A review by suzylibrarian
Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick

3.0

In this modern yet equally fantastical retelling of Cinderella, Becky, a poor eighteen year old girl living in rural Missouri, is swept up in the fascinating world of fashion, celebrity, Hollywood and British royalty. Following the death of her mother, Becky learns that the very isolated existence she has always known was because of her mother's deep fear of ever being discovered as the former cover girl model that she was. As Becky is cleaning out her mother's clothes to donate to charity, she finds a small note with a phone number on it. Becky calls the number and so begins the fantasy. Secrets and mysteries unravel slowly as Becky falls under the tutelage of Tom Kelly , the pre-eminent fashion designer who discovered Becky's mother. Becky is soon transformed into the world's most beautiful woman by the gift of three magical dresses from Tom. This spell will expire in one year. If Becky does not marry by the end of the year, her life will return to normal. Her quiet life in Missouri long behind her, Becky embarks on a whirl-wind journey to find true love while trying to remain true to herself.

A novel that drops the f-bomb within the first three paragraphs makes this a challenging title for school library shelves. The language is flagrant and at times hilarious (Becky's besty Rocher really has a colorful mouth on her) and without it (or at least much much less of it) this could easily be a light-hearted, chick-lit book to recommend to high school girls. It could offer escapism and romance with a sense of humor. However, this book better belongs in "New Adult" sections of a public library collection. The book too is overly long with readers dragged along through Part III to finally get to the happy ending.

[I listened to this one and highly recommend the audiobook. The reader does a great job with accents from southern drawl to British aristocracy.]

Tagline: Inner beauty wants out. Recommended ages 17 and up.