Beautiful City of the Dead

All I really have to say is that my daughter loved this book, she read it for a class project. She enjoyed reading it and it made doing the project that much more involved because of her enjoyment. Definitely worth 4 stars.

Zee, who narrates the novel as if she has just been shaken from a bad dream, is a shy girl who finds the lure of metal music irresistible. On her first day at her new school, Relly befriends and captivates her when he does something that no one has ever done before: he looks into her notebook of song lyrics. When Zee learns that Relly's band, Scorpio Bone, is looking for a bass player, she tries out. When they play together, it's like they have been playing together for years. Zee transforms into the missing piece that brings the band of soaring vocals, screaming lead guitar, and pounding drums together to craft an otherworldly sound that Relly calls "Ghost Metal." Fueled by Relly's vision and Zee's lyrics, Scorpio Bone connects with their audience and channels a supernatural power that makes them feel like rock gods. The school principal confiscates Zee's lyric notebook in an attempt to destroy Scorpio Bone. The band must get the notebook back and fight for their place in the world. This well-written book will capture the mind of any teenage musician or music lover. Watts successfully depicts the tumultuous world of the confused teenager, allowing readers to participate in the confusion. A change from Watts' works of historical fiction, the contemporary setting of this novel reaches out to teenagers in ways that many authors can only dream of because she explores issues that they take seriously: their right to privacy and the concept of challenging authority.

It's rare I say this, but this is quite literally one of the best books I've read in a fairly long time. Carries a surreal quality as will be fancied by fans of Green Angel by Hoffman or the Weezie Bat books. This story totally rocked my socks. To begin with, Zee, the main character, is just so incredibly relatable. Cute, quirky, but in that "cool" way, she's pretty unique in her love of metal music. But then toss in her new band, ancient magic, and the pricipal of the school trying to destroy them? It's incredible. I admit it can be a tad cliche at times, particuarly at the end. No big surprises really, and the romance bit has been done a thousand times (though fortunately it was downplayed). The sheer brilliance and surrealism of this story totally makes up for the occational it causes you to wince at the typical-ness. But this book is pure power.