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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
i think this novel had nicely executed themes of maturity, coming-of-age, and dealing with mental issues such as anxiety. however, i did find it quite bland, boring and predictable. the problem of being “ugly” because if a birthmark might give unreasonable expectations to young girls who read this novel, but overall you may enjoy this novel if you tend to enjoy realistic teen fiction.
This book is deep, it taught me lots of stuff and although I had some trouble with the MC's behaviour at the beginning I saw that the MC was learning too, through the book, she was growing as a person and I loved it. The other characters are stunningly well written, the rawness of all the feelings and thoughts astonished me. This book is really good, without some minor details I would have liked differently this book would have 5 stars...
I recommend it to anyone who wants a book about growing into a person who stops being so aware of her physical appareance to let herself be aware of her feelings and surroundings.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a book about growing into a person who stops being so aware of her physical appareance to let herself be aware of her feelings and surroundings.
i think this novel had nicely executed themes of maturity, coming-of-age, and dealing with mental issues such as anxiety. however, i did find it quite bland, boring and predictable. the problem of being “ugly” because if a birthmark might give unreasonable expectations to young girls who read this novel, but overall you may enjoy this novel if you tend to enjoy realistic teen fiction.
This book is beautiful and I can't think of any other words for it.
Terra has been gifted/cursed with a large port-wine birthmark across her cheek. Ever since she was sneered at because of her birthmark, Terra has tried countless laser surgery operations and has acquired a fairly impressive collection of make-up to hide the reddish birthmark.
Enter her father { aka The stupidest-selfishiest-annoyingest man. Ever. }
Very rarely does this man have something helpful to say. He's cynical {My new favorite word}, prideful, and insensitive to those around him. Which often includes is family. Terra's two older brothers have fled away from their father ergo - Terra's on her own.
Practically.
Enter her mother { aka The person you just want to hug and tell them "It'll be ok" }
It's obvious that Mrs. Cooper is largely effected by her husband. She's quick to apologize even when it isn't her fault that made her husband angry. Unfortunately, baking has become a bit of a nervous habit. When Mrs. Cooper talks about any kind of treat or making some cookies, it only seems to egg Mr. Cooper on about her weight. Yet, Terra doesn't take this crap anymore.
Enter Jacob { aka The Goth/attractive/coffee fanatic/and wonderfully emotionally and philosophically deep guy }
He sees past Terra's birthmark. He forgives her for almost running him over. Oh, and he takes her to China!
Actual review:
Writing style; Madame Headley's style was wordier than most, the sentences tending to just barely tip toe across the run-on line. Because of that, I had to reread some sentences and sections because of the confusing terminology. A minor setback to such an extraordinary book.
Characters; I found Terra, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Cooper, Jacob, etc etc were quite believable. I hate Mr. Cooper with a burning passion. I did, though, doubt some of Terra's choices. {spoiler Like why wouldn't she break up with Erik sooner and not have to deal with pushing Jacob away? I mean, come on! Jacob didn't even have to know she was dating someone else while hanging out with him if she had broken up with Erik as she realized that Erik was not her type. End spoiler}
Dialogue; The words actually spoken were few and far between. In a normal conversation, some sentences which would occur maybe only seconds after, had a whole paragraph between them at times. Though what the characters said was worth waiting for.
Overall; North of Beautiful is a book I would recommend highly. It had romance, it had adventure, it had questions that I could ask myself and wonder what I saw, and there was coffee. It was a hard book not to love. The references was well executed. The thesaurus was used often. But who doesn't love a good word hunt?
Enter her father { aka The stupidest-selfishiest-annoyingest man. Ever. }
Very rarely does this man have something helpful to say. He's cynical {My new favorite word}, prideful, and insensitive to those around him. Which often includes is family. Terra's two older brothers have fled away from their father ergo - Terra's on her own.
Practically.
