REVIEW ~ Defriended by Ruth Baron

A friend request from beyond the grave...

Jason has met the perfect girl. OK, so maybe he hasn't actually MET Lacey yet, but they talk online all the time. Yet despite spending most nights chatting, Lacey refuses to meet up in person. Suspicious, Jason starts googling, and his cyberstalking leads to a shocking discovery: According to multiple newspapers, Lacey died a year earlier.

Soon, Jason finds himself enmeshed in a disturbing mystery. Has he found a way to iChat with the dead? Or is someone playing a dangerous trick? Either way, Jason has to discover the truth before it's too late. You can't put up away messages from beyond the grave...


The blue creepy eye full of fear is what stopped me in my tracks in the YA section at B&N. The cover EYED, "Pick me!" and it had me at "LACEY has changed her status to deceased." Ooh. Ooh. Ooh!!!

What a fun, super duper creepy read. Defriended, by Ruth Baron was a quick read that kept my eyes glued wide to each page. Poltergeist  -- or is it? -- meets social networking = fantabulous story line = insane in the brain!! Really neat premise behind these pages full of suspense. There were some turn of events and not what I'd expected.

 "When something seemed too good to be true, that's usually because it was."

Jason had a crush on a girl he'd never met. They corresponded via IM and shared common interests. But every time he mentioned a physical introduction, Lacey always had an excuse. So, Jason used the ever so handy dandy google and was pretty astonished at what he'd discovered.

 "It was like he'd been searching for a glass of water and instead found himself at the edge of an ocean armed only with his hands."

With his discovery came along his version of the game Clue, paranormal activity meets CSI.

I really loved the lyrics in this book that Jason had written. I had envisioned the perfect beat and guitar strum to go along with them. I want this song to be real.

I totally got Jason's feelings. Falling for someone who wasn't real. I do it all the time with fictional characters. Thing is, he really didn't know who he was falling for, or what he had gotten himself into. When you are behind a computer, it's easy to get mixed messages. But was he? What he and Lacey had, was it real? Is she real? Was this worth his while?

This book had great characters and an awesome plot! Hi fives at the music mentioned and a huge shout out for making things seem what they weren't.

This book had kept me at the edge of my seat. Stuff was popping out everywhere unexpected. It was creepy and full of mystery. It was twisted and sick and taunting. Baton jerked me with all the tantalizing twists. I'm glad I snagged the only copy of Defriended by Ruth Baron left on the shelf at B&N.

People or things may not be what they seem on the other side of that screen my peeps!!

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