Jekel Loves Hyde

by Beth Fantaskey

Book Overview

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,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152063900
• ISBN13: 9780152063900
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Loved it.

This book had me in suspense the whole time, it was good all throughout..

Great book!

I have read this in 6th grade & it was the best book !!

A fresh look on a classic tale

This book had me right from the beginning and carried me all the way through til the end. It kept my heart racing through every page and even touched me on an emotional level; filled with suspense, love, excitment and mystery, you can't go wrong with Jekel Loves Hyde, it's a fantastic read. The book follows the story of both Jill Jekel and Tristen Hyde, two people on completely opposite levels of popularity. The book opens with the death of Jill's father, where she first gets a glimpse of Tristen's kinder side as he comforts her at her dad's funeral. Both are smart kids, with an eye for chemistry and the arts. When things start getting strange for Jill; like she finds out her college saving have mysteriously disappeared, she begins to dig deeper into her late father's life. There is a mysterious box that she has been forbidden to touch by her mother and with her funds for school gone the potential for a scholarship may be locked away within that box. With the chance to win 30 thousand dollars, Jill enlists the help of Tristen Hyde in the hopes of increasing her chances of winning, but little does she know that Tristen has some dark secrets of his own. Working as Jekel and Hyde, Jill and Tristen attempt to recreate the potions based on the famous novel. In the hopes of winning the scholarship and hopefully saving Tristen's soul they twist themselves deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the legend, and when Jill accidentally gets a taste of the formula-she's forced to let loose her darkest desires. As her own darkness threatens to take control and push her to be the bad girl, her love for Tristen and the scholarship become threatened by her darker side. With twists and turns this book will NOT disappoint. You will be pulled into their lives and feel like your a part of the story! Great book and I recommend it to everyone!

A Good Addiction Reviews

A surprisingly simple premise, Fantaskey does a phenomenal job creating a modern Jekyll and Hyde. The explanation of how these families came to be is fantastic yet clear and easy when explained. Despite this basic level, this book keeps the reader involved and thinking, providing humor and entertainment in the midst of the events. Jill is a smart and clever girl, focusing on her studies and flying mostly under the radar at school. Though her best friend is one of the beautiful, popular girls, she doesn't fall into that category. Despite this, she is not a mundane or boring character, offering surprising insights to both Tristen and the world in general. She is someone the reader can empathize with and someone who, while she does have her moments of bravery, also harbors moments of pure weakness mixed in with those of subtle fearlessness. Her reactions, while not always consistent, are understandable and explained each time and she develops beautifully throughout. Tristen, as implied by the simple connection they hold merely due to their names, compliments her in surprising ways. He also is a strong character despite his violent side- one he tries to fight and certainly sparks a debate about his nature and relationships with a "violent person". Despite the violence, Jill tends to stay with him and support him but can he truly be at fault when it is something inherent and beyond his control? What about if he doesn't choose to remain violent but has no control over it? In small doses, this notion is brought forth throughout the book, sometimes in surprising ways. Tristen shifts between being frustrating and possibly even terrifying to being tender and sweet and someone any girl could fall for. He has a nonchalant, laid back air about him though his other sides are also shown. Written in alternating perspectives, Fantaskey gives the reader direct insight into both the minds of these two characters- in their good times and their bad. She weaves the switches together smoothly, never leaving the reader behind or feeling as though something was missed. Secrets are still kept and the mystery builds despite a wider range of view and Fantaskey's writing is fluid and practiced. Though the overall style remains the same between the first person perspectives, each character's personality and habits come through strongly. The pacing throughout is steady with few places where it seemed to lag. Secrets are unfurled and there are several unexpected twists scattered throughout, leading up to a thought out and fantastic ending. At the close of this book, the reader will be left with conflicting thoughts despite a comfortable feeling and though the outcome might seem obvious, it takes on surprise in its own way and is not entirely predictable.

Dark, delicious teen love story! Contemporary yet classic!

Beth Fantaskey is an absolutely phenomenal writer. Not only does she have a vivid imagination, but she also has a writing style that is realistically contemporary, yet classic and true to the old Jekyll and Hyde story from which her idea sprang. Her choice of words in some places is sheer beauty...poetry, as some would term it. Jekel Loves Hyde opens with Jill Jekel feeling alone and isolated at the funeral of her father. Since his murder, her mother has had a nervous breakdown which leaves Jill in an adult role she doesn't want, paying household bills and caring for her mother. In that role there's no one to comfort and guide her, so she is surprised when a gorgeous classmate, Tristen Hyde, suddenly approaches her at the funeral, going so far as to hold her in his arms and kiss her cheek. This has been her only warm source since her father's death, so she is mortified when she breaks down and cries on his shoulder. But when she sees him again in chemistry class and in school hallways, he has reverted to his old brooding, defiant nature. Jill has always been an obedient daughter, but after her father's murder when he's accused of company indiscretions and she finds that her college funds have disappeared she's tempted to peek inside a mysterious box in his office. Her mother warns her against opening it. Jill enlists Tristen's aid in discovering what's in the box because she thinks the contents might be the key to unravel his murder and discover what happened to her college funds. While working together, the teens begin to fall in love. They form a partnership and as the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping to earn the prize money for Jill's college, but also to save Tristen's sanity and perhaps his life. Jill and Tristen are descendants of the old Robert Louis Stevenson characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Tristen knows this, but Jill is completely in the dark until she witnesses Tristen's dark side in a rather horrifying manner. He slowly opens up to her and tells her some of his dark secrets; she begins to believe his fantastic story. What is haunting Tristen? What do they find in her father's box? Can the deadly concoction they are working on possibly save Tristen from becoming a monster? Is his father a monster like the original Mr. Hyde? Who killed Jill's father? How does Tristen's father use Jill's mother in his diabolical plot? But most important, why does Jill risk her own life by drinking the formula? Why does this "good girl" become "wild?" All those questions and more are skillfully answered by this author as she weaves her magic to keep us guessing until the very end. Beth Fantaskey is Beth "Fantastic" to me! This is listed as a Young Adult book, but I think it will appeal to adults too... It certainly does to me. Five stars and then some! It would make a block-buster horror movie. ENDNOTE: The love scenes, while skillfully done, may be thought of as "too intense" by some par

