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Monster High #4
Back and Deader Than Ever
The RADs are free and Draculaura (Lala) is flashing her fangs with pride. But when Daddy Drac pays her a surprise visit everything goes batty. Mr. D. thinks RADs should have their own school, but Lala isn't ready to give up the rights they fought so hard for.
It's father against daughter in a battle for Salem's student body. Despite the many challenges, Lala is determined to save Merston High. But she might die twice while trying.
It's father against daughter in a battle for Salem's student body. Despite the many challenges, Lala is determined to save Merston High. But she might die twice while trying.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
103 people are currently reading
3503 people want to read
About the author
Lisi Harrison
98 books2,847 followersLisi Harrison is the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling series "The Clique", "Alphas", "Monster High," Pretenders," and her first adult novel: "The Dirty Book Club" out 10.10.17. Lisi was born in Toronto, Canada, and lived in NYC for 15 years while she worked at MTV. She now lives in Laguna Beach, CA and is a member or her own Dirty Book Club.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
May 5, 2012
I have no idea why I keep reading these.
September 2, 2019
Links to my other Monster High by Lisi Harrison reviews: [1] [2] [3]
Lisi Harrison's Monster High series goes out with a bang. Not a good bang, like fireworks or something like that, but a clumsy, destructive bang that all but ruins the good that came before it.
Like before, let's start with the positive.
I forgot to mention this in the last review, but Cleo and Ghoulia's friendship from the cartoon is preserved in the books, and it makes me happy. It's a light in the darkness. I've always loved the fact that they get along so well; it's one of the most explicit signs that Cleo does care and love.
I also really enjoy the conflict between Lala and Dracula in this book. It's very well-written on both ends, and they're able to begin the process of healing their broken father/daughter relationship at the end. Lala doesn't understand why her dad can't just support her and encourage her, and Dracula wants only the best for his daughter (he's just strict and bad at communicating this). Since the overarching oppression conflict is over by now, this is a nice, lower-stakes conflict that still feels worthy of the narrative's focus, especially since Dracula is in charge of the RADs' educations.
We don't deserve Candace Carver, Like, as a whole. I've said that in all the other reviews so far, but I will shout it from the rooftops. She doesn't have any major plays in this book, but she does get some good friendship moments with Billy, and she's able to leave this cursed town for Paris by the end. Love that for her.
Apparently, this series was supposed to get 6 books, but it ended here instead. Thank heavens for small mercies.
And that's all the positives I can think of. Time for the meat of this review, starting with the non-Melody-related negatives (yes, there needs to be two categories here).
Irish Emmy is a character that is introduced in this book (to the best of my memory). She is not a character. She is written exactly how you think a character named Irish Emmy would be written. I feel the need to bring her up because the fact that she exists is just so baffling, and I need to know if anyone else if as confused by her as I am. Did Lagoona Blue (who is a prominent character in the animated series, but little more than an Australian accent in the books) need someone who was written even worse than her to make her seem better by comparison? Who knows.
In my notes that I took on my first readthrough, I wrote down that Brett makes fun of someone with a unibrow. Nice little tidbit for this book to include when its message is about accepting people as they are. When is Frankie gonna dump his ass?
Speaking of Frankie, she suffers a lot less in this book compared to how much she's beat herself up in the past. However, this suffering is now transferred to Lala. It's like Harrison can't write a kind-hearted protagonist without making them completely effing miserable all the time. It's disheartening! Granted, Lala has good reason, but can we give these kids a break?
I do like Dracula in this book, but he's not at all what regular MH canon Dracula is like. This isn't a huge negative, just disappointing, because Ramses de Nile is a good father in this series while being abusive in the animated stuff. Everyone's a different character here, though, so I gotta keep that in mind.
Why did they have the Gorgons stone the school? Why? Why? I've been asking this for almost two years now. I guess Harrison's reasoning was that the chaos that happens in the gym near the end ended up making repairs expensive, but, like... that would still cost less than building a whole new school. And it's pretty much confirmed that the school is stoned permanently, because it mentions that they'll have to get trailer classrooms, I think. I know Dracula had approved Monster High to be built, and that he would allow humans to join, but surely it won't be finished by the end of that summer. I just... this makes me so mad. It's a stupid thing in the long run, but it's a perfect example of Lisi Harrison's logic in this series. "What logic?" Yeah.
Okay, Melody time. Buckle in. Remember how bad she got in the 3rd book? It's worse here.
Her siren ability to command people using only words is misused so, so, so many times in this installment. She uses it to get into a grunge band. She uses it to tell this one guy to sponsor said band. She uses it to ruin her relationship with Jackson. She uses it so much that her family loses their trust in her. It gets so bad that even her family begins to fear her. Melody's mother texts her to have a conversation about school so that Melody won't use her siren voice on her. That's bad.
Granite is a new character introduced in this book; he's a gargoyle who's into the same kind of music that Melody is, and he has abs that are literally rock-hard, so naturally, she immediately falls for him. Because that's what you base a relationship off of. This is the guy that Melody cheats on Jackson with. Listen, I'm not a huge Jackson fan or anything, but he's better in the books than in the cartoon (a rarity) and it's incredibly annoying seeing his relationship with Melody be lauded as the epitome of teen romance by the narrative.
Seriously, this book pats itself on the back so much. Near the start of the book, Lisi Harrison includes a bit in the narration during a scene with Frankie and Billy about how any typical teen movie would pair them up, but they're revolutionary because they're just friends. In addition to this, later, Jackson does something incredibly depressing, and this is how it's described from Melody's perspective: "Jackson hadn’t abandoned her; he’d abandoned himself. For her. It was the ultimate sacrifice. It was love. It was awesome." I understand being proud of your work, I even generally think people should be proud of things they've created, but it's like Harrison takes every chance in this book to slip in a line or two about how this is good writing.
On the subject of Jackson and Melody's relationship, it completely deteriorates throughout the course of this book. And, surprise surprise, it's all on Melody.
As previously mentioned, she does cheat on him with Granite. She kisses Granite on the roof of the school and says nothing when Jackson sees. She repeatedly ignores him when he brings up that she's committed herself to being a camp counselor for the summer alongside him. She abandons him to hang out at a college bar. She doesn't even recognize at one point that DJ/Holt is fronting instead of Jackson -- you'd think she'd learn to differentiate between the two by now.
The real kicker is the grande finale to Melody and Jackson's love story. After blowing off Jackson's camp plans and scheduling a summer tour with her new band, Melody prepares to hit the road without him. Nothing about the cheating situation has been discussed at all. Right before she leaves, DJ runs up and announces he's going to be joining the band as their roadie. And then the line that I mentioned a few paragraphs ago is uttered: "Jackson hadn’t abandoned her; he’d abandoned himself. For her. It was the ultimate sacrifice. It was love. It was awesome."
What???
I'm supposed to believe that Jackson regressing into his own mind and letting DJ take over was a grand romantic gesture? It reads to me like he felt like he wasn't "good enough" for Melody, that he thought he'd lose her to Granite if he didn't do something drastic, so he just completely gave up his autonomy for what I assume is an entire summer. It seemed more like an act of desperation and insecurity on his part. That's not love. That's fear.
And all the bad stuff I've mentioned about Melody? Everything that she's done? Never gets addressed. Never gets apologized for. Melody is always right, and if she isn't right, she's still right somehow. According to my old notes, at one point the narration even says that Melody is above games. No.. she... isn't? Did Harrison forget about the fact that she wrote Melody's parents being afraid of her because she's used her siren voice on them before?
Another surreal moment that needs mentioning: A dog licks Melody's face at the park while her eyes are closed. She initially thinks it's Jackson. End of paragraph.
And that's as good of a point as any to end this essay on. As a whole, this series gets 2.5 stars from me. I think it could easily be a 3.5 if Melody was removed, even if nothing else changed. She's such a large part of this series that it's impossible to ignore her and it's impossible not to write half my damn review about her. If this had been written by anyone else, she would have been an antagonist. I'm just happy that she never showed up in the animated series And that's that on that. #justiceforcleo
Lisi Harrison's Monster High series goes out with a bang. Not a good bang, like fireworks or something like that, but a clumsy, destructive bang that all but ruins the good that came before it.
Like before, let's start with the positive.
I forgot to mention this in the last review, but Cleo and Ghoulia's friendship from the cartoon is preserved in the books, and it makes me happy. It's a light in the darkness. I've always loved the fact that they get along so well; it's one of the most explicit signs that Cleo does care and love.
I also really enjoy the conflict between Lala and Dracula in this book. It's very well-written on both ends, and they're able to begin the process of healing their broken father/daughter relationship at the end. Lala doesn't understand why her dad can't just support her and encourage her, and Dracula wants only the best for his daughter (he's just strict and bad at communicating this). Since the overarching oppression conflict is over by now, this is a nice, lower-stakes conflict that still feels worthy of the narrative's focus, especially since Dracula is in charge of the RADs' educations.
