Secret Identity

Zodiac

by Jahnna N. Malcolm

Part of the "Zodiac" series, this is the story of a teenage girl born under the sign of Aries - the characteristics of that sign leading her down twisting paths into a contemporary tale of mystery and horror with a touch of romance.

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

About the author

Jahnna N. Malcolm is the pen name for husband-and-wife team Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner. Together they've written four musicals, two movies, three CD-ROM games, and nearly one hundred books, including the popular series The Jewel Kingdom. They met in the theater and were married on the stage using Marlowe's famous love letter from "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" as their wedding vows.

Reviews

[Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review can also be found on: Paein and Ms4Tune’s Book Blog

This was always my favourite of this series - that I've previously read anyway. I read some of them when I was at secondary school, but our library never had them all and I never found them anywhere else. A few years ago I decided that it'd be a brilliant idea to buy them all and read them again! Well, I'm only just re-reading them...

This book surprised me on this read through. First published in 1995, this book covers and complains about many of the issues we complain about today. Which shows just how little progress has made when it comes to how women are treated in the music industry etc. This was obviously NOT something I noticed the last time I read it, I was probably more focused on the cute romance and the creepy crime which wasn't quite creepy but I think it might just have meant to be - considering the others in the series.

This is only a short teen/ya book so it's not surprising that background characters aren't particularly well rounded or anything. And even the main characters are a little flimsy, but they are strong and interesting people so we'll forgive them for it.

I admire Alex's get-up-and-go. She knew what she wanted and she was willing to do anything to prove she was worth it, even pretend to be someone she was not. She shouldn't have had to do that, but in the end she she made them all take notice and really that's all that should matter in the music industry - talent.

For the first time I'm left wondering what heppened next. I wonder if Alex kept her 'quirky' look. I think it would be fantastic if she did.