Life Eternal (Dead Beautiful #2)

After reading Dead Beautiful last year I was so excited to see where Yvonne Woon would take us next! The ending was a massive cliffhanger. So when I had the chance to review a copy of Life Eternal, the second in the Dead Beautiful series, I hopped on it as soon as I could.

One thing I loved about this particular book was how easily it picks up where the last one left off. We reconnect with Renée and see that life has become more difficult for her since Dante went on the run. She feels older, and less of a person. I liked seeing the changes in her since we parted ways. Unfortunately because of these changes, Renée is also extremely depressed for about the first third of the book. I didn't hate her for it. I understood it. Still, it made it tough for me to really get into the story. I wanted to shake her and tell her that life goes on, and things would work out if she just tried. What can I say? I'm an optimist.

Essentially, the first third of the book is slow. But don't loose hope! Once Renée begins to come out of her slump things get really interesting. In this installment we are treated to a brand new school in France, new characters to help Renée along, and even a new mystery to solve. The Nine Sisters are a group of scholars that some believe figured out the key to eternal life. For Renée, that means a chance to finally be with Dante. What ensues is a manic romp through France and the areas beyond. Running through dark underground tunnels, visiting graveyards, following clues, Renée does it all in the quest for true love.

I very much enjoyed the way that Yvonne Woon allows the reader to slowly uncover the mystery along with Renée. There is no way that you'll figure things out before she does. A trail of breadcrumbs is laid out beautifully, giving you little bits and pieces of what lies ahead. I honestly loved the addition of Noah to this book. Giving Renée something else to focus on, someone else to focus on, worked well with the story line. When you barely see the person who is the object of your adoration, how do you know if they are truly doing what they say they are? That is the question that fuels this book.

Although Life Eternal started out a little slow, and Renée might have bugged me a bit, I honestly did ultimately enjoy this book in the end! The ending was maddening, coming to a peak with a cliffhanger that just about made me sob. Let's be honest though, it hooked me. I'm in for the long haul! Book number three, here I come.

Renee hasn't told anyone what really happend to her. Seperated from Dante she begins to have visions, one being the death of her teacher. She is sent to a sister school especially for Monitors and reunites with Dante, but she is still having visions and they have something to do with a secret sisterhood and immortality. The book was addicting and I couldn't put it down. Lets just say the end will leave you breathless.

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.