Book Review: Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Dead Beautiful, by Yvonne Woon
Release Date: September 21, 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 455
Received: Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 
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Summary

After discovering her parents murdered in the woods, Renee’s grandfather sends her to the prestigious Gottfried Academy to keep her safe. Within the confines of the boarding school, Renee beings to adjust to life without her parents. She makes friends, but the most compelling student is the enigmatic and reclusive Dante Berlin. The two are drawn together instantly, but secrets surround Dante and Renee is left wondering whether she can trust the beautiful boy she finds herself falling in love with. As she learns more about Dante and Gottfried, Renee is confronted with the possibility that the tragedy of Dante’s past may be connected with the deaths of her parents…a connection that may be dangerous to Renee as well.

Review

What do you get when you mix a dash of Hogwarts, a sprinkle of Anastasia Hopcus’s Shadow Hills, a hint of The Body Finder, and a liberal dose of Twilight? Why, Dead Beautiful, of course!  All through reading this book I was reminded of other books. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in this case there were enough unique parts that it didn’t bother me so much (except, holy crap, can we please stop having the love interests bond in science class? Science classes should just be blotted out of YA fic from now on. I know it really is very trivial, but nothing sends me hurtling back into Twilight like a nice I-Hate-You-I-Love-You, He’s-So-Wow-At-Science episode. Okay, okay, I'm okay now. Really. I'm not even a huge Twilight fan).

While Dead Beautiful lacks the sheer awesomeness of Harry Potter (I’m mostly reminded of HP because of the horticulture class), it does succeed in creating a boarding school rich in atmosphere and heavy with details. Gottfried came alive in my mind. All of the little details: the way the grounds looked, the layout of the buildings, the clothing of the students, the history of the school, and the little traditions of the school— it all felt entirely real. I loved following Renee as she uncovered the secrets of the school’s history, but I also just loved following her as she walked along the grounds.

The relationship between Dante and Renee also felt familiar, but not in a good way. More in the, “Gee, I’ve already read this relationship fifty different times, and I’m still groaning” kind of way. The two fall so instantly and completely in love with one another that they’re both willing to die for the other after only a few short months. I mean that literally. Die. I can see why they like one another in the “Well, neither one is particularly annoying” kind of way, but I’m just not buying why they’d DIE for each other. Even after the big reveal, I get it, but I don’t buy it.

I also never felt connected with Dante beyond the surface, so I’m really not feeling the whole, “I’ll die for you Dante” thing Renee had going on. There was nothing unique about him to separate him from all of the other interchangeable “dark, brooding, handsome” paranormal guys who only have eyes for our main character (over) populating YA lit. The most stand out part of Dante is his name, which I can’t decide whether I think it’s super lame or actually kind of cool. I mean, say it out loud. It has a nice balance and feel to it. But, seriously, Dante Berlin? Even the characters make fun of it in a way I can’t help but find funny. At least the author had fun with this and didn’t beat us to death reminding us what color Dante’s hair is and comparing it to something found in a spice rack. I actually don’t even remember the color of his hair.

Renee, on the other hand, was a pretty decent character, if sometimes a little slow on the uptake. Looking at her objectively, I guess she was a little self-absorbed and way too irrationally hung up on Dante, but she was a good narrator and I felt connected to her. I just liked her. She seemed a lot more “real” to me than Dante. I did want to beat her over the head a few times for being so dense about Dante’s “secret.” The fact that he was a paranormal entity of some kind was pretty obvious early on (but he isn’t what you’re thinking!). Though, in her defense, if I ever met a hot guy whose skin is cold, my first thought wouldn’t be “OMG HE’S TOTALLY A VAMPIRE!!!” I probably would believe his poor circulation explanation.  

Dead Beautiful has all the makings of an enjoyable book, even if the relationship aspects are a little eye-roll-inducing. The mystery was enough to keep me interested in finding out what was going on and the details of what happened weren’t overly obvious. The mythology was actually fairly unique and I enjoyed learning about it. I’m not sure the whole explanation actually works and makes complete sense, but it makes enough sense for me to be satisfied. I have to say, I was totally expecting this to be yet another same old, same old YA vampire book (and that would have been fine), but it wasn’t at all. Thank you, Ms. Woon!

My biggest complaint is the pacing of the story. I call this “Twilight Pacing Syndrome” where the first ¾ of the book is a slow journey through the monotonous details of the protagonist’s life with only a few actual events to keep the story moving. I guess the point of this is to establish the characters and setting, but this could be done just as well with a fraction of the length. Then, BAM! The last ¼ or so of the book picks up and I’m fully invested in the story.

That is exactly what happened here. The book is a massive 455 pages long, but it could have easily been half that length. The first 200 pages are pretty uneventful and include a bunch of details and events that really add very little to the story (like Renee’s friend in California). These pages fly by quick enough thanks to Renee’s easy narration style, but really they could have been shortened considerably and nothing would have been missed. To put things in perspective, this is a paranormal romance/mystery and after her parents’ deaths in the very beginning, the paranormal and mystery events don’t even really happen until around page 170.

From that point on the plot is a lot more engaging and we learn more about the mystery. Still, this part continued to be longer than necessary. The climax was good, but ultimately less than I was hoping for, especially the connection to Renee’s parents’ deaths. I was really hoping there would have been more of a connection than there was. The book ended much too abruptly. It pretty much ended right at the close of the climax. It was just CLIMAX!--The End. I really could have used a little more, just to tie up the story and give me a little time to process what had just happened. A climax can be hard hitting and stun you while still giving the reader a bit of a gentle let down (see Saundra Mitchell's The Vespertine for an excellent example of a slap-you-in-the-face climax).

It doesn’t have to be much (I’m not asking for a Harry Potter epilogue here), but just a few lines or maybe even a very short epilogue. Something to give me a little closure and not feel like my copy suffered a printing error and is actually missing the final chapter. The emotional impact of what happened was lost on me because I was just so stunned that that was it. This was frustrating from a storytelling standpoint, but was especially jarring given how drawn out every other part of the plot was. Twenty pages just to say, “Renee arrived at school” and yet we’re unceremoniously dumped off the ride at the climax. I just gave 455 pages of my life, and to get booted like that? That was cold, Ms. Woon. I need to be let down more gently than that.

Dead Beautiful is Yvonne Woon’s first book. I heard through the grape vine that this book will have a sequel, but it also works just fine as a standalone book (UPDATE: there will be a sequel titled Life Eternal, coming February 2012). I do recommend this book because, for what it was, it was decent. I was entertained while I was reading it, even if I wasn’t blown away. It may sound like I’m complaining a lot, but I really did enjoy a lot about this book. The supernatural mythology was inventive. I especially liked her writing style. It flowed well and was very evocative. If Ms. Woon publishes another book, I will read it.

 Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Looking for similar books? You might like: 

Immortal, by Gillian Shields
Shadow Hills, by Anastasia Hopcus

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