Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey


Jekel Loves Hyde
5 Chemical Mixes
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lil' Lass Muses:

My Book Boyfriend: Tristen!!! I really really liked him. He is so hot!!! He did not want to hurt anyone not even Jill and the way Tristen fought for good when his granddad and dad were bad makes him perfect.

 Most Like Me or who I want to be: Jill because the way she fought to find her dads murder when everyone gave up. And the way she fought for Tristen. She is strong in some way and weak in others. Just like me.

Want More? Yes! But I don’t think there will be more.
Recommend: Yes! Grades 5 and up. Enjoy!


Big Lass Reviews:

The cover is so soft. The picture almost seems delicate, hinting at the innocent nature of the two. Yet there is something behind the glasses of Jekel that make you question…. Just how innocent is she??

I was excited when my reading group opted to read Jekel Loves Hyde because I have read other works by Fantaskey and an excerpt of this book was at the end of “Jessica Rules the Dark Side” and I have been considering getting it.

I am enjoying the play with the classic “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”. Not being able to recall the original story I am found it a little difficult to analyze. But it was not necessary to know as subtle reminders are hinted at throughout the story. The spin is intriguing and get more interesting as the story develops. I don’t think I have ever once asked myself; What if the famous fictitious character Dr. Jekyll was indeed a real man? What if the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde book was loosely based on real experiments? What happens to the ancestors down the bloodline after all is said and done? Does the experiment of the past having gone wrong effect the Jekyll’s bloodline in the here and now… or was it just a story?

Fantaskey opens up the debate “What if Jekyll was real?” What is even more interesting is the main characters. The story began with Jill Jekel in attendance at her murdered father funeral. This is the first mystery to stir the story mix. Predictable enters as does the mysterious Tristen Hyde to comfort her in her time of grieving before she folds into herself. I was curious to see how the author was going to work the classic two faces of one man into a story where the one man was not only two different people but possibly different sexes.

Jekel and Hyde find themselves on the same team of a scholarship contest searching a forbidden locked box for the mysteries it can solve. They agree to this for two very different reasons. Jekel because she has been told her whole life the fictitious Dr. Jekyll the book was based on is indeed a real man. Hyde partly because his grandfather told him he was in danger because the Hyde men are cursed and partly because his own father never took his grandfather serious and dismissed it as rambling of a delusional aging man. Or did his father find the tall tale all to be true? However, Hyde’s main reason; his own violent blacks out and vivid dreams of murder and to find a cure for the curse that will free him.

I am more interested to see how the Jill and Tristen characters play out. Hyde is defiantly my favorite character in the book. However, something scratched at the tip of my brain is making me wonder if that would change at some point, it never did. His action though not always honorable, always was done with the best intentions. He has so many good qualities you just have to over look him drugging Jekel’s mom it was a pivotal moment.

Jekel got under my skin a bit. I understand that she been run through the shit ring with her dads murder and Tristen. But damn, it is the flip flop back and forth. One minute she is all in making the solution the next she is running home in the rain. I mean shit; Hyde is the one suffering… grow back bone would you.

The relationship between Jekel and Hyde is filled with more internal dialogue than anything else. I would have to say it make the two of them finally ending up together more believable.

Fantaskey doesn’t leave much room for the story to continue however, if you are in the mood for a light love story that is filled with mystery and suspense I would suggest giving Jekel Love Hyde a read. Fantaskey did an excellent job weaving together a 21st century tale of the classic “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”


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