BEAUTIFUL DECAY by Sylvia Lewis

 

Beautiful Decay by Sylvia Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book I found last year while checking out Amazon paperback deals. It was cheap, sounded very interesting, and I love the title!

Ellie lives an isolated, lonely life and everyone at school calls her a freak. Even her parents are uncomfortable around her because her touch rots anything she touches.

She wears gloves all the time, her only friend is online, and although Ellie's smart she isn't looking forward to much of a future. Until she meets the new kid in school. Nate has his own condition and as their friendship intensifies, Ellie realises she's not the only freaky person in town...

Wow. I didn't expect to enjoy such an unknown book SO much. It was awesome! I shouldn't be surprised because a lot of great titles slip under the radar, so I'm really glad I found this one.

I was very curious about this book since it arrived and moving it up to the top of my TBR pile was a great idea. The supernatural angle was dark and so fascinating. It was delivered in a very organic way and also took a very unexpected turn I didn't expect.

What starts out as a story about a shunned girl with a rotten curse everyone avoids, soon becomes the tale of two online friends, before shifting to her finding her first true friend in the boy in school. BUT, before you get comfortable with all of that, the supernatural twist hits and you realise the boy has even more secrets than the girl. And that while Nate's condition makes him a little temperamental, there's a real emotional connection between these two. And this is before you find out the secret he's keeping at home! 👀

Yep. This story is packed full of so much awesome stuff, and Ellie's such a wholesome narrator--though she has so many reasons to not be--that I couldn't help falling deeply into her antiseptic, loveless life as she discovers the true sense of mutual caring. As she slowly learns she does in fact deserve love and respect.

I also really liked Mackenzie because she was cool, understanding and fun. Not to mention has her own very interesting story.

The worst characters in this book were the parents. They were awful and kept the secrets they had no right to keep quiet. But it was refreshing to see adults behaving like the assholes some can be to their own children.

This is a great YA supernatural story with some great ideas and some fantastic imagery. Loved it! 🌱

View all my reviews