Jonas: Beautiful Dead

by Eden Maguire

Book Overview

Not alive. Not dead. Somewhere in between lie the Beautiful Dead. Something strange is happening at 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. Rumors 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402239440
• ISBN13: 9781402239441
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful dead series

Once you start reading you wont be able to put it down n you'll want the series

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Eden Maguire introduces us to our protagonist, Darina, who is dealing with the deaths of four students from her high school within the past year; Jonas, Arizona, Summer, and Phoenix. The last one hit home, Phoenix being her boyfriend of two months. But, in Darina's depressed state, she thinks she sees Phoenix alive, so she follows him...and discovers the world of the Beautiful Dead. The Beautiful Dead is actually the four students, along with four other people, who have died within the past year. At the head is a man named Michael, who is cold and distant to Darina. They try to control her mind and make her forget, but her love for Phoenix is too strong, so she makes a deal. In order to retain knowledge of their little zombie state, she has to help each on of them take care of unfinished business so they pass on. And so the story unfolds. We are met first with Jonas, who died when he crashed his motorcycle, severely wounding his girlfriend, and a former friend of Darina's, Zoey. Darina begins to delve into the mystery, all the while trying to cope with only seeing Phoenix in small time frames, and dealing with some other not-so-nice townsfolk. The first half of the book did not impress like I thought it would. There was an info dump (which was a one-time thing, thankfully) and the romance between Darina and Phoenix was already established, so it kind of felt flat. The only concept I found new in their love was that both people were equally devoted, and while it had TWILIGHT shadowing, Phoenix is never abusive or cruel or monstrous. He still shows love and affection like a normal teenager who is entrapped by the bindings of true amour. The characters were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. And the plot was interesting, if somewhat ripping off Ghost Whisperer. It was somewhere around a certain plot revelation that the story began to speed up, and change for the better. Darina was a nice character, but Zoey really had my attention. She wasn't too amazing as a character, but she was interesting, and I loved reading about her lost love with Jonas. It appealed to my romantic side quite well. And it was near tear-inducing despite the cliche of the situation. I also enjoyed the mythos added to the book involving the Beautiful Dead - they become slightly darker and troubled. And that really sets it apart from the light paranormals we see. This book deals with death. With people dying. And it doesn't shy away from it. Which is cool, and welcomed, especially among the almost too happy paranormal books we see today. Overall, it was a pretty good book. The writing was good, and the plot elements were cool despite being a little contrived. The characters were just enough to keep me going, though the myth and the romance could use with a good expanding and fleshing out along the way. Maguire has an interesting series starter, and while it wasn't anything spectacular, it appealed to my romantic side and my love of paranormal s

Great Read!

A-MAZING!! When I Went Into B & N On My Weekly Book Binge I Wasn't There To Pick This Book Up Intentionally, But I Saw The Cover, Read The Back And Had To Have It! This Book Is A Super-Easy Read. Sometimes I Felt Like I Was Reading The Main Character - Darina's Journal. Although This Book Is Very Popular In The UK I Hadn't Really Heard Of It. Boy, Am I Glad I Bought It! Darina Is Going Through A Really Tough Patch. She Just Lost Her Boyfriend, Her Best Friend Isn't Speaking To Her Anymore, Her Best Guy Friend Wants More From Her, And Her Mother Makes Her See A Shrink. To Top It All Off, One Day Of Wandering Around Leads Her To Find THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD. Four Dead Teenagers Being Run By An Overlord Named Hunter. And One Them Is Phoenix: Her Dead Boyfriend. These Four Souls Are Still On Earth To Discover What Happened To Them. How And Why They Died. Darina's Character Is Really Easy To Relate To. I Haven't Lost Anyone Like That, But I Understand What Makes Her Hold On To Phoenix So Tightly. And That's The Fear Of Being Alone. We Don't Really Get To Know More About The Beautiful Dead, Possibly Because Each Character Has They're Own Book. And So Begins A Whirlwind Of Suspense As Darina Tries To Figure Out What Happended To Jonas. The First Teenager To Die Nearly A Year Ago. And Time Is Running Out... I Highly Recommend This Book!

Original and Unique Read!

