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The Dead List

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Eine teuflisch grinsende Clownsmaske auf dem Bett, ein toter Vogel im Rucksack und unheimliche Schatten, die sie verfolgen. Seit Ella eines Nachts auf dem Nachhauseweg von einem maskierten Mann angegriffen wurde, lebt sie in ständiger Angst vor einem weiteren Überfall. Doch nicht nur Ella steht auf der Liste des Unbekannten. Als zwei Mädchen verschwinden und eine Leiche geborgen wird, spitzt sich die Situation dramatisch zu. Mehr als jemals zuvor benötigt Ella den Beistand ihres Schwarms Jenson, denn nur in seinen starken Armen fühlt sie sich sicher. Aber der Killer spielt ein ausgeklügeltes Spiel ...

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2017

217 people are currently reading
12796 people want to read

About the author

Jennifer L. Armentrout

155 books157k followers
Hey Guys! Please note: I don't send out ARCs for review. If you're interested in reviewing a book of mine before release date, please contact the appropriate publisher. I also do NOT check my Goodreads email.

To email me, please use the below addy.
jenniferlarmentrout@live.com

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.

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5 stars
2,763 (33%)
4 stars
3,132 (37%)
3 stars
1,871 (22%)
2 stars
408 (4%)
1 star
109 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,044 reviews
Profile Image for jessica.
2,685 reviews48k followers
January 17, 2021
JLA can do no wrong. this is book #32 of hers that i have read and she is still giving me everything i want - tension, romance, banter, thrills, friendship, and secrets.

while i think her adult thrillers are slightly better, this still has a mature enough vibe that the suspense feels real. and gosh, the connection between ella and jensen is just too good. once i knew they had been childhood friends, i shipped them so hard and fast.

with excellent pacing, entertaining characters, and a gripping plot, this book did not disappoint.

4 stars
Profile Image for Rachel  L.
2,136 reviews2,521 followers
April 17, 2017
4.5 stars!

"Cardinals were Penn's favorite..."



Just before the start of her senior year in high school, Ella is attacked after a party on her way home. She escapes because a childhood friend Jensen rescued her, but other girls have gone missing. Afraid, Ella decides to take self-defense classes, as her attacker doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

But as more and more people begin to disappear Ella begins to think these random acts aren’t so random, that they’re connected to something that happened in the past. Except the person related to all of this died, four years ago….



“Sometimes I needed to get my head out of real life, and reading was the best and quickest way to do it.”

I really enjoyed this book, thrillers normally aren’t my thing buy Armentrout writes them in such a way that I cannot figure out the villain and the plot isn’t predictable. It’s so refreshing because when I normally read a mystery/thriller I can pretty much figure out what’s happening about halfway in. A very compelling and engaging story, I was captivated by everything that was happening, from the attack on Ella at the beginning, her issues at school and the romance with her and Jensen.

I was freaked out that the killer wore a clown mask, that was just too creepy for me. Plus the descriptions of the sounds he made gave me the chills and I had to stop reading this book at night so I could get some sleep without nightmares. The romance between Jensen and Ella was so sweet, JLA writes the best heroes in her books. All of them are very swoonworthy and a tiny bit alpha.

This is a bit mature for YA so I would recommend to older teens and not younger ones, just with the murder and adult content I think this is better for older readers. Just depends on the reader. A fantastic and thrilling read, many people will love this novel of suspense and be guessing until the very end.

“I want to be that guy-the one that when your phone rings, you hope it’s me. The one who holds your hand in the hallway at lunch. The guy who gets to hold you. I want to be the one who gets to touch you. I want to be yours.”

ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review


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Profile Image for Claude's Bookzone.
1,551 reviews271 followers
May 17, 2022
3.5 Stars

This was a pretty entertaining YA mystery with good twists and some character development not often seen in this genre. Seasoned mystery readers will probably pick the ending as there were some subtle references throughout that gave me the 'heads up' on how the story would play out. However, I still got a few surprises with some cleverly done bombshells. There was just enough romance to be engaging but not so much as to detract from the main genre of murder mystery.

