Sunday, April 21, 2013

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick


blurb via goodreads

"Inner beauty wants out.

When eighteen-year-old Becky Randle’s mother dies, she’s summoned from her Missouri trailer park to meet Tom Kelly, the world’s top designer. He makes her an impossible offer: He’ll create three dresses to transform Becky from a nothing special girl into the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

Becky thinks Tom is a lunatic, or that he’s producing a hidden camera show called World’s Most Gullible Poor People. But she accepts, and she’s remade as Rebecca. When Becky looks in the mirror, she sees herself – an awkward mess of split ends and cankles. But when anyone else looks at Becky, they see pure five-alarm hotness.

Soon Rebecca is on the cover of Vogue, the new Hollywood darling, and dating celebrities. Then Becky meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne, and everything starts to crumble. Because Rebecca aside, Becky loves him. But to love her back, Gregory would have to look past the blinding Rebecca to see the real girl inside. And Becky knows there’s not enough magic in the world.

A screamingly defiant, hugely naughty, and impossibly fun free fall past the cat walks, the red carpets, and even the halls of Buckingham Palace, Gorgeous does the impossible: It makes you see yourself clearly for the first time."


Review:
I had actually went into this book without reading the blurb or anything else about the book. I was sold on the cover alone. Gorgeous is quite a quirky interesting read. This modern day fairy tale will have you laughing yet also have you saying "huh? what just happened"  While this book is listed under the young adult genre, I would classify it more for a "new" adult. Some of the language in the book was quite over the top for a younger reader.  While the characters were extremely well thought of, I didn't really care for the main character as much as I should..I cant explain why I didn't care for her..just found her annoying I suppose, in fact I wish the book had been more about her quirky best friend. I am still undecided as to if I really enjoyed Gorgeous or not, there were certain aspects that made the book enjoyable, however It seemed a bit all over the place and hard to follow at times. But, *spoiler alert*  Ok, So I rarely give any spoilers but the ending of this book bugged me. Since it was a fairy tale, the author gave a brief "rest of life" history on the characters. Paul Rudnick should have continued the story with another book, with Becky's best friend Rocher, being the main character.*end spoiler*
Overall, I suppose Gorgeous was 3.5 out of 5 stars for me. Definitely an interesting book. Recommend to new adult and older.


Special Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic Inc for providing this e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

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