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.
- Overall, not preferred. Beth Fantaskey also wrote "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" and I really liked it--the only other vampire book I actually like outside of Twilight. So I started reading "Jekel Loves Hyde" with some higher standards than I would for a book by an author who's work I hadn't read before. But..."Jekel Loves Hyde" didn't really jive with me.
- Did you want a side order of cheese? There were way too many cheesy parts to this story. I understand that it's fiction and all that, but we all except some level of realism, yes? The whole hot-guy-shy-girl complex has been done plenty of times before--just turn on the Disney channel if you want proof.
- There was something off about the alternating POV's. The chapters (god, they are so flipping short--and there are over 90 of them) switch between Tristen and Jill. Convincingly switching characters POV's takes some practice, methinks. These chapters were conveniently complete opposites of each other--Jill would think one thing, Tristen would think the exact opposite. If there was a chance for miscommunication, it was there and I didn't really like that.
- TBS: Very funny. Where's the humor!? "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" was a riot! "Jekel Loves Hyde" focused more on sexual topics--minus humor. *sigh* So I was disappointed about that.
- A with an attitude. Okay, so just for the record, practically everything Jill puts up with would NOT go down very well at my school. Someone starts getting kinda witchy and the tension rises very fast. Jill put up with so much crap. I was reading and was like, "What the fudgsicle is WRONG with her!?" I started getting really frustrated after about two hundred pages.
- I liked the idea. The whole tie-in with Jekyll and Hyde?! Brilliant! That's definitely not something you see everyday, but looking back, I wish that it had highlighted more on the original story of Jekyll and Hyde. It does copy a paragraph from the book and makes references, but I didn't really learn anything about the story that I didn't already know.
- There were some really good parts. Some of the concepts--like being a Miss Goody Two Shoes--I could really identify. (I'm seen as the mother figure to my friends at school. *eye roll*) I liked how Jill dealt with that and how Ms. Fantaskey presented that struggle.
- WARNING! Some language--the F-bomb dropped a few times, so younger readers and sensitive readers beware!
Book Info:
- received via - library
- pages - hardcover, 282
- published - May 2010
- publisher - Harcourt Children's Books
- genre - urban fantasy
- series - N/A
- other books by Beth Fantaskey - "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side"