CW: gory death scenes, dead animals posed with bodies, suicide, sexual content
Profile Image for Nastassja.
433 reviews1,264 followers
March 14, 2019
1.5 stars


These are the first and foremost words that came to my mind while reading The dead list. It is so obvious that Jennifer L. Armentrout wanted to create something resembling Scream movies only on paper. Well, she failed. Epically. I am very angry. I am not even disappointed. Let me tell you, I love Scream movies, they are like one of the best scary-sarcastic thrillers ever. LOVE IT.

What the author created is not Scream, not even close. It's just another soap story with a pathetic attempt to frighten the readers with the scary parts. What scary parts?

Yep, that was not scary at all. And the story, uh, you heard it before many many times. There's a chick Ella, she is super cool and sexy. And there's a hot guy who just came back after 4 years away. And they were almost a thing in the past. And this chick has hots for this sexy boy.

I was totally woman enough to admit that he was at a level of hotness that was code panty dropping. Bad attitude and our past history together aside, he was the best-looking guy I’d ever seen in real life.

Yeah, yeah, typical. Boring.

And then there's this crazy guy in mask, who is killing popular teenagers at school and our Ella-Bella is his prime victim. He is chasing her and leaving around crazy stuff like dead birds and clown masks, and of course dead bodies of her peers. But god, this all looks like

And the whole scary mystery part is absent. I was not once scarred or even close to being scared. Most of the book we watch how the hot guy hooks up with the hot girl, and they are so freaking hot together (HOOOOOT, I sing odes to HOOOOOOT.)

Um, well, after reading half of the book about hotness, I was a little bit tired and wanted to know (not really) who the killer is. When I found out, it was disastrous.

The motive behind the killings was laughable. And both killers (yes, just like in scream we have two killers) were pathetic.

It seems L. Armentrout just created another romance under the false pretense of writing a thriller. No thriller here, no rush, no blood, no mystery.

I think, it is the most times I used gifs in my reviews, because I have nothing to write about the book. Don't read it, don't consider reading it - you'll be disappointed. If you want a real thriller, just re-watch Scream. It is the best advice I can give you here.

Profile Image for astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters).
901 reviews4,976 followers
February 26, 2018
I've been wanting to read this book since when I first added it to my tbr months ago, and now that I've finally come around to reading it, I have to admit that I was right to be so eager.
I really liked it.

Despite it having his ups and downs (the downs being a few dull and slow moments), I found this book to be incredibly entertaining. It reminded me of Pretty Little Liars (season 1 and 2, mainly), with slightly darker tones and the same what-happened-that-night kind of vibes.

I heard a few times about this author, I’ve never been interested in her works, because I’ve never been captivated by their synopsis and I’ve heard that there’s a lot of cheesy romance in it (not that I have anything against it, I just have trouble handling it in such heavy doses).
However, I thought this book was really well written. Jennifer L. Armentrout knows her way around an impactful dialogue and a tension-packed scene.
I had just the tiniest difficulties getting into it, at the start, because the writing and the plots kept dragging for pages and pages without not much happening, but it all went from zero to Hannibal Lecter in a matter of lines and it totally saved the day.
Super creepy and intriguing, it got me hooked till the end.
I found the characters to be all likeable. Not memorable (except maybe for Jensen –and by the way…Jensen and Supernatural? Don’t think I don’t see what you did here, girl), but definitely likeable.
I wish the character of Penn would have been explored a bit more than it was, but overall I can’t tell the characterization lacks.
The romance proved to be worthy of its fame and, yeah, it definitely was a bit too much. Again, it’s perfect if you’re in for the whole love tunnel ride along with the murderers and the creepy clowns.
I didn’t mind Ella and Jensen, though. They were cute together and Jensen was definitely swoon-worthy, even if sorry but NO TEENAGE BOY WITH HIS JEAN POCKETS FULL OF HORMONES AND BALLED FISTS TALKS LIKE THAT. Come on. But we apparently love him for this, too. Find yourself a Jensen Carver and you’ll never have to add sugar to your lattes, ever again.
Now it’s not even about being picky or anything, it’s just physically impossible for a guy to be that perfect and sweet.
Well, it is technically possible, since he doesn’t actually exist and all, but yeah, you get what I mean.
Not gonna lie, there were times I felt like I was reading Twilight fanfiction, but at least it was well-written and the crime aspect worked as a buffer and it tone it down a little.
Also, Jensen Carver is one of the nicest and most charming love interests I’ve come across, lately, so I can't really blame it too much on him.


