Four Deaths... Four Mysteries...

 Something strange is happening at Ellerton High. 

Jonas, Arizona, Summer, Phoenix…
All dead within a year.

Okay... I haven't finished the series yet but I'm already blogging because the last book won't be out until October and I'm not sure if I would still be able to remember everything from the first book. I'm not a writer so I'm only going to give my comments as a reader who loves fast-paced books but sometimes becomes dumb and lazy.

Beautiful Dead is a series by Eden Maguire about Darina who must help 4 friends/schoolmates who died and came back as zombies or what they call the beautiful dead to solve the mysteries behind their deaths. She must help them or else they're going to be trapped in limbo forever... or something like that.

Jonas Jonson is the first to die, in a motorcycle accident. But there are many unanswered questions, and the three deaths that follow are equally mysterious. 

First things first - about the covers. The main reason why I gave the series a try is because of the covers. I love angels and I'm trying to find YA books about angels - fallen or not. I thought at first that there would be angels because of the angel wings. And also, at the back of the first book it was written there - "the sound of beating wings echoes inside her head". So I actually thought that there would be angels. Then when I opened the book, I was quite disappointed when somebody said - "A good addition to zombie fiction." Zombie fiction? So they're zombies and not angels. And when you say zombie, the first thing that comes to mind are those flesh-eating scary, bloody creatures that came back to life that they kill in Resident Evil. Haha. But the series did not give me that kind of impression so my curiosity still kicked in plus when I got to the bookstore they were having a sale! So I bought all three and started to eat them one by one. Lol. Anyway, I like the covers but I think the first one should not have been like that. In the second and third book, the covers have Arizona and Summer respectively. But the first one, had Darina which I think should have been Jonas. And Darina is not dead so I really think they should have put Jonas there. Anyway, in the fourth book, it had Phoenix and Darina together.

Haha... So much for the cover... Anyway, I'm not the author so what do I know? She wants Darina there and not Jonas... Lol.

It's been almost a year since Arizona drowned in Hartmann Lake. Suicide, it would seem. But something doesn't add up... Drowning herself in a lake does not sound like strong, confident Arizona: Ellerton High School's high-maintenance drama queen.

Next, I'm going to comment like a dumb reader. The only thing that I did not like with the books are the names. There were a lot of names and I could hardly remember who is who. Hannah, Jordan, Logan, Ezra, Parker, Matt, Bob, Lucas, Jon, Troy, Mike, etc.. I was very confused while reading the first book because of those names. I only remember who  were important like Matt for the first book, then Kyle and Jon for the second. I know, there should be a lot of names because they were like high school kids with friends and stuff but... I don't know. I think I was just too dumb to remember all of them. Haha... I only got a hang of them when I got to the third book. Or maybe I was just like, you're not too important so I don't care who you are, so I did not make any effort in knowing and remembering who they are. Hahaha... 

Springtime sees Darina once more in Phoenix's arms. But spring is also a reminder of the hail of bullets that killed Summer in a random shopping mall shooting almost a year ago. Can Darina and the Beautiful Dead catch Summer's crazed killer?

For the romance part, I think Darina and Phoenix are sooo cheesy together. I quite pity them because they love each other so much but they can't be together and do whatever they want to do because Phoenix is already dead. The only part which I don't like is the part wherein everyone wants her. I really hate that when it happens. I already forgot the names of those who  like Darina but I think there were around 2 or 3 of them aside from Phoenix. And I'm crossing my fingers that Brandon won't be an addition to Darina's collection.

Anyway, I like the stories of the first two books. I like the stories behind Jonas especially Arizona. I'm half-way through the third one and I'm quite hoping that they won't be time-travelling again for the third time to solve Summer's case. But I think, while reading it, there's an 80-20 percent chance that they would resort to time travel again which somehow defeats the purpose  of Darina who must be investigating on how they died and not time-travelling to know what really happened. Because it feels like, if they can do time-travel, then why ask Darina's help? Why not make the Beautiful Dead time-travel all by themselves and solve their own cases with Hunter? Anyway, I'm not the author so I should be minding my own business...LoL.

It's the moment they've been dreading - time to solve Phoenix's mystery. Everything has been building to this but Darina knows that revealing the true circumstances of Phoenix's death will lead to their final parting.With time pressure mounting and the risk of Phoenix being sent back into unending limbo, Darina puts herself in danger, and so the mystery of the Beautiful Dead builds into a heart-breaking climax ...

Over all, I like the series. I could hardly believe how fast I was reading it. I was actually like taking my time in reading Summer because I don't want to finish it yet. Haha silly. So, maybe I would be updating this after I finally finish Phoenix which would be released around October.

Not alive. Not Dead.

Somewhere in between lie the