North of Beautiful
Justina Chen Headley
**** stars
Terra is girl who just wants to go through life normal. However, she feels it's not possible considering her red-wine stain birthmark that covers half her face. Through the years her parents put her through severe pain trying to get rid of her birthmark by laser surgery, but nothing work. Now, her father has come to terms that nothing can fix her face and makes it known that she will be ugly for life, and the only one who supports her now is her mother. So to prevent people from knowing about her birthmark, she layers her face with tons of makeup and stays in denial until she meets Jacob, a chinese goth with a cleft lip, who she can relate with. Terra soon starts to enjoy Jacob's company and learns about geocaching which is where people all over the world bury things for others to find. And she begins to fall for him even though she already has the 'ideal' boyfriend according to her friend Karin. Ignoring what everybody says about Jacob, Terra and her mother take time off from her controlling father and visit China with Jacob and his mother. There, Terra and her mother go geocaching, and discover more than what's in the treasure box, they discover themselves.
I gave North of Beautiful four stars because it was different from what I usually read and I just loved it. At times Terra's father could be such an arrogant man and it literally made me want to through the book at the wall. However, I didn't and I was just happy with the outcome of the book and the path Terra chose. I definitely recommend this book to those who like stories about overcoming defeat. Trust me you will love North of Beautiful so check it out in the O'Hara library.
4 comments:
I am glad you read this! Here is my review of it from last year!
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and wonderful..., January 3, 2010
Wow. My first read of 2010 is a winner! This YA novel is a jewel, a treasure of a book that will resonate with females from 5 to 50. Yes, it's ostensibly the story of a teenaged girl with a port wine stain on her face, but it's so much deeper than that. The reader follows Terra on a journey of self-discovery that includes revelations about the nature and meaning of true beauty.
It's somewhat the story of a dysfunctional family with an abusive father, yes -- but also about a mother who's a compulsive eater, distant brothers, an inattentive boyfriend, a self-absorbed best girlfriend, and a self-loathing main character who spends her free time making up her face and creating collages in a local art studio. It's also about meeting that one special someone who "gets you".
Terra meets Jacob after almost running him down outside of a coffeehouse. Thus begins the transformation of a lonely, controlled but ambitious girl into "iron goddess". Using map-making terminology throughout, North of Beautiful is an amazingly complex novel loaded with many interesting details. Terra, Jacob and their mothers embark on a trip to China that exceeds all expectations and transforms each of the travelers into the person he/she was ultimately meant to be. Just as Terra builds her collages, layer upon layer, the experiences each has in that country reveal the hidden beauty that every person carries inside.
I loved this book. Stop reading this review right now and order it. Read it and love it as I did. Pass it on to everyone you know!
Yep I couldn't agree with you more Ms Crawford
This book was too confusing!
The beginning of the book is really uninteresting, but it pays of to stick with it.
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