:
April 24, 2012
Pages:
240
Source:
ARC from Publisher

Twittercide [twit-er-sahyd]: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went… a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the Homecoming Queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos… – Goodreads

I’m a sucker for mystery solving, sleuthing teenagers. No matter how unrealistic the circumstances are, I love to read about teens looking for clues and interrogating witnesses. The first book in this series, Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday, was fun and enjoyable, but there were a few little things that bothered me personally.

I felt the same way about Social Suicide – it was fun and I loved solving the mystery of who killed Sydney Sanders. There were a few things that irked me – a lot of running around and red herrings. I mean, I loved that I did not see the ending of Social Suicide coming AT ALL. Not in the slightest bit. And I was super impressed afterwards, because the idea hadn’t even occurred to me. But all the running around and interrogating Hartley did in Social Suicide left me a bit tired.

I definitely liked Hartley a lot more in Social Suicide than I did in Deadly Cool. I felt like I related to her a lot more – she had real moments with her mother and her friends that I know most teen girls feel at some point. Plus she seemed to pick up the trail a lot quicker than in Deadly Cool, despite all the red herrings. I didn’t like Chase as much as I did in the Deadly Cool, though. He bugged me and not in a good way. I’m curious to see where their relationship will be in the next book – because there will be a next book, right?

My only real complaint, besides the circles and Chase, was that the stakes in Social Suicide didn’t seem to be as high as they were in Deadly Cool. I mean, stuff happens and of course lives are threatened, but it didn’t seem as tense to me as it did before.

But in the end – if you guys are looking for a fun YA mystery that’s relevant and relatable (in some ways), definitely check out the Deadly Cool series by Gemma Halliday. I’m a Nancy Drew fan girl for life, but Social Suicide was certainly an enjoyable mystery and I can’t wait for the next book!

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