I only picked this up because I liked the cover and really wasn't expecting much. True to my initial impressions, this book is a fairly typical YA paranormal story. A human girl has some tragic things happen to her, enrolls in a new school, and meets a mysterious and alluring not-quite-human boy. They fall in love and then for whatever reason, discover that they can't be together.

The only interesting twist is the inclusion of classical philosophy in the mythology behind the supernatural elements. Descartes' ideas about life and death form the basis of the mythology, although the book doesn't go into much detail about it and the author clearly takes a lot of artistic liberties in fitting his ideas into her tale. Nonetheless, I thought this was an interesting approach to the YA paranormal genre, and enjoyed reading about it. I'm curious enough to read the next book in the series, and really hoping that the author will continue to use classical philosophy in the storyline. ( )

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. ( )

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The description is right, it's a different look at death and life and love. It took me a long time to figure out the mysteries and they were very satisfying when I did.

The ending was sad and perfect, completely in tune with the lessons about living and dying the rest of the book taught.

I really liked it. I definitely want to read more.

(Provided by publisher) ( )

I didn’t completely dislike this book, but the main character made me not like it as much as I might have otherwise. I did not think that there was much depth to her and she was a bit too much immature for my liking. In short, I found her to be quite annoying. After I read the synopsis of the book, I expected her to be more mature and responsible.

I also was expecting something different about the plot. It sounded awesome and the idea was good, but it somehow did not work for me. I was expecting something much, much creepier than the book actually is. Also, I found the romance part of the book to be rather unrealistic, which did not help me like the plot.

All in all, not a book that I regret spending time reading, but not one that I would recommend either.

2.5 stars actually

I got this book as a review copy via NetGalley. ( )

The book is so surprising and original and creepy. I just loved it! And it kept me wondering and thinking about death and life as we know it. Dante is amazing, the classes are amazing, they actually taught me a thing or two like Horticulture. Did I say how much I like Dante *SPOILERS* dead or not!? I can't believe it is the author's first book, she did a great job, the cover is great but what is inside is even better! The ending broke my heart!! It is so sad!! Bittersweet! ( )