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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Maybe it’s nostalgia goggles (was my favourite when I was younger) but it was just a nice read despite the whole abuse storyline. The ending was a bit cheesy but it was feel good in the end. For some reason I remember Dilly and Mike getting together but I guess it was just my imagination. Also I don’t remember this being such a serious story but that’s old Jackie for you.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i read this somewhere where i probably shouldn’t have been reading so much but i just kept this book with me when there. i didn’t read much jaqueline when i was younger, was more a fan of david walliams (although i did own lily alone, more for sharing her name than anything) but of course i knew as i got older what kind of topics she discussed and this one is no different.
beauty is a little girl bullied for her name, for her young mother, and eventually for her father all whilst she is in fact being verbally abused and her mother physically/financially abused and groomed to be the perfect wife for him. i am 21 years old and have not experienced any kind of abuse and yet jacqueline wilson was able to make me feel the exact same things (when beauty gets her birthday present from rhona? my heart dropped and i had to stop because wow okay) as these characters were feeling and im sure this book must have resonated with that certain group of little girls who very likely needed to read this.
if i read this when i was younger i don’t think i truly would have picked up all the nuances there to know how bad the abuse was. with all the off handed comments about her mum that beauty likely doesn’t realise (her youth, the money situation, the fact that she was 16 when she dropped out of school and that the abusive dad would pick the “younger models” of his wives and she was still young enough to seem like an older sister to beauty, the comments about her skills, belittling her at every corner). and yes she realised that this treatment isn’t okay but as an adult reading it, you pick up on everything jacqueline is putting down. even seeing how beauty may have picked up habits from her dad at times (especially when they get time to themselves and the situation becomes full of stressed and just mixed with the fact she’s a child -i think at once her mum is telling her off and telling her to stop acting like a child and beauty says something like “well i am a child, how else would i act?” which is so simple and yet it has an effect all the same). and how the “aunt” reacted? the whole “it can’t be that bad, he’s rich so you’re rich” when yea it can be that bad.
i was so engrossed with this book in a way i wasn’t expecting to be. yes there were parts that were so cringey but its stuff a little girl would probably say and think anyway, its full of drama and overly happy scenes that would never happen but its a happy ending for a pair you want to see have this happy ending (definitely aimed more for the intended audience with this one -the whole ending chapter really is a bit over the top but not really when i know kids would likely love it).
its jacqueline wilson, what else can i say? shes famous for a reason.
Grade: A-
I am basing my rating for these childhood books on how much I enjoyed them when I read them as a child.
I am basing my rating for these childhood books on how much I enjoyed them when I read them as a child.
The reason Jacqueline Wilson is so great is that she writes about girls who have real-life problems, in a way that is positive and humorous. In this case, Beauty Cookson has no friends, no self-confidence, and a Dad who is very controlling and flies into a terrible rage at the slightest thing, belittling Beauty and her Mum at every turn and completely unable to understand their point of view at all. You know it'll all turn out more or less OK in the end, the only question is how - and whether Beauty will ever get a rabbit like Lily... :)
Really well-done book on a difficult subject. Beauty's father is emotionally abusive, and occasionally physically abusive, to both her and her mother. And they do end up leaving him. But really, there's much more to it than that. It's really good, but very cringe-inducing as well.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A friend recommended the author to me saying her characters “go through real shit” and indeed, at 24, I found myself very much engrossed in the drama of this middle grade book. I can see why her work’s so popular, very relatable stuff for a lot of kids im sure.
If you or your children have read anything by Jacqueline Wilson before, then you'll already be a fan (says the reviewer, making a sweeping statement and opening herself up for immediate criticism). If you haven't come across her before, as I hadn't (she was slipping between the generations), then this book will be a good start.
The girl on the cover is Beauty, so named by her father because of course his daughter is going to grow up to 'make him proud'. Beauty's mother is his third wife, selected for her beauty and compliance. I really need not say any more about this über-bully except to say that Beauty and her mother's lives will never be free until they get away from him.
The blurb for this book says it's "a charming page-turning and heart-warming story" - yes!
The girl on the cover is Beauty, so named by her father because of course his daughter is going to grow up to 'make him proud'. Beauty's mother is his third wife, selected for her beauty and compliance. I really need not say any more about this über-bully except to say that Beauty and her mother's lives will never be free until they get away from him.
The blurb for this book says it's "a charming page-turning and heart-warming story" - yes!
lighthearted
fast-paced