Beautiful Dead: Jonas Blog Tour: Review and Author Interview!

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting The Beautiful Dead: Jonas Blog Tour on my blog. This stop will include a review of Jonas as well as an interview with the lovely Eden Maguire, which are both below.

Review:

Summary:

Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Phoenix is the fourth teenager to die within a year. His street fight stabbing follows the deaths of Jonas, Summer and Arizona in equally strange and sudden circumstances.

Rumours of ghosts and strange happenings rip through the small community as it comes to terms with shock and loss.

Darina,Phoenix's grief-stricken girlfriend, is on the verge. She can't escape her intense heartache, or the impossible apparitions of those that are meant to be dead. And all the while the sound of beating wings echo inside her head! And then one day Phoenix appears to Darina.

Ecstatic to be reunited, he tells her about the Beautiful Dead. Souls in limbo, they have been chosen to return to the world to set right a wrong linked to their deaths and bring about justice. Beautiful, superhuman and powerful, they are marked by a 'death mark' - a small tattoo of angel's wings. Phoenix tells her that the sound of invisible wings beating are the millions of souls in limbo, desperate to return to earth.Darina's mission is clear: she must help Jonas, Summer, Arizona, and impossibly, her beloved Phoenix, right the wrong linked to their deaths to set them free from limbo so that they can finally rest in peace. Will love conquer death? And if it does, can Darina set it free?
 
Review:

Going into Jonas: A Beautiful Dead Novel I was excepting a lot. Since not only does it (along with the rest of the BD series) have a beautiful cover, but the premise was certainly intriguing (Girl trying to help the Beautiful Dead find out why they died? I'm definitely there!). Sadly enough, while the execution was pretty great, it was far from being as mind blowing and fascinating as I hoped it would be; leaving it to fall short of my expectations.

Darina is a sad stricken girl who if given the chance would do anything her heart desires would choose to bring her boyfriend back to her even for a short amount of time, and when she gets that choice she jumps at it.
 
I'm kind of half decided on Darina since while part of me did sympathize and relate to the sadness she felt over the death, I was a bit put off by how codependent she was on Phoenix. Though, I did find her voice to interesting as a narrator and am looking forward to seeing more of her story. The other characters were good, yet I would have loved to seen them be more developed. Since they were just there; you didn't find out much about how they looked, they're back-story, or basically anything. So hopefully this will be fixed in further additions to the series.
 
The plot made up for this, thankfully. Since it was suspenseful and addicting, which left me to want to rush through this novel without a doubt, and I did. I loved all the mystery surrounding the Beautiful Dead and their deaths (Jonas especially because that's the one you get to learn more about in this one), and the fight to find out what really happened. It was just a load of fun!
 
In all, the Jonas: A Beautiful Dead Novel is a great book for when you just want to get lost in a world besides your own. Though, let me warn you now, by the last page of it you'll be DYING to read the sequel. Like I am now. :)
 
Grade: B
 
Beautiful Dead is now out!

Source: Paul at Sourcebooks for review/blog tour. Thanks Paul!
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Author Interview:
 
What are three words that would best describe Beautiful Dead: Jonas?


Three words to describe Book 1 of The Beautiful Dead would be 'gripping, disturbing, mysterious'.

Describe your main character Darina in one sentence. Are you similar to her in any ways?

Darina is troubled, sad and cast adrift by grief over losing Phoenix. She's similar to me in one respect - she stands on the outside of groups, doesn't feel she belongs.

If you could give your main character Darina advice, what would you say?

My advice to Darina would be to listen to what her heart tells her.

What was your favorite aspect of Beautiful Dead: Jonas?

The best thing about writing Jonas was being able to create a whole world of restless spirits who could come back from beyond the grave - beings with supernatural powers and a mission to set things right.

What's the best thing about being a writer? Worst?

The best thing about being an author is freedom! And power. You get to invent people, places, plots ...

The worst thing is the isolation - you spend a lot of hours alone at a desk.

What's up next for you book-wise?

My current book is Beautiful Dead Book 4 - Phoenix. My publishers already have manuscripts for Books 2 and 3 - Arizona and Summer. Phoenix is the final one in the series, where Darina tries to work out exactly how he died. And then she has to say goodbye -forever!

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Thanks, Eden! I'm really looking forward to reading more about the Beautiful Dead and Darina! :)

Now, what are you all waiting for? Go get your own copy now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Indiebound!