Monday, March 5, 2012

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Just reading the title gives me shivers... even after I've finished the book! I guess I'd call this obsession with it title-lust, but I'm not so sure...
This title is amazing! 4 out of 5 dead stars.


Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon
4 out of 5 stars
Published in 2010
Summary from Goodreads: On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.


Just as a warning, Dead Beautiful is not a contemporary read. It's more paranormal than the summary makes it out to be. I had no idea, so I did not expect things to be so paranormal. Of course, not that I mind the paranormal, it's just that I did not know. *****POSSIBLE SPOILER!!********Haters of the undead beware! You will fall in love with a certain paranormal creature and change your mind about the undead! END SPOILER!!

Not only that, but you'll be laughing like a maniac, especially when Renee and Dante first meet! I could not believe how funny and awkward it was! I like how the humor ends up balancing all the tension and stress throughout the book, so the reader does not end up feeling overloaded. Besides, who'd pass up a good laugh? I like funny books!

Renee was rebellious and fun and snarky! I loved her attitude. She did not put up with bad treatment. She stood up to people and was not afraid of being herself! I liked how she tried to solve a certain mystery and not wait for things just to happen. She was brave and actually USED HER BRAIN. Of course, I admire characters like that!

As for Dante... let me just say he was smoldering and mysterious. No book is complete without a love interest, but Dante trumped my expectations. I did not expect him to be that interesting. He actually had a personality! I actually kind of fell in love with him! He was a pretty good bad boy! It makes many love interests pale in comparison!

There is a twist that leaves you appalled. I'm not kidding! I was literally unable to function. While the first part of the plot was relatively predictable and average, the ending totally makes up for it! The beginning might be a little boring and slow, but keep on reading until the end! It is totally worth the wait! I guarantee it!

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