Old Review: Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Jekel Loves Hyde, by Beth Fantaskey
Publisher: Graphia
Release Date: May 3, 2010
ARC: 282 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Buy:Amazon
Source: Publisher
Challenge: none
Date Read: May 2010
Rating: 

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents rules; especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.
To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything, even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

First off, I love Beth Fantaskey. I read Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside and fell in love with her writing. I'm sorry to say this, but I couldn't get into this one all the way. I mean, it was good, but it wasn't one of those books that you don't want to put down. Which I was highly disappointed at because Beth Fantaskey is very talented.

And because of that adoration for her first book, I tried so hard to get so into this book that I didn't want to put it down, but I just couldn't. I finished it, and I think I finally got into it when I read the Epilogue. I really loved the ending of the book, but just couldn't get into it any other time.

I really thought I'd love this book. And the cover is gorgeous! But the plot itself wasn't that great for me.

The story is told in with two narrators, Jill and Tristen. Tristen was pretty interesting, but Jill was just really annoying. To the point where I really wish she was real so I could just smack her and ask her what the hell is wrong with her.

The writing itself was good, though. It was really detailed and I could picture everything. Which I do honestly love. She did a great job in creating Jekel loves Hyde based off the classic, and making it original. That really did intrigue me and the part where they were both ancestors of either Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

But I'm sad to say that I can't give this an A+. I feel bad for it, but I have to be honest. I'm really sorry I couldn't give this the best review. Hopefully anyone else who reads this will like it more than I did.




*Note: This is part of my 'Old Review' collection. Where I post reviews randomly that I wrote a while ago before starting this blog.

Old Review: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside by Beth Fantaskey

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside by Beth Fantaskey
Jessica, book #1

Next book in series: Jessica Rules the Darkside
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Hardcover: 368 Pages

Age Group: Young Adult (12+)
Author Website
Buy: Amazon
Source: Own
Date read: April 2009
Overall: 

The undead can really screw up your senior year ...
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

(Summary from Goodreads.)

 First Lines: The first time I saw him, a heavy, gray fog clung to the cornfields, tails of mist slithering between the dying stalks.

First off: This wasn't what I was expecting when I first learned about the novel. At all. I mean, it sounded really, really good. But I thought it would be a little like all the other vampire books I'd read. I hate getting into a novel like that, because I love vampires and I love reading about them. So I was a bit worried when I first got this book.

But I was wrong! Oh, so wrong!

I never expected to love it as much as I did. This quickly made it to my number one favorite book before I was even done with it. (Sharing spots with other books, of course!)

Fantaskey recreated the genre and made it her own. Which is extremely hard to do nowadays with the amount of Young Adult novels that are out in the book world. Plus the percentage of them that include vampires in them.

I can't remember how many times I cried while reading Jessica's Guide. And how many times I got completely ticked off with Lucius. At first I thought I was going to hate him throughout the book, but a little ways in I started to fall in love with him just as Jess was.

At first while I was reading, I thought things were moving a bit too fast. Too many things were happening and it was just the first chapter. But now that I'm done with it, I feel that if those things didn't happen as fast as they did, all the other events wouldn't have played out as great as they did.

I also loved how Fantaskey threw in some things from Lucius' perspective. It added to the story and really let you get to know him more, and how his mind worked.

I really liked Jess, too. She was an amazing protagonist. All her feelings were geniune and real and I felt I really got to know her throughout the novel. I feel as though she's one of my best friends. Which I love those feelings when reading a book.

I felt all the minor characters really added to the story too. They were all really interesting and I loved Jess' best friend, Mindy.

Fantaskey's style of writing was really great, as well. It all really flowed well and drew you in. I always felt as though I were right there, experiencing all the events that were happening throughout the novel.

Overall, it was a GREAT read. I will definitely be reading this again in the future. It's one of those novels where you have to reread them at least once or twice every year.
The end was very good!



Cover:
I really love this cover. It is completely gorgeous and I absolutely love Jessica's dress!
I recommend this to: Anyone who loves a good unique vampire book, and, of course, the hot vampire boyfriend.

Other books by this author:  Jekel Loves Hyde