'Jekel loves Hyde' by Beth FANTASKEY

Received from the publisher

From the BLURB:

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 key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To better 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.

I am officially a Beth Fantaskey fan-girl - she is now an automatic-buy for me!

I loved her novel ‘Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side’ and absolutely devoured ‘Jekel loves Hyde’.

Fantaskey writes smart YA novels, and never talks down to her readers. ‘Jekel loves Hyde’ has its plot roots in the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. The story (both this modern retelling and its classic inspiration) provokes analysis of big ideas like humanity’s conflict between good and evil, and Man’s duel nature.

Basing these concepts around Jekyll & Hyde is a really inspired idea – it makes ‘Jekel loves Hyde’ a standout supernatural romance when the norm is vampires and werewolves. Fantaskey could have gone the (now) humdrum route of using Werewolves for the metaphor of ‘Beast VS. Man’; but she instead decides to treat her YA readership to a taste of classic gothic literature for the stories’ backbone. Fabulous!

I think High School is a wonderful setting to discuss big-picture ideas of duel nature. Where better do we see the full-spectrum of humanity’s struggle with Good and Evil than in the war of adolescence, on the High School battlefield?

‘Jekel loves Hyde’ has two narrators – shy brainiac, Jill Jekel, and popular track-star Tristen Hyde.

Through these two Fantaskey is able to transport the Jekyll and Hyde metaphor of conflicting personalities to the wider-spectrum of High School cliques.

Jill’s been best friend’s with Becca since kindergarten, but while Becca’s social status soars, Jill is left to wonder if Becca clings to their friendship out of genuine affection or convenience? Then there’s Darcy Gray – Jill’s rival for valedictorian who more successfully straddles the geeky/popular line by also dating quarterback, Todd Flick.

I loved Jill and her struggles with popularity. I always admire an underdog character, and Fantaskey excels at writing them. Jill is shy and awkward, but she’s also got real backbone and courage – in the wake of her father’s murder she runs the household and becomes her mother’s full-time carer. There’s a lot to admire and relate to in Jill – and I think she makes for a great YA heroine.

Likewise I adored Tristen Hyde. As I found in ‘Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side’, Fantaskey likes her male leads to be brooding and mysterious with a heavy dose of charming on the side. Throw in a Birtish accent and Tristen Hyde is indeed swoon-worthy. But I especially loved Tristen because he isn’t perfect, no matter his chiselled good looks and spine-tingling accent.

The duel nature metaphor delves deeper by way of Tristen’s failing mental health, as he experiences ‘rage blackouts’ and a losing control over his inhibitions;

“Tristen…” I twisted against his grip. “Please. This is crazy.”

He squeezed my wrist more tightly, but it was a strangely calming touch, as if he was trying to focus me and force me to listen carefully, when he announced, very clear and gravely, “If you don’t help me, Jill, and if I can’t cure myself, I will kill myself before the beast acts upon its nastiest impulses.”

Fantaskey does well to balance Tristen’s dark and disturbing struggle with the more common examination of Teen life through Jill’s struggles.

Just as in ‘Jessica’s’, ‘Jekel loves Hyde’ has a captivating romance at its centre. I especially loved Tristen and Jill’s saga because they’re combating so much more than just raging hormones – mainly Tristen’s ‘monster’. It makes for melodramatic, addictive reading - very ‘gothic’ indeed.

Another thing I admire about Fantaskey is that she writes quite mature YA books. Her characters swear, talk about sex and reveal some nasty personality flaws. I think it’s a misconception that YA books have to adhere to a strict PG-13 rating. Of course there is a line that defines the Young Adult/Adult crossover – but that doesn’t mean YA authors have to treat their audience with kid gloves. Fantaskey seems very savvy when it comes to her readership and she writes very believable characters, and gives them very plausible struggles (amongst more outlandish ones).

I loved ‘Jekel loves Hyde’. Beth Fantaskey has wonderfully combined the metaphors of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale with teen melodrama to make an insightful and compelling read. Fantaskey is now an automatic-buy for me, and definitely a YA author to keep your eye on.

5/5

REVIEW: 'Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side'

'Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side' by Beth FANTASKEY

Received from the publisher

From the BLURB:

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

The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .

