Dead Beautiful Audiobook By Yvonne Woon cover art

Dead Beautiful

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Dead Beautiful

By: Yvonne Woon
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
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After Renee Winters discovers her parents lying dead in California’s Redwood Forest in what appears to be a strange double murder, her grandfather sends her off to Gottfried Academy in Maine, a remote and mysterious high school dedicated to philosophy, “crude sciences,” and Latin: the Language of the Dead. It’s here she meets Dante, a dark and elusive student to whom she feels inexplicably drawn.

As they get to know each other better, Dante can’t seem to control his attraction either, and their desires gradually deepen into a complex and dangerous romance. Dangerous because Dante is hiding a frightening secret. A secret so terrible, it has him fearing for Renee’s life.

Dante’s not the only one with secrets, though. Turns out Gottfried Academy has a few of its own… Like, how come students keep disappearing? Why are the prefect-like Monitors creeping around campus during the night? And what exactly are the Headmistress and Professors really up to? Renee is determined to find out why.

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking listen, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.

©2010 Yvonne Woon (P)2010 Audible Inc. Fantasy Horror Literature & Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Romance Romantic Suspense Science Fiction & Fantasy Thrillers & Suspense
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This book was okay for me. There were things that I liked about it and things that didn’t work as well too. I have had this book on my virtual shelves for years and am glad that I decided to finally brush it off and give it a try. I did find it to be a very quick read and it held my attention until the very end. I think that this book was definitely worth a read.

Everything changes for Renée on the day that she turns sixteen. She finds both of her parents dead in the woods from apparent heart attacks and she is soon sent to live with her wealthy grandfather. He seems to be very strict and sends her to an exclusive boarding school. The curriculum at the school is a little different than she is used to but she soon excels and starts making friends. She meets Dante at school and the pair are immediately drawn to each other.

I was able to guess a lot of the big twists in this book which took some of the fun out of the story. There is a bit of a mystery around what is really going on at the school and another mystery centered around Renée’s roommate. I did think that a lot of things in the story were rather convenient. It was an interesting concept and I was invested in the story and the characters enough that I was curious about how things would work out for them.

Caitlin Davies did a great job in narrating this story. I thought that she did a great job in bringing this cast of characters to life. I loved the various character voices that she used in her narration. I found her voice to be very pleasant and had no problem listening to this book for hours at a time. I do think that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would encourage readers who are interested in this trilogy to give it a try. I am glad that I read it and did enjoy my time with it but I don’t have any plans to read any further in the series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Interesting

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This author gets points for originality. The mystery was intriguing and for the most part unpredictable. The fact that it surprised me is unusual because I'm seldom surprised. The only fault I found was with the basic premise that souls are recycled into completely different people when they die. That idea makes life seem meaningless and paints mankind as miserable. Oh yeah, that's the definition of existentialism. This story is an amazing fantasy with a twist and the ending was unexpected, but very in keeping with tthe whole existential vibe.

Existential masterpiece

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I downloaded this book based on a reviewer comparing the work to one of my favorite authors, Katherine Neville. I would say that this book brings to mind a scenario of Katherine Neville teaming up with Charlene Harris (Sookie Stackhouse novels) and writing a goth romance for Teen Beat magazine. Think Dan Brown light (very light) throw in dead people and a chaste Harlequin romance for teenagers.

To be fair, if you stick it out to almost the end, some of the teenage gushing serves a reason to the plot. The novel wasn't bad - I became engrossed in it and it had some intriguing ideas, but don't get it thinking this is on the same par as Katherine Neville.

Throughout the book, I was a bit puzzled as to who the target audience was meant to be. I guess a goth romance for teens-but probably true goth teens are already reading adult books, so maybe young teen goth? A dark Harry Potter?

I also wasn't wild about the narrator. The main character was ok, but the other voices were either cartoony or syrupy. I wondered if I would have liked the book more if I had read it.

Good, but...

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The book is not about vampires or wand welding teenagers, but it's more of the romance at an elite academy. I literally couldn't stop listening to this book...it's only took me two days to through!

Not many books make by cry, but at the end of this one I just couldn't help it.....there was just so much love....it made me wish that I was Renee!

Twilight meets Hogwarts

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One of the best books I ever read (listenend to). Yvonne Woon is at the same level as Kate Mosse with her "Sepulchure" and Katherine Neville. It is a fascinating story with surprising end. For the peace of my own mind, I am now going to find out if there is a 7th meditation by René Descartes (His meditations exist).
Just listen to this book you won't regret it.

Dead beautiful

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I really wish the other books where here too . I read this book as a teen, and would love to listen to the other 2 books .

I want more

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I was a little skeptical about this book when I read some reviews that called it a Twilight knockoff. Although there were a handful of obvious Twilight moments, overall that didn't really bother me. I thought the story and characters were different enough to overlook those moments. Parts of the book could have been sped up a little but other than that the pace was fine. I am looking forward to listening to the sequel. The narrator wasn't great but I got used to her and overall think she did a good job.

Surprisingly Good

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Hic liber est pulcher Utique inmortui sunt naturales oratores latini tantam imaginationem
iuvenes amore et iuvenibus mortem

Ventus de Cupido

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, but only he/she is a lover of young adult paranormal fiction and Nancy Drew or Scooby Doo styled mysteries.

No, because this story started in intriguing fashion, then got lost in a distracting, somewhat pedantic whodunnit (along with several hitherto important characters), and only came back to life in the closing minutes of the audiobook.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Beautiful?

This sounds worst than it is, but the climax of the story when the main characters, beautifully named Renee and Dante, fully experience their unique connection and union is the most memorable part of the book.

What aspect of Caitlin Davies’s performance would you have changed?

I think more thought could have been put into her dramatic voice-over of the Dante character. It took a long time to warm up to him because of Davies' droning delivery. Should have been more 'undead' and less 'half-dead'.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, partially because of the length but mostly because of the boring middle chapters.

Any additional comments?

Author Wood owes it to her fans to tells them what happens after the end of this first installment in the story, as it has good legs for a tighter, faster moving sequel that focuses on the main characters and less on solving a mystery.

An Original Plot That Needs A Sequel

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This was a great pick cant wait for the next one! You should give this a try very different concept from other YA novels

Very different But Good

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