Anywayyyy
The Dead List is a good book, surprisingly (at least for me) well-done and absolutely intriguing.
I usually can predict a lot of things that happen in books, but I have to admit that, with this one, I didn’t see the twists coming nor was I even close to discovering the culprit before the identity reveal.
Maybe I should start trusting my instincts more.

this book in a nutshell:
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Profile Image for Denise.
638 reviews
January 5, 2019
Ehrlich gesagt habe ich am Anfang ein wenig Zeit gebraucht um wirklich in die Handlung rein zu finden. Das liegt aber vermutlich weniger am Buch und mehr an der Vermarktung. Nachdem es von der Aufmachung so ähnlich aussah wie Deadly Ever After habe ich auch Charaktere in diesem Alter erwartet.
Die Protagonistin in The Dead List geht allerdings noch auf die Highschool 😅. Das ist nicht weiter schlimm, aber hat mich doch ein wenig irritiert.

Wer mich ein bisschen kennt, weiß vielleicht, dass ich kaum Krimis oder Thriller lese. Das liegt mitunter daran, dass ich es lieber habe, wenn bei einer Handlung wie in The Dead List eine Liebesgeschichte dabei ist 🙊. Diese muss dann keine sehr große Rolle spielen, aber es ist schön, wenn sie da ist 😏😅.
In diesem Buch war sie das auf jeden Fall! Auch wenn es in mancher Hinsicht ein bisschen schnell ging 🤷🏻‍♀️. Die Chemie hat aber definitiv gestimmt 😏.
Nachdem auf dem Cover "Sexy Crime" steht, habe ich lange Sexszenen erwartet, aber diese waren gar nicht so präsent 🤔. Dadurch wurde die eigentliche Handlung nicht gestört und man konnte weiter mitfiebern 😍.

Die Auflösung.... Ich hatte während dem Buch natürlich meine Verdächtigen und zwischendurch lag ich auch richtig 😅, aber irgendwie hätte ich es doch anders erwartet. Mir hat einfach dieser "das macht Sinn" oder "wow" Effekt am Schluss gefehlt 🤔. Wisst ihr was ich meine?

Insgesamt hat mir das Buch wirklich gut gefallen, aber Deadly Ever After hat mich damals einfach mehr gefesselt und begeistert 😏
Profile Image for Carol.
841 reviews73 followers
August 27, 2021
This story draws you in from the very first chapter. This book will take you on a ride as all of Armentrouts books do.It was very well written with a great flow to the story loved it couldn't put it down love all the plot twists.
Profile Image for Snow.
2,323 reviews728 followers
May 5, 2017
Holy shit of suspense!
But that's Jennifer L. Armentrout for you!

Writing thrillers equaly as good as her romance books, she 's definitely one of my one-click authors!

Dude!!!! I don't need to say more, do I?!

The story

4 best childhood friends - Ella Mansfield, Jensen Carver, Gavin Shaw & Penn Deaton
Since elementary school, we had always found a way to be together. We were peas to each other's pods

due to years of growing up, secrets, immature decisions, hell they were kids...rush, implusive, innocent and yet the set of events and choices when they were 13, ended up with tragedy and they were never the same again. Some eaten more or less with guilt, their friendship evaporated into the tolerance during their highschool years, they acknowledged each other but they never fully revoked the once solid ties...