I have to admit that if I hadn’t received this book from the publisher to review, I probably would have never read it. I had seen it floating around; sitting on the shelf at Borders and on the blogosphere. But I never had the impulse to read it, mainly because I was thrown by the cover-art and title. The cover image of (what looks to me to be) a 13-year-old girl just screamed ‘tween’ rather than ‘teen’, and did not appeal.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised (okay, ‘shocked’) that I liked this book so much. I was also surprised at how mature it was, especially because I had it pegged as appealing to an 8 – 14 age bracket (based purely on title and cover-art). In fact ‘Jessica’s Guide’ is a book that harks back to a truer vampire mythology – including the more dark and vicious blood sucking nature of a supernatural element that’s been glossed over by squeaky-clean tween romances in recent years.

This novel works so well on so many levels, not least of all because Beth Fantaskey is very aware of her audience. She’s writing this in the aftermath of ‘Twilight’, so she doesn’t get bogged down in vampiric mythology and explanation; because she knows that her audience is cluey enough already.

I also think she was very clever in not ‘talking down’ to her YA readers. At this point ‘Twihards’ have figured out the deeper meaning behind Edward refusing to bite Bella (until they’re married, of course). Fantaskey tackles this issue head-on, while still respecting the boundaries of the YA genre. She writes some quite poignant and heated conversations between Jessica and Lucius that address the vampiric bite metaphor, rather than dance around it;

A smile flitted across his lips. “Intercourse is a fleeting pleasure, indeed. Undeniably an intimate act. Not to be dismissed – or missed, for that matter. Indeed, crucial for procreation, beyond its other obvious virtues.”

The smiled faded. “But sharing one’s blood with another: exposing one’s most vulnerable place, where the pulse beats just below the skin, and trusting your partner to satisfy without subduing… It makes sex seem almost insignificant by comparison. An unequal act – male to female. But blood… blood can be shared as true equals.”

I started reading this book thinking that Beth Fantaskey had set a very hard task for herself, writing a YA vampire book when ‘Twilight’ and Richelle Mead’s ‘Vampire Academy’ are dominating the market. But Fantaskey’s novel holds its own in the sub-genre. For one thing, she has written a very strong voice in Lucius Valdescu - he definitely leaves Edward Cullen for dead! Lucius is a quite dark and sinister character, and coupled with a tormented childhood and sharp wit, he becomes utterly charming and intriguing. I laughed out loud at some of Lucius’s wry observations of American teen life (“The word ‘like’ has become completely unlikable”). His sarcastic and droll humor is best expressed in his letters home to his tutor and uncle, Vasile;

I have sampled eternity in Miss Campbell’s fifth period ‘social studies’ class. Three days on the concept of ‘manifest destiny’, Vasile. THREE DAYS. I yearned to stand up, rip her lecture notes from her pallid hands, and scream, “Yes, America expanded westward! Is that not logical, given than Europeans settled on the eastern shore? What else were they to do? Advance vainly into the sea?”

I loved Lucius! And I especially loved his evolving relationship and courtship with Jessica. There’s a rather big element of ‘will they or won’t they?’ to the couple, as well as opposites attracting. It’s a slow burn romance; equal parts sweetness and angst, and completely entertaining.

I’m no stranger to the YA vampire novel. I’ve read ‘Twilight’, love ‘Vampire Academy’ and salivate over Rachel Caine’s ‘Morganville Vampires’. At this point I feel like a connoisseur of the sub-genre, and as such I have no hesitation in adding Fantaskey’s ‘Jessica’s Guide’ to that list of teen-vamp heavyweights.

The novel is a bit of a contrast – at once dark and gothic, but with a tender romance at its centre. The characters are vivid and wonderful, spouting witticisms while dealing with a heavy load of pertinent teen issues (and a few supernatural ones).

I loved this book, and I didn’t think I would. If you can get past the schmaltzy ‘tween’ cover-art and title, you’ll discover that ‘Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side’ has a lot to offer. Sinister villains, a charming hero, down-to-earth heroine and a rather mature romance which readers can sink their teeth into.

5/5

Fantaskey's second novel