Book Review: NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL

Author: Justina Chen Headley
Number of Pages: 373
Publisher: Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 1, 2009

"It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.
She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?"
                                               - Goodreads.com

North of Beautiful is all about a girl with a port wine stain on her face. Since I didn't know much about this topic, I found this book very interesting to read. I found that I easily related to Terra (the main character), and I think a lot of people would be able to, because everyone has something about themselves that they don't like, right? I also found myself hating Terra's father, and I just wanted to scream at him: YOU ARE A TERRIBLE, NASTY PERSON!!!! However, I refrained from doing so, because there were people around. My favorite character was probably Jacob. You'll understand why when you read the book.

I loved Headley's writing throughout the entire novel. It's just so descriptive and she uses metaphors that truly make you think. I also loved how she incorporated the theme of mapmaking in many situations. It is a subject that isn't very common in YA fiction, but it was really neat to read about.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

I did have a problem with Terra and her relationship with her original boyfriend, Erik. Even though Terra really liked Jacob, and even though Jacob seemed to really like Terra back, Terra did not break up with Erik. HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I wanted to scream at Terra, but maybe not as loudly as I would have screamed at her father. I just couldn't see the logic in loving Jacob when you knew you had a boyfriend back home. Oh, some girls just can't think straight.

OKAY, THE SPOILER IS DONE!

Anyways, I have to say this was a very good book. Even though there were some things about it that annoyed me, I enjoyed reading it.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

Yours,
NutFreeNerd