A Dark, Delicious Potion

Jekel Loves Hyde is a stunning, dark, dangerous and sinfully romantic tale of good girl meets bad boy becomes bad girl to save bad boy. Intrigued? You should be. Those who are fans of Beth Fantaskey's writing (Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side) will simply devour her newest book. Jill Jekel is a good girl, always has been. She follows the rules and works hard to be the best. Unfortunately, all the hard work in the world couldn't stop her life from falling apart. Tragedy struck her family when her father, a chemist, was brutally murdered. Not only is Jill dealing with her father's death, but now she must face his betrayal. He was not the man she thought he was. She found out that he stole her college fund and lead a secret life that neither she, nor her mother knew about. He was a criminal and whatever he was up to was dangerous enough to get himself killed and put Jill in danger herself. The police couldn't solve her fathers murder, in fact they were no help at all. Even they had no idea what kind of dark secrets he was hiding, but soon enough, Jill will find out. Jill's life must go on, and she suddenly finds herself in a terrible position. She no longer has money for college, but luckily a chance comes for her to get a chemistry scholarship. Unfortunately, it involves asking the gorgeous and mysterious Tristen Hyde for help. Together, they are Jekel and Hyde, and Jill has an idea to recreate the experiments from the classic novel. Not only is it clever, but she's heard tales that connect her own family with the origins of the legend. Little does she know that there may be more truth to the story than fiction. Tristen also believes he is connected to the original story, but this relation terrifies rather than excites him. Tristen agrees to help, but he has ulterior motives. He knows that what Jill thinks is a simple experiment could be his last hope at recovering his own sanity. As these two chemistry partners turn up the heat in the lab, they also head into a dangerous downward spiral when Jill has an accidental taste of the potion they are working on. A moment on the lips lets loose her inner bad girl. The effects are temporary but addictive, and the problem for Jill is that it feels so good to be bad. Now they both know the true nature of being the beast, but can love tame it? They may have other things to worry about as they discover more about the murder of Jill's father and who may have done it. Time is running low as a menacing evil draws near and nothing is safe for Jill and Tristen. They must risk it all to stay alive and to stop the madness from consuming, well, everyone. Your pulse will race, your heart will pound and your jaw will drop. Don't miss out on this fantastic book.

Gothic tale meets teen melodrama. Love it!

I am officially a Beth Fantaskey fan-girl - she is now an automatic-buy for me! I loved her novel `Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side' and absolutely devoured `Jekel loves Hyde'. Fantaskey writes smart YA novels, and never talks down to her readers. `Jekel loves Hyde' has its plot roots in the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, `The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. The story (both this modern retelling and its classic inspiration) provokes analysis of big ideas like humanity's conflict between good and evil, and Man's duel nature. Basing these concepts around Jekyll & Hyde is a really inspired idea - it makes `Jekel loves Hyde' a standout supernatural romance when the norm is vampires and werewolves. Fantaskey could have gone the (now) humdrum route of using Werewolves for the metaphor of `Beast VS. Man'; but she instead decides to treat her YA readership to a taste of classic gothic literature for the stories' backbone. Fabulous! I think High School is a wonderful setting to discuss big-picture ideas of duel nature. Where better do we see the full-spectrum of humanity's struggle with Good and Evil than in the war of adolescence, on the High School battlefield? `Jekel loves Hyde' has two narrators - shy brainiac, Jill Jekel, and popular track-star Tristen Hyde. Through these two Fantaskey is able to transport the Jekyll and Hyde metaphor of conflicting personalities to the wider-spectrum of High School cliques. Jill's been best friend's with Becca since kindergarten, but while Becca's social status soars, Jill is left to wonder if Becca clings to their friendship out of genuine affection or convenience? Then there's Darcy Gray - Jill's rival for valedictorian who more successfully straddles the geeky/popular line by also dating quarterback, Todd Flick. I loved Jill and her struggles with popularity. I always admire an underdog character, and Fantaskey excels at writing them. Jill is shy and awkward, but she's also got real backbone and courage - in the wake of her father's murder she runs the household and becomes her mother's full-time carer. There's a lot to admire and relate to in Jill - and I think she makes for a great YA heroine. Likewise I adored Tristen Hyde. As I found in `Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side', Fantaskey likes her male leads to be brooding and mysterious with a heavy dose of charming on the side. Throw in a Birtish accent and Tristen Hyde is indeed swoon-worthy. But I especially loved Tristen because he isn't perfect, no matter his chiselled good looks and spine-tingling accent. The duel nature metaphor delves deeper by way of Tristen's failing mental health, as he experiences `rage blackouts' and a losing control over his inhibitions; Fantaskey does well to balance Tristen's dark and disturbing struggle with the more common examination of Teen life through Jill's struggles. Just as in `Jessica's', `Jekel loves Hyde' has a captivating romance at its centre. I especially loved Tristen and Jill'