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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I really liked this book! I didn't think I would, but I thought why not give it a chance? And i'm do glad I did. This book was magical, no pun intended.
I was intrigued by this sorry but I am a sucker for the ordinary girl gets makeover and becomes out of this world beautiful. Reminds me of The Princess Diaries. But this has more coarse language.
Becky initially annoyed me because she would go on these long commentaries on people like Jate Mallow or Tom Kelly. I would roll my eyes because it was not necessary. The book started well amd I was happily flipping the pages. I loved the aspect of the three dresses. But had mixed feelings throughout the book. I found myself enjoying some parts and half skimming others. Really feeling like, "argh when will this book end? hurry up!" There was alot of content that I feel was TMI. Not required.
I like that Becky grows throughout the book but the supernatural aspect did not seem realistic. For an older reader like me I was not captured. This seemed more suited for teens but not tweens because of vulgar language and casual mentions of sex. There is a brief sex scene but it is written in humour and is not explicit at all. It does not go into detail just says "we made love". Now the relationship between Gregory and Becky is sweet but I think the reader would be more caught up in the prince meets ordinary girl aspect rather than focus on the two of them as individuals. Alot of this book was not realistic. Even the setting of New York City which I am crazy about did not do much for me. Somewhat enjoyable but also somewhat not.
Becky initially annoyed me because she would go on these long commentaries on people like Jate Mallow or Tom Kelly. I would roll my eyes because it was not necessary. The book started well amd I was happily flipping the pages. I loved the aspect of the three dresses. But had mixed feelings throughout the book. I found myself enjoying some parts and half skimming others. Really feeling like, "argh when will this book end? hurry up!" There was alot of content that I feel was TMI. Not required.
I like that Becky grows throughout the book but the supernatural aspect did not seem realistic. For an older reader like me I was not captured. This seemed more suited for teens but not tweens because of vulgar language and casual mentions of sex. There is a brief sex scene but it is written in humour and is not explicit at all. It does not go into detail just says "we made love". Now the relationship between Gregory and Becky is sweet but I think the reader would be more caught up in the prince meets ordinary girl aspect rather than focus on the two of them as individuals. Alot of this book was not realistic. Even the setting of New York City which I am crazy about did not do much for me. Somewhat enjoyable but also somewhat not.
Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick is a young adult selection. I enjoyed the story and message of this book. It was so refreshing to read something with a positive message in YA, and I think that all girls should take its message to heart.
Becky Randle grew up in a trailer with a morbidly obese mother in rural Missouri. When her mother dies from complications of diabetes, she finds a mysterious phone number in a ring box among her mother's things. The phone number belongs to the reclusive fashion designer Tom Kelly, and he makes an outlandish promise to Becky: He will make her the most beautiful woman in the world by wearing one of three dresses that he will design exclusively for her.
Tom Kelly's promise, as unlikely as it seems to Becky, transforms her into the most gorgeous woman, and she instantly rises to stardom as a model and starlet. She even catches the eye of Prince Gregory, England's heir to the throne. As part of the bargain she's made with Tom Kelly, she must fall in love and marry within a year, so why not go for broke and marry a prince?
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but trust me: maintaining your suspension of disbelief is well worth it while reading this delightful novel. As a mother to two young women, the message of seeing who you are and liking yourself is priceless. Plus it has the added benefit of friends supporting one another through thick and thin. I do want to warn you about the language in it. For this reason I recommend it for older teens only.
Paul Rudnick writes in his acknowledgments that "anyone who has read this book [is] impossibly gorgeous." Yes I am! Thank-you, Paul. You are truly gorgeous for having written it.
Becky Randle grew up in a trailer with a morbidly obese mother in rural Missouri. When her mother dies from complications of diabetes, she finds a mysterious phone number in a ring box among her mother's things. The phone number belongs to the reclusive fashion designer Tom Kelly, and he makes an outlandish promise to Becky: He will make her the most beautiful woman in the world by wearing one of three dresses that he will design exclusively for her.
Tom Kelly's promise, as unlikely as it seems to Becky, transforms her into the most gorgeous woman, and she instantly rises to stardom as a model and starlet. She even catches the eye of Prince Gregory, England's heir to the throne. As part of the bargain she's made with Tom Kelly, she must fall in love and marry within a year, so why not go for broke and marry a prince?
