3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty and weird, August 2, 2010
This review is from: Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas (Paperback)
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Darina thinks she's going crazy. She's seeing her dead boyfriend everywhere and having visions of beating wings and death's head masks. But if she's off, the whole town is too. Four teens have died suspiciously in the past year in her town, the most recent was her boyfriend Phoenix who was stabbed during a fight. But while the teens have died they haven't left, returning to a strange house in the woods as the Beautiful Dead.
Less traditional zombie and more like J. O' Barr's The Crow series, the Beautiful Dead have come back for answers to their untimely deaths and Darina, trying to get as much time with Phoenix as possible, has agreed to help them. First is Jonas, who died in a motorcycle accident that also paralyzed his girlfriend Zoey. With only a few days until Jonas' time on earth is done for good Darina must help find out what exactly happened to Jonas and Zoey on the road.
Beautiful Dead: Jonas is full of beautiful prose, a good mystery, plenty of emotion and a rather intense love story. The zombies are as far removed from the Romero classics as Edward Cullen is from Dracula. In fact between the intensity of the love story and the juxtaposition of the morbid and dark with a lovely setting and the lovely writing it bears a semblance to the Twilight world and is very likely to catch the interest of Twilight fans. Recommended for YA collections, for sure, curators should keep in mind that with the high number of mystical powers and lack of appetite of the book's zombies it's more appropriate for lovers of dark fantasy and paranormal romance than hard horror fans.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
On the Road to Arizona, June 17, 2010
This review is from: Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas (Paperback)
A short quick read this book kept me entertained. Despite an underlying tone of sadness there was still a general feeling of hope throughout. Particularly in the romantic areas involving both Darina and Jonas.
I have to say that what made this book the most for me was how the undead were portrayed. These zombies weren't shuffling, mindless, flesh dripping brain eaters. They were angelic and human and supernatural in nature. Not to be feared in the traditional sense they were, however, quite powerful. Able to exert mind control and invade the personal space of of our thoughts and emotions.
The love story between Phoenix and Darina is as tragic as one would expect but the love they shared in his after life was equally endearing. At times I could feel the longing between them jump off the page. The same hold true for Jonas and the young girl he let behind. Both bursting with love for each other but unable to act on it. It was heartbreaking yet inspiring at the same time.
I found the story of Darina been the human connection that allowed the Beautiful Dead to properly investigate the circumstances surrounding the reasons for remaining in limbo to be an interesting take on the zombie story. It made complete sense and it tied her to the group realistically. Sadly, this made the ending somewhat predictable (mainly because we know there are more books to come). Thankfully, for me, the story is much more about the journey to get to that end than what the actual ending was.
It was a journey that I enjoyed. It was emotional and loving while still somewhat thrilling and in some cases surprising. It's certainly a journey I'm interested enough in taking again in book two.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 8, 2010
This review is from: Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas (Paperback)
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.
Reviewed by: John Jacobson, aka "R.J. Jacobs"
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