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 think a rereading GOLDEN after knowing Lilah's side of the story would also be an interesting read.

PLATINUM picks up weeks after [[ASIN:0385733119 Golden]] left off.

Lilah's not sure exactly what's happening to her. She's seeing people that no one else can see, but she's not sure if it's the past or the future. All she knows is that someone wants to kill her boyfriend and she's got to figure out why. In looking at old yearbooks, she discovers that Brock's not the first boy who could end up dying.

Not only does she have to deal with her new visions, but also her social life, which could be falling apart. Her best friend makes a play for her boyfriend. Even though she's now having lukewarm feelings for him, it's against the girl code. She's taking down her best friend if that's the last thing she does. Lilah hasn't gotten to the top without hiccups, but she's determined to have Lissy help her with the visions and remain the Queen Bee.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes takes a normal high school drama of best friends vs. boys and adds a paranormal twist. Give this one to fans of vampire books looking for something similar.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel