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mackenzierm 's review for:
North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen
I loved this book. There is not a single word I can think of to explain how meaningful and touching it was to me.
North of Beautiful is Terra's story. She was born with a port wine stain that spans from her temple to her chin on her right cheek. Which no amount of surgery is able to remove. She has an overly controlling and critical father who no one in the family has the guts to stand up to and a mother who has a steadily increasing weight because she seeks the comfort of food to deflect her husband's verbal attacks. Terra's home life is far from good. She has artistic talent and wants to go cross-country to an East Coast college. Following a minor car accident on the way home from Seattle, Terra meets a Chinese goth boy, Jacob, who was adopted from an orphanage in China as a toddler. Terra's eldest brother sends tickets for her and her mom to come visit him where he lives in China, Jacob and his mom embark on the journey as well. As Jacob and Terra get closer and closer through the duration of their trip, they learn the meaning of true beauty and learn more about themselves.
This is a fabulous novel. I found it so touching and heartfelt, I even was tearing up in certain places at the beginning and more so near the ending. The ending was perfect, I wouldn't change a thing about it if I could.
Headley shows what most mothers are willing to sacrifice for their children. Even though it hurts themselves, and that in itself is amazing. She also demonstrates how strenuous it is to have a sucky home life as well as an over-controlling father. That made me sad, seeing how he treated his family, and yet how no one had the courage to call him on it.
I loved Jacob, he was the most amazing character. I can't even describe how much I loved him in this book!
I had so much other things I had wanted to say about this book, but for the life of me I can't remember another thing. Anyways, fabulous book, definitely a must-read.
North of Beautiful is Terra's story. She was born with a port wine stain that spans from her temple to her chin on her right cheek. Which no amount of surgery is able to remove. She has an overly controlling and critical father who no one in the family has the guts to stand up to and a mother who has a steadily increasing weight because she seeks the comfort of food to deflect her husband's verbal attacks. Terra's home life is far from good. She has artistic talent and wants to go cross-country to an East Coast college. Following a minor car accident on the way home from Seattle, Terra meets a Chinese goth boy, Jacob, who was adopted from an orphanage in China as a toddler. Terra's eldest brother sends tickets for her and her mom to come visit him where he lives in China, Jacob and his mom embark on the journey as well. As Jacob and Terra get closer and closer through the duration of their trip, they learn the meaning of true beauty and learn more about themselves.
This is a fabulous novel. I found it so touching and heartfelt, I even was tearing up in certain places at the beginning and more so near the ending. The ending was perfect, I wouldn't change a thing about it if I could.
Headley shows what most mothers are willing to sacrifice for their children. Even though it hurts themselves, and that in itself is amazing. She also demonstrates how strenuous it is to have a sucky home life as well as an over-controlling father. That made me sad, seeing how he treated his family, and yet how no one had the courage to call him on it.
I loved Jacob, he was the most amazing character. I can't even describe how much I loved him in this book!
I had so much other things I had wanted to say about this book, but for the life of me I can't remember another thing. Anyways, fabulous book, definitely a must-read.