Until the "missings" started to stir the still waters of their small town of Martinsburg.



And then Ella got attacked by the man with a clown mask on and she was lucky enough to escape and was rescued by her once best friend, a boy whom she shared her first kiss with, a boy who stole and broke her heart years ago, a boy whom she never got over - Jensen.

As they slowly re-kindle their "friendship", they also find strength, solace and comfort, supporting each other while their town is being shattered by the mysterious "missings" of girls who are found dead, one by one...as those terrifying occurances put more and more pressure on the community, it's even more evident that all the missings and "clues" left by the killer are all interlinked and connected to this small circle of people that, in one way or the other, took part in that very same tragedy all those years ago.

And Ella seems to be the only one who got away and the tormenting clues are just the warning of what's yet to come...



And this whole time, you never saw what was right in front of your face.

and the one who she never ever thought would do this, turned out to be the greatest betrayal for some hideous, beyond sense and meaningful reason, the actions of a person no one ever saw the signs...of messed up...
You all forced me to do this, because I had to somehow make it right. You all made me do this. So I created a list - a dead list.

and the truth that would be revealed in the end will also clear out the tragic event from the past giving them all a chance to reconcile with it and deal with the residing guilt.


The fact that I was guessing who might have done it, then changed my mind and then being stunned twice at the 90% of the story only confirms my previous statement why Jennifer L. Armentrout deserves to be on my "one-click" authors list as fantastic suspense and thriller storyteller and not the "romance drama" alone.
Profile Image for Caitlin V.
113 reviews18 followers
May 25, 2015
Ahhhh I loved this ending!!! I actually loved the whole book in general! Jennifer is So nice on letting us read this story for free on Wattpad <3 I know it's probably going to be a stand-alone but I wish I'd see more of Ella and Jensen :)
Profile Image for Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus} .
1,236 reviews1,748 followers
June 26, 2018
The Dead List
by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.25/5 Stars!

Four kids Ella, Gavin, Jensen and Penn are best friends for as long as they remember until one day Penn decides to end his life which changes everything...

description

One of the best thriller book I’ve read in a long time, also this has been my first Jennifer Armentrout book and I loved it. Yes, there were a few cheesy scenes and I'm almost shocked that there wasn't any phone call scene where the killer calls his/her victims and etc.
However till the last minute I was at the edge of my seat, the story was very gripping, I didn't want it to put it down for even a single second. The author did a fantastic job writing it. What's better is that the minute you know who the murderer is something happens and I started to put my suspicion on other person.
The writing style was very easy, I finished the book within a day. The romance was top notch, the plot was amazing, very suspenseful, makes you bite your nails till the very end. Never expected to enjoy the heck out of this book. The ending of the dead list was everything, did not see that coming at all.
Profile Image for shirley ♡.
366 reviews159 followers
November 26, 2019


After watching a lot of CSI, NCIS and Criminal Minds episodes with my grandmother, and watching Elite season 1 twice, I've learned that the killer is always the person that you least expect.

After reading 50% of this book, I thought I knew who was the killer but that plot twist I wasn’t expecting it and it left me shocked.

This book was really good! I loved Jensen. There was a time that I thought he was gonna be the killer but that was going be too obvious.

Jensen and Ella were really cute and I loved how cute Jensen was with her.
Profile Image for Beth Hudspeth.
537 reviews311 followers
April 26, 2017
This book was originally posted on Wattpad where I read it the first time and now I'm so happy to say it is available on Amazon Kindle and paperback!


JLA is my liiiiife.
Profile Image for Karla.
1,451 reviews366 followers
May 5, 2017
3.75 stars

"The dead list" was a a suspense thriller mystery that I enjoyed. Its about four childhood friends who share a special bond but a tragedy changes their life's forever.
Fast forward 10 years and things are not the same since now there's a killer on the loose. Who seems to have a list, a dead list and nobody knows who is next.