Enter her mother { aka The person you just want to hug and tell them "It'll be ok" }
It's obvious that Mrs. Cooper is largely effected by her husband. She's quick to apologize even when it isn't her fault that made her husband angry. Unfortunately, baking has become a bit of a nervous habit. When Mrs. Cooper talks about any kind of treat or making some cookies, it only seems to egg Mr. Cooper on about her weight. Yet, Terra doesn't take this crap anymore.
Enter Jacob { aka The Goth/attractive/coffee fanatic/and wonderfully emotionally and philosophically deep guy }
He sees past Terra's birthmark. He forgives her for almost running him over. Oh, and he takes her to China!
Actual review:
Writing style; Madame Headley's style was wordier than most, the sentences tending to just barely tip toe across the run-on line. Because of that, I had to reread some sentences and sections because of the confusing terminology. A minor setback to such an extraordinary book.
Characters; I found Terra, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Cooper, Jacob, etc etc were quite believable. I hate Mr. Cooper with a burning passion. I did, though, doubt some of Terra's choices. {spoiler Like why wouldn't she break up with Erik sooner and not have to deal with pushing Jacob away? I mean, come on! Jacob didn't even have to know she was dating someone else while hanging out with him if she had broken up with Erik as she realized that Erik was not her type. End spoiler}
Dialogue; The words actually spoken were few and far between. In a normal conversation, some sentences which would occur maybe only seconds after, had a whole paragraph between them at times. Though what the characters said was worth waiting for.
Overall; North of Beautiful is a book I would recommend highly. It had romance, it had adventure, it had questions that I could ask myself and wonder what I saw, and there was coffee. It was a hard book not to love. The references was well executed. The thesaurus was used often. But who doesn't love a good word hunt?
This novel was unmistakeably amazing. The wide range of words and her vast knowledge of cartography was really interesting and actually gave me inspiration when I had a bout of writer’s block while doing a project. Terra’s father is a control freak who insists on controlling everything that is done by his children and his wife. When Terra and her mother meet Norah and Jacob, they begin to learn what freedom feels like. On a spontaneous trip to China, Terra and her mother are able to run free for the first time, unafraid of being yelled at for their mistakes.
Headley manages to create this world and weave in the anger and dispair of a dysfuntional family into the story. Her way with diction managed to paint the image of scenery and expression. The struggle between Terra and her boyfriend Erik was interesting as well. Terra’s insecurities, though, prevented her from truly being into the relationship, while everyone else said ‘You’re so lucky that he chose you’.This book displayed the struggle between maintaining perfection and being real, as well as true to yourself. Extremely well written, I loved this book!
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.94/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
Headley manages to create this world and weave in the anger and dispair of a dysfuntional family into the story. Her way with diction managed to paint the image of scenery and expression. The struggle between Terra and her boyfriend Erik was interesting as well. Terra’s insecurities, though, prevented her from truly being into the relationship, while everyone else said ‘You’re so lucky that he chose you’.This book displayed the struggle between maintaining perfection and being real, as well as true to yourself. Extremely well written, I loved this book!
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.94/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
I ended up really loving this novel even though it was a bit of a process to get here lol. I just wish we could have avoided the whole cheating thing.
North of Beautiful has been on my list of books I want to read for years and I finally got my hands on it and read it! And Justina Chen has written something poignant and beautiful about love, self acceptance, and beauty. It was obvious to me that a lot of love went into crafting this novel.
I also loved the love interest! Jacob is such a well rounded and likable character. He breaks down Terra’s walls with charm and kindness, while also dealing with his own issues of identity and culture (being adopted from China at a young age).
The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the subplot with her boyfriend. I thought that was a cheap and overused trope to create tension between Terra and Jacob. We really could have gone without that and she should have broken up with Erik within twenty pages of meeting Jacob.
Altogeyer, I think if you’re someone who loves coming of age novels or romances (or especially a blend of both) I think you’ll enjoy this one!
