Dead Rules by Randy Russell + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Published June 21, 2011 by HarperTeen - ARC
2 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review
Till death
Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever.
Do
But Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.
Us
Michael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana's life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon.
Part
But things aren't going according to Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break.

Review:  Dead rules is an interesting take on life after death for teenagers, but instead of focusing on the interesting setting and rules of being dead, Dead Rules gets stuck on a love triangle that borders (ok lands squarely) on obsession. 

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I really liked the setting and the interesting spin on the afterlife.  It has Christian undertones but nothing specific so it can be appreciated by people of different faiths.  I liked the set up for the school and the mystery surrounding it, but we never really learned the truth behind the mystery, nor do we ever really learn the rules of the different classes of students.  We learn what makes a person in one class verses another, but none of the real rules associated with them.  The whole mystery of the book is not explained enough for my liking. 

The best part of the book was Mars and Waytt.  They were the only characters that experienced any growth and with which I felt any connection even though they were the stereotypical paranormal romance "sexy bad boy" and "misunderstood bff".  I loved their history that was revealed and how they learned from each other.  I think the fact that Mars was physically perfect while Wyatt was seriously disfigured added an interesting dynamic to their relationship.  True bromance. 

The biggest problem for me were all of the other characters, and the female characters in particular.  While some characters have interesting development, most are one dimensional fillers.  The side girl characters only had one aspect to their personality which mostly depended on the state of their bodies after their death.  The main character was just scary, and not in a good way.  This part might get a tiny bit spoilery, but not too much.  Jana is in love with her boyfriend who is still alive and on earth.  And by love, I mean obsessed.  Jana is crazy and seems very selfish.  She says that Michael "completes her" and "makes her a better version of herself."  WHAT!?  That is not love, that is obsession, and it is not healthy as a human or a ghost.  She has such an obsessive "love" for Michael that she wants to kill him so they can be together.  Again I say that is NOT love.  I'm sorry, but if I was dead KILLING MY BOYFRIEND would NOT be the solution to my problems.  If Jana had learned that she wanted Michael to live a long and happy life and THAT was true love, then I would have been ok with it, but THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  She just jumps to the next guy.  Seriously, messed up. 

Overall Dead Rules is a paranormal romance that had a lot of potential to be a very exciting mystery but fell short because it was stuck on the love triangle aspect of the story.  Completely ineffective satire.

The giveaway is now closed, congratulations to MrRobirabbit!