WIN an ARC of Gorgeous

Welcome to this stop on the Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop where you can win an ARC of Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick.

Title: Gorgeous

Author: Paul Rudnick

Publisher: Scholastic

Length: 305

Rating: 3.5/5

When Becky Randle’s mother dies on her eighteenth birthday, she is devastated. But in her mother’s things she discovers a phone number that changes everything. Tom Kelly, the world’s top designer, offers to make Becky three dresses, guaranteed to turn her from trailer park girl to world’s most beautiful woman. Remade as Rebecca, she flawless in everyone’s eyes except her own. But it’s Becky, not Rebecca that falls in love with the prince of England, and Becky isn’t sure Tom Kelly’s magic is enough to make the prince see the read girl inside the beauty.

This book was a fun and snarky, with something important to say about popular culture and how we see beauty. Also, the cover is, well…gorgeous!

I liked the conception of the fairy-tale magic of this book. Becky is only Rebecca when she’s with other people. Alone, she looks in the mirror and sees her normal self. There’s no makeover and the magic is really in perception. This makes the book more relatable, because everyone sees themselves differently than other people see them.

Becky’s story goes to all extremes. She stars in a movie with Hollywood it-boy Jate Mallow, is on the cover of Vogue, and of course, dates the prince of England. My favorite part about all these crazy adventures is that she brings her best friend Rocher (named after the chocolate of course) along with her. Rocher keeps Becky sane, and keeps the reader sane with her witty voice of reason through all the crazy adventures.

This book is unlike any other YA book I’ve read. While at times a bit long-winded in its lavish descriptions of the culture, this book will make you reevaluate the power beauty, both inside and out. 

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Princess Academy (Shannon Hale)

Title: Princess Academy

Author: Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Length: 314 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

 Miri and all the other eligible girls in her village must attend a Princess Academy to become worthy of being chosen by the prince because the priests have declared that the next princess will come from their small mountain village. While at the academy, 14 year old Miri discovers much about herself and the world, all while competing with the other girls to be chosen. At the same time, Miri must decide if becoming a princess is worth giving up her beloved village and the people there.

This book was wonderful and a very quick read because I didn't want to put it down. Miri and the other girls have all sorts of adventures while at the Academy, learning about themselves, each other, their world, and how to stand up for themselves. All the characters had such depth and growth throughout the novel that by the end, the reader doesn't know who to root for the prince to pick!

This Newbery Honor book is more than just your average princess story and is definitely worth a read. I haven't read the new sequel, Palace of Stone, yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

The False Prince (Jennifer A. Nielsen)

Title: The False Prince

Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Publisher: Scholastic

Length: 342 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Four orphans are taken off the streets, but only one can be made into the long-lost prince to fool a country and stop a civil war. One of the orphans, Sage, knows the plan is treason, and wants no part of it. But the only other option is death.

I kept my book summery short this time around, because sometimes, you only want a teaser, not the whole plot! Plus, the actual flap copy (inside cover description) from the book made me angry because it gave everything away! If you want to enjoy this book, just start reading.

Fortunately, there was still some mystery within the book, but I thought the reader might have benefited from a different viewpoint. With Sage as our narrator, we’re a little biased toward which orphan should be chosen to be the prince. But Sage doesn’t want to be the prince, and the reader is left with a bit of a dilemma, especially since Sage’s motives are unclear. Why doesn’t he want to be the prince? Why is he always sneaking around but doesn’t run away? I suppose this is part of the mystery though.

While this book could easily stand alone, of course it’s part of a trilogy (what isn’t in YA these days?). I would be willing to give the next book a shot, but I probably won’t be reading any more flap copy!

The Iron King (Julie Kagawa)

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Length: 363 pages

Rating: 2/5

Meghan Chase never thought herself ordinary, never seeming to fit in with the rest of the world, ever since her father mysteriously disappeared when she was six. But she never imagined she was extraordinary, burdened by the density that comes with being the secret daughter of a mythical faery king. When her brother is kidnapped, she discovers her true identify and is launched into an adventure that challenges all that she knows about the world and herself. Aiding Meghan against the mysterious evil are an untrustworthy cat, her prankster best friend who was a faery all along, and an icy, gorgeous faery prince.

I had trouble getting into this book. Nothing ever goes right, ever, and there’s no variation or anticipation when the worst always happens. The tone was dark and brooding, and Meghan wasn’t a strong enough character to pull me out of the gloom. Puck (best friend) and Ash (prince) were bright spots but like everything in the world of faeries, they had an intangible alien strangeness to them that kept me from completely liking them. It was all very Alice in Wonderland-esque but without the positivity that comes with the power of imagination. Meghan feels powerless to make any sort of impact and I felt powerless as a reader. However, I did keep reading, as I wanted to know why Meghan was so special, if she could rescue her brother, and if something significant would happen between her and Ash.

Overall, worth the ninety cents procured in late fees at the library (this review was also a factor in why I kept reading), but at not enough to make me read the rest of the series. Have a disagreeing opinion? Tell me below!