We don't deserve Candace Carver, Like, as a whole. I've said that in all the other reviews so far, but I will shout it from the rooftops. She doesn't have any major plays in this book, but she does get some good friendship moments with Billy, and she's able to leave this cursed town for Paris by the end. Love that for her.
Apparently, this series was supposed to get 6 books, but it ended here instead. Thank heavens for small mercies.
And that's all the positives I can think of. Time for the meat of this review, starting with the non-Melody-related negatives (yes, there needs to be two categories here).
Irish Emmy is a character that is introduced in this book (to the best of my memory). She is not a character. She is written exactly how you think a character named Irish Emmy would be written. I feel the need to bring her up because the fact that she exists is just so baffling, and I need to know if anyone else if as confused by her as I am. Did Lagoona Blue (who is a prominent character in the animated series, but little more than an Australian accent in the books) need someone who was written even worse than her to make her seem better by comparison? Who knows.
In my notes that I took on my first readthrough, I wrote down that Brett makes fun of someone with a unibrow. Nice little tidbit for this book to include when its message is about accepting people as they are. When is Frankie gonna dump his ass?
Speaking of Frankie, she suffers a lot less in this book compared to how much she's beat herself up in the past. However, this suffering is now transferred to Lala. It's like Harrison can't write a kind-hearted protagonist without making them completely effing miserable all the time. It's disheartening! Granted, Lala has good reason, but can we give these kids a break?
I do like Dracula in this book, but he's not at all what regular MH canon Dracula is like. This isn't a huge negative, just disappointing, because Ramses de Nile is a good father in this series while being abusive in the animated stuff. Everyone's a different character here, though, so I gotta keep that in mind.
Why did they have the Gorgons stone the school? Why? Why? I've been asking this for almost two years now. I guess Harrison's reasoning was that the chaos that happens in the gym near the end ended up making repairs expensive, but, like... that would still cost less than building a whole new school. And it's pretty much confirmed that the school is stoned permanently, because it mentions that they'll have to get trailer classrooms, I think. I know Dracula had approved Monster High to be built, and that he would allow humans to join, but surely it won't be finished by the end of that summer. I just... this makes me so mad. It's a stupid thing in the long run, but it's a perfect example of Lisi Harrison's logic in this series. "What logic?" Yeah.
Okay, Melody time. Buckle in. Remember how bad she got in the 3rd book? It's worse here.
Her siren ability to command people using only words is misused so, so, so many times in this installment. She uses it to get into a grunge band. She uses it to tell this one guy to sponsor said band. She uses it to ruin her relationship with Jackson. She uses it so much that her family loses their trust in her. It gets so bad that even her family begins to fear her. Melody's mother texts her to have a conversation about school so that Melody won't use her siren voice on her. That's bad.
Granite is a new character introduced in this book; he's a gargoyle who's into the same kind of music that Melody is, and he has abs that are literally rock-hard, so naturally, she immediately falls for him. Because that's what you base a relationship off of. This is the guy that Melody cheats on Jackson with. Listen, I'm not a huge Jackson fan or anything, but he's better in the books than in the cartoon (a rarity) and it's incredibly annoying seeing his relationship with Melody be lauded as the epitome of teen romance by the narrative.
Seriously, this book pats itself on the back so much. Near the start of the book, Lisi Harrison includes a bit in the narration during a scene with Frankie and Billy about how any typical teen movie would pair them up, but they're revolutionary because they're just friends. In addition to this, later, Jackson does something incredibly depressing, and this is how it's described from Melody's perspective: "Jackson hadn’t abandoned her; he’d abandoned himself. For her. It was the ultimate sacrifice. It was love. It was awesome." I understand being proud of your work, I even generally think people should be proud of things they've created, but it's like Harrison takes every chance in this book to slip in a line or two about how this is good writing.
On the subject of Jackson and Melody's relationship, it completely deteriorates throughout the course of this book. And, surprise surprise, it's all on Melody.
As previously mentioned, she does cheat on him with Granite. She kisses Granite on the roof of the school and says nothing when Jackson sees. She repeatedly ignores him when he brings up that she's committed herself to being a camp counselor for the summer alongside him. She abandons him to hang out at a college bar. She doesn't even recognize at one point that DJ/Holt is fronting instead of Jackson -- you'd think she'd learn to differentiate between the two by now.
The real kicker is the grande finale to Melody and Jackson's love story. After blowing off Jackson's camp plans and scheduling a summer tour with her new band, Melody prepares to hit the road without him. Nothing about the cheating situation has been discussed at all. Right before she leaves, DJ runs up and announces he's going to be joining the band as their roadie. And then the line that I mentioned a few paragraphs ago is uttered: "Jackson hadn’t abandoned her; he’d abandoned himself. For her. It was the ultimate sacrifice. It was love. It was awesome."
What???
I'm supposed to believe that Jackson regressing into his own mind and letting DJ take over was a grand romantic gesture? It reads to me like he felt like he wasn't "good enough" for Melody, that he thought he'd lose her to Granite if he didn't do something drastic, so he just completely gave up his autonomy for what I assume is an entire summer. It seemed more like an act of desperation and insecurity on his part. That's not love. That's fear.
And all the bad stuff I've mentioned about Melody? Everything that she's done? Never gets addressed. Never gets apologized for. Melody is always right, and if she isn't right, she's still right somehow. According to my old notes, at one point the narration even says that Melody is above games. No.. she... isn't? Did Harrison forget about the fact that she wrote Melody's parents being afraid of her because she's used her siren voice on them before?
Another surreal moment that needs mentioning: A dog licks Melody's face at the park while her eyes are closed. She initially thinks it's Jackson. End of paragraph.
And that's as good of a point as any to end this essay on. As a whole, this series gets 2.5 stars from me. I think it could easily be a 3.5 if Melody was removed, even if nothing else changed. She's such a large part of this series that it's impossible to ignore her and it's impossible not to write half my damn review about her. If this had been written by anyone else, she would have been an antagonist. I'm just happy that she never showed up in the animated series And that's that on that. #justiceforcleo
May 25, 2012
Monster High Four, the final book by Lisi Harrison.
I was shocked to hear her say this was the last book, I remember reading there was going to be six. Indeed, I did some digging and searching and found some interesting facts. The Monster High series will continue with a spin-off, Monster High: Ghoulfriends Forever by Gitty Daneshvari out September, 5 2012. Coming to a total of eight books for now.
A lot of questions still remained at the end of MH4. Yes, a big transaction was made towards the end of the book. (Spoiler) A Monster High school was finally made, except it will include normies and monsters.
Book four had a crazy pointless story lines, Melody gets to you. Literally you want to shake the girl,and ask whats wrong with her. It is unclear if Jackson and Melody stay together. Hope the spin-off answers some questions, although from what I read three new monsters might be the new narratives of the books.
Another thing that gets to me, is the unsolved story line with Melody's mother. Are they like talking??? So confusing. Harrison ending was cute, in a way you can't deny, but unsatisfying.
Now all you can do is wait until September and see what happens. The only good thing about the new author is, that she is more into the horror genre, than Lisi was. The bad thing would be saving the series, as many fans haven't been loyal to it. I hope the new author does more mystery sort of like plots.
I was shocked to hear her say this was the last book, I remember reading there was going to be six. Indeed, I did some digging and searching and found some interesting facts. The Monster High series will continue with a spin-off, Monster High: Ghoulfriends Forever by Gitty Daneshvari out September, 5 2012. Coming to a total of eight books for now.
A lot of questions still remained at the end of MH4. Yes, a big transaction was made towards the end of the book. (Spoiler) A Monster High school was finally made, except it will include normies and monsters.
Book four had a crazy pointless story lines, Melody gets to you. Literally you want to shake the girl,and ask whats wrong with her. It is unclear if Jackson and Melody stay together. Hope the spin-off answers some questions, although from what I read three new monsters might be the new narratives of the books.
Another thing that gets to me, is the unsolved story line with Melody's mother. Are they like talking??? So confusing. Harrison ending was cute, in a way you can't deny, but unsatisfying.
Now all you can do is wait until September and see what happens. The only good thing about the new author is, that she is more into the horror genre, than Lisi was. The bad thing would be saving the series, as many fans haven't been loyal to it. I hope the new author does more mystery sort of like plots.
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November 25, 2025Nie było to już tak przyjemne jak poprzednie części. Farsa z przebłyskami "momentów"
June 1, 2012
Actual rating: 2.5 stars. I so wanted to give this book three stars, but...oh, well. The structure of this book is odd. The monster school plot doesn't make an appearance until half way through the book and it's supposed to be the main plot. The first half is taken up almost exclusively with Melody and her joining a band. I didn't like Melody in this book. Her character has completely changed from the previous book. She also treats Jackson pretty crappy and I hate their ending. In the other books, the multiple p.o.v.'s work out well, but too much focus is given to Melody and Frankie in this book. Lala gets pushed to the side, both in voice and plot. I would have loved to see more of Lala's relationships, especially with her dad. I will give the author credit for the (very small) backstory on Lala and her dad. That is the kind of thing I wished had been done for more of the characters.