I enjoyed this book it had a little of everything even a love aspect which it's always a must for me. Oh gosh it kills me to say this BUT, in this book it took from the suspense part of the story. I think it was more like where the love scenes where placed I felt like it took importance out of the the killings in someways. But other than that I liked the plot the twists and turns I thought I knew who the bad guy was but, no sir I was wrong. ❤

description
Profile Image for Fanny.
2,395 reviews50 followers
April 8, 2018



Desde hace varios meses he tenido ganas de leer algo de Jennifer L. Armentrout pero por desgracia he leido casi todos sus libros publicados, ahora despues de haber devorado The Dead List solo me queda por leer Cuidado, No Mires Atras ( el cual espero leer pronto ).

Leer The Dead List fue como retroceder en el tiempo y volver a esas horas de mi adolescencia que pasaba viendo peliculas de terror con mi hermana.

La lectura fue increible, me gusto ( y me sorprendio ) mas de lo que esperaba, no imaginaba que este libro fuera a tener tanta accion y escenas escalofriantes pero realmente la historia te pone los pelos de punta, no recomiendo leerla de noche y mucho menos estando sola en casa!

Para ser una novela sin edicion, como la propia autora reconoce me parecio que estaba muy bien lograda, obviamente encontre algunos pequeños " fallos " pero para nada algo demasiado evidente.

La novela es fluida de leer, con unos personajes muy bien realizados y que te atrapa de tal forma que es imposible parar de leer, lo curioso es que no se porque me sorprendo, ya que si algo tengo muy claro es que Jennifer L. Armentrout te vale para un roto que para un descocido, no importa lo que escriba, todo lo que crea es asombroso!

En conclusion, un libro obligatorio si eres fan de la autora o si te apetece leer un thriller con un toque diferente, sobra decir que tambien me encantaron las partes romanticas entre Jensen y Ella ( necesito un libro mas amplio sobre ellos, quizas narrando su vida en la universidad * guiño * ), ademas si disfrutaste leyendo Serial Hottie de Kelly Oram te lo pasaras genial con esta historia.

4.5 Estrellas!!
Profile Image for Angelica Juarez Gonzalez.
313 reviews82 followers
February 8, 2017
No es como si me guste la obsesión de Jen con los Ataques zombies.
Los documentales de fantasmas que siempre nombra en sus historias.
O los hermanos Winchester (supernatural) y las otras series de televisión.
Ni hablar de sus típicas maldiciones ¡Santa mierda en una galleta!
La escena inconfundible “tropiezo en el pasillo con un pecho duro y masculino”
Protagonista lectora que prefiere los libros a los seres humanos.
Y la interminable promoción de los libros de sus “amigas” autoras siempre nombrados.
Esos diálogos repetidos en antiguas historias. Y escenas.
Que todo transcurra en Virginia. Siempre Virginia. Pff.
NO.
Nada de eso me gusta.
No.


Me he dado cuenta que he leído más de treinta historias escritas por Jennifer L. Armentrout. Y eso sin contar las novelas cortas de las sagas Covenant y Lux o las escenas extras que siempre nos anda regalando. Eso es un gran Qué demonios. O fanatismo. Opto por decir que es más de lo primero, porque lo segundo me parece extremista.

The dead list está en Wattpad para leer gratis desde hace ya un tiempo. Fui casi que ciega y con cero expectativas a leerlo. Solo con la carta de Jen donde decía que era un Young Adult Thriller/Suspense romance. Cosa que no es novedad, porque la autora ya se había estrenado anteriormente en el género. Y se le había dado muy bien.

