Monster High by Lisi Harrison

From Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas, comes a new series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the horrors of trying to fit in.
They prefer to call themselves RAD (Regular Attribute Disorder), but some call them monsters. So far, the "monster" community has kept a low profile in Salem, but this year two new girls enroll at Master High School, and the town will never be the same.
Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and cheerleading. But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters who might be stalking the halls, Frankie finds that life in the "normi" world can be rough for a chic freak like her.
She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver--but can a normi be trusted with her big secret?
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Monster High was an interesting take on the paranormal. The chapters alternate between the two main characters, Frankie and Melody. Frankie is the granddaughter of the original Frankenstein while Melody is a girl who moved to the small town from Los Angeles.

I'm going to start with talking about the ending. Oh my, is there a cliffhanger. One of the RADs is very close to being outed to the community for what he really is. The girls come together in order to keep this from happening but what's their plan? And will it even work? The ending got my attention enough to make me want to read the next book in the series whenever it comes out. Having said that, though, I don't think I would spend my money on it. This is one that I would wait to get from the library. It was a good read but not something I absolutely have to have my own copy for my collection.

Both Frankie and Melody are dealing with some serious body image issues. This is something that any teenager can relate to and understand.

For any readers out there that are shying away from this series due to an aversion to The Clique, you needn't worry. There's still lots of fashion and beauty references but no name dropping. I think you'll find this much more tolerable than Harrison's other series.

Overall, I'd say this novel was cute. Monsters are a huge trend in YA lit right now so it would make an okay addition to your collection.

3 stars