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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was really looking forward to reading this book--the end of Dead Beautiful really got to me--but I have to say for much of the sequel I felt fairly frustrated. Some time has passed since the ending of book one, though we haven't missed much...Renee isn't quite what she used to be: she looks different, not just older but more surreal, as if parts of her face have shifted and changed; her senses are all dulled; she doesn't sleep well; and eating has lost most of its appeal. Pretty much everything has lost its appeal, actually. She hasn't seen Dante since he kissed her in the field, and she hasn't found anything since that day to bring her out of the heavy fog that her life has become. The only things that seem to inspire her to anything other than apathy are postcards from her Undead friend Eleanor (which contain coded messages from Dante) and mysterious dreams which may or may not be real--are they premonitions? memories? actually happening live as she sleeps? Renee isn't sure.
Then she recieves the bad news that someone who she knew and liked at Gottfried Academy has died, and died in a way that is frighteningly close to what had happened in Renee's latest dream. Gottfried is shut down so Renee is forced to continue her Monitor education at the next closest school, in Montreal. There she makes two new friends and one enemy and discovers the mystery of the Nine Sisters--a mystery that, if she can solve it, just might be Renee and Dante's salvation.
The new characters at Lycee St. Clement really help to add to the reader's understanding of the Monitor and Undead universe, and there is a lot of history given while Renee is at the school that helps to explain it as well. The mystery at times was intriguing, at times confusing...toward the end, though, that part of the plot really got rolling and I was really pulled into the story...and then bam! It was over. The last few pages are nonstop drama and action and then--done. I knew it was close to the end according to the page count, but I still had to go back and reread the last page (twice) because I just couldn't believe that that was it. It felt very get-the-band-aid-ripped-off-fast when the whole rest of the novel had been easing the strip off a half of a millimeter at a time. Just a teensy bit abrupt.
The part of the novel that most frustrated me, though, was Renee herself. She spends way too much time wandering around alone, whispering into the wind all the words she wants to say to Dante, and finding mysterious messages from him all over the city. (Her ability to immediately recognize these rather unobtrusive notes stretched the boundaries of credibility.) Life Eternal was a bit too heavy on the teenage angst, too light on the let's-solve-this-problem plot. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as both books spent way too much time on the main character's feeling sorry for themselves when they just needed a good smack in the head and a brisk "Get over it!" to snap them back into being a rational human being. It just felt like much of the middle of the novel really didn't accomplish much beyond that. The plot was actually moving along in there, but Renee's extreme melodrama tended to overshadow it.
The last chapter of the novel did much towards making me look forward eagerly to book three in the trilogy. Until that point, though, reading the second book felt more like treading water.
Then she recieves the bad news that someone who she knew and liked at Gottfried Academy has died, and died in a way that is frighteningly close to what had happened in Renee's latest dream. Gottfried is shut down so Renee is forced to continue her Monitor education at the next closest school, in Montreal. There she makes two new friends and one enemy and discovers the mystery of the Nine Sisters--a mystery that, if she can solve it, just might be Renee and Dante's salvation.
The new characters at Lycee St. Clement really help to add to the reader's understanding of the Monitor and Undead universe, and there is a lot of history given while Renee is at the school that helps to explain it as well. The mystery at times was intriguing, at times confusing...toward the end, though, that part of the plot really got rolling and I was really pulled into the story...and then bam! It was over. The last few pages are nonstop drama and action and then--done. I knew it was close to the end according to the page count, but I still had to go back and reread the last page (twice) because I just couldn't believe that that was it. It felt very get-the-band-aid-ripped-off-fast when the whole rest of the novel had been easing the strip off a half of a millimeter at a time. Just a teensy bit abrupt.
