Author: Yvonne Woon
Published: May 2010
Publisher: Disney Press
Series: Dead Beautiful #1
455 pages (hardcover)
I took this out totally knowing this was a YA paranormal romance, and kind of guessed it was going to be like Twilight, Hush Hush, Beautiful Creatures, etc. I guess my expectations were a bit low for the book, but Dead Beautiful really surprised me. It definitely bears similarities to other YA paranormal romances out in the market, but takes it in a bit of a different direction, one that I happened to enjoy.
Renee Winters discovers the dead bodies of her parents on her sixteenth birthday. Thinking life couldn’t get much worse, her grandfather (and legal guardian) decides it would be best to ship her off to boarding school, to the Gottfried Academy, across the country — away from all her friends, her boyfriend, and life as she knows it. Reluctant at first, Renee becomes intrigued by her new environment. She doesn’t study normal high school subjects like math or chemistry, but instead attends classes on Crude Sciences, Latin and Horticulture. She also discovers that a student died last year on campus, in the same mysterious way her parents did. Last but not least, there is Dante Berlin: the most gorgeous and perplexing boy in the school. She feels drawn to him, but can’t help but notice that there is something very unnatural about him, and the Academy.
When I first cracked this book open and started reading the first few chapters, I couldn’t help but notice that it was kind of like Twilight and Harry Potter mixed together. The Academy reminds me of Hogwarts because all the teachers are called professors, and they take these strange classes, strict uniforms and work by candlelight in an ancient building. The relationship between Renee and Dante is incredibly reminiscent of Bella and Edward; in fact, Dante is Edward, he acts exactly the same as him, except instead of being a vampire, he’s just plain undead (which I don’t feel is a spoiler because it’s so incredibly obvious from the get-go). There’s the inexplicable attraction, being a new student in town, the unnaturally cold skin, super healing powers … but those are kind of minor compared to some of the scenes that feel like they were pulled straight from Twilight — meeting in a biology-esque class and initially not getting along, and the scene with ‘How old are you?’ ‘Seventeen’ ‘How old are you really?’, which mirrors Twilight’s ‘How long have you been seventeen?’ scene.
Most of the similarities and whatnot occur in the beginning of the novel. If you can get past the similarities, this book is actually an interesting read, despite what I think is a bit of a weak beginning. Once you are at the part of the book where Renee starts digging into the secrets of Gottfried Academy, which isn’t that far into the book, I found the story rather engaging. The plot veers sharply away from Harry Potter and Twilight, and instead, is a bit of a mystery book, because Renee wants to find out the truth behind her parents’ deaths, and the truth behind the strange occurrences at her new school. That is what kept me reading. I mean, it was a tad predictable, like when Renee’s roommate vanishes and everyone’s wondering what happened to her; I kind of figured out what misfortune befell her rather quickly. Still, I like it, and I think it was because it wasn’t as romance-y as other YA paranormal romances. Renee and Dante’s relationship figures prominently in the novel, and yes there are tons of unrealistic romantic scenes with cheesy dialogue, but it isn’t the most central part of the novel, which I was thankful for because honestly, their relationship was too eerily similar to Bella and Edward’s, and it was all kind of predictable that way.
The ending of the novel moved kind of too fast, as if it was all crammed in. Despite that, I think it was okay, although I’m curious as to how the sequel (yes, there is going to be a sequel) is going to work out, considering how it all ended … Well, we’ll see. I’m actually interested enough to read the sequel when it comes out. Overall, this is a decent novel, and I recommend this to people who are into the YA paranormal romance scene, which seems to be quite popular these days.
My Rating: 3/5
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