Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Wood

2010/456 pgs.

About the Book: After Renee's parents die under mysterious circumstances, she is shipped off to a boarding school by the grandfather she hardly knows. While at Gottfried Academy Renee encounters more secrets and starts to wonder if there's a connection between her parents death and the death of a student the year before. And she can't keep fighting her growing attraction handsome Dante Berlin even if he may be dangerous and hold the answers to some of her questions.



Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I love YA, but this book was painful to get through!

To me, Dead Beautiful, was pretty much another version of Twilight. There was too much angst, the hero has an old fashioned mysterious name, Dante Berlin and he hangs out with friends that are secretive and the students on campus don't know much about him. He's always brooding and hardly talks, yet Renee is attracted to him from the start. Dante keeps telling her that they can't be together because he'll hurt her and it's dangerous and she's not safe, but they also feel drawn to each other and can't explain their connection. It's all very over the top. I listened to this one on audio and there were times I thought I was hearing the same page over and over. I don't know how many descriptions we're given of how attractive and brooding and mysterious Dante is!

There's supposed to be a mystery surrounding the school and the students and Renee's parents, but it takes so long to get there that it didn't really hold my interest. And when we do get there, it's what I suspected all along so it was somewhat of a letdown.

Even though it wasn't for me, one of my teens came in and told me she read this book and thought it was really good, so maybe it's best if you're a teen reader and fan of paranormal books. If you're looking for a book full of angst, paranormal, a bit of mystery and a brooding main character, this is for you.