March 21, 2022
This book is one of the most useless installments in any series I've ever read. I can understand why it exists and why it aimed to get to this ending because it makes sense, but the road Lisi Harrison took to get there was a bad choice, to say the least.
In the first couple of chapters, you realize the main conflict of the series has been resolved, and it takes some time to get to the main conflict of this one. However, when you get there, it's unsatisfactory—the characters have become uninteresting, even flatter and shallower. Throughout the whole series I've had this issue—most of the main characters' principal concerns are their looks and having a love life, because if you're single, are you even valid as a person? The author could have put so much depth into this series—after all, it is about overcoming prejudices, façades and differences—and yet she chose to portray her characters' vain traits as something cool and to be achieved, instead of exploring the different layers and nuances that real life offers in subjects such as physical appearance (going beyond looking like a "monster" and being "normal", because everyone here is skinny and pretty), economical conditions (everyone is rich) and romantic situations (all the characters with points-of-view have a love interest).
And don't even get me started on the way she ruined Melody's character. What the hell was that? How did she become, all of a sudden, someone with poor communication skills with Jackson, and why the fuck did Jackson have to change his attitude on something they disagreed on, while Melody was clearly the one in the wrong?
And the shitshow excuse of a plot that this book had... Ma'am. What Harrisson pretended to convey was nice, but again, she did it through vain means.
I get it that this book was written 10 years ago, and that literary standards for YA and Middle Grade were different back then, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this book was garbage. I know that if I had read it back then, when I was 10, when I read the first two installments of this series, I would have hated it too.
In the first couple of chapters, you realize the main conflict of the series has been resolved, and it takes some time to get to the main conflict of this one. However, when you get there, it's unsatisfactory—the characters have become uninteresting, even flatter and shallower. Throughout the whole series I've had this issue—most of the main characters' principal concerns are their looks and having a love life, because if you're single, are you even valid as a person? The author could have put so much depth into this series—after all, it is about overcoming prejudices, façades and differences—and yet she chose to portray her characters' vain traits as something cool and to be achieved, instead of exploring the different layers and nuances that real life offers in subjects such as physical appearance (going beyond looking like a "monster" and being "normal", because everyone here is skinny and pretty), economical conditions (everyone is rich) and romantic situations (all the characters with points-of-view have a love interest).
And don't even get me started on the way she ruined Melody's character. What the hell was that? How did she become, all of a sudden, someone with poor communication skills with Jackson, and why the fuck did Jackson have to change his attitude on something they disagreed on, while Melody was clearly the one in the wrong?
And the shitshow excuse of a plot that this book had... Ma'am. What Harrisson pretended to convey was nice, but again, she did it through vain means.
I get it that this book was written 10 years ago, and that literary standards for YA and Middle Grade were different back then, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this book was garbage. I know that if I had read it back then, when I was 10, when I read the first two installments of this series, I would have hated it too.
August 1, 2017
I think is my favorite book of this serie. The main thing why I liked it so much, because of Draculaura's and her father's relationship. It kind of reminded me of my own family... And the happy ending! Beautiful.
November 24, 2012
When I got it from the library, I didn't want to read it immediately because I was in denial that this was the final book.
I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!
After getting over my denial, I decided to read it.
WHAT. THE. HECK?
Okay, what happened? Why is the plot in the middle? Why is Frankie Stein so superficial? Why is Melody such a fucking bitch?
Draculaura was the only decent character.
Basically, Draculaura's father wants to separate the normies from the RADs with a new high school, Frankie wants to be popular oh so badly, and Melody is treating Jackson like crap.
That's all I got from it.
AND WHAT THE FUCK WHAT'S THAT ENDING? SO FREAKING CONFUSING YET HAPPY BUT REALLY OVER THE PLACE!!
I heard that there's a new spin-off, I hope it's better than this.
I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!
After getting over my denial, I decided to read it.
WHAT. THE. HECK?
Okay, what happened? Why is the plot in the middle? Why is Frankie Stein so superficial? Why is Melody such a fucking bitch?
Draculaura was the only decent character.
Basically, Draculaura's father wants to separate the normies from the RADs with a new high school, Frankie wants to be popular oh so badly, and Melody is treating Jackson like crap.
That's all I got from it.
AND WHAT THE FUCK WHAT'S THAT ENDING? SO FREAKING CONFUSING YET HAPPY BUT REALLY OVER THE PLACE!!
I heard that there's a new spin-off, I hope it's better than this.
June 26, 2012
I was a little disappointed with the ending. It seemed to me that many key players didn't learn a lesson. I also thought it was pretty sad that in the end the parents still didn't really trust their kids. Though it was told in an upbeat fashion I still felt like the finale fell flat. I was happy with the end results for LaLa but overall it was a rather Blah ending to a pretty dynamic series.
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June 2, 2025finally i'm FREE of this series thank god, who knows how many braincells i've lost to it. anyway, i compiled some of the worst quotes on my tumblr if u would like a glimpse into my suffering:
https://rayanamaari.tumblr.com/tagged/mh-books
https://rayanamaari.tumblr.com/tagged/mh-books
January 20, 2023
Encontrar este libro fue una tortura, incluso creí que nunca iba a poder leer esta última entrega porque en internet superaba los $500 mexicanos, pero por fortuna me lo encontré en un bazar y fui feliz; hasta que leí la trama de este cuarto libro de Monster High.
Sólo diré que me quedo con un pesar enorme, además de muchas preguntas, las cuales jamás tendrán respuestas. Nunca sabré quién es la madre de Melody, tampoco conoceré la historia de Lagoona y mucho menos el desenlace de las protagonistas de Monster High, es decir: Frankie, Cleo, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona y Melody.
Para mí es una pena que la autora dejara los libros así como así, odié que no existiera un final digno para esta saga. Por lo que tenía entendido, iban a ser cinco o seis libros, pero, como ya vimos, jamás salieron y dudo que salgan.
Lo único que puedo decir es que el libro me entretuvo, fue rápida y sencilla la lectura, aunque, eso sí, hubiera preferido que me gustara más como las anteriores entregas.
Digamos que mi parte favorita siempre fue leer a Frankie, ya que es mi MH favorita (aunque muchos la odien). Sin embargo, no sé por qué sigo sin querer a la pareja de Brent con Frankie, creo que la serie me marcó demasiado como para pensar que Frankie está con un chico que jamás llegué a ver en pantalla, no sé, es muy raro. Pero bueno, quitando eso y regresando a la protagonista de la portada del libro, o sea, Draculaura, me hubiera gustado ver un mayor desarrollo en la relación de esta con su papá, siento que todo se resolvió tan rápido que no me dejó disfrutar esa reconciliación. Eso por un lado, por otro, hubiera disfrutado mucho ver la relación de Clawd con Draculaura, ya que, lo que nos dieron, fue una miseria, hay que admitirlo. Clawd estaba de relleno y no sentí que hubiera mucho amor entre ellos, ya que parecía que a Clawd le avergonzaba estar con Draculaura. Si la autora hubiera agarrado eso como trama, la historia sería otra y con un mayor enfoque porque no supo explotar muy bien a Draculaura, siendo esta la protagonista de este cuarto libro. Sí, amé los puntos de vista de Frankie y Melody, pero si le hubiera dedicado más tiempo a Draculaura en su libro, esta se hubiera desarrollado mejor; incluso, la autora, pudo haber quitado las narraciones de Billy.
Luego está Melody, ¿de verdad era necesario dejarla con Jackson? ¡Por el amor de Dios, no era necesario dejarlos juntos! No sé si la autora hizo lo que hizo porque ya sabía que sus otras dos entregas no iban a salir a luz o yo qué sé, pero lo hizo horrible. Si Melody necesitaba estar con otra persona, que no fuera Jackson, lo hubiera hecho. Las relaciones no duran para siempre, y se veía que a Melody le empezaba a gustar Granite. Y no sólo eso, ¡todo se resolvió tan rápido que ni siquiera se sintió auténtico! Jackson prefirió ser su otra personalidad con el tal de que Melody fuera feliz, y ese no es el punto en una relación. En las relaciones las personas deben amarse tal cuales son, además de tener confianza, y no tener que cambiar sus personalidades para gustar a otros. Melody fue egoísta y muy mala con Jackson. Dejó de ser sincera y empezó a lastimar a todos los que la amaban. Jackson se merecía algo mejor, como, por ejemplo: estar solo. Y Melody debió quedarse con Granite, mucho después de lo que hizo en la azotea con él. Y podría seguir quejándome de cómo se desarrolló todo este triángulo amoroso, pero no, sería ya mucho desgaste.