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but trust me: maintaining your suspension of disbelief is well worth it while reading this delightful novel. As a mother to two young women, the message of seeing who you are and liking yourself is priceless. Plus it has the added benefit of friends supporting one another through thick and thin. I do want to warn you about the language in it. For this reason I recommend it for older teens only.
Paul Rudnick writes in his acknowledgments that "anyone who has read this book [is] impossibly gorgeous." Yes I am! Thank-you, Paul. You are truly gorgeous for having written it.
Becky Randle has not lived the most exciting life. She lives in a single-wide trailer with her 400lb mother. She works as a cashier in a failing supermarket. She has exactly one friend in the tiny Missouri town they live in. Becky doesn't really ask for much, though she dreams of more.
When her mother dies, Becky discovers a name and a phone number hidden in her mother's things. The name is Tom Kelly, one of the most prestigious fashion designers in the world. Against her better judgement, Becky gets in touch and is whisked away to New York where she is told by Tom and his handlers that, if she wears three dresses designed by him, she will become the most beautiful woman in the world. Becky is highly dubious, believing herself to be set up for some sort of embarrassing reality show or something of that ilk. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she sees bad skin, limp hair and a body she's less than happy with. How can she possibly become the Most Beautiful Woman in the World (hereafter "MBWitW")?
The first dress is red and Becky quickly discovers that it does indeed make her the MBWitW, but only when she's with other people. When she's alone, she looks like an overdressed version of herself. She eventually begins to get used to the adulation and creates a persona to match, dubbing herself "Rebecca" and reserving "Becky" for her non-MBWitW-self. Only after she realizes that Tom Kelly's talents are indeed exceptional, she is presented with the other half of the bargain: she has one year to meet someone, fall in love and get married. If not, she'll go back to being Becky forever. If she can make it happen, she'll continue to be the MBWitW for the rest of her life. Her rise to super-stardom (because extreme beauty evidently becomes famous on its own) puts her in a position to meet plenty of potential princes to enable her "happily ever after". Imagine her surprise, however, when a very real prince takes an interest. Is a year long enough to fall in love and get married? Can Becky really fall in love when she's living her life as Rebecca? Who is the prince really in love with: Becky or Rebecca?
It's an interesting enough premise, but it kind of felt like a mess to me. I get the message that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc., and that's a good one to send to a teen audience. I just felt like everything was a bit of a stretch. Tom Kelly as a character is more than a bit perplexing. I'm not even entirely sure what he is, though he's clearly modeled after Calvin Klein. Most of the characters have some sort of real-life counterpart, which points to satire, but doesn't quite pull it off. While the twists in the book were surprising, I felt like they ultimately dragged it out even more. This really should have been a novella or a short story to maintain maximum effect, but at novel-length, it lagged in places for me. I had heard that this book was supposed to be really funny, but I wound up finding it a bit over-the-top, particularly when it came to Becky's rabidly protective BFF. This one probably works for some folks, but I don't think it was the book for me. Not bad, just not what I was hoping for.
When her mother dies, Becky discovers a name and a phone number hidden in her mother's things. The name is Tom Kelly, one of the most prestigious fashion designers in the world. Against her better judgement, Becky gets in touch and is whisked away to New York where she is told by Tom and his handlers that, if she wears three dresses designed by him, she will become the most beautiful woman in the world. Becky is highly dubious, believing herself to be set up for some sort of embarrassing reality show or something of that ilk. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she sees bad skin, limp hair and a body she's less than happy with. How can she possibly become the Most Beautiful Woman in the World (hereafter "MBWitW")?
The first dress is red and Becky quickly discovers that it does indeed make her the MBWitW, but only when she's with other people. When she's alone, she looks like an overdressed version of herself. She eventually begins to get used to the adulation and creates a persona to match, dubbing herself "Rebecca" and reserving "Becky" for her non-MBWitW-self. Only after she realizes that Tom Kelly's talents are indeed exceptional, she is presented with the other half of the bargain: she has one year to meet someone, fall in love and get married. If not, she'll go back to being Becky forever. If she can make it happen, she'll continue to be the MBWitW for the rest of her life. Her rise to super-stardom (because extreme beauty evidently becomes famous on its own) puts her in a position to meet plenty of potential princes to enable her "happily ever after". Imagine her surprise, however, when a very real prince takes an interest. Is a year long enough to fall in love and get married? Can Becky really fall in love when she's living her life as Rebecca? Who is the prince really in love with: Becky or Rebecca?
