Sunday, October 28, 2012

Serial Hottie by Kelly Oram

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Bluefields

Pages: 397pgs

The Story

Ellie's sweet sixteen is a summer of firsts.

First car. First kiss. First boyfriend. First serial-killing stalker?

Hockey-obsessed tomboy Eleanor Westley has never been the object of a guy's affection before. So when the hottest boy she's ever seen moves in across the street and starts treating her like she's the center of his universe, naturally she's going to be a little skeptical. But everything starts to make sense when girls who look just like Ellie start dying all around the city. Obviously the new guy is the killer, and of course he only likes her because he wants to slice her into tiny pieces. Right?

The more Ellie gets to know Seth the more she's convinced he's a psychopathic killer. The problem is he's the sweetest psychopathic killer she's ever met. Not to mention he's brutally hot. No matter how hard she tries, she can't help but fall for him. Will Ellie find true love, or will her summer of firsts turn out to be a summer of lasts?

The Review

A big thanks to the author for providing me a review copy of the book!

This is the first book I've read of Kelly Oram's and it most certainly won't be my last. Now I really enjoyed the concept of this book, I really did. The reason why I wanted to read this book so badly was because I love anything that has something to do with serial killers and I've always loved these certain books where the killer is closer than you think or rather you fall in love with the killer and so on. It just has this exciting element about it like the TV show Dexter does. And, on the plus side, what made me enjoy SERIAL HOTTIE even more than I thought I would was that it also had this Nancy Drew vibe to it with a slight hint of your classic horror movie of predictability and boy did I love it!

SERIAL HOTTIE is a fluffy but a really intense read for the most part, and what did it for me was the characters alone - even when they frustrated me so many times you lost count and I often was yelling at them saying, "Why did you just do that?!". But for our main character, Ellie, she's a total tomboy compared to her sister, Angela, who is the complete opposite. Ellie is someone who plays hockey, hates wearing girly clothes (which I can totally understand), and let's just say she's not the kind of girl who attracts your average guy because she is mostly 'just friends' with them instead. Honestly . . . Ellie was the easiest person to connect with in the book because for most of my childhood I was your typical tomboy and wanting to do things boys were doing at a younger age, so I loved that part about her. Even her sister, Angela, was a real hoot to have in a book such as this one and boy thank god for her humor - not to mention her brains - when it came to the new boy in town, Seth, whom is the kind of boy you're going to either love or love to hate, or just plainly hate, hate, hate.

Apart from the girls, Seth was the only captivating boy character in the book and never have I been so conflicted with a male character before. It's a first for me. Seth is someone you want to love and trust, but then once he goes all weird on Ellie's character, especially when a killer is supposedly on the loose and he starts to get way too involved, you just didn't want to trust him anymore. But here's the thing about his character: He has serial killer tendencies - oh my god, I'm not kidding here. Ellie suspects he is the local serial killer and it's no wonder why her thoughts had always led back to him. After all, Seth is really creepy. Really, really creepy. He was just always there, he was saying things killers would say to their victims prior to the killings (it's called stalking your prey), then he was all possessive-like and controlling over Ellie, and oh yeah, Seth does have a thing for knives (who doesn't?) and a bad temper which explodes at the worst possible times too. Call him whatever you like, but I might not have loved him nor swoon for him, but I did kind of like him. I shouldn't but I did and the fun part . . . ? Honestly I have no idea why I like him so much because really . . . this boy right here has no business dating girls because he's not of the stable kind. Still . . . I liked him. So if you can't love a male character for confusing you on so many levels and make you love to hate him, then I don't know what else you could possibly want from a young adult book!

Overall, SERIAL HOTTIE was such a fun, quick read and if you love a book with crossovers between Nancy Drew, Dexter, Veronica Mars, and a little bit of the horror/thriller film elements, then I would highly recommend this book to you! It's fun . . . a little creepy perhaps but fun.

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars

28 comments:

  1. This sounds like something I would enjoy! You had me at the mention of Dexter and Veronica Mars. Wonderful review, Erin. :)

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  2. This sounds like my kind of read. I love mysteries and I don't mind if the main guy is a bit stalkerish in a book (it's fiction, afterall). Veronica Mars and Dexter are favorite series of mine so this sounds like a win, win book! Wonderful review Erin. :)

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    1. I don't mind a guy being stalkerish . . . but it still creeps me out. haha.