Le doy una puntuación de 3 porque no me resolvió ninguna duda del tercer libro, como dije, ni siquiera hubo una mención de la mamá de Melody, ¡nada! Y tampoco existió un buen desarrollo en cuanto a la trama y a Draculaura.
Hasta aquí mi reporte, Joaquín.
Sólo diré que me quedo con un pesar enorme, además de muchas preguntas, las cuales jamás tendrán respuestas. Nunca sabré quién es la madre de Melody, tampoco conoceré la historia de Lagoona y mucho menos el desenlace de las protagonistas de Monster High, es decir: Frankie, Cleo, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona y Melody.
Para mí es una pena que la autora dejara los libros así como así, odié que no existiera un final digno para esta saga. Por lo que tenía entendido, iban a ser cinco o seis libros, pero, como ya vimos, jamás salieron y dudo que salgan.
Lo único que puedo decir es que el libro me entretuvo, fue rápida y sencilla la lectura, aunque, eso sí, hubiera preferido que me gustara más como las anteriores entregas.
Digamos que mi parte favorita siempre fue leer a Frankie, ya que es mi MH favorita (aunque muchos la odien). Sin embargo, no sé por qué sigo sin querer a la pareja de Brent con Frankie, creo que la serie me marcó demasiado como para pensar que Frankie está con un chico que jamás llegué a ver en pantalla, no sé, es muy raro. Pero bueno, quitando eso y regresando a la protagonista de la portada del libro, o sea, Draculaura, me hubiera gustado ver un mayor desarrollo en la relación de esta con su papá, siento que todo se resolvió tan rápido que no me dejó disfrutar esa reconciliación. Eso por un lado, por otro, hubiera disfrutado mucho ver la relación de Clawd con Draculaura, ya que, lo que nos dieron, fue una miseria, hay que admitirlo. Clawd estaba de relleno y no sentí que hubiera mucho amor entre ellos, ya que parecía que a Clawd le avergonzaba estar con Draculaura. Si la autora hubiera agarrado eso como trama, la historia sería otra y con un mayor enfoque porque no supo explotar muy bien a Draculaura, siendo esta la protagonista de este cuarto libro. Sí, amé los puntos de vista de Frankie y Melody, pero si le hubiera dedicado más tiempo a Draculaura en su libro, esta se hubiera desarrollado mejor; incluso, la autora, pudo haber quitado las narraciones de Billy.
Luego está Melody, ¿de verdad era necesario dejarla con Jackson? ¡Por el amor de Dios, no era necesario dejarlos juntos! No sé si la autora hizo lo que hizo porque ya sabía que sus otras dos entregas no iban a salir a luz o yo qué sé, pero lo hizo horrible. Si Melody necesitaba estar con otra persona, que no fuera Jackson, lo hubiera hecho. Las relaciones no duran para siempre, y se veía que a Melody le empezaba a gustar Granite. Y no sólo eso, ¡todo se resolvió tan rápido que ni siquiera se sintió auténtico! Jackson prefirió ser su otra personalidad con el tal de que Melody fuera feliz, y ese no es el punto en una relación. En las relaciones las personas deben amarse tal cuales son, además de tener confianza, y no tener que cambiar sus personalidades para gustar a otros. Melody fue egoísta y muy mala con Jackson. Dejó de ser sincera y empezó a lastimar a todos los que la amaban. Jackson se merecía algo mejor, como, por ejemplo: estar solo. Y Melody debió quedarse con Granite, mucho después de lo que hizo en la azotea con él. Y podría seguir quejándome de cómo se desarrolló todo este triángulo amoroso, pero no, sería ya mucho desgaste.
Le doy una puntuación de 3 porque no me resolvió ninguna duda del tercer libro, como dije, ni siquiera hubo una mención de la mamá de Melody, ¡nada! Y tampoco existió un buen desarrollo en cuanto a la trama y a Draculaura.
Hasta aquí mi reporte, Joaquín.
September 26, 2012
1 star.
I love the Monster High series and I wish I could say I loved the series finale. But sadly I can't.
Back & Deader than Ever takes place about two months after the end of Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way and, seriously, I disliked it from the first three pages.
It starts off with Billy and Frankie in a clothing shop freely shopping for clothes (for Billy, if you can believe it), not hiding a single monster feature, and even getting complimented on it! Something is wrong with that! You get no information on how the RADs came out of hiding and how they were accepted by normies. I understand that this takes place two months later but surely there would still be some normies who are against the RAD's? But it seemed to me, that every normie in the shopping mall treated them like celebrities. Plus, the whole 'hiding from normies' underlying problem that surrounded the last three books? Poof. Avada Kedavra. Hasta la bye bye.
The main character of this book is Draculaura. Her dad is back and is trying to make a school exclusively for RAD's even after Draculaura and her friends did all that fighting to get them to be accepted in Merston. One of my biggest dislikes about her was, she had this strange idea that winning a competition for Merston might make her Dad change her mind. And the competition is run by shoe designers. Shoe designers. The RAD's biggest problem in Monster High was that Frankie exposed them at the dance. The RAD's biggest problem in The Ghoul Next Door was that they wanted to show that monsters weren't dangerous by creating a TV show. The RAD's biggest problem in Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way was that normies knew who they were and were coming after them. The RAD's biggest problem in Back and Deader than Ever is that they have to win a school competition run by shoe designers.
One of the reasons I love the other books in this series is that they have the perfect balance of shallow and deep. They have the teenage girl pop culture style that Lisi Harrison is famous for yet the characters have depth to them and there are problems that go way back in history.
I honestly think that this book would be right at home among Lisi's Clique books. But it just doesnt work in the MH world and it completely destroys what the other books were talking about.
Oh, another thing that bugged me. Melody Carver. One of my favourite characters is using her power to sneak into clubs, running off with a band, and blowing off her sweet caring boyfriend. Not to mention sneaking off with another boy. I can't stand it. You can barely tell it's the same girl from the other books. And the ending with DJ was confusing. I read it at least three times and I still dont understand it.
Not happy with the end to this series. I felt it could have explained how the normies accepted them and the aftermath of Clawdeen's Sassy. Also, there should have been a book on Lagoona. Why is it that no one can finish a series well anymore? Alphas, Monster High, The Hunger Games, need I go on and mention the pointless epilogues of those three series?
I love the Monster High series and I wish I could say I loved the series finale. But sadly I can't.
Back & Deader than Ever takes place about two months after the end of Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way and, seriously, I disliked it from the first three pages.
It starts off with Billy and Frankie in a clothing shop freely shopping for clothes (for Billy, if you can believe it), not hiding a single monster feature, and even getting complimented on it! Something is wrong with that! You get no information on how the RADs came out of hiding and how they were accepted by normies. I understand that this takes place two months later but surely there would still be some normies who are against the RAD's? But it seemed to me, that every normie in the shopping mall treated them like celebrities. Plus, the whole 'hiding from normies' underlying problem that surrounded the last three books? Poof. Avada Kedavra. Hasta la bye bye.
The main character of this book is Draculaura. Her dad is back and is trying to make a school exclusively for RAD's even after Draculaura and her friends did all that fighting to get them to be accepted in Merston. One of my biggest dislikes about her was, she had this strange idea that winning a competition for Merston might make her Dad change her mind. And the competition is run by shoe designers. Shoe designers. The RAD's biggest problem in Monster High was that Frankie exposed them at the dance. The RAD's biggest problem in The Ghoul Next Door was that they wanted to show that monsters weren't dangerous by creating a TV show. The RAD's biggest problem in Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way was that normies knew who they were and were coming after them. The RAD's biggest problem in Back and Deader than Ever is that they have to win a school competition run by shoe designers.
One of the reasons I love the other books in this series is that they have the perfect balance of shallow and deep. They have the teenage girl pop culture style that Lisi Harrison is famous for yet the characters have depth to them and there are problems that go way back in history.
I honestly think that this book would be right at home among Lisi's Clique books. But it just doesnt work in the MH world and it completely destroys what the other books were talking about.
Oh, another thing that bugged me. Melody Carver. One of my favourite characters is using her power to sneak into clubs, running off with a band, and blowing off her sweet caring boyfriend. Not to mention sneaking off with another boy. I can't stand it. You can barely tell it's the same girl from the other books. And the ending with DJ was confusing. I read it at least three times and I still dont understand it.
Not happy with the end to this series. I felt it could have explained how the normies accepted them and the aftermath of Clawdeen's Sassy. Also, there should have been a book on Lagoona. Why is it that no one can finish a series well anymore? Alphas, Monster High, The Hunger Games, need I go on and mention the pointless epilogues of those three series?
January 13, 2015
I'm sooo disappointed!!!
