North of Beautiful

North of Beautiful
By: Justina Chen Headley

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 small, stifling 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?

summary from back of book

My Rating: 4/5

Okay, so I finally finished reading this one. It took me a little while, longer than it usually takes me to read most books. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy North of Beautiful because it was a really great story just that it lagged in a little in a few places. Overall though, I thought this was a really amazing book.

I love Justina Chen Headley's writing. It's so descriptive and perfectly articulated. I'd never read anything by her before but now I'm totally sold on her work. As far as characters go, I enjoyed them. They were real and well thought out, especially Terra the main character who really goes on a journey of self acceptance. The only character I hated was Terra's father Grant Cooper. People who have read this book will completely understand and sympathize. Grant was just verbally abusive and manipulative. I just felt so bad for Terra, her mom, and two brothers. Reading scenes that include the dad and his harsh and unnecessary criticism was really hard to get through at times. I just wanted to stand up to him for the entire family.

There is some romance in this for you romance junkies (like me =D) with a little someone by the name of Jacob. But mostly, North of Beautiful is really about Terra Cooper as she comes to love and accept herself for who she is, imperfections and all. This was a really great read, inspirational and well crafted. I really recommend it.