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. 

Sound like the perfect fit for you? Enter to win below (US and Canada entries only please):

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Cinder (Marissa Meyer)

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan)

Length: 387 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

A plague threatens to destroy Earth while the Lunars threaten to destroy it through invasion. Cinder is only a cyborg mechanic, but when Prince Kai calls on her to fix his android, she gets sucked into the political mayhem. In this futuristic Cinderella story, Cinder becomes a reluctantly key player in saving the world.

Gorgeous cover.

I love modern fairy tales, and this one is done particularly well. Marissa Meyer creates a completely modern future society and brilliantly ties it into the classic Cinderella story for the perfect mix of reality and fantasy. And Prince Kai is one worthy of the storybooks.

Cinder is also a wonderful character. She’s an awesome mechanic, and not just because parts of her body have been replaced by metal due to a hover accident when she was a kid. Unfortunately, because of her cyborg status and uncaring step-mother, Cinder doesn’t have a lot of self-esteem. If only Prince Kai could sing this One Direction song to her! Or if someone could just tell her that in Young Adult fiction (and in life), what makes you different makes you special, and maybe Cinder will be able to save the world!

This book is definitely worth a read. And I’m thoroughly excited that the next book in the Lunar Chronicles will not only feature Cinder, but will introduce a new character, Little Red Riding Hood. I love this idea! 2013 is so far away though…