No decepciono. Absolutamente. EN GRAN PARTE. Fue contada la historia de cuatro amigos: Ella, Penn, Jensen y Gavin, desde primaria que luego de unos años se han distanciado, donde se han dejado de hablar o verse debido a ese suceso que todos ignoran. Con ese halo de suspenso/misterio que caracteriza estas historias la escritora me atrapo totalmente. A pesar de que fue innegable no notar las semejanzas con sus otros libros me gusto bastante. Y es que después de leerla tanto hasta sus diálogos y escenas me sé. No puedo negar que había partes donde decía: Hmm, esto ya lo he leído antes, O: esto me es familiar. Cosas así.

Esta mujer (¡bendita mujer!) logra engancharme. Si, clichés y todo. No lo puedo evitar. Creo que es la única a quien se los acepto. Es como el chico que te gusta que a la vista de todos es… bueno pues; no el más agraciado, pero para ti sí. O cuando reconoces que lo es, pero eso no hace quererlo menos. ¿si me entienden? Solo que eso no me ha pasado. Aun. Joder.

Porque nada como una muerte que deseas olvidar a lo Sé lo que hicieron el verano pasado y un psicópata que anda asesinando a chicos de la secundaria en tu último año; con una máscara de payaso del estilo de Scream, donde probablemente seas el próximo de la lista. Nada atractivo. Escalofriante. No entendía como Ella no llego a enloquecer. De verdad. Por los menos aquí si se involucran los policías. Diría que dé más.

Esto hizo mi día.

Ah, y Jensen ♥♥♥♥♥
-----
Dec-2016
Nota: Chicos/as, ya la historia no está en Wattpad, tristemente la autora la elimino, cual estuvo más de un año, sino me equivoco. Tranquilos, tiene planes de publicarlo en papel para el próximo año con mejor corrección, nueva portada y quizás escenas, etc…

Profile Image for ZARIA (Sheldon Cooper lover).
698 reviews
September 3, 2016

Dude Alert! Damn...Jansen and Ella!




This novel is a contemporary thriller coated in romance and an enjoyable storyline.
Highly recommended to J.L. Armentrout fans and all teens who are looking for a fantastic mystery (scary)/romance read.


Profile Image for Jennifer.
2,320 reviews
October 26, 2017
The Dead List is a standalone Young Adult mystery/romance.

The narrator is 17 year old high school senior Ella. The story takes place in West Virginia.

Someone is tormenting various people in town. The book has a strong mystery element. But it also has romance.

The book is mostly told in the present. But there are a few sections from the past. I am glad that there were only a few sections of the past, because I enjoyed the present much more.

When Ella was much younger she was part of a group of four kids: Penn, Gavin, Jensen, and Ella. Something happened, but we don't find out what happened till closer to the end.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story. I was anxious to find out who the guilty party was. I also really liked the romance aspect of the story.

I thought the end was very well done, especially the "wow" moment towards the end. Overall, it was a very riveting story.




Profile Image for Siobhan Davis.
Author 112 books9,476 followers
April 22, 2017
Initial Thoughts: Wow! What a fantastic read! I had a very difficult time putting this book down and only did so to sleep.

Full Review:

The Dead List is a well-written captivating romantic thriller that had my heart swooning and panicking in equal measure!

Read it for the romance as much as for the mystery because let’s be honest, Jennifer Armentrout writes some of the most amazing book boyfriends EVER and Jensen Carver is no exception. Where do I even begin? He's hot, loyal, honest, supportive, funny, and so, so protective of Ella and I was in love with him pretty much from the get-go. One of the things I especially enjoyed was how confident he was in himself and his feelings for Ella and he didn't shy away from articulating same.

For example, see how amazingly perfect this quote of Jensen's is:

“I want to be that guy-the one that when your phone rings, you hope it’s me. The one who holds your hand in the hallway at lunch. The guy who gets to hold you. I want to be the one who gets to touch you. I want to be yours.”

We are told he didn't date, enjoying casual hook-ups, and while it wasn't specified I took that to mean he was just waiting for Ella to open up and let him back in and he had no genuine interest in any other girl. That only made me love him more!