      Thanks Rachel.

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  3. I've been wanting to read this for awhile now. I think it sounds just like you said, creepy, but fun! Great review :)

    Jesse @ Pretty in Fiction

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  4. Um, wow... This definitely sounds intense! I'm glad you were able to connect so strongly to the MC :) I went through a tiny "tomboy" phase but that wasn't even really an actual one... I was just copying my friends at the time haha. Still, the characters sound really interesting! I do NOT see myself liking Seth (I'M SO SCARED, ERIN, HOLD ME) but it would be really cool to read about him! Fantastic review! :)

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    1. It's very intense. Haha yes I know a lot of my friends in the past tried the tomboy phase but they go out of it pretty quickly . . . except me of course. haha. The characters are WAY interesting, some more than others I will admit.

      *holds you* You're going to be fine with this read I assure you Seth still has his hotness but he . . . well . . . he also has a weirdness about him but that's okay because everything will be explained. haha. Seth is a creeper but don't let that stop you. This book is very fun! :)

      Thanks Sonia!

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  5. This isn't my usual fare, but your review is very nicely done. I'm glad you mentioned the stalkerishness, because that's something that bothers me in a book. (I had a friend who was stalked, and it was such a terrifying experience for her that I just get really creeped out in a bad way.) I appreciate the tip, and I'm glad you enjoyed the read.

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  6. Holy crap...Seth sounds CREEPY! Like...INTENSELY CREEPY! I read Kelly's "V is for Virgin" a few days ago, and WOW. I seriously LOVE her writing so I'll definitely be reading this soon! :) Fantastic review Erin! I'm so glad you enjoyed this so much :P (and Seth even though he's pretty..unstable :P)

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    1. Yeah I read that book too, so I too really love her writing style as well. Seth is . . . let's just say a very different guy. hehe. Unstable is a word I would definitely use to describe him.

      Thanks Shirley!

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  7. I am sure I have seen this cover around but the title/author doesn't ring a bell. Nevertheless I really want to read this, even though Seth sounds like a creep. Sometimes it's interesting to read about characters who really test our patience. Great review!

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    1. Thanks! I know what you mean. It's fun reading about characters who are strange but . . . keeps things really interesting. Guess that's why I enjoyed this book so much.

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  8. Serial Hottie? Love the title! You mentioned Veronica Mars in your review and that alone has captured my interest! I love these kinds of books, will be adding it to my tbr! ^^

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    1. I love the title too. And I too will pretty much reading anything with a VM vibe to it.

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  9. Seth definitely sounds like a very creepy, but yet still fascinating character. I love characters that have you all twisted up in knots as to what you think about the or feel toward them, so I'm thinking this would be a really interesting read for me. Thanks so much for the fabulous review Erin!

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  10. Love the sound of this! I'm really glad that you enjoyed this. :) It seems like so much fun to read! I haven't read anything by the author but I got an ARC of her upcoming YA so...happy to know about this. Great review!

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    1. Thanks! I recently read her new YA book which was really good also so I hope you enjoy it!

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  11. This sounds great! I've never heard of this one before, but I'll be keeping a lookout for Serial Hottie ;) Love that title, too!
    Ninja Girl

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  12. The cover, the blurb, and your review alone have me giggling already, so this sounds like a good sign.

    But... uh... this... Seth? I'm kind of afraid. He... well, he sounds like a serial killer :D

    I know I shouldn't be excited, but but but... SERIAL KILLERS! YAY! ♥

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  13. If you liked this book, you'll definitely like I Hunt Killers. A must for serial killer lovers :-) This sounds surprisingly cute.

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    1. It's very cute this book despite the creepy factor. I think I might read this I Hunt Killers . . . love anything with serial killers in them.

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  14. Man, this book was so silly but so much fun, too. There were a lot of things in it that would normally turn me off, but somehow it all worked nonetheless. I'm glad you liked it, too!

    It's very different from I HUNT KILLERS, btw, but I back up Alison's recommendation for that book, too. It's waaay creepier and gorier, though.

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    1. Yeah at first I thought 'I don't know . . . should I take this seriously' but like you said everything worked out for this particular story so I loved it in the end.

      Yeah I HUNT KILLERS sounds different (obviously since this one is a cute, fluffy read) but I think I should read it soon. Sounds good.

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