By: Michele Jaffe Publisher: HarperTeen Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: HarperTeen Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 304 Publication Date: June 01, 2007 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: May 22, 2007
Meet Jasmine,1 forensic supersleuth,2 aspiring Model Daughter,3 and friend to animals.4 One second she's trying to enjoy her Vegas Vacation,5 the next she's tangled up in an outrageous adventure and has to outwit a crazed killer before he ends ten lives, one of them her own.6
1 Hi! That's me! 2 I. Wish. 3 Emphasis on aspiring. Current status: failing. 4 If friend means "unsuspecting victim" and animals means "one very bad kitty." 5 And meet the cute guy at the Snack Hut. I have priorities. 6 Meep! But I guess it winds up okay since Kirkus Reviews says: "Inventive, witty, and laugh-out-loud funny, with an enjoyably twisty ending." They wouldn't say that if everyone died, right? Right?
The only laugh-out-loud book I've read in months Totally laugh out loud funny. I was laughing so often and so loudly that I annoyed my younger brother. Bad Kitty is simply hysterical. The main character is Jasmine, who has a tendency to get involved in ridiculous adventures. On vacation with her family, she gets completely caught up in a plot that involves an actress, a hottie with a European accent, and a cat. Her friends, along with her obnoxious cousin and her friend, all work together to solve a mystery. The situations are believably unbelievable, the characters are eccentric, the descriptions are colorful but not distracting, and the outtakes along the bottom of the book are too funny to describe. I highly recommend this book, especially for girls.
Merely Average... While certainly not as horrific as many teen novels, Bad Kitty still falls short. The main character, Jasmine, while seemingly interesting lacks depth. Her friends, though not in starring roles, are much easier to like. Jasmine's life is too manufactured and unrealistic. Her and her friends have seemingly limitless amounts of cash and little parental control(except for in the case of Jasmine's dad). Unrealistic events kept me from connecting with the characters and more often than not I didn't care if or how they got out of a "sticky situation" because it was inevitable that they would with Jasmine coming out as a hero. While at times funny, the laughs aren't worth reading the book a second time.
Strongly recommended for anyone who likes "classic" chick lit The phrase laugh out loud isn't used that often now that "lol" has flooded the Internet in a big way. Personally, I think that's a loss. It's also a subject for a different kind of post though. My point here is that people don't often talk about things that really make them laugh out loud--literally laughing, out loud. "Bad Kitty" is a novel that had me laughing for most of it. It also has the distinction of having zero one star reviews on amazon.com. And, to make it even cooler, "Bad Kitty" is also my latest CLW selection.
"Bad Kitty" is Michele Jaffe's first novel for a young adult audience. (She is also the author of several novels for adults including "Bad Girl" and "Loverboy".) The story starts when Jasmine Callihan and her family are vacationing at a posh hotel in Las Vegas.
Jasmine believes that everyone has a superpower. For instance, her best friend Polly has an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion. And Jasmine's stepmother, Sherri!, is impossible to hate. As for Jas' own superpower, well, she isn't really sure yet. (Though, if readers like Jasmine anywhere as much as I do, they might have their own ideas at the end of the novel.) She has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And cats really like her.
Unfortunately, those things together lead to nothing but trouble for Jasmine. It all starts when a psychotic cat (followed by a psychotic man in a mesh shirt) chase Jasmine around the resort. Soon, Jasmine finds herself in the middle of a mystery involving the psychotic, three-legged, cat and his family. The story here is zany and fun as Jasmine and her friends run around trying to solve the case in spite of the annoying presence of Jasmine's evil cousin Alyson and her evil hench Veronique. Another annoying presence is that of Jasmine's father who is determined to keep Jasmine's dream of fighting crime just that--a dream. Despite her father's discouragement Jasmine manages to conduct her investigation, albeit with untraditional tools like eyeshadow instead of conventional fingerprint dust.
Some book characters are flesh and blood--others are more pen and ink. "Bad Kitty" is definitely what I would term a cartoon-ish novel, but in the best way. The story is peppered with Jasmine's material for her Meaningful Reflection Journal, preparation for writing college essays next year, including Little Life Lessons as well as some very entertaining haikus ("Cute guy at Snack Hut / Why won't you remove your shirt? / It's so hot (you too)").
"Bad Kitty" is basically an amalgamation of a lot of different genres. It has some teen romance, some mystery/suspense, and a lot of comedy. A lot of times, that doesn't all come together to make a decent novel--with "Bad Kitty" it does. The novel is very similar to Meg Cabot's latest "Jinx" with semi-obvious romantic subplot and the foreshadowing, but Jaffe does it better. Strongly recommended for anyone who likes "classic" chick lit.
THIS BOOK IS HILARIOUS! This book is really really funny. The writing style resembles that of Meg Cabot and in my book, that's always good. The plot is interesting, but kinda predictable. But thats ok, cause I love everything about this book!
Bad Kitty BeDazzles Jasmine's exciting and hilarious voice hooked me from page one! This intriguing plot with its thrilling mix of mystery, suspense, humor, and romance kept my fingers turning the pages. Bad Kitty BeDazzled me!
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