PLATINUM by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
3P 4P J/S
This is a sequel to Golden, which sets up the basic situation: Lissa, her little sister Lexie, and her parents move from California to small-town Oklahoma. Lissa was popular at her old school, but one look at the Goldens in her new school and she knows she wants no part of that crowd. She'd rather be a Non, as in "your social life in this school is dead", than be a part of such a nasty group. But purposely Non-ing herself has frustrated Lilah, top Golden and the daughter of the woman her uncle is dating. Lilah's not happy, and Lilah's not someone you want to be on the bad side of. Unfortunately for both of them, there's some mysterious tie between them that keeps pulling them together when they really want to be miles apart. Lissa hopes that she's also leaving behind her color visions, but no such luck. Complicating that: her Sight has followed her, and it's going to get her involved in a life or death situation.
Well, as it turns out, Lissa's not the only one with Sight, and she's not the only one who really, really doesn't want it. Much to her dismay, Lilah, who got roped into Lissa's supernatural adventure in the first book, is suddenly seeing people who aren't there. She's even talking to them. And they're talking back. The guy is hot. He has an annoying habit of calling her Princess (well, maybe it's not that annoying). And he keeps making cryptic statements that she can't figure out. For instance, he keeps saying he's not dead, but he's most assuredly not really there, so he's got to be some kind of ghost, right? She doesn't just see him hanging around her in school or in her bedroom (can't a girl have a little privacy?). No, he's also one of the star players she's having in the visions she keeps getting. The deadly ones.
This is not good. She has a reputation to protect, after all. And when standing in the middle of a bunch of Goldens and you're caught arguing with thin air, that reputation is going to take a hit. Unless Lilah can do damage control. Lilah is very, very good at damage control. (Just ask Fuschia, her best friend, who makes the mistake of putting moves on Lilah's boyfriend. What happens next is not pretty.)
This second book in the series was pure fun to read. Lilah, while not the worst of the unholy trio in the first book (Golden) shows herself to have a little more heart and conscience than Lissa gave her credit for. Yeah, she runs roughshod over all the Nons in school. Yeah, she'll squash flat anyone who tries to get the advantage over her. And yeah, she doesn't go out of her way to be nice. But who would have guessed that she actually feels bad about almost all of that? Or at least, that she doesn't enjoy it much? And much as she tries to play the cool sophisticate who has no use for anyone who isn't a Golden, she's a sucker for Lexie, who is the epitome of all good things.
(Editorial note: The previous section was written two weeks ago, prior to surgery. In keeping with my recent blog post, I will add just a brief note or two so that I can publish the post in an almost-complete form.)
Despite how desperately, she doesn't want to know, Lilah is forced to See that Hot Guy is trapped in some sort of cycle, and it's clear that it's up to her to put a stop to it, or things will end tragically. And not just for him, but for people she is very, very close to. She also Sees that there's more to her relationship with Lissa and Lexie than meets the (normal) eye.
One of the fun things about this book are the chapter titles and the commentaries that follow them. A random sampling:
3P 4P J/S
This is a sequel to Golden, which sets up the basic situation: Lissa, her little sister Lexie, and her parents move from California to small-town Oklahoma. Lissa was popular at her old school, but one look at the Goldens in her new school and she knows she wants no part of that crowd. She'd rather be a Non, as in "your social life in this school is dead", than be a part of such a nasty group. But purposely Non-ing herself has frustrated Lilah, top Golden and the daughter of the woman her uncle is dating. Lilah's not happy, and Lilah's not someone you want to be on the bad side of. Unfortunately for both of them, there's some mysterious tie between them that keeps pulling them together when they really want to be miles apart. Lissa hopes that she's also leaving behind her color visions, but no such luck. Complicating that: her Sight has followed her, and it's going to get her involved in a life or death situation.
Well, as it turns out, Lissa's not the only one with Sight, and she's not the only one who really, really doesn't want it. Much to her dismay, Lilah, who got roped into Lissa's supernatural adventure in the first book, is suddenly seeing people who aren't there. She's even talking to them. And they're talking back. The guy is hot. He has an annoying habit of calling her Princess (well, maybe it's not that annoying). And he keeps making cryptic statements that she can't figure out. For instance, he keeps saying he's not dead, but he's most assuredly not really there, so he's got to be some kind of ghost, right? She doesn't just see him hanging around her in school or in her bedroom (can't a girl have a little privacy?). No, he's also one of the star players she's having in the visions she keeps getting. The deadly ones.
This is not good. She has a reputation to protect, after all. And when standing in the middle of a bunch of Goldens and you're caught arguing with thin air, that reputation is going to take a hit. Unless Lilah can do damage control. Lilah is very, very good at damage control. (Just ask Fuschia, her best friend, who makes the mistake of putting moves on Lilah's boyfriend. What happens next is not pretty.)
This second book in the series was pure fun to read. Lilah, while not the worst of the unholy trio in the first book (Golden) shows herself to have a little more heart and conscience than Lissa gave her credit for. Yeah, she runs roughshod over all the Nons in school. Yeah, she'll squash flat anyone who tries to get the advantage over her. And yeah, she doesn't go out of her way to be nice. But who would have guessed that she actually feels bad about almost all of that? Or at least, that she doesn't enjoy it much? And much as she tries to play the cool sophisticate who has no use for anyone who isn't a Golden, she's a sucker for Lexie, who is the epitome of all good things.
(Editorial note: The previous section was written two weeks ago, prior to surgery. In keeping with my recent blog post, I will add just a brief note or two so that I can publish the post in an almost-complete form.)
Despite how desperately, she doesn't want to know, Lilah is forced to See that Hot Guy is trapped in some sort of cycle, and it's clear that it's up to her to put a stop to it, or things will end tragically. And not just for him, but for people she is very, very close to. She also Sees that there's more to her relationship with Lissa and Lexie than meets the (normal) eye.
One of the fun things about this book are the chapter titles and the commentaries that follow them. A random sampling:
- Lying. The easiest way to lie is to convince people you're a bad liar and then prove them wrong.
- Me. If you want to be popular, it's not nearly as important that you know who you are as it is that everyone else does.
- Truth. Gossip. If I say it, it's true. And if it isn't, it doesn't matter.
- It. The It Factor. If you have to ask, you'll never know. And if you don't think you have it, then you're right.
- Information. It's not what you know. It's not who you know. It's what you know about who you know.
- Hurt. Once you feel it, it's real.
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