North of Beautiful has been on my list of books I want to read for years and I finally got my hands on it and read it! And Justina Chen has written something poignant and beautiful about love, self acceptance, and beauty. It was obvious to me that a lot of love went into crafting this novel.
I also loved the love interest! Jacob is such a well rounded and likable character. He breaks down Terra’s walls with charm and kindness, while also dealing with his own issues of identity and culture (being adopted from China at a young age).
The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the subplot with her boyfriend. I thought that was a cheap and overused trope to create tension between Terra and Jacob. We really could have gone without that and she should have broken up with Erik within twenty pages of meeting Jacob.
Altogeyer, I think if you’re someone who loves coming of age novels or romances (or especially a blend of both) I think you’ll enjoy this one!
Wow. I went into this book not expecting a lot, especially since the cover looked like a cliche contemporary novel - which i love don't get me wrong. However this book was so much more, it was truly amazing.
Grade: A-
The Good: I found this book to be beautiful crafted. Justina Chen Headley is a talented writer. Her skills aren't John Green-level, but they're worth mentioning. So many writers create a good story with their plot and characters but their writing is just so-so. Also, every little bit of the plot is lovely. There are so many little elements coming together to form the whole plot: Terra's harsh father, Terra's art, meeting Jacob, a trip to China, geocaching, etc. I love how Terra discovered herself at the end and how she supported her mom. I found Terra's brothers, Merc and Claudius, to be interesting characters who each reacted in different ways to their father.
The Bad: The last chapter felt a bit off to me. At least, the ending with Jacob. I don't know, maybe I just didn't understand it. Also, I think geocaching needed a bit more explanation. It's widely gaining popularity, but not everyone knows what it is (I only know because of Switched at Birth). I think the climax needed to come a little sooner. There was a lot of build-up and it took too long to arrive with an ending that was a bit rushed then.
The Ugly: A wee bit of language. Some sexual references, nothing vastly inappropriate, though. Romance was pretty much PG.
The Verdict: Read this book. It's not an epic like The Hunger Games, Divergent, or The Fault in Our Stars but it's still an excellent read.
Read the full review here: http://bookworm716.blogspot.com/2013/08/north-of-beautiful.html
The Good: I found this book to be beautiful crafted. Justina Chen Headley is a talented writer. Her skills aren't John Green-level, but they're worth mentioning. So many writers create a good story with their plot and characters but their writing is just so-so. Also, every little bit of the plot is lovely. There are so many little elements coming together to form the whole plot: Terra's harsh father, Terra's art, meeting Jacob, a trip to China, geocaching, etc. I love how Terra discovered herself at the end and how she supported her mom. I found Terra's brothers, Merc and Claudius, to be interesting characters who each reacted in different ways to their father.
The Bad: The last chapter felt a bit off to me. At least, the ending with Jacob. I don't know, maybe I just didn't understand it. Also, I think geocaching needed a bit more explanation. It's widely gaining popularity, but not everyone knows what it is (I only know because of Switched at Birth). I think the climax needed to come a little sooner. There was a lot of build-up and it took too long to arrive with an ending that was a bit rushed then.
The Ugly: A wee bit of language. Some sexual references, nothing vastly inappropriate, though. Romance was pretty much PG.
The Verdict: Read this book. It's not an epic like The Hunger Games, Divergent, or The Fault in Our Stars but it's still an excellent read.
Read the full review here: http://bookworm716.blogspot.com/2013/08/north-of-beautiful.html
I really wish I loved this book as much as most of the people here do, but I guess this just isn't my cup of tea. While Headley's prose is very realistic and something to be admired, there was too much focus on Terra's internal conflicts throughout the story. The pacing of the story felt too slow and honestly I found myself skimming parts a few times. It does start to get interesting when Jacob is finally introduced (which is like 50 pages in) and if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it. Terra and Jacob's relationship was really sweet and the way it blossomed felt really natural.