Title: Vivian Divine is Dead
Author: Lauren Sabel
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Release Date: June 3rd 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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Filled with surprising twists and poignant moments, Lauren Sabel brings a fresh new voice to contemporary fiction with Vivian Divine Is Dead. Creepy, clever, funny, and romantic.

When a death threat arrives with teen celebrity Vivian Divine's fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, though, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life. Some people say he's a hero, others tremble in his presence, but one thing is clear: he won't stop until Vivian is in his grasp. Why didn't she pay more attention during those judo lessons for her role in Zombie Killer?

Vivian finds an ally in the mysterious and charming Nick. He is everything Hollywood boys are not-genuine, kind, and determined to see Vivian for who she really is. But even he seems like he can't be trusted-what could he be hiding?

Beat up, hungry, and more confused than ever about who she's running from, Vivian is living in a real-life blockbuster horror flick. But there's no option to yell "cut" like there is on set....

Lauren Sabel's Vivian Divine Is Dead is a creepy, witty, fast-paced adventure about family, fame, and having the courage to save yourself.


Vivian Divine is Dead was one of those books that i needed to read. It had so many elements that I loved in a book, mystery, a different culture and country, and a very cute and mysterious boy. SO when I got the chance to review this book I took he chance and picked it up. I will say that although this book was my favorite, it has some great qualities and was a very fast and fun read.

Vivian Divine is a movie star. Usually this would bother me in and of itself because I am not a fan of books centered around anyone famous, but this novel does something that most don't. The author added the mystery of her mother getting murdered and the same killer going after Vivian as well. This was a great way to get into the book because the mystery starts right away and pulls you in from the first page. I really liked Vivian as a character because she was funny and sarcastic at times, but I found her to be a very naive narrator because there were some aspects of the story line that were red flags to me, and not for her and I found myself thinking, anyone would realize this was not right. So that was one issue I had while reading.

There is a love interest in this book and I actually really enjoyed it because her crush, Nick was a great character in contrast to Vivian. He was suave and charming and seemed to know exactly what to do when the time came. Of course there was a reason for this that we learned at the end that kind of ruined everything for me, but when the two of them were together I really enjoyed their chemistry and banter.

Now I had one huge issue with this book, and that was the fact that I figured out pretty much the entire plot from maybe 1/4 of the way through the book. To me it was glaringly obvious and I could not get over how Vivian did not see how much of everything she was doing was leading somewhere deadly. I will say that there were parts of the end that did some as a surprise, and I loved that but ultimately I knew what was going to happen that lead to my hindered experience reading this book.

Overall Vivian Divine is Dead was a great fun read that had some very cliched and predictable parts to it, but it ultimately was a fast read that had a mystery that made me want to finish the book asap. The end of this book was not my favorite because it was left open with not much resolution, so I don't know if there is going to be a sequel but I hope so since I would love some resolution for these characters.