Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

From Goodreads: On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder. After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.” It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems. Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life. Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.

This is the first book for the Dead Beautiful series. I actually read the second book before reading this first book. So I sort of knowing their relationship but it does not hinder me from enjoying reading this book 1.

Renee was devastated after foung both of her parents were died on her sixteenth birthday. And then she had to leave her best friend and other friends behind to go to a boarding school where she had no friend there at all. And I would say she handled it very well, show that she's independent.

Most part of the book was about Renee's life in Gottfried Academy. Despite the strict school rules, with the interesting subjects, new friends, and things that happened last summer at that school, made Renee's new life very much interesting and adventurous. Imagine the excitement sneaked out the bedroom through fire place after the curfew; secretly dating a guy who did not socialize with the other students; being called to headmistress for breaking the school rules. Renee was a smart girl, and always speak for her mind despite it got her into trouble. And she determined to find out the truth of her parent's death, as well as what happened last summer in Gottfried.

With the new environment and new friends, Renee started drifting apart with her previous best friend. While her roommate Eleanor became her best friend. I actually feel pity to Eleanor, as what had happened to her was not her fault. She was a victim. A very unfortunate for her. The ending was unexpected.

In overall, it was a good read to me. There was enough mystery and suspense to make me keep on turning the pages searching for the answer. There were also some "oh no" moments that made me worry for Renee, eager to know what would happen to her.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.