Review: Beauty by Lisa Daily

Imagine waking up in one morning and finding out that you are the most beautiful girl in town.

Molly, like average teenagers, doesn’t like the way she looks. She is too self-conscious about her appearance, and it doesn’t help that she has the biggest crush to a boy in her neighborhood, Hudson, who isn’t even aware of her existence. After a humiliating incident involving a stuffed monkey, the prettiest girl in her school, and a country-fair-went-wrong, all Molly wants is just to curl up and die. When she’s looking for a spot in the fair to hide herself away, she meets Dharma, a mysterious artist who offered to draw a sketch of Molly. She also offers to listen to Molly’s problem, and Molly agrees.

“It’s just … it’s unfair. I wish I could be like that, you know?” … “Like Ashley.” I picked at a blade of grass, watching the water roll over my toes. “I wish I could be the most beautiful girl in Miracle.”

In a town named Miracle, miracle happens for real. The day after, Molly wakes up and finds out that the distance between her eyes has shortened, her cheekbones become higher, and in result, she has the most beautiful face in Miracle. Now Hudson finally notices her, and the popular crowd wants Molly to join their exclusive group. But what if that’s not what Molly really wants?

I’ve read books with similar plot to Beauty, but it’s still a very entertaining read! It was very easy to get lost in the story. I found myself giggling and squealing along with Molly when everyone in school starts fawning at her feet. It was pretty fun to read the good parts when people worshiped her. The writing, although not amazing, is great and very easy to follow.

Beauty, although extremely predictable, is such a cute read. Sure, there are plot holes and unrealistic parts that bugged me a little, but I just brushed them off and enjoyed Molly’s story. I found the story refreshing after reading too much books with stories that I have to analyze. I think most readers can relate to Molly’s story easily. There is always a time when we wish that we were prettier, that we were as beautiful as girls in magazines. Although in the end, just like Molly, we realize that what matters is the inside, not the outside. :)

Beauty is a short and cute read, and I’d recommend this for younger readers or for those who are looking for a light read. This book is something that you can finish in one sitting, and even though the story is not exactly something new or exceptionally amazing, it’s a fun book to read in your spare time.

And it wasn’t just my features. It was something else too—a certain je ne sais quoi as my dad would say—something that drew my eyes to the mirror and made them never want to look away. Something that seemed to emanate out of me, warm and alluring, like a fire on a freezing night. Something that made me want to step closer, look closer, like there was this magnetic pull to me. I was captivating. I was enchanting. I was … beautiful.

This was not possible.

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I rated it:

Three cups of tea. I like it.  Recommended to read in spare time.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

You gave me forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.

Excuse me while I’m crying in the corner because of the excessive amount of tearful moments in this book.

The Fault in Our Stars successfully becomes one of my favorite books in 2012. It’s beautiful, brilliant, and heart-wrenching. It’s freakintastic amazing and I just want to hug this book when I finished it. You don’t want to be anywhere within radius of three meters near me because when I finished reading, I was an emotional wreck. Um, I still am.

The Fault in Our Stars is like a small portion of diary of a real sixteen-year-old girl who is suffering with cancer. I like that the story moves forward as the time goes, and there is no flashback moment. It is as if Hazel’s life begins the moment she meets Augustus. And I believe the same applies to Augustus. From the moment they met at cancer kid support group, it is as if the universe has conducted so they can be together. So different yet so similar, I love the interactions between Hazel and Augustus. I love how cynical Hazel can be, and how cheerful Augustus is. They are clearly meant to be, and suddenly, I found myself getting too attached to characters in this book.

What I found interesting about The Fault in Our Stars is, the scenes in this book aren’t meant to jerk tears. When most scenes in other sad books are intended to make readers cry and become emotional, scenes in The Fault in Our Stars are very realistic and true. Things happened because, well, that’s the way the world works. We felt for characters in this book because we read and know their stories. They become our friends, and as the story progresses, I can understand Hazel very well without her needing to describe her thoughts in words. The characters have become something so real, with blood and vein and flesh and thoughts, that I don’t want to part with them, ever.

I love the beautifully composed writing and the well structured plots, but let me talk about the characters. Oh my gosh, Augustus. Fangirl moment here. Augustus-Augustus-Augustus. You’re such an amazing character. How I wish you were real. :’) Hazel. Oh Hazel, I also wish you were real so we can be best friends. You’re so smart and witty and quirky, and I love you even when you’re being stubborn and harsh. Augustus and Hazel are the kind of couple who should marry and have ten kids and get old together. They should have a future where they are holding hands and watching their grandparents playing in the backyard of their house. They are clearly meant for each other, and I just feel so happy that Hazel and Augustus experienced the kind of true love that everyone wishes for in their lives. Time they spend together feels like forever. :’)

In a nutshell, The Fault in Our Stars is like a chunk of life of real cancer girl, and reading it was a wonderful experience. Funny, sad, and ironic, this is the book that will always live in my heart. I encourage you to please, please read it. I hope that just like me, you would fall in love with Hazel, Augustus, and everyone else in the book. And maybe, just maybe… we can be more grateful of little things in our life. :’)

“I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.” 

 

 

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I rated this book:

Five cups of tea. Genius. Beautiful, haunting, and lively characters. Reading this is an overwhelming experience. Must read at least once in a lifetime!