The previous Monster High novels were a positive surprise. I had fun reading them, even if I'm probably 15-18 years older than their reading target. The first Monster High was good; the second one was OK because I really dislike Cleo's voice; the third one was really good; this one was probably the weakest one.
I guess that depends on the characters, Melody and Frankie at least. They are not monsters trying to fit in, which was the main point of the other novels, but just normal teenagers drowned in their teen dramas.
Frankie was this great girl trying to gain respect for her identity as a green and stitched living being. Now, she's just going shopping (and name-branding abounds here... :-( ) and tries to win a stupid popularity contest. I mean, Cleo is getting revenge on her because Frankie had "outfriended" her? Come on!!! Is this really the way teens are nowadays?! SIGH.
Melody, who got a nose job in order not to be an outcast anymore, finds out that she's adopted and that she's actually a mermaid, who can charm people with her voice. Her story was a bit predictable but it was narrated in a good way. Now she's trying to spread her wings and be herself again by singing in a grunge cover band but her relationship with Jackson is breaking and she has another beau crushing on her: .
Lala, who's supposed to be the lead character in the novel, is the one that actually can't shine because the other two girls outdo her. She's this shy vampire with a bad relationship with her father and she has to show him that she can be a leader. The plot could have been interesting but, in reality, it appeared a bit dull throughout the novel.
As usual Billy's my favorite character and it really annoys me that he goes out with Spectra who, in the novel, keeps bugging everyone with false and slanted pieces of news. I mean, the author just gives no reasons why she's always acting like that. What's the point of having a character who tells exaggerate tales that no one believes? She's not even funny.
Now, a little nitpicking by an European reader. I know that most of the books I read are written having in mind the average American (teenager) reader, but sometimes you find some gratuitous stereotypes, that are untrue and old...
The first one, back in Monster High: Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way, Clawdeen announces that from now on she'll go unshaven like her relatives in Europe, thus implying that European women do no shave.
The second one was the French character in this book, the fashion designer. She's just crazy about leather and skin and everything and insists on skinning poor animals in order to make her shoes. And she keeps saying that she's used to that and that's very popular etc... Her presence did disturb me a little bit.
The previous Monster High novels were a positive surprise. I had fun reading them, even if I'm probably 15-18 years older than their reading target. The first Monster High was good; the second one was OK because I really dislike Cleo's voice; the third one was really good; this one was probably the weakest one.
I guess that depends on the characters, Melody and Frankie at least. They are not monsters trying to fit in, which was the main point of the other novels, but just normal teenagers drowned in their teen dramas.
Frankie was this great girl trying to gain respect for her identity as a green and stitched living being. Now, she's just going shopping (and name-branding abounds here... :-( ) and tries to win a stupid popularity contest. I mean, Cleo is getting revenge on her because Frankie had "outfriended" her? Come on!!! Is this really the way teens are nowadays?! SIGH.
Melody, who got a nose job in order not to be an outcast anymore, finds out that she's adopted and that she's actually a mermaid, who can charm people with her voice. Her story was a bit predictable but it was narrated in a good way. Now she's trying to spread her wings and be herself again by singing in a grunge cover band but her relationship with Jackson is breaking and she has another beau crushing on her: .
Lala, who's supposed to be the lead character in the novel, is the one that actually can't shine because the other two girls outdo her. She's this shy vampire with a bad relationship with her father and she has to show him that she can be a leader. The plot could have been interesting but, in reality, it appeared a bit dull throughout the novel.
As usual Billy's my favorite character and it really annoys me that he goes out with Spectra who, in the novel, keeps bugging everyone with false and slanted pieces of news. I mean, the author just gives no reasons why she's always acting like that. What's the point of having a character who tells exaggerate tales that no one believes? She's not even funny.
Now, a little nitpicking by an European reader. I know that most of the books I read are written having in mind the average American (teenager) reader, but sometimes you find some gratuitous stereotypes, that are untrue and old...
The first one, back in Monster High: Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way, Clawdeen announces that from now on she'll go unshaven like her relatives in Europe, thus implying that European women do no shave.
The second one was the French character in this book, the fashion designer. She's just crazy about leather and skin and everything and insists on skinning poor animals in order to make her shoes. And she keeps saying that she's used to that and that's very popular etc... Her presence did disturb me a little bit.
February 5, 2013
If I could rate this 2.5, I would.
On the one hand, I enjoyed a lot of things in this book. It's just the stuff I didn't like, I really didn't like.
The good:
More Blue! :D It makes me sad that she won't likely get her own book (since the MH books shifted authors and, I imagine, premises) but I'm glad she got to show up some more.
Candace, while only around briefly, was still awesome.
Ghoulia.
I enjoyed peeking into Lala's history with her father. Her Uncle Vlad is a prime example of a little going a long way, but the family dynamic is really interesting.
The meh:
Frankie's distrust of Spectra and Frankie's attitude in general. While it was heavily hinted that her apathy towards non-fashiony things was due to her previous political stances burning her so badly, her snarkiness towards her friends and classmates seemed really out of character for Frankie.
Cleo. We get it. She's not used to being ousted as the most popular girl and doesn't react well to it. That said, it would've been nice to have her not spend the entire book having regressed.
The bad:
Holy freakin' hell. Melody. I've been defending her from the crowd of people who don't like her since she's not in the other MH properties but as of this book? Yeah. I won't be able to any more.
I get that music is her calling but the way she treats Jackson is just appalling. She blows him off repeatedly, looks down on him when she thinks her new bandmates/friends will, doesn't take his feelings on anything into consideration for longer than "he won't like it. Well, tough!" annnnnd then gets huffy when he tells her that if she still wants him around (after she's been acting like she doesn't) that she needs to prove it.
Guess who doesn't prove it? Guess who makes out with some new guy? Yeah. Which could've been an interesting triangle but wasn't really because Melody was just so obnoxious the whole time.
S
p
o
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l
e
r
A
l
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t
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It ends with Jackson turning himself into DJ (something he doesn't like to do and actively tries NOT to do) so that he can sort of tour along with Melody and her new band. Who are only touring because Melody used her Siren powers to get them the tour in the first place. Jackson gives himself up to follow her around and this is treated like a really good thing.
...I wanted to throw the book really hard at Lisi Harrison, so I suppose it's a damn good thing this portion of the MH series is through.
On the one hand, I enjoyed a lot of things in this book. It's just the stuff I didn't like, I really didn't like.
The good:
More Blue! :D It makes me sad that she won't likely get her own book (since the MH books shifted authors and, I imagine, premises) but I'm glad she got to show up some more.
Candace, while only around briefly, was still awesome.
Ghoulia.
I enjoyed peeking into Lala's history with her father. Her Uncle Vlad is a prime example of a little going a long way, but the family dynamic is really interesting.
The meh:
Frankie's distrust of Spectra and Frankie's attitude in general. While it was heavily hinted that her apathy towards non-fashiony things was due to her previous political stances burning her so badly, her snarkiness towards her friends and classmates seemed really out of character for Frankie.
Cleo. We get it. She's not used to being ousted as the most popular girl and doesn't react well to it. That said, it would've been nice to have her not spend the entire book having regressed.
The bad:
Holy freakin' hell. Melody. I've been defending her from the crowd of people who don't like her since she's not in the other MH properties but as of this book? Yeah. I won't be able to any more.
I get that music is her calling but the way she treats Jackson is just appalling. She blows him off repeatedly, looks down on him when she thinks her new bandmates/friends will, doesn't take his feelings on anything into consideration for longer than "he won't like it. Well, tough!" annnnnd then gets huffy when he tells her that if she still wants him around (after she's been acting like she doesn't) that she needs to prove it.
Guess who doesn't prove it? Guess who makes out with some new guy? Yeah. Which could've been an interesting triangle but wasn't really because Melody was just so obnoxious the whole time.
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
A
l
e
r
t
.
.
.
It ends with Jackson turning himself into DJ (something he doesn't like to do and actively tries NOT to do) so that he can sort of tour along with Melody and her new band. Who are only touring because Melody used her Siren powers to get them the tour in the first place. Jackson gives himself up to follow her around and this is treated like a really good thing.
...I wanted to throw the book really hard at Lisi Harrison, so I suppose it's a damn good thing this portion of the MH series is through.
June 20, 2022
Me hubiera gustado ver un poco más de la narrativa de Draculaura, pero en sí me gustó mucho el final, el epílogo fue super tierno para cerrar una historia tan bonita; lo que no me gustó fue como acabaron Melody y Jackson... Sí quedaron juntos pero no de la manera que imaginaba, preferiría a DJ fuera de esto 😂
// relectura: febrero - marzo 2022
Releí este libro en un ataque de nostalgia por Monster High, porque honestamente SIEMPRE será algo importante de mi vida, pero bueno pasemos con el libro.