It's an interesting enough premise, but it kind of felt like a mess to me. I get the message that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc., and that's a good one to send to a teen audience. I just felt like everything was a bit of a stretch. Tom Kelly as a character is more than a bit perplexing. I'm not even entirely sure what he is, though he's clearly modeled after Calvin Klein. Most of the characters have some sort of real-life counterpart, which points to satire, but doesn't quite pull it off. While the twists in the book were surprising, I felt like they ultimately dragged it out even more. This really should have been a novella or a short story to maintain maximum effect, but at novel-length, it lagged in places for me. I had heard that this book was supposed to be really funny, but I wound up finding it a bit over-the-top, particularly when it came to Becky's rabidly protective BFF. This one probably works for some folks, but I don't think it was the book for me. Not bad, just not what I was hoping for.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn’t sure how to feel about it at first. For me, it was very slow paced & there were some parts that got boring.
Seeing the life of Rebecca Randle was interesting because it brought up Becky’s confidence. It proved that it was always there but she just needed “beauty” to express it, which is dumb but understandable in terms of society.
I did enjoy the ending and seeing her picking herself up again with Rocher (also love her, a queen) AND THE PLOT TWIST WITH TOM??? there were many different facts that were thrown in there & the way it connected all towards the end was just 🤌🏼🤌🏼
Overall a good book but maybe it was just a slow read for me since I’m in a slump.
Seeing the life of Rebecca Randle was interesting because it brought up Becky’s confidence. It proved that it was always there but she just needed “beauty” to express it, which is dumb but understandable in terms of society.
I did enjoy the ending and seeing her picking herself up again with Rocher (also love her, a queen) AND THE PLOT TWIST WITH TOM??? there were many different facts that were thrown in there & the way it connected all towards the end was just 🤌🏼🤌🏼
Overall a good book but maybe it was just a slow read for me since I’m in a slump.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
In my journal notes I wrote, "if heterosexuality could be a trigger..." So. Here we go.
My nice review for this book would be: you could describe it as very comic book-y or very camp-y, but that doesn't necessarily mean it in the good way.
I first read this book when I was 13 or 14, and this is well and truly a book I could've only enjoyed when I was a teen. I adored it then, and unfortunately I think it inspired the way I write now... which I will now be unlearning.
Did you ever learn that technique in middle/high school where, let's say you're reading an English or History book, you read the first sentence and then then the rest of the paragraph is just overexplaining that first sentence. So then you learn "Okay, I don't have to read ALL of this chapter, I have homework due and another paper to write, and I have-" So to cut time, you just read the first sentence. and somehow you still passed the test with an acceptable grade?
That's what 90% of this book is. Metaphors and similes and extreme run-on sentences. If you flipped through the pages you'd think "Holy shit, is this book only five sentences?" One sentence-paragraph was so long on one page it bled onto the other half of the next page. All description. And not in a way that's emersive, at least not for me; it got really distracting, but even though I skimmed most of it I didn't miss anything important to the story.
Now, to be fair, I usually find dialogue a lot more important and usually drift towards that, but if you like books that are extremely description heavy, you can ignore everything I just said.
Probably the worst part about this book is the way truly everyone is nitpicked for their looks in a very disgusting way. If you didn't have dysmorphia before reading this, you might start looking at yourself funny. The book doesn't even end on that happy of a note, it's more like "I guess I'll love you, despite fact that you're so hideous."
The ending still confuses me. And I really can't explain it, because in my mind whenever I try to form the words I keep hittinf road blocks. But, to all white people, please don't ever try to write magic realism ever again.
I hate Tom Kelly's death. Like. Either he died of AIDS or something worse than AIDS, but to not say it? And to blame it on a "nomadic African tribe"? The casual/overt/hush-toned racism in the book is so... it MUST have been written by a white gay man. Probably from New York. Or, more realistically, probably from a small town somewhere in the Midwest, who moved to New York to with dreams of being on Broadway, but he ended up working as an assistant and rubbing shoulders with high class people until eventually he felt comfortable enough saying he wasn't famous, but he knew a lot of people who were. But he "doesn't like to brag about it," he says with a smug look. And he worked real hard and pulled himself up by his bootstraps and didn't complain and took the shit and eventually ended up getting his own book published. I could look at the sleeve of my book and confirm if any of what I said is real, but I will not. Because, if you're reading this, and you already read the book, you probably got that feeling too, and you know I'm right.
