By Golly, Ollie!

Paranormal romance books are still flooding the market thanks to the Twilight series.  It’s not my genre of choice mostly because of clichés and overdone love triangles with the main character always falling for the total creep.  But, these are not the things that describe Yvonne Woon’s Dead Beautiful.  Of all the paranormal romance books I’ve read, I have declared Dead Beautiful to be my favorite (thus far, at least).

Initially, I thought this book was yet another vampire love story, but I was wrong.  So very wrong.  Dead wrong (har har!).  The Latin-rooted philosophy and “mythology” that were woven into the story made Dead Beautiful unique amongst other paranormal romance books.  I say “mythology” because I believe Woon created it for her story, but she did so in a way that made it all seem like the myth had been around for centuries.  And, as you can guess from the title, death is a major subject throughout this book.  This might be an unappealing subject for some, but I loved the spooky and foreboding atmosphere this created.

I did appreciate the romance in Dead Beautiful.  I think the relationship between the main character, Renee, and her love interest, Dante, progressed pretty quickly.  And it’s clear Renee is smitten with Dante, but it’s not overkilling.  It’s also apparent to the reader that Renee thinks about her friends and the world around her as much as she does about Dante.  I would say it’s a breath of fresh air from many of the newly published young adult books regardless of genre.  I would also have to say that for once I found the love interest to be swoon-worthy!

Dead Beautiful is equal parts romance and mystery, so the story had me guessing all the way through.  Several twists and turns that had me formulating ideas of what could be next, but more often than not I was wrong!  I found the mystery to be compelling, and I think this is what made the book such a page-turner for me.

I did think the pacing of the story was a little off.  There were times in the story that moved slowly, but that didn’t bother me.  I did think the ending was rushed though, which left me feeling like something was missing.  The first 470 pages were written so beautifully.  I truly loved Woon’s writing style, and I have to admit, I am quite envious of it.  Everything was written so vividly, and getting lost in the world Woon created was easy.  However, the last 10 pages went by too quickly.  I would say I was even left quite confused to the point where I had to re-read the ending to make sure I understood what had happened.  Now, that being said, after I fully understood what happened, I thought the ending was perfect– not the way I thought it would end (thank goodness!)

Overall, I loved this book. (Notice how I bold-faced and italicized “love”?  Yea, that’s how much I loved it).  I think it would be a great addition to the bookshelves of lovers of the paranormal romance genre.  It would be perfect for the shelves of those who aren’t so keen on the genre, like me, too!

My experience with books that delve into the realm of the paranormal has rarely been a positive one.  I always seem to get my hands on the books that have super lame, female main characters.  But, The Candidates showed me strong female lead characters can exist in these types of books.

Dancia Lewis was awesooooome!  In the beginning, she struggled with low confidence, but throughout the book, she begins to grow into a strong-minded and independent young woman.  Her confidence is on occasion punctuated with moments of self-doubt, but she always manages to pull through.  I think this is the kind of growth I’ve been missing in so many of the books I’ve read in the past few years with female main characters.  And, the fact that her new confidence waivers on occasion make Dancia seem real to me; what young adult hasn’t grown up experiencing this?

My only frustration with Dancia is she seems too mature for her age.  If she hadn’t said she was 14 years old and just entering high school, I would have assumed she was about to graduate high school.  On one hand, this was a breath of fresh air.  On the other hand, it wasn’t entirely believable.  I was 14 once and I know 14-year-olds– we were never that mature and self-aware.

The romance in this book doesn’t make me cringe.  For once!  There are two possible love interests for Dancia.  There is Jack, a freshman like Dancia, who comes across as a bad boy and unapproachable to those who don’t know him.  Then there is Cam, the eleventh-grade heart-throb– the “All-American” type if you will.  Like most teenagers, she is at times preoccupied with the thoughts of these two boys, but it’s not constant; Dancia isn’t another Bella Swan.  The romantic relationship she develops isn’t even rushed.  I just find it frustrating that characters always go for the love interest opposite of who I would choose.  Seriously Dancia, why couldn’t you choose……just kidding!

The pacing in the novel was a little slow, but this didn’t make me read it with any less vim.  Much of the action takes place in the last quarter of the book, and once I got there, I couldn’t read or turn the pages fast enough.  Otherwise, there was a lot of background information offered in this book; I have to assume this means the next book is going to be action-packed and full of win!  Regardless of the pacing of the Candidates, this was a book I simply could not put down.

I thought the only noteworthy downfall of this book was the lack of descriptions of the setting.  I understand Delcroix Academy is a big, brick, square doughnut-shaped building sitting on the top of a hill, but I’m perplexed about what the inside of the building looks like.  In my head, I imagined the inside of the Academy to look the same as my old high schools, which I’m sure is hardly the case.  I would hope the inside of Delcroix is significantly more pristine and grand.  But, since there weren’t too many descriptions, I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Overall, the book was awesome!  I loved the characters, and I’m intrigued by the storyline.  I can’t wait to find out what happens next, so I’m especially eager for the second book to hit shelves!

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