En esta relectura me di cuenta de que llega a ser muy 2010's en el buen sentido, años de muchos cambios donde eran los mismos adolescentes quienes los enfrentaban más, la búsqueda por su identidad y propósito, y eso se ve reflejado en el libro.
Pese a que se supone que la protagonista de este libro es Lala (o Draculaura como gusten llamarla) no se siente tan enfocado en ella y su arco, junto con el de Frankie, puede llegar a verse un tanto secundario comparado con el de Melody quien llega a tener un gran desarrollo en esta cuarta parte pero un tanto independiente del resto de las RAD. Aún así me agrada ver un trasfondo de la historia pasada de Lala, su relación con su familia, como sobrelleva la inmortalidad, las relaciones y el quererse encontrar un propósito para que se sientan orgullosa de ella, olvidándose de sentirse feliz por quien es en realidad.
De Frankie y Melody no puedo decir mucho, Frankie está en su obsesión por la popularidad sin dañar a nadie y Melody busca su propio camino, siendo está última el segundo arco más interesante del libro en mi opinión. Es un libro adolescente que te deja diciendo "qué?" varias veces pero que llega a ser gracioso y enternecedor al mismo tiempo.
// relectura: febrero - marzo 2022
Releí este libro en un ataque de nostalgia por Monster High, porque honestamente SIEMPRE será algo importante de mi vida, pero bueno pasemos con el libro.
En esta relectura me di cuenta de que llega a ser muy 2010's en el buen sentido, años de muchos cambios donde eran los mismos adolescentes quienes los enfrentaban más, la búsqueda por su identidad y propósito, y eso se ve reflejado en el libro.
Pese a que se supone que la protagonista de este libro es Lala (o Draculaura como gusten llamarla) no se siente tan enfocado en ella y su arco, junto con el de Frankie, puede llegar a verse un tanto secundario comparado con el de Melody quien llega a tener un gran desarrollo en esta cuarta parte pero un tanto independiente del resto de las RAD. Aún así me agrada ver un trasfondo de la historia pasada de Lala, su relación con su familia, como sobrelleva la inmortalidad, las relaciones y el quererse encontrar un propósito para que se sientan orgullosa de ella, olvidándose de sentirse feliz por quien es en realidad.
De Frankie y Melody no puedo decir mucho, Frankie está en su obsesión por la popularidad sin dañar a nadie y Melody busca su propio camino, siendo está última el segundo arco más interesante del libro en mi opinión. Es un libro adolescente que te deja diciendo "qué?" varias veces pero que llega a ser gracioso y enternecedor al mismo tiempo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2021
3.5 stars
i didn't hate this book, i just really could have done without it. might be the worst installment of this series but still not all that bad. i liked the finale of the third book better (at clawdeen's party) than this one, even though lala and her father making up and opening Monster High at the end was really cute. i still could not stand melody – I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE FACT THAT SHE KISSED GRANITE. like excuse me what??? you were perfectly in love with jackson (who i really liked throughout this series) but then dumped him for the next best thing, who wasn't even THAT great AND you just met him??? so annoying! i didn't like the band she joined either. all the girls in it were annoying and it felt like she didn't fit in with them. lala's chapters were kind of boring (aside from the final few chapters of hers and the parts where she was with clawd, i'm in love with him). i really would have liked to read chapters from blue's perspective instead of hers, although draculaura is one of my favorite original monster high characters and lagoona isn't. frankie's chapters were decent, i'm glad she and brett are still dating and had, like, no drama like in the previous books, but i still feel like she did billy dirty after everything he did for her. THAT'S ANOTHER THING – i was sooo looking forward to read more about spectra and billy's relationship but instead i hated them. spectra was super annoying and even billy was annoying too, which is really unfortunate because i loved him in the other books.
anyways, this book was not that great but i overall really enjoyed the series and would definitely read again sometime. finally glad to get these off my to-read list after five years!
i didn't hate this book, i just really could have done without it. might be the worst installment of this series but still not all that bad. i liked the finale of the third book better (at clawdeen's party) than this one, even though lala and her father making up and opening Monster High at the end was really cute. i still could not stand melody – I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE FACT THAT SHE KISSED GRANITE. like excuse me what??? you were perfectly in love with jackson (who i really liked throughout this series) but then dumped him for the next best thing, who wasn't even THAT great AND you just met him??? so annoying! i didn't like the band she joined either. all the girls in it were annoying and it felt like she didn't fit in with them. lala's chapters were kind of boring (aside from the final few chapters of hers and the parts where she was with clawd, i'm in love with him). i really would have liked to read chapters from blue's perspective instead of hers, although draculaura is one of my favorite original monster high characters and lagoona isn't. frankie's chapters were decent, i'm glad she and brett are still dating and had, like, no drama like in the previous books, but i still feel like she did billy dirty after everything he did for her. THAT'S ANOTHER THING – i was sooo looking forward to read more about spectra and billy's relationship but instead i hated them. spectra was super annoying and even billy was annoying too, which is really unfortunate because i loved him in the other books.
anyways, this book was not that great but i overall really enjoyed the series and would definitely read again sometime. finally glad to get these off my to-read list after five years!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2017
Ugh... thank Ra it's finally all over. It took me two whole months to get through this book because I didn't care. I didn't care one bit about any of these characters or the T'Eau-Dally boring story line that was happening between these pages. These Monster High chapter books have been a huge disappointment. It's such a bummer.
I will, however, like I have with my other reviews, give Lisi Harrison credit where it is due - she is a good author and is able to write a teenage voice both well and relatable. It's just unfortunate that each of the stories were boring and the characters were all obnoxious... save for Candace. She was the only one I liked.
Guess I'll stick to the dolls and animated films.
I will, however, like I have with my other reviews, give Lisi Harrison credit where it is due - she is a good author and is able to write a teenage voice both well and relatable. It's just unfortunate that each of the stories were boring and the characters were all obnoxious... save for Candace. She was the only one I liked.
Guess I'll stick to the dolls and animated films.
Read
August 28, 2022Hmm....I liked this installment a lot, but the ending between Jackson and Melody was very bizarre and a little concerning to me. I don't know if I would have considered that love, but...okay. There are just a lot of weird things that are sort of portrayed as okay or funny (like Candace's older college-aged boyfriend) but read more as toxic and disconcerting to me. At least Candace's boyfriend dumped her when he found out her true age. Yeesh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 1, 2022i hate what they did to melody
October 16, 2022
Half a star. Romances so toxic they reach through the page and attack you in real life
April 1, 2024
I relate strongly with Draculaura, her character really feels fleshed out and I’m happy to see her growth from trying to be someone her parents want her to be !
February 21, 2025
(2.5)
honestamente fue terrible 😶🌫️ el final, tierno (igual que deuce gorgon 💚), pero lo demás deja mucho que desear
honestamente fue terrible 😶🌫️ el final, tierno (igual que deuce gorgon 💚), pero lo demás deja mucho que desear
December 29, 2025
I hate Melody in this book sm
March 19, 2021
jackie owes me financial compensation for making me read these books
October 19, 2022
1/5
The only reason that this isn’t a 0.5/5 is because Jackson finally broke up with Melody. Good for him.
The only reason that this isn’t a 0.5/5 is because Jackson finally broke up with Melody. Good for him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2021
I don't hate it. I don't hate this series but this Melody annoyed me in this one. And Candace dating the college guy. She was dating him in the last book. It was annoying than. It's not so much she's dating someone older. It's more that he doesn't know she's in high school. That is not okay. It's played off as funny but that is not okay. She's a senior. I wouldn't be surprised if she was 18 but her boyfriend should know she's in high school. That being said I would probably keep reading if there were more books. There isn't and there is no plan for more ever. Overall these are cute for what they are
July 23, 2016
Dette er det officielt sidste bind i historien om Monster High. Der ér flere bøger, men de på en viderekørende serie, som også er dén der ligger bund for tv-tegnefilmen af samme navn. Efter at have læst dette fjerde bind, undrer det mig at Lisi Harrison ikke bestemte sig for at lave fem. Det havde givet mere mening.
Tilbage og mere død end nogensinde er ligesom sine forgængere en sød historie for de lidt yngre. Jeg kan stadig godt lide forfatterens sprog, og de forskellige monstre er virkelig godt fundet på. De fungerer selvstændigt og har rødder i en monsterhistorie de fleste kender, hvilket er en sjov detalje, men de fungerer også i sammenhæng, og selvom de yngre læsere måske ikke vil se det, så synes jeg det er en fin ”detalje” at have opbygget et helt monstersamfund som fungerer på kryds og tværs af mennesker, men også af hinanden. Hvem siger at Dracula nødvendigvis vil bifalde en varulv? Men deres samfund og grupper er godt bygget op, og holder hele vejen igennem samtlige bind, uden at der pludselig er fejl i deres indbyrdes relationer eller man sidder og tænker ”hvem pokker er der?”.