That all being said? Tom Kelly is that bitch. Tom Kelly has always been that bitch. Tom Kelly will always be that bitch. Tom Kelly, for a moment, makes me forget I hate men. Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly... Tom Kelly. ❤
My nice review for this book would be: you could describe it as very comic book-y or very camp-y, but that doesn't necessarily mean it in the good way.
I first read this book when I was 13 or 14, and this is well and truly a book I could've only enjoyed when I was a teen. I adored it then, and unfortunately I think it inspired the way I write now... which I will now be unlearning.
Did you ever learn that technique in middle/high school where, let's say you're reading an English or History book, you read the first sentence and then then the rest of the paragraph is just overexplaining that first sentence. So then you learn "Okay, I don't have to read ALL of this chapter, I have homework due and another paper to write, and I have-" So to cut time, you just read the first sentence. and somehow you still passed the test with an acceptable grade?
That's what 90% of this book is. Metaphors and similes and extreme run-on sentences. If you flipped through the pages you'd think "Holy shit, is this book only five sentences?" One sentence-paragraph was so long on one page it bled onto the other half of the next page. All description. And not in a way that's emersive, at least not for me; it got really distracting, but even though I skimmed most of it I didn't miss anything important to the story.
Now, to be fair, I usually find dialogue a lot more important and usually drift towards that, but if you like books that are extremely description heavy, you can ignore everything I just said.
Probably the worst part about this book is the way truly everyone is nitpicked for their looks in a very disgusting way. If you didn't have dysmorphia before reading this, you might start looking at yourself funny. The book doesn't even end on that happy of a note, it's more like "I guess I'll love you, despite fact that you're so hideous."
The ending still confuses me. And I really can't explain it, because in my mind whenever I try to form the words I keep hittinf road blocks. But, to all white people, please don't ever try to write magic realism ever again.
That all being said? Tom Kelly is that bitch. Tom Kelly has always been that bitch. Tom Kelly will always be that bitch. Tom Kelly, for a moment, makes me forget I hate men. Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly... Tom Kelly. ❤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Dysphoria
Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Outing, Classism
Minor: Incest, Grief, Colonisation
The worst book I have ever read in my 30 years of reading books. I wish that were hyperbole.
This is my first written review and I'm really only writing it so I can remember points for my book club (which is about a month away).
I did not like this; I know it's supposed to be fantastical (as in fantasy, make-believe, fairy-tale like) but it just didn't work for me. It seems silly but it wasn't make-believe enough. It starts out believable/realistic somewhat but it gets make-believe-y in a not natural, authentic way. The world of the book is supposed to be another version of ours (names changed to protect privacy and avoid libel/slander lawsuits) but also magical (but only for the main character)? It didn't work for me
I also didn't feel the voice was always authentic; the narrator didn't always sound like the 18 year old girl she was supposed to be.
I didn't get any message out of this book about outer/inner beauty or being true to yourself (which it seemed like there should have been), and I didn't find it humorous. I found the dialogue unnatural (but you had to get that quirky conversation in) and there were quite a few scenes where I thought "Oh I think this is meant to be funny but it's not".
If this wasn't for my book club, I wouldn't have finished it.
I did not like this; I know it's supposed to be fantastical (as in fantasy, make-believe, fairy-tale like) but it just didn't work for me. It seems silly but it wasn't make-believe enough. It starts out believable/realistic somewhat but it gets make-believe-y in a not natural, authentic way. The world of the book is supposed to be another version of ours (names changed to protect privacy and avoid libel/slander lawsuits) but also magical (but only for the main character)? It didn't work for me
I also didn't feel the voice was always authentic; the narrator didn't always sound like the 18 year old girl she was supposed to be.
I didn't get any message out of this book about outer/inner beauty or being true to yourself (which it seemed like there should have been), and I didn't find it humorous. I found the dialogue unnatural (but you had to get that quirky conversation in) and there were quite a few scenes where I thought "Oh I think this is meant to be funny but it's not".
If this wasn't for my book club, I wouldn't have finished it.
This book surprised me in a lot of great ways. The writing is unlike anything I've read before and has a quirky attitude I can't get enough of. I must say that you do have to overlook certain aspects in the plot to appreciate this book completely, but other then that this was just a great fun easy read. If I had to put thus book into a select genre it would be modern magical-realism.