Red-Haired Ash Reads

Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley used to be best friends when they were kids. Now as high schoolers, they have gone their separate ways. But when Daphne’s best friend, who is also Velma’s cousin, disappears, these two team up to solve the mystery. 

Well this book was a surprise. I expected to like this book because I loved Velma as a kid but this was ten times better than I expected it to be. I was instantly hooked on Daphne and Velma’s high school life and their fractured relationship. Velma is the smart kid who doesn’t have any friends really, which I related to a lot. Daphne is the popular girl in school who is constantly being reminded of her mother’s success. I enjoyed their internal monologue and their struggle to cope with family and friend issues. Also, watching them repair their friendship was very well written and I love that it wasn’t an easy repair. They worked at it and made more mistakes along the way. 

One of the things that I found surprisingly great about this book was the side characters. I loved that Shaggy, Scooby, and Fred all are seen throughout this book. Also, my childish self was extremely excited when the Hex Girls appeared because they were one of my favorite characters from the cartoon. The mystery aspect of this book was great in my opinion. I didn’t realize who the bad guys were until right before they were revealed so I call that a very successful mystery plot line. 

Overall, this was a wonderful mystery with two of my favorite childhood characters. I mean what’s not to love about a series focusing on just Daphne and Velma! I am really looking forward to reading book two now, especially since it will be dealing more with Shaggy.

Content Warnings: brief references to parent with depression

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