The part of the novel that most frustrated me, though, was Renee herself. She spends way too much time wandering around alone, whispering into the wind all the words she wants to say to Dante, and finding mysterious messages from him all over the city. (Her ability to immediately recognize these rather unobtrusive notes stretched the boundaries of credibility.) Life Eternal was a bit too heavy on the teenage angst, too light on the let's-solve-this-problem plot. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as both books spent way too much time on the main character's feeling sorry for themselves when they just needed a good smack in the head and a brisk "Get over it!" to snap them back into being a rational human being. It just felt like much of the middle of the novel really didn't accomplish much beyond that. The plot was actually moving along in there, but Renee's extreme melodrama tended to overshadow it.
The last chapter of the novel did much towards making me look forward eagerly to book three in the trilogy. Until that point, though, reading the second book felt more like treading water.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
It took me weeks to read this, mostly because I'd been ill on and off and because I found some parts quite boring and seemed to drag on for ages and then there would be moments that sucked me in and made me want to know what would happen next. It's a shame really because I really liked the first book, Dead Beautiful. But yeah, this wasnt all bad. The fact it took me so long to read due to reasons didn't help. :)
A really good book marked down for a few reasons.
1) Characterisation. Renee, to me, is a little self-obsessed in this. There is very little character depth.
2) Commerciality. The book is quite commercial in the new boy, Noah (anybody else sense foreshadowing of another damn love triangle?!).
I would love a non-commercial book (as in no love triangles!) but no one seems to want to take the risk and write a non-commercial book. It seems to mainly be love triangles and most of the main girls seem to be girls who need saving with little character depth!
1) Characterisation. Renee, to me, is a little self-obsessed in this. There is very little character depth.
2) Commerciality. The book is quite commercial in the new boy, Noah (anybody else sense foreshadowing of another damn love triangle?!).
I would love a non-commercial book (as in no love triangles!) but no one seems to want to take the risk and write a non-commercial book. It seems to mainly be love triangles and most of the main girls seem to be girls who need saving with little character depth!
LOVED IT.
Due to the previous year's misfortunate events that occurred at Gottfried, Renee is set apart from the other students at her new school for Monitors. Is she Undead? Alive? The doctors are puzzled. She is not so sure herself. But when she starts having visions, triggered by seemingly random words or pictures, she knows something is going on. In time she learns about the Nine Sisters. They allegedly found the secret to Eternal Life. The key to saving Dante. Renee goes searching for clues about the legend, finding pieces of a riddle all the while learning more about what it is to be a Monitor. Life Eternal continues the story that started with Dead Beautiful, and Yvonne Woon artistically redefines the meaning of soul-mates. This book is just as breathtaking as the first one, maybe even a bit more exciting at times. There are no dragging moments, because for the characters, danger is around every corner. From a haunting beginning to the gripping cliffhanger ending, this is a fantastic escape to lose yourself in.
Due to the previous year's misfortunate events that occurred at Gottfried, Renee is set apart from the other students at her new school for Monitors. Is she Undead? Alive? The doctors are puzzled. She is not so sure herself. But when she starts having visions, triggered by seemingly random words or pictures, she knows something is going on. In time she learns about the Nine Sisters. They allegedly found the secret to Eternal Life. The key to saving Dante. Renee goes searching for clues about the legend, finding pieces of a riddle all the while learning more about what it is to be a Monitor. Life Eternal continues the story that started with Dead Beautiful, and Yvonne Woon artistically redefines the meaning of soul-mates. This book is just as breathtaking as the first one, maybe even a bit more exciting at times. There are no dragging moments, because for the characters, danger is around every corner. From a haunting beginning to the gripping cliffhanger ending, this is a fantastic escape to lose yourself in.
I definitely feel much the same about Life Eternal as I did Dead Beautiful. It's fun and quick to read, but also kind of ridiculous and melodramatic. However, overall, I think I did like this one a bit better.
First off, Renée is still weird. She just never reacts to things the way a normal person would. Maybe she's just not normal, but pretty much every time I read about how she responded to something, I'm like what the heck! For example, in the first chapter, you learn that her grandfather has been reading all her mail. And that she's okay with that, because she knows she can't stop him. If it were me, I would have the fight every time, because tampering with the mail's not cool, or I would come up with some other way to get my mail so it didn't have to go through psychogramps. Then again maybe the real reason she's okay with it is because she snoops through his stuff too.