Sproget fungerer godt. Det er ikke særlig nuanceret eller vanskeligt, men det er godt til målgruppen, og gør bogen enkel at læse, sjov, og hyggelig at sidde med.
På minussiden må jeg desværre denne gang trække bogen lidt ned i karakter, simpelthen fordi jeg synes det virkede som om forfatteren pludselig havde fået alt for travlt. Bogens titel og bagsider antyder at det er Lala der er hovedpersonen denne gang, mens hendes historie er meget sideløbende og fylder ikke særlig meget. Forholdet mellem hende og hendes far bliver aldrig rigtig belyst på hverken den gode eller den dårlige måde, og hendes historie med konkurrencen, virker mest som et middel der er brugt for at holde lidt styr på trådene. I stedet fylder Melody halvdelen af bogen, og hendes historie er nok den tyndeste kop te jeg endnu har oplevet. Den er fuldstændig ude i hampen, og fungerede slet ikke for mig. Og det ærgrede mig virkelig, for jeg kunne godt lide Melody, og hendes nye personlighed kunne være brugt så meget bedre, hvis den havde fået sin egen bog. Og så er vi tilbage ved det femte bind. Jeg havde helt klart foretrukket at forfatteren havde brugt lidt ekstra tid, og så havde delt denne bog op i to, så både Lala og Melody fik den plads og den historie som jeg synes de fortjener. I stedet har de fået en miskmask der er halvt af hvert, og ikke rigtig tager sig kærligt af nogen af dem.
Bogens slutning trækker dog lidt op i mit regnskab. Jeg kender tv-tegnefilmen allerede, og havde godt spekuleret over hvordan den hang direkte sammen med bøgerne, udover personerne, men det fletter denne bog sammen, og det giver en pæn sløjfe som fungerer som en flot enkelt pakke, der kan stå alene under juletræet, men også som en pakke der kan være én ud af en hel pakkekalender. Det var godt lavet, og jeg kunne nu godt lide den søde slutning som Lisi Harrison trods alt giver sine personer. Det hæver dog ikke bogen op til mere end en middelkarakter. Dertil var den simpelthen for sløset skrevet, rent plotmæssigt.
Læs alle anmeldelser her
Tilbage og mere død end nogensinde er ligesom sine forgængere en sød historie for de lidt yngre. Jeg kan stadig godt lide forfatterens sprog, og de forskellige monstre er virkelig godt fundet på. De fungerer selvstændigt og har rødder i en monsterhistorie de fleste kender, hvilket er en sjov detalje, men de fungerer også i sammenhæng, og selvom de yngre læsere måske ikke vil se det, så synes jeg det er en fin ”detalje” at have opbygget et helt monstersamfund som fungerer på kryds og tværs af mennesker, men også af hinanden. Hvem siger at Dracula nødvendigvis vil bifalde en varulv? Men deres samfund og grupper er godt bygget op, og holder hele vejen igennem samtlige bind, uden at der pludselig er fejl i deres indbyrdes relationer eller man sidder og tænker ”hvem pokker er der?”.
Sproget fungerer godt. Det er ikke særlig nuanceret eller vanskeligt, men det er godt til målgruppen, og gør bogen enkel at læse, sjov, og hyggelig at sidde med.
På minussiden må jeg desværre denne gang trække bogen lidt ned i karakter, simpelthen fordi jeg synes det virkede som om forfatteren pludselig havde fået alt for travlt. Bogens titel og bagsider antyder at det er Lala der er hovedpersonen denne gang, mens hendes historie er meget sideløbende og fylder ikke særlig meget. Forholdet mellem hende og hendes far bliver aldrig rigtig belyst på hverken den gode eller den dårlige måde, og hendes historie med konkurrencen, virker mest som et middel der er brugt for at holde lidt styr på trådene. I stedet fylder Melody halvdelen af bogen, og hendes historie er nok den tyndeste kop te jeg endnu har oplevet. Den er fuldstændig ude i hampen, og fungerede slet ikke for mig. Og det ærgrede mig virkelig, for jeg kunne godt lide Melody, og hendes nye personlighed kunne være brugt så meget bedre, hvis den havde fået sin egen bog. Og så er vi tilbage ved det femte bind. Jeg havde helt klart foretrukket at forfatteren havde brugt lidt ekstra tid, og så havde delt denne bog op i to, så både Lala og Melody fik den plads og den historie som jeg synes de fortjener. I stedet har de fået en miskmask der er halvt af hvert, og ikke rigtig tager sig kærligt af nogen af dem.
Bogens slutning trækker dog lidt op i mit regnskab. Jeg kender tv-tegnefilmen allerede, og havde godt spekuleret over hvordan den hang direkte sammen med bøgerne, udover personerne, men det fletter denne bog sammen, og det giver en pæn sløjfe som fungerer som en flot enkelt pakke, der kan stå alene under juletræet, men også som en pakke der kan være én ud af en hel pakkekalender. Det var godt lavet, og jeg kunne nu godt lide den søde slutning som Lisi Harrison trods alt giver sine personer. Det hæver dog ikke bogen op til mere end en middelkarakter. Dertil var den simpelthen for sløset skrevet, rent plotmæssigt.
Læs alle anmeldelser her
March 28, 2022
These books are so horrible. Iconic! But horrible.
I'd like to start with a list of the things that Lisi Harrison should be banned from:
1. Puns - Every single chapter name is a pun. How did she even think of all of these in the first place? They are just so bad. The T'eau-Dally puns are probably the worst just because they are used so often, along with "fur real".
2. Making up words - "Voltage" and "wattage" are used as both adjectives and exclamations (way too much) and my only thought is why? There's also "fang-tastic" which I only accept because of its homage to the original Monster High movies.
3. Acronyms - "RAD" "NUDI" What the actual hell are these acronyms? I don't mind the word itself, but what it stands for. "Regular Attribute Dodging" is just not a good way to describe the characters. It sounds as if they are purposefully dodging being "normal" instead of being born that way. Also, "NUDI" has to be the worst name I've ever heard. "Normies Uncool with Discriminating Idiots" is just so bad. I thoroughly wish Lisi Harrison had named the MAIN CHARACTERS something else. Literally, just "monsters" instead of "RADs" would have been so much better.
4. Manic Pixie Dream Girls? - Melody was definitely one of these, right? To be honest, I'm not toooooo familiar with the trope (although I'm surprised by this), but I definitely got these vibes from Melody. She was all "Omg, I'm so alone. No one listens to Pearl Jam or Nirvana. No one understands me. I'm in a band and it takes up all my time." ANNOYING, and definitely a pick-me, no? I already didn't like her because of her immediate relation to LITERAL MONSTERS just because she used to have a "not-so attractive nose". But her whole "band over literally everything else" just made me so annoyed. She completely abandoned Jackson without so much as a "Sorry, I don't want to go to summer camp." (In my eyes, summer music camp with my boyfriend sounds a lot more fun than singing at college parties or whatever it was Melody was hoping to accomplish in her band with the literal worst name I've ever heard before.)
5. Romance - Frankie's love life was ALLLLL OVER THE PLACE. First, it was DJ, then Brett, then Billy, then Brett again. Personally, I liked Billy x Frankie the best because I thought they had the most chemistry and they were sweet and simple. Lisi Harrison SMASHED this hope of mine by just shoving Spectra (super annoying) in there and being like "Hehe they're both invisible, so of course they're in love." It made a lot more sense to me that Brett was just into Frankie because she's a monster. I was actually intrigued with the whole Frankie x DJ-Jackson x Melody thing, just because Drama! But Lisi Harrison also smashed this whole deal by just suddenly making DJ uninterested in Frankie, despite having him crushing on her for the entire first book and a half (I think it was something around this much time).
6. Conflict - I'd rather have a book where absolutely nothing interesting happens than a book with SO MANY unresolved conflicts. I can't even name all of them, but some include the whole DJ becoming a roadie for Leadfeather and suddenly Jackson makes up with Melody situation, the building of the Monster High, the sudden reconciliation between Draculaura and her dad despite LITERALLY 1599 YEARS of him being crappy. There could have been a whole 'nother book to explain all of this.
7. Make like a ____ and ____ jokes - There were too many of these. I swear there were at least four on the same page. How many times can you use these jokes before they get old? The answer is once. Even then, that's stretching it. Also, I have to note that pretty much all of these jokes were told by Draculaura's uncle, Vlad, and they were mostly about beauty products. I have come to the conclusion that because of this (and vibes, of course) Vlad is gay, right? There were no other gay characters in this series (that we know about), besides Clawdeen (who is officially a lesbian), so it's safe to assume, maybe.
