Beautiful City of the Dead
From the first page, when narrator Zee arrives at school with a temperature of 102 degrees, Watts' novel reads with the blurry intensity of a fever dream. Zee keeps a notebook of lyrics, and she plays bass on her own, so she is thrilled when gorgeous, brooding student Relly invites her to join his band. The four players create music Relly calls "ghost metal," and the grinding, eerie sound is so powerful that it seems to signal otherworldly forces. Gradually, Relly reveals to Zee what those forces are, and as Zee discovers powers she never knew, she finds herself at the center of a cosmic, dangerous battle. The vaguely defined fantasy of warring gods and bad guys demands more world building. Readers may overlook their unanswered questions about the characters and plot, though, as they are swept up by the poetic, wild language, as enigmatic and forceful as rock lyrics and as disorienting as ear-shattering music. Try this with teen heavy-metal fans as well as readers who liked Pete Hautman'sSweetblood(2003) and Holly Black'sTithe2002).Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.