Tuesday 29 January 2013

Dead Romantic review

Dead Romantic
C J Skuse
7th February 2012
Chicken House

Camille wants to find the perfect boy, with an athlete's body and a poet's brain. But when she's mocked at a college party, she knows there isn't a boy alive who'll ever measure up. Enter Zoe, her brilliant but strange best friend, who takes biology homework to a whole new level. She can create Camille's dream boy, Frankenstein-style. But can she make him love her?

Dead Romantic is a very fun, very funny and very fresh new take on an old, or should I say dead, story (and yes, I will make as many dead jokes as I can in this post. So, sorry about that. I can guarantee you now that they will ALL be terrible.)

I'm not really familiar at all with the story of Frankenstein, though I do know that it's about science and reanimation and that Frankenstein is the doctor, not the monster ect, but that's about it so I can't tell you whether or not this is a proper retelling (but I don't *think* it is - don't take my word for it), but it does take the basic premise. It just adds some more hormones, is all. It also does not back down from the grossness, so if you're feeling a bit squeamish, I probably wouldn't go for this book right away. But it's the good sort of gross. The funny sort of gross.

Camille was absolutely adorable. A bit weird, mind, but adorable nevertheless. Her complete lack of fear about death did freak me out a little bit in places, but some people just aren't afraid of death and some people - like me - get totally freaked out at the thought of carrying a decapitated head around with them. To each their own. I was pleasantly surprised at how not annoying I found her. That sounds pretty bad, but when you hear about a girl who's so desperate to have a boyfriend she'll be willing to help build one from dead bodies, she sounds like she'll be a bit annoying. She was really sweet, though, and I couldn't help but like her and even sympathise with her in some cases despite the somewhat extreme circumstances.

Zoe was really interesting, too. Despite her cold exterior, she's actually a warm and caring person who's just had a lot of family issues and doesn't really know how to have friends. Plus, how can anyone not love her after the opening scene in which she's gravedigging. That is some entrance. There were points in the book at which I was a bit concerned about her intentions, shall we say, and I still sort of question the lengths to which she went to do what she did, but again - to each their own.

The boys were also great characters, despite not being too keen about either Louis or Damien at the beginning. Damien was a bit of a lad, who slept around and made crude jokes and drunk a lot of alcohol and was just a bit of a prat, really, but he really does become a way more fun and interesting character than I'd thought he'd be. And Louis started out just being really quiet and I wasn't really sure what he was going to be in the book, but he ended up being lovely, too. Also, they were involved in a couple of rather hilarious escapades near the end which provided lots and lots of entertainment.

Dead Romantic was cute, funny and just a little bit insane - all the things I love about C J Skuse's books. I'm also secretly hoping for a sequel. *crosses fingers*

4 comments:

  1. aww i loved Rockaholic by C J Skuse and was just waiting for another book to come out, and dead romantic sounds just as good as. need to get my hands on this! great review :)

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  2. Haha, what a cute idea! We definitely want to check this out after reading your review. Thanks!

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  3. I studied Frankenstein last year and loved it and also loved this book. It isn't solely based on Frankenstein as other books on reanimation were used as inspiration as well, I think.
    My review of this book was posted today and I agree with a lot of your points.
    I loved Camille! Especially when she put the dead cat around her neck! That made me laugh so hard!
    Lovely review! :)

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  4. I really enjoyed this one. Apparently there isn't going to be a sequel- CJ says it's not her style *sad* The characters were definitely standout ones. Great review.

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