Dead Beautiful (Yvonne Woon) Audiobook Review

Publisher: Audible, Inc (Original Release: Hyperion, September 21, 2010)
Format: Audiobook
Narrated by Caitlin Davies
Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

From Audible.com. 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.

Review
DEAD BEAUTIFUL, by Yvonne Woon, is quite the unexpected treasure. We get to know very little about Renee Winters before she discovers the dead bodies of her parents in the woods. Under the guardianship of her estranged grandfather, she is brought to Maine to attend Gottfried Academy. There Renee is faced with attending a different kind of curriculum, a gossipy roommate, and a mysterious boy who she is unexplainably attracted to.

The curriculum at Gottfried was intriguing to say the least. Latin, a supposedly, dead language was brought back to life and some of the students even spoke it regularly. Horticulture class was interesting as well. A lot of the students were desperate to get into that class and Renee wondered why. She was extremely good at it, which put her on a higher pedestal even though it was not what everyone had made it out to be. I liked how Woon made Gottfried Academy a character in itself. She structured the school for a purpose that I was desperate to understand and when the secrets were unraveled I was extremely impressed with the thought and creativity that went into it.

I appreciated the relationship between Renee and Eleanor, her roommate. Several times Woon referenced the differing friendship between Annie, Renee's best friend in California, and Eleanor. It was refreshing to not have a competitive relationship between these friends, as most YA books seem to thrive on. These two were able to tell each other everything without fear of sounding crazy and that really impressed me.

Then there was the mysterious Dante. The way the rest of the female student body spoke of him made me wary of his almost instant connection with Renee. I knew there was something supernatural going on and I was anxious for it to be revealed. Their romantic relationship was very sweet and they definitely walked a thin line together against Gottfried's strict rules. Although Dante was charming, protective, and intelligent, the idea that he was hiding something always nagged at me.

It was a pleasant surprise to read a paranormal book that was a stand-alone. It seems that all I have been reading now are books in series that leave me wanting more. At the end of the book I felt complete even though it stayed in my mind long after.

My only problem with the actual book was the length. There were times that I felt the story lost its pacing in the middle but as soon as it picked up again I was hooked.

In terms of it being an audiobook, I thought it was okay. Caitlin Davies definitely has a great voice for narration. She is very articulate and her voices show great character separation. After about five hours of her voice though I was begging her to pick up the pace. She drew out her female voices a little too much and made them sound sing-songy. I have a feeling if the book was shorter then that wouldn't have bothered me as much.

Overall this was a great book. It incorporated many philosophical ideas about the dead that I found very interesting and a love story that reaches deep down into the heart.

 

For more info, check out Yvonne Woon's Website