One of the strangest things about this book is the fact that as much as Gottfried Academy controlled the students' every move Lycée St. Clément doesn't seem to care at all. Renée runs all around Montreal searching for Dante and never gets in trouble for just disappearing from campus. More than once, she falls asleep somewhere that's not her room and comes back in the morning...and no one notices. Partly because apparently at this super sweet boarding school everyone gets their own room, with bathrooms shared by only two people. At Gottfried, there was a communal bathroom in the girls' building and one in the boys'. Weird!
What I liked most about this book was that the disgusting soul mate thing was significantly reduced. It becomes apparent that even though she thought they were perfect for one another, because they share the same soul and everything, that it's possible she doesn't know him as well as she thought. There's an acknowledgment here that this is a high school relationship and that they really have not spent enough time together or talked about their pasts enough to have a healthy, trusting relationship.
Add to this a new possible love interest in Noah, a Monitor boy, and you've got the makings for Renée needing to reevaluate her life choices. I also love the questions raised in this love triangle. Should love be easy? Renée doesn't think so at first, but comes to question whether the difficulty of maintaining a relationship is a sign of its worth. I love that Woon brought this up, because with so many of the YA romances, especially in the paranormal genre, teens could get the idea that true love is beset by many difficulties, and that if it's too easy it can't be real.
The dramatic ending left a little bit to be desired, although it definitely achieved the dramatic. It just seems like people were not as prepared as they should have been, resulting in some unnecessary and awful things happening.
Anyway, despite the many things I could rant about in this series, it is really fun to read, and I know I'll be excited when book three comes out. I just can't help it. Recommended to people who like the Cassandra Clare books; I always have a similar response to those.
First off, Renée is still weird. She just never reacts to things the way a normal person would. Maybe she's just not normal, but pretty much every time I read about how she responded to something, I'm like what the heck! For example, in the first chapter, you learn that her grandfather has been reading all her mail. And that she's okay with that, because she knows she can't stop him. If it were me, I would have the fight every time, because tampering with the mail's not cool, or I would come up with some other way to get my mail so it didn't have to go through psychogramps. Then again maybe the real reason she's okay with it is because she snoops through his stuff too.
One of the strangest things about this book is the fact that as much as Gottfried Academy controlled the students' every move Lycée St. Clément doesn't seem to care at all. Renée runs all around Montreal searching for Dante and never gets in trouble for just disappearing from campus. More than once, she falls asleep somewhere that's not her room and comes back in the morning...and no one notices. Partly because apparently at this super sweet boarding school everyone gets their own room, with bathrooms shared by only two people. At Gottfried, there was a communal bathroom in the girls' building and one in the boys'. Weird!
What I liked most about this book was that the disgusting soul mate thing was significantly reduced. It becomes apparent that even though she thought they were perfect for one another, because they share the same soul and everything, that it's possible she doesn't know him as well as she thought. There's an acknowledgment here that this is a high school relationship and that they really have not spent enough time together or talked about their pasts enough to have a healthy, trusting relationship.
Add to this a new possible love interest in Noah, a Monitor boy, and you've got the makings for Renée needing to reevaluate her life choices. I also love the questions raised in this love triangle. Should love be easy? Renée doesn't think so at first, but comes to question whether the difficulty of maintaining a relationship is a sign of its worth. I love that Woon brought this up, because with so many of the YA romances, especially in the paranormal genre, teens could get the idea that true love is beset by many difficulties, and that if it's too easy it can't be real.
The dramatic ending left a little bit to be desired, although it definitely achieved the dramatic. It just seems like people were not as prepared as they should have been, resulting in some unnecessary and awful things happening.
Anyway, despite the many things I could rant about in this series, it is really fun to read, and I know I'll be excited when book three comes out. I just can't help it. Recommended to people who like the Cassandra Clare books; I always have a similar response to those.