Beautiful Dead was a lot different than I expected, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The beginning was a little slow, but I had a hard time putting the book down. Darina's unique and fun attitude kept the plot moving and there wasn't a slow moment. There were a variety of sub-plots and Maguire tackled the zombie idea with a new twist. The Beautiful Dead are actually a group of people, well zombies. But not just your average flesh eating zombies, the Beautiful Dead were almost normal looking with special powers. I was at the edge of my seat at quite a few scenes and I really liked the character and plot development. Beautiful Dead started off in what might seem like an awkward place but Maguire nailed it and created a haunting tale that many readers will enjoy. Phoenix was very sweet- I liked the romance in this book and Darina and Phoenix were perfect for each other. Their relationship was realistic and honest. Mystery, romance, and the undead were all tied together in this great debut. At first, some people might be a little wary as the plot seems a little too unique, but the more you read, the more you get involved in the book. Darina is witty and in control, a refreshing character that added a lot to the novel. I liked the rest of the Beautiful Dead, even seemingly begrudging Hunter. Once you realized his reason for being angry at Darina, readers could feel for him. It was easy in Beautiful Dead to hate the bad characters and love the good ones. I also really liked the character names. They went from a range of unique to common. Phoenix, Arizona, and Darina to Matt, Logan, and Jordan. In addition, I really like how Maguire is writing this series. The first book is about Jonas, the second Arizona, and so on- very awesome! And of course I really like the covers. They work perfectly with the book. I'm guessing that's Darina on the cover? It looks like I would picture her! Also, the font of the title is very cool! In the end, Beautiful Dead was an original and well written novel, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Beautiful Dead: Book Two- Arizona! Rating; Plot: 9/10 Characters: 9/10 Ending: 8.5/10 Enjoyment: 8.5/10 Cover: 8.5/10 -- Overall: 43.5/50 = 87%

A Surprising Good Read

This book was a total surprise to me. To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect when I started this book. This was a new author and a new publisher to me, so I was going into this book completely blind. When I finished reading, I was really glad that I had picked up this book and immediately raved about it. The storyline is really believable surprisingly even with the supernatural elements. Any questions I had about the undead is pretty much answered in the book even the ones that I thought no one else would care about. I could buy Darina and Phoenix's relationship even if they had been only dating for a short time before his death. Her friendship with Zoey was one storyline I really was interested in. I really liked reading how the two girls who had grown apart were able to come back together and make peace. What's great about the book is even with the zombies and the paranormal element running throughout the book, there is also a really good mystery in the story. I actually got so into finding out what really happened to Jonas that I had to will myself NOT to look at the ending to see what happened. This is really rare for me because if the story is not written well or is too unbelievable I usually flip to the end because I just can't stand it anymore. This time, I really got into the story so I wanted it to play out as I read it and see if I was right. I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though this book is in a genre I normally don't read, I didn't feel alienated or put off at all by this book. I just don't want to hear that this book did for zombies what Twilight did for vampires. Because even though it's a wonderful book, it's NOT anything like Twilight so comparisons to it would just fall flat. The writing really captures your attention and draws you in throughout the whole story. As soon as I finished, I was eager to read the next book in the series. Honestly I can't wait to read more of this series and see what's going to happen to Darina, Phoenix and the rest of the gang. Even if you don't like any sort of paranormal fiction at all, I really think that you will enjoy this book.

A unique young adult novel.

Beautiful Dead is the first book in a series created by Eden Maguire. The premise of the series is the fact that four teenagers have been killed, from Ellerton High, within a year. Two girls and two boys - all of whom were well liked. In this first book, focus is on Jonas, and his finding the answers to his death, which was caused during a seemingly reckless motorcycle ride with his girlfriend. With that in mind, we meet in the very beginning, main character Darina. Darina is the girlfriend of the latest casualty, Phoenix. It is while she is walking in a deserted area that she comes across an old house and barn. The banging of the barn door catches her attention and what she sees, as she peers inside, will change her life forever - that is, once she can make herself believe it. Standing in a circle, is her dead boyfriend, Phoenix, as well as the three other kids from her school, who are suppose to be dead: Jonas, Summer and Arizona. She wonders if she has lost her mind from grief, but is quickly set at ease, as she is brought within the folds of this strange group and the love of her life. Darina learns that this group is headed by Hunter, the overlord, and that the group calls themselves The Beautiful Dead. They are souls caught between life and death, zombies, if you will, as they state they are. Each has been chosen to return to this earth, or plain, to find answers. The problem is that they must stay hidden and not allow other people to see them. It is soon realized that Darina may hold the answer, and she is more than willing to help in any way that she can, so that she is able to stay near Phoenix. What follows is a rather intriguing and unique story. The characters are interesting and the paranormal aspect is highly entertaining. Each of the Beautiful Dead have a tattoo of a set of wings, in the area where they were killed. I found this to be very interesting. One example is that Phoenix was stabbed between the shoulder blades, and this is where his wings appear. I do have to mention that, at least to me, the depth and all-consuming love shared by these teens seemed a bit extreme. However, it does add an intensity to the story. As a young-adult novel, Beautiful Dead is a very good one. It was a very quick read and one that quickly caught me within it's pages. I look forward to the second in the series, Book 2: Arizona.