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A review by lawbooks600
Skin Deep by Hayley Lawrence
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Representation: Implied Black, Brown, Asian, Latino/a and multiracial characters, side character with autism
Score: Six points out of ten.
I own this book.
I remember adding Skin Deep to my TBR a while back, then I removed it, but afterwards, I saw it at a book fair, so I bought it. I put the novel off for a while, until I had to pick it up when I burned through some others, and read it. When I finished it, I thought it was only okay, and even though it has its strengths, I couldn't fully enjoy the narrative. It starts with the first character I see, Scarlett, whose last name I forgot, living an (as ordinary as possible) life one year after something happened to her (which I discovered later.) Skin Deep is of a non-linear writing style where all the events happen out of order, but that made it more frustrating to read, and though I appreciate the style since it allows flashbacks to happen, a linear style would be a better choice. There are scenes explaining what happened to Scarlett: she was in a car crash, almost burned to death and received treatment for her injuries. Scarlett thinks she will never be beautiful again, but does it matter? She initially thinks so, but I didn't (it might be that I'm not her gender.) Scarlett details how the society expects women to be attractive and nothing else, but don't expect men to be magnificent-looking, so long as they have a redeeming quality, like being a sportsperson. That is messed up.
Scarlett moves to a mountain cabin to escape society's expectations, and stays there for most of the story, and she thought she would be alone, but there are people living there, Cat (who has autism) and another person whose name I don't remember.) I didn't enjoy reading Scarlett in the first half because of her attitude, but she grew on me eventually like when she grew on those other characters. It was depressing to see all the flashback scenes where Scarlett survived with her life barely intact, but I must give credit to her since she's alive. There was a side plot point about a person who previously lived in the cabin Scarlett resides in now who wrote a story about a person who wanted to fly, but the ending was open. It left me thinking, did the person fall to her death at the end or fly? Who knows, but that wasn't necessary to the central plot. Toward the conclusion, there was a flood which conflicted Scarlett: did she want to die only caring about her physical appearance, or survive and not care about it? She chose the latter, and I'm glad she did, finishing Skin Deep on a high note.
Score: Six points out of ten.
I own this book.
I remember adding Skin Deep to my TBR a while back, then I removed it, but afterwards, I saw it at a book fair, so I bought it. I put the novel off for a while, until I had to pick it up when I burned through some others, and read it. When I finished it, I thought it was only okay, and even though it has its strengths, I couldn't fully enjoy the narrative. It starts with the first character I see, Scarlett, whose last name I forgot, living an (as ordinary as possible) life one year after something happened to her (which I discovered later.) Skin Deep is of a non-linear writing style where all the events happen out of order, but that made it more frustrating to read, and though I appreciate the style since it allows flashbacks to happen, a linear style would be a better choice. There are scenes explaining what happened to Scarlett: she was in a car crash, almost burned to death and received treatment for her injuries. Scarlett thinks she will never be beautiful again, but does it matter? She initially thinks so, but I didn't (it might be that I'm not her gender.) Scarlett details how the society expects women to be attractive and nothing else, but don't expect men to be magnificent-looking, so long as they have a redeeming quality, like being a sportsperson. That is messed up.
Scarlett moves to a mountain cabin to escape society's expectations, and stays there for most of the story, and she thought she would be alone, but there are people living there, Cat (who has autism) and another person whose name I don't remember.) I didn't enjoy reading Scarlett in the first half because of her attitude, but she grew on me eventually like when she grew on those other characters. It was depressing to see all the flashback scenes where Scarlett survived with her life barely intact, but I must give credit to her since she's alive. There was a side plot point about a person who previously lived in the cabin Scarlett resides in now who wrote a story about a person who wanted to fly, but the ending was open. It left me thinking, did the person fall to her death at the end or fly? Who knows, but that wasn't necessary to the central plot. Toward the conclusion, there was a flood which conflicted Scarlett: did she want to die only caring about her physical appearance, or survive and not care about it? She chose the latter, and I'm glad she did, finishing Skin Deep on a high note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Full trigger warnings: Car crash, fire, physical injury, scars, near-death experiences, flood, hospitalisation of a child