Ella was a great character too. A loyal friend to Linds, Gavin, and Jensen, and a nice person to boot. The opening scene when she was leaving the party showed she was a fighter, a survivor, and that only endeared me to her more.

I'm going to be brutally honest -my real interest with this book was the blossoming romance and the mystery/intrigue surrounding the murderer took a back seat for me. I've seen some readers suggest this is a horror but I wasn't scared. It reads like more of a thriller to me. I never felt like Ella was in a genuine life-threatening situation and I was more invested in when she and Jensen were going to get it on than I was in identifying the killer, lol, HOWEVER that doesn't mean I wasn't intrigued because I was. I enjoyed how the past and the present intertwined even if it was a tad bit predictable. I liked the flashback scenes. I actually had figured out the murderer's identity at one point but I kept changing my mind as Jenn threw out different hooks. Love when an author has me second guessing myself and Jenn did a great job here with throwing me off the scent! That twist at the very end was brilliant because I was a bit confused wondering how it was all stacking up and then bam, that came at me and my heart was in my mouth - that was so well written.

I ended up reading this in less than twenty-four hours and then I kicked myself for having read it so fast because I always do that with Jenn's books and then I'm left feeling bereft.

In summary, this was a fantastic read and Jenn continues to prove she deserves to be at the top of my fave authors list. If you enjoy swoony romance intertwined with intriguing mystery and a fast-paced writing style then you'll love The Dead List. Highly Recommended.

Thanks to the author and her assistant for providing an ARC of this book which I have voluntarily reviewed. This review will appear on my blog on release day - http://myyanabookobsession.com
Profile Image for Teresa Mary Rose.
1,293 reviews343 followers
October 17, 2015
More Reviews Here: Readers Live A Thousand Lives

So first off I just want to acknowledge how incredibly cool it is that Jennifer gave her fans a completely free book. That is pretty awesome sauce. It took me a while to get through this one because I was reading a little bit at a time in between other reads and I kinda like how it built up the suspense more for me. I kept questioning and changing my mind through the whole thing and that made it a really fun read.

Ella is a fun heroine and the poor girl is not having the best time. There is a killer on the loose and crazy stuff keeps happening around her and the poor girl’s nerves must be shot. I really admired Ella for how she handled it all. She kept trying to live her life and not let anything stop her and that is something to really admire. Then we have Jensen, and let’s be honest, we all knew I was going to love Jensen. JLA seriously writes the best guys and Jensen was no exception. He is funny and sweet and clearly cares for Ella and I loved it. And I also loved how clear he was about what he wanted. No mixed signals or hot and cold messages, because let’s be honest Ella did not need that on top of everything else she had going on.

The Dead List was a bit of a different read from JLA and I found that refreshing. It was more along the lines of Don’t Look Back but not exactly like that either and that was fun. I had a great time reading along and trying to guess who the crazy pants killer was. I think I changed my mind like ten times. I was right at one point, but I was never confident enough in my guess so the book kept me on my toes.

The Dead List was a twisty read that will keep you guessing throughout. As she mentions in the blurb, it really does remind one of Scream and those 90s slasher movies and I really liked that throwback feel to it. Definitely a fun one to read!
Profile Image for Stay Fetters.
2,506 reviews199 followers
January 18, 2022
” Wait. I shouted.
He halted.
Why… why the mask?
For a moment, I imagined he was smiling behind the mask. I was scared of clowns as a kid.”


There is something about clowns that I just love. People are usually terrified of them but I think that they are cute. This having a killer who wears a clown mask made this even better. Who doesn't love a wicked clown with a killer personality?

You always know that you're in for a good time when you read a book written by JLA. It can be any genre and it'll always blow your mind. This book is no exception and it was really good. I just wish she would write more books like this. It was loving, twisted, and downright scary. It had all of the things that I love in one book. Oh, and don't forget the clown!

As I was reading this, I kept imagining Billy Loomis and Ghostface. How the killer would chase Emma around to try to kill her. It definitely gave off Scream vibes!!!