Second, is this series in an alternate universe? I don't remember half of the characters or qualities of the main characters, so is this an alternate universe from the Monster High movies? I never saw the online stuff or Youtube stuff or whatever, so I must be missing something. What mainly got me is that Melody doesn't exist, and I don't remember Clawdeen being so bitchy or Lagoona having such ANNOYING traits, like her dry skin (which actually makes sense) and constant use of the word "Sheila", which was claimed to only be used when she doesn't know the name of someone, but was used a lot more than that for people she was best friends with. Also, who the hell is Irish Anna or whatever her name was? NEVER heard of her. She was just kinda there.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to say about these books. I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I suffered through these books, but no one made me do that but myself, so what can I say? Do I regret reading these? Kind of no just because it's Monster High, but mostly yes because of how bad they were. Every couple of pages I would just groan or sigh or complain about something because there was always something to complain about.
Thanks for reading my rant. :)
Yes, I am editing this not even two minutes after I posted this...
I realize I left out A LOT, but I'm way too lazy to go back and find out what it is and what I should say about it. I wanted to just briefly mention some things I know I left out:
Granite - Why? Why are you here? Go away. And your name? So original. Not that that's a problem with anyone else's name.........
Grunge Goddess -> Leadfeather - absolutely horrible
Melody - also absolutely horrible
9.5's (or one of the other Leadfeather members. honestly they're all the same to me) glorified stomach - What was the point of people cheering because she wears a crop-top? That's just a bit weird. Even though I see what Lisi Harrison was trying to do, she could have done it better.
Candace - Kind of annoying, but best character.
Siren powers - completely misused. example of Melody being absolutely horrible
T'eau-Dally - WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL HAPPENED WITH THOSE SHOES? THE KANGEROO FUR AND THE BEAR FUR AND TRYING TO SKIN CLAWDEEN FOR HER FUR??? WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? WHY WAS THIS NEEDED?
Clawdeen - why she gotta be mad at Clawd and Lala? They're my favorite couple in the MH universe. I am kinda mad that Lisi Harrison made Clawd want to hide their relationship though...
I think that's it..... I actually don't know, but I think that's most of it.
I'd like to start with a list of the things that Lisi Harrison should be banned from:
1. Puns - Every single chapter name is a pun. How did she even think of all of these in the first place? They are just so bad. The T'eau-Dally puns are probably the worst just because they are used so often, along with "fur real".
2. Making up words - "Voltage" and "wattage" are used as both adjectives and exclamations (way too much) and my only thought is why? There's also "fang-tastic" which I only accept because of its homage to the original Monster High movies.
3. Acronyms - "RAD" "NUDI" What the actual hell are these acronyms? I don't mind the word itself, but what it stands for. "Regular Attribute Dodging" is just not a good way to describe the characters. It sounds as if they are purposefully dodging being "normal" instead of being born that way. Also, "NUDI" has to be the worst name I've ever heard. "Normies Uncool with Discriminating Idiots" is just so bad. I thoroughly wish Lisi Harrison had named the MAIN CHARACTERS something else. Literally, just "monsters" instead of "RADs" would have been so much better.
4. Manic Pixie Dream Girls? - Melody was definitely one of these, right? To be honest, I'm not toooooo familiar with the trope (although I'm surprised by this), but I definitely got these vibes from Melody. She was all "Omg, I'm so alone. No one listens to Pearl Jam or Nirvana. No one understands me. I'm in a band and it takes up all my time." ANNOYING, and definitely a pick-me, no? I already didn't like her because of her immediate relation to LITERAL MONSTERS just because she used to have a "not-so attractive nose". But her whole "band over literally everything else" just made me so annoyed. She completely abandoned Jackson without so much as a "Sorry, I don't want to go to summer camp." (In my eyes, summer music camp with my boyfriend sounds a lot more fun than singing at college parties or whatever it was Melody was hoping to accomplish in her band with the literal worst name I've ever heard before.)
5. Romance - Frankie's love life was ALLLLL OVER THE PLACE. First, it was DJ, then Brett, then Billy, then Brett again. Personally, I liked Billy x Frankie the best because I thought they had the most chemistry and they were sweet and simple. Lisi Harrison SMASHED this hope of mine by just shoving Spectra (super annoying) in there and being like "Hehe they're both invisible, so of course they're in love." It made a lot more sense to me that Brett was just into Frankie because she's a monster. I was actually intrigued with the whole Frankie x DJ-Jackson x Melody thing, just because Drama! But Lisi Harrison also smashed this whole deal by just suddenly making DJ uninterested in Frankie, despite having him crushing on her for the entire first book and a half (I think it was something around this much time).
6. Conflict - I'd rather have a book where absolutely nothing interesting happens than a book with SO MANY unresolved conflicts. I can't even name all of them, but some include the whole DJ becoming a roadie for Leadfeather and suddenly Jackson makes up with Melody situation, the building of the Monster High, the sudden reconciliation between Draculaura and her dad despite LITERALLY 1599 YEARS of him being crappy. There could have been a whole 'nother book to explain all of this.
7. Make like a ____ and ____ jokes - There were too many of these. I swear there were at least four on the same page. How many times can you use these jokes before they get old? The answer is once. Even then, that's stretching it. Also, I have to note that pretty much all of these jokes were told by Draculaura's uncle, Vlad, and they were mostly about beauty products. I have come to the conclusion that because of this (and vibes, of course) Vlad is gay, right? There were no other gay characters in this series (that we know about), besides Clawdeen (who is officially a lesbian), so it's safe to assume, maybe.
Second, is this series in an alternate universe? I don't remember half of the characters or qualities of the main characters, so is this an alternate universe from the Monster High movies? I never saw the online stuff or Youtube stuff or whatever, so I must be missing something. What mainly got me is that Melody doesn't exist, and I don't remember Clawdeen being so bitchy or Lagoona having such ANNOYING traits, like her dry skin (which actually makes sense) and constant use of the word "Sheila", which was claimed to only be used when she doesn't know the name of someone, but was used a lot more than that for people she was best friends with. Also, who the hell is Irish Anna or whatever her name was? NEVER heard of her. She was just kinda there.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to say about these books. I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I suffered through these books, but no one made me do that but myself, so what can I say? Do I regret reading these? Kind of no just because it's Monster High, but mostly yes because of how bad they were. Every couple of pages I would just groan or sigh or complain about something because there was always something to complain about.
Thanks for reading my rant. :)
Yes, I am editing this not even two minutes after I posted this...
I realize I left out A LOT, but I'm way too lazy to go back and find out what it is and what I should say about it. I wanted to just briefly mention some things I know I left out:
Granite - Why? Why are you here? Go away. And your name? So original. Not that that's a problem with anyone else's name.........
Grunge Goddess -> Leadfeather - absolutely horrible
Melody - also absolutely horrible
9.5's (or one of the other Leadfeather members. honestly they're all the same to me) glorified stomach - What was the point of people cheering because she wears a crop-top? That's just a bit weird. Even though I see what Lisi Harrison was trying to do, she could have done it better.
Candace - Kind of annoying, but best character.
Siren powers - completely misused. example of Melody being absolutely horrible
T'eau-Dally - WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL HAPPENED WITH THOSE SHOES? THE KANGEROO FUR AND THE BEAR FUR AND TRYING TO SKIN CLAWDEEN FOR HER FUR??? WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? WHY WAS THIS NEEDED?
Clawdeen - why she gotta be mad at Clawd and Lala? They're my favorite couple in the MH universe. I am kinda mad that Lisi Harrison made Clawd want to hide their relationship though...
I think that's it..... I actually don't know, but I think that's most of it.
May 16, 2012
The RADS and Normies are now totally integrated at Merston High. The monsters looks are even becoming popular fashion statements. Frankie is obsessed with being normal and Cleo is not liking Frankie catching up to her in popularity. Melody has started singing with a local grunge band and made some new friends. Then Mr. D comes back and as usual he totally ignores Draculaura, so she enters a contest to try and get the school sponsored and get his attention that way. Then Mr. D (not knowing about Lala's contest) decides that the RADs need their own school. Now Lala has to win the contest or her and friends will have to leave their Normie friends behind.
It was fun and quick although there were definitely a few things that stuck out at me. Melody's problems work out b/c DJ makes an appearance. Is DJ also in a relationship with Melody? Is he similar enough to Jackson for it to work and are we really just completely ignoring her kiss with Granite?
I also felt like Clawd's treatment of Lala was kind of sucko and she didn't deal with it, although maybe that's going to be left for a future book?
There was one other thing but I don't remember it now, sigh.
It was fun and quick although there were definitely a few things that stuck out at me. Melody's problems work out b/c DJ makes an appearance. Is DJ also in a relationship with Melody? Is he similar enough to Jackson for it to work and are we really just completely ignoring her kiss with Granite?
I also felt like Clawd's treatment of Lala was kind of sucko and she didn't deal with it, although maybe that's going to be left for a future book?
There was one other thing but I don't remember it now, sigh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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