Title: Jekel Loved Hyde
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Pages:282
Published: May 3rd 2010
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Series: -
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.
The Story
This book is inspired by the classic “Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. But instead of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde being the same person in the book we have Jill Jekel and
Tristen Hyde.
Jill and
Tristen never interact much, but they are attracted to each other but when
their teacher tells them about a prestigious competition they decide to team,
use their excellent knowledge in chemistry and take advantage of their last
names and try to recreate the formula described in Stevenson’s novel. They both
have things to gain, in Jill’s case it’s the prize money, $30.000 that could
help her pay for college; for Tristen recreating the formula could mean curing
himself and being able to live, but how can he find the cure to a problem that
even his father a world famous psychologist doesn't believe exists?
The Characters
Jill: when we first meet Jill
she is going through a hard time since her father has just been murdered and
the investigation reveals he was involved in shady dealings due to stealing
things from his job; due to her husband’s death Jill’s mom enters a severe
depression. All these events make Jill feel helpless and she often comes out as
whiny but considering all that has happened to her I think we can forgive her
this type of behavior. Fortunately throughout the book Jill overcomes her problems
and starts to enjoy life once more.
Tristen: He is the bad boy that moved
from England but he has his reasons for being that way. His mother disappeared but
he is convinced she is dead, he hears voices in his head and suffers from
blackouts and when he regains consciousness he finds out that during the
blackout he committed acts of violence.
Tristen’s grandfather was convinced that the Hyde’s are descendants of
the original Mr. Hyde and this is what causes them to be violent and to Tristen
will do whatever it takes to prove and solve his “condition”.
The Writing
This is one of my favorite retellings so far it is very
well executed since you can see elements of the original book yet it has unique
elements. Although the pace of the story is a bit slow it worked well for this
book.
The story is told in
both Jill’s and Tristen’s point of view. This is an element I liked because we
could see the way they were both dealing with the contest and all the things
happening in their lives. I especially like Tristen’s POV since he was the one
with a monster in his head as well as seeing how he dealt with it plus I loved
seeing his feelings for Jill develop.
Final thoughts
As far as retellings go it’s a good
one, mind you not the best but I would recommend you read this book on a rainy
day
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