Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Posted June 2, 2010 by shooting in Uncategorized / 4 Comments

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Review by: Lauren

Review Copy: Sent by Author

Summary (From Amazon):


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 the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.To improve 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.



To improve 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.

Review:

I think the end of the above summary is a bit misrepresentative of the novel. The whole “Jill taking the formula and unleashing her bad side” is a part of the novel and quite interesting but it’s not a huge part of the novel. That doesn’t mean anything about the overall story of the book, however, as it a wonderful read.

I’ve never read the original Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde though I’ve wanted to for awhile now…and this just makes me want to even more. Jekel Loves Hyde might sound like just another YA love story with a dash of paranormal elements but it’s honestly not. Fantaskey has created multi-layered characters that are more than meets the eye and given them a unique problem to overcome.

Jekel Loves Hyde is a mix of dark romance, familial secrets, murder, and mystery. It’s definitely it’s own brand of Young Adult that I haven’t read in most books. I would definitely recommend this novel to someone who is looking for something a big more edgy…and I meant that in the best way possible. I honestly enjoyed every moment of this book. It’s something I’m sure I’d want to read again in the future, especially when I get the chance to read the original. It’s not needed to enjoy this book but I’m sure it would make certain things more clearer and enjoyable.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is that Tristen isn’t just there to be the mysterious love interest. He has a wild collection of emotions and one volatile past that unravels as you read. I especially like that his ending isn’t spelled out…it allows people to know and wonder at the same time.

Overall, this was a really good book. I don’t give most books ratings because it’s hard and I’m not sure it really tells you much about the book but if I had to pick, I’d say around a 4/5. I definitely need to start reading Fantaskey’s other novel Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. I own it, so that’s a step!

Amazon Associates: If you buy from the above link, I will get a small percentage.

4 responses to “Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

  1. I've never read the original Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde either but I do own a copy so I need to read that one day soon. This sounds like a wonderfully unique take on the classic 🙂

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