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A review by jimenainovaro
Beautiful Beautiful by Heidi Garrett
5.0
I don’t usually enjoy contemporaries as much as I do fantasy and science fiction, but this novella pushed all my buttons. Shall we examine these buttons?
Frame narrative
I have a thing for frame narratives. I loved how this one was executed: years later, the heroine tells her seven-year-old daughter the story, but she transforms it into a fairy tale. We’re able to see how the narrative really unfolded, and also how Kerrin relates it to her daughter. We can see how Kerrin changed because of the experience and the lessons she learned.
Writing
The first thing that drew me into the story was the writing. There’s a unique voice and tone, communicating Kerrin’s unique perspective of the world, that I loved.
It was her nature to balance and weigh every element: color; furnishings; space. Ever since she could remember, she assessed each detail of a new physical environment upon entering. Her eye sought asymmetry and dissonance, as much as order and balance, measuring light and angles, to frame the perfect shot in her mind.
This is not only lovely, but it lets us get deeply into Kerrin’s psyche, and discover the why of the things she does throughout the story.
Also, Kerrin’s snarkiness provided some great humorous breaks in the narrative.
Search for beauty
Kerrin has a thing for beauty. It goes beyond liking to look at pretty things–she has a sort of craving for it, which I think she shares with a lot of artists. I really clicked with her from the beginning because of it. The thing is that there are different kinds of beauty, and Kerrin has to learn to tell them apart, as does most of humankind.
This could have been reduced to a Disney-esque “Don’t judge people by their appearances!” and “What matters is what’s on the inside!” but it’s a lot more complicated than that. The story is really about examining beauty through Kerrin’s eyes, not as a simple dichotomy, but as a nuanced part of human experience.
Film industry
As you might have gathered from the blurb, the story takes place in the setting of the film industry. The level of detail and authority in portraying the ins and outs of the film industry gave a solid base and a ring of truth to the whole story. Kudos for that!
Creepiness
I was never bored by the story, but at a certain point, I started to get really nervous and creeped out, and I couldn’t put the book down. It wasn’t the things that were happening–although those unnerved me plenty–but the introspection that these events force on Kerrin. I think this plays on a universal fear and insecurity–that our perception is wrong, that we’re not who we think we are, that we’re broken.
All summed up, I enjoyed Beautiful Beautiful a whole lot, and I think that if any of the elements I mentioned appeal to you, you will, too. However, it does have adult language and adult situations, so keep that in mind.
Frame narrative
I have a thing for frame narratives. I loved how this one was executed: years later, the heroine tells her seven-year-old daughter the story, but she transforms it into a fairy tale. We’re able to see how the narrative really unfolded, and also how Kerrin relates it to her daughter. We can see how Kerrin changed because of the experience and the lessons she learned.
Writing
The first thing that drew me into the story was the writing. There’s a unique voice and tone, communicating Kerrin’s unique perspective of the world, that I loved.
It was her nature to balance and weigh every element: color; furnishings; space. Ever since she could remember, she assessed each detail of a new physical environment upon entering. Her eye sought asymmetry and dissonance, as much as order and balance, measuring light and angles, to frame the perfect shot in her mind.
This is not only lovely, but it lets us get deeply into Kerrin’s psyche, and discover the why of the things she does throughout the story.
Also, Kerrin’s snarkiness provided some great humorous breaks in the narrative.
Search for beauty
Kerrin has a thing for beauty. It goes beyond liking to look at pretty things–she has a sort of craving for it, which I think she shares with a lot of artists. I really clicked with her from the beginning because of it. The thing is that there are different kinds of beauty, and Kerrin has to learn to tell them apart, as does most of humankind.
This could have been reduced to a Disney-esque “Don’t judge people by their appearances!” and “What matters is what’s on the inside!” but it’s a lot more complicated than that. The story is really about examining beauty through Kerrin’s eyes, not as a simple dichotomy, but as a nuanced part of human experience.
Film industry
As you might have gathered from the blurb, the story takes place in the setting of the film industry. The level of detail and authority in portraying the ins and outs of the film industry gave a solid base and a ring of truth to the whole story. Kudos for that!
Creepiness
I was never bored by the story, but at a certain point, I started to get really nervous and creeped out, and I couldn’t put the book down. It wasn’t the things that were happening–although those unnerved me plenty–but the introspection that these events force on Kerrin. I think this plays on a universal fear and insecurity–that our perception is wrong, that we’re not who we think we are, that we’re broken.
All summed up, I enjoyed Beautiful Beautiful a whole lot, and I think that if any of the elements I mentioned appeal to you, you will, too. However, it does have adult language and adult situations, so keep that in mind.