Reviewed by John Jacobson aka "R.J. Jacobs" for TeensReadToo.com
Eden Maguire introduces us to our protagonist, Darina, who is dealing with the deaths of four students from her high school within the past year; Jonas, Arizona, Summer, and Phoenix. The last one hit home, Phoenix being her boyfriend of two months. But, in Darina's depressed state, she thinks she sees Phoenix alive, so she follows him...and discovers the world of the Beautiful Dead.
The Beautiful Dead is actually the four students, along with four other people, who have died within the past year. At the head is a man named Michael, who is cold and distant to Darina. They try to control her mind and make her forget, but her love for Phoenix is too strong, so she makes a deal. In order to retain knowledge of their little zombie state, she has to help each on of them take care of unfinished business so they pass on.
And so the story unfolds. We are met first with Jonas, who died when he crashed his motorcycle, severely wounding his girlfriend, and a former friend of Darina's, Zoey. Darina begins to delve into the mystery, all the while trying to cope with only seeing Phoenix in small time frames, and dealing with some other not-so-nice townsfolk.
The first half of the book did not impress like I thought it would. There was an info dump (which was a one-time thing, thankfully) and the romance between Darina and Phoenix was already established, so it kind of felt flat. The only concept I found new in their love was that both people were equally devoted, and while it had TWILIGHT shadowing, Phoenix is never abusive or cruel or monstrous. He still shows love and affection like a normal teenager who is entrapped by the bindings of true amour. The characters were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. And the plot was interesting, if somewhat ripping off Ghost Whisperer.
It was somewhere around a certain plot revelation that the story began to speed up, and change for the better. Darina was a nice character, but Zoey really had my attention. She wasn't too amazing as a character, but she was interesting, and I loved reading about her lost love with Jonas. It appealed to my romantic side quite well. And it was near tear-inducing despite the cliche of the situation. I also enjoyed the mythos added to the book involving the Beautiful Dead - they become slightly darker and troubled. And that really sets it apart from the light paranormals we see. This book deals with death. With people dying. And it doesn't shy away from it. Which is cool, and welcomed, especially among the almost too happy paranormal books we see today.
Overall, it was a pretty good book. The writing was good, and the plot elements were cool despite being a little contrived. The characters were just enough to keep me going, though the myth and the romance could use with a good expanding and fleshing out along the way. Maguire has an interesting series starter, and while it wasn't anything spectacular, it appealed to my romantic side and my love of paranormal stories. Needless to say, I will be picking up book two, because it's an enjoyable paranormal series despite some flaws that come with the territory. And I enjoy the covers. They are cool and Gothic, while at the same time not too insane. But that's just another reason I'll keep reading.
A side note: Maguire talks about influences involving WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and I can really see it well. I think some of it is a little shallow for teen readers, but it's an interesting perspective, and fits with the book's darker atmosphere.
Eden Maguire introduces us to our protagonist, Darina, who is dealing with the deaths of four students from her high school within the past year; Jonas, Arizona, Summer, and Phoenix. The last one hit home, Phoenix being her boyfriend of two months. But, in Darina's depressed state, she thinks she sees Phoenix alive, so she follows him...and discovers the world of the Beautiful Dead.
The Beautiful Dead is actually the four students, along with four other people, who have died within the past year. At the head is a man named Michael, who is cold and distant to Darina. They try to control her mind and make her forget, but her love for Phoenix is too strong, so she makes a deal. In order to retain knowledge of their little zombie state, she has to help each on of them take care of unfinished business so they pass on.
And so the story unfolds. We are met first with Jonas, who died when he crashed his motorcycle, severely wounding his girlfriend, and a former friend of Darina's, Zoey. Darina begins to delve into the mystery, all the while trying to cope with only seeing Phoenix in small time frames, and dealing with some other not-so-nice townsfolk.
The first half of the book did not impress like I thought it would. There was an info dump (which was a one-time thing, thankfully) and the romance between Darina and Phoenix was already established, so it kind of felt flat. The only concept I found new in their love was that both people were equally devoted, and while it had TWILIGHT shadowing, Phoenix is never abusive or cruel or monstrous. He still shows love and affection like a normal teenager who is entrapped by the bindings of true amour. The characters were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. And the plot was interesting, if somewhat ripping off Ghost Whisperer.
It was somewhere around a certain plot revelation that the story began to speed up, and change for the better. Darina was a nice character, but Zoey really had my attention. She wasn't too amazing as a character, but she was interesting, and I loved reading about her lost love with Jonas. It appealed to my romantic side quite well. And it was near tear-inducing despite the cliche of the situation. I also enjoyed the mythos added to the book involving the Beautiful Dead - they become slightly darker and troubled. And that really sets it apart from the light paranormals we see. This book deals with death. With people dying. And it doesn't shy away from it. Which is cool, and welcomed, especially among the almost too happy paranormal books we see today.
Overall, it was a pretty good book. The writing was good, and the plot elements were cool despite being a little contrived. The characters were just enough to keep me going, though the myth and the romance could use with a good expanding and fleshing out along the way. Maguire has an interesting series starter, and while it wasn't anything spectacular, it appealed to my romantic side and my love of paranormal stories. Needless to say, I will be picking up book two, because it's an enjoyable paranormal series despite some flaws that come with the territory. And I enjoy the covers. They are cool and Gothic, while at the same time not too insane. But that's just another reason I'll keep reading.
A side note: Maguire talks about influences involving WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and I can really see it well. I think some of it is a little shallow for teen readers, but it's an interesting perspective, and fits with the book's darker atmosphere.
Book 1 in a 4 part series. 3.5 stars
Darina is your average rebellious teenager. However the book starts off with her in a massive state of depression over the death of her boyfriend, Phoenix.
While wondering around in the woods, she hears a door banging in the distance and stumbles upon an old abandoned house with a barn, and finds none other than her beloved Phoenix, along with a few other people, (3 of them being other students whom had died from her school earlier in the year.)
Longing to be with her true love again, she retuned to learn that the group calls themselves the beautiful dead. More like ghosts trapped in limbo and they have only one year to settle their business before returning to the great beyond.
Rather than eraseing Darinas memory of the beautiful dead, their overlord (Hunter) decides to allow Darina to assist them in finding out the true killer of Jonas, whom apparently died in a motorcycle crash.
I enjoyed this book to an extend, but I was not fond of Darina's character. She had too much of a smart mouth for her own good, and was wreckless with herself and others. Overall though, I enjoyed the book, and will continue the series.
Darina is your average rebellious teenager. However the book starts off with her in a massive state of depression over the death of her boyfriend, Phoenix.
While wondering around in the woods, she hears a door banging in the distance and stumbles upon an old abandoned house with a barn, and finds none other than her beloved Phoenix, along with a few other people, (3 of them being other students whom had died from her school earlier in the year.)
Longing to be with her true love again, she retuned to learn that the group calls themselves the beautiful dead. More like ghosts trapped in limbo and they have only one year to settle their business before returning to the great beyond.
Rather than eraseing Darinas memory of the beautiful dead, their overlord (Hunter) decides to allow Darina to assist them in finding out the true killer of Jonas, whom apparently died in a motorcycle crash.
I enjoyed this book to an extend, but I was not fond of Darina's character. She had too much of a smart mouth for her own good, and was wreckless with herself and others. Overall though, I enjoyed the book, and will continue the series.
