The much-anticipated sequel to Barnes' debut novel GOLDEN, PLATINUM tells the other side of the story, from the perspective of Emory High's Queen Bee herself, the one and only Lilah Covington. The perfect life that Lilah has worked so hard to build for herself seems to be slowly falling apart. Her newfound cousin Lissy seems determined to stay at the bottom of the social hierarchy despite Lilah's best attempts to coach her otherwise, her best friend is making a play for her boyfriend, and she's starting to see people that no one else can see. And maybe even falling for one of them. Sweet revenge is one of Lilah's many talents, but supernatural problems are hardly her forte, which means that she's stuck sucking up to social leper Lissy for help.
I'm not generally a fan of sequels, but PLATINUM manages to outshine GOLDEN by a long haul. Lilah is my favorite of Barnes' protagonists, and Barnes does an excellent job of getting inside the head of a girl who is essentially a huge bitch and making the reader love her. We get an inside view of how Lilah grew up, what makes her vulnerable, how she got to be the way she is, and why she fights so hard to keep her life the way it is. Lilah doesn't do anything just to be mean, she's merely a smart girl who knows what she wants and knows people and their social hierarchies well enough to get it. The majority of young adult novels in the post-MEAN GIRLS era that try to capture what goes on in popular cliques fall flat because their authors seem to have forgotten to look for any motivation for their characters' actions beyond the mall or the school dance. What's truly commendable about this novel is that the reasons for each of Lilah's actions are very clear, and because of this we're usually on her side.
I'm not generally a fan of sequels, but PLATINUM manages to outshine GOLDEN by a long haul. Lilah is my favorite of Barnes' protagonists, and Barnes does an excellent job of getting inside the head of a girl who is essentially a huge bitch and making the reader love her. We get an inside view of how Lilah grew up, what makes her vulnerable, how she got to be the way she is, and why she fights so hard to keep her life the way it is. Lilah doesn't do anything just to be mean, she's merely a smart girl who knows what she wants and knows people and their social hierarchies well enough to get it. The majority of young adult novels in the post-MEAN GIRLS era that try to capture what goes on in popular cliques fall flat because their authors seem to have forgotten to look for any motivation for their characters' actions beyond the mall or the school dance. What's truly commendable about this novel is that the reasons for each of Lilah's actions are very clear, and because of this we're usually on her side.
I think a rereading GOLDEN after knowing Lilah's side of the story would also be an interesting read.
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