Title: Social Suicide (Hartley Featherstone #2)
Author: Gemma Halliday
Release date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 272
Source: 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…

Deadly Cool was a hilarious first installment in the Hartley Featherstone series from Gemma Halliday.  Social Suicide is a strong follow-up packed with just as many laughs and quite a bit more tension.  This is definitely ones series I can only see as getting better!

Hartley Featherstone is one hilarious heroine (especially when she’s not meaning to be.)  She’s awkward, a bit nerdy, sometimes clueless, and kind of a ditz at times.  She’s a combination of pretty much every teenage girl out there.  She also just happens to stumble upon dead bodies every now and then.  She then just has to solve those murders.  All that on top of school, the newspaper, her mom’s new dating life, and a possible crush on her newspaper’s editor.  No big deal, right?

Hartley’s mom’s love life makes for some awkward conversations that will have the reader laughing out loud.  Hartley and her mom have a great relationship so her mom likes to be open with her.  Sometimes a little too open.  Not only does Hartley have to deal with her mom’s love life, she also has to deal with her own (non-existent at the moment) one.  Chase sends out tons of mixed signals and he spends the whole book confusing Hartley.  On top of that Hartley has to deal with the sickening cuteness of her best friend Sam with her boyfriend Kyle.  If you look up the word whipped in the dictionary you will find a picture of Kyle.  It’s funny how he acts with Sam but it’s also super sweet.  Social Suicide has a cast of pretty awesome characters.

The murder (Twittercide) in Social Suicide was a bit of a let down.  It was a little unbelievable and it was pretty easy to predict who the murderer was even if the motives weren’t clear. I get that this is a murder mystery for teens but it was just a little too tame.  I would  have liked higher stakes and more action.  The book was still greatly enjoyable though.

Overall, Social Suicide is a pretty great book.  Series usually go downhill after the first book but that is not the case with this one.  The characters keep it fresh and the mystery keeps it gripping.  I can’t wait for more.

Looking for more reviews of Social Suicide?
My 5 Monkey’s Review
Ticket To Anywhere’s Review

Series:
Deadly Cool (Hartley Featherstone #1)
Social Suicide (Hartley Featherstone #2)