"No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel!"

The Dead List was freaking phenomenal. I wish JLA would write more books like this because I couldn't read this fast enough. I needed to know what in the hell was going on. Even though I guessed who was behind all of it, I still really enjoyed it. This twisty thriller is one you should read.
Profile Image for Marcella.
880 reviews32 followers
June 28, 2015
Holy Hell this was so freaking intense! And scary! I was biting my nails to stubs just reading this. The mystery was so good and the disappearances and the suspects and the murders! GAH! JLA definitely knows her sh*t.
Sure I had questions and small annoyances like 'why did Jensen wait so f*cking long with Ella' and 'why was Jensen even friends with asshats who bullied his best friend.'
It kind of put a downer on his super hot and charming and smirky character but as usual I overlooked it.
Penn...I just want to cry. He was the kind of boy I'd love to have as a friend. So forgiving and bright and intelligent and his love for nature was really amazing.
When I found out who the killer was, that person was a suspect because they had the motives but then things started happening that made me doubt and then BOMB DROPPED and I hated that person so much!!! Truths were revealed and everything Ella knew was turned upside down.
Best mystery story I've read yet!
Profile Image for solomiya.
526 reviews56 followers
January 19, 2022
I don’t know how I missed this book in JLA’s backlist bc I really thought this was a new book for a good while when I saw the audio release 🤦🏻‍♀️

No surprise here, I really liked it! In my opinion JLA does ya paranormal romances the best (this wasn’t paranormal but pretty close tbh) and I really miss it after Lux. Still waiting for my baby Lux to get the last book that he deserves!

tl;dr: this was a solid read with a classic JLA feel.
Profile Image for Alex.
57 reviews43 followers
September 28, 2015
It is 3am.
My eyes feel like they are about 3cm away from popping out of my skull.
The brightness of my laptop screen is so low that I can barely read the words I'm typing.
So why the hell am I still awake?


Because I don't think I can sleep even if I desperately need to.

This book freaked me the fuck out.
Clowns. Dead bodies. Anticipation.

Hell, I even jumped out of my skin at one point. Seriously, my laptop almost came to an untimely end on my bedroom floor.

But the romance is what actually killed me.
Jensen, I love you.

Sooooooo HOT! I was practically screaming for them to kiss and then when he does I just asjkwirewuimcrhvunjcnhgmchkpoxzzg.
Yep, think that pretty much sums up my emotional response.

I'm probably narrow-minded as fuck but I didn't guess the twist! And honestly, I was praying so hard to Mother Mary and her beautiful baby Jesus that Jensen and Ella would just freaking get together that I was kind of distracted to really give a shit about who the murderer was.

So yeah...incredible, amazing, blah blah blah.

I read anything Jennifer writes anyway. Because it is simply perfection.
Oh, and to any grammatical peoples with aversions to novels that haven't been edited - maybe it's best to give this one a miss. Don't want you having a heart attack (that's, of course, if the novel hasn't already given you one).

Please forgive the disjointed confusion that is my thought processes while half-asleep.
Profile Image for Veronica Morfi.
Author 3 books406 followers
October 10, 2017
This gave me some SCREAM vibes. Really enjoyed it. Was surprised that I had actually managed to guess the answers as to who-what-etc kind of early on. I blame it on too many horror movies and CSI and Criminal Minds episodes. But still managed to enjoy it. For a YA this had quite a lot of sexual scenes. There was a lot of teenage lust between the MC and her love interest, which didn't bother me at all ;)
Profile Image for SeaBook.
249 reviews8 followers
December 10, 2016
Nemám slov.... tohle bylo prostě dokonalý ♥
Jennifer, vítej ve skupince srdcových autorek!!!! ♥
Profile Image for em.
367 reviews732 followers
September 6, 2017
What can I say? I love Jennifer. She just gives me everything I need, every single time. Romance, friendship, action, mystery, humor.

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