Beautiful by Amy Reed

Title: Beautiful
Author: Amy Reed
Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 6, 2009)
Pages: 240
Reading Level: Young Adult

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie’s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who’s worth noticing.

Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined...one moment, one choice, changes everything.

Cassie’s new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and floats through it all, knowing that she is now called beautiful. She ignores the dangers of her fast-paced life…but she can’t sidestep the secrets and the cruelty.

Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no one—not even the one person she thought she could trust—can help her now.

Beautiful is a book that you won't forget for a long time. I found this book to be very unique. You expect something great, and you do. It has a great start, making you want to read more.

Reed's writing is so powerful. Something really unique about Reed's writing is the words she chooses. Reed, so far, is the one who uses the most descriptive and powerful words. The plot was almost flawless. There was one part that I found to be a little unrealistic, although everything else was fine. All the events happened at the right time.

I found Cassie to be an interesting character. She had just moved so she was always trying to fit in with her classmates. She is a 13 year old who is in seventh grade. Obviously, she would be dealing with teen issues, crushes, pressure, etc.. I could relate to her very well since I have gone through some of the things she had. Although, I do think that some of her actions could have been avoided. She could have prevented the bad. I found Alex to be a bad influence for Cassie, she would just make everything worse for her, I think that if she had been left alone, Cassie would have been a better person.

Overall, Beautiful is again, a book that you won't forget. I think it's a great debut novel. A great addition to the YA market! I strongly recommend you read this, although I just want to warn you guys, especially to all the young readers that there are issues of drug abuse and sexual situations in this book, I prefer that people only 14+ read this.

Cover: .7

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