Review: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley.

Main Characters: Terra Cooper, Jacob
Series: None

Blurb:

From behind, you’d think Terra Cooper had it all: she’s tall but not too tall, has a figure to kill for, and boasts naturally blonde hair. But the palm-sized birthmark on her face might as well be her fate map. Everyone in her small, touristy town knows what’s hidden beneath the heavy makeup she’s worn since birth. Sick of being the town oddity and even sicker of her caustic mapmaker of a father, Terra yearns to escape the suffocating grid of her life. And then she nearly runs over an Asian Goth boy, her age…and encounters True Beauty in him…and herself.

This book was one of those deep reads. The kind of reads that made you sit back and think about the characters long after you finished the book. I couldn’t put this book down.

I adored it!

This book follows Terra Cooper as she journeys through life, looking for the answer to what true beauty is. She’s always thought that it was physical because she’s aware of the way that everyone stares at her with her birthmark that scars her otherwise perfect skin. Her family life makes living her life all the more hard because she’s got an emotionally abusive father who just doesn’t quit. It’s not until Jacob comes into her life that she gets the clarity she needs.

Watching Terra come into her own was great because you could totally see the change come over her as the book progressed. It wasn’t easy and Headley didn’t make it easy. She didn’t paint this ugly picture and then rush the ending, you see Terra fight her emotional demons and when we get to the end, you’re glad. When you get to the end, you’re so glad to finally get there because you enjoyed the ride.

The characters in this story were so real. From Terra to Jacob to Eric to Terra’s family members, they were all so real. They struggled with everyday problems, they made mistakes and because they weren’t perfect characters, I loved them. I loved getting to know Claudius and Merc, I got annoyed and then rejoiced with Terra’s Mom, hell even with Jacob’s Mom. I just enjoyed getting to know this cast of characters.

Jacob and Terra’s relationship was interesting to read about because Jacob was the first person who didn’t see Terra’s birthmark. He saw Terra and when Eric asks Terra about Jacob…why Jacob, her answer was so right. Jacob and Terra made sense. They were friends and then they were more and I just adored the heck out of the both of them. I loved how Jacob changed Terra’s life. How he made her okay with the person she is and I loved how he saw how beautiful she was with her birthmark. He had his own issues and I was glad that he let Terra be there for him.

The whole trip to China made this book an excellent read. I felt like I was in China just by reading this book. It was fun to travel vicariously through this book to China because I’ve never been there and I doubt I ever will so this short trip felt real and was great. I loved watching Terra’s mother finding herself again and I loved the friendship that blossomed between Jacob’s mom and Terra’s mom.

I liked everyone in this book except Terra’s Dad. Even at the end of the book, I still didn’t like his punk jerk butt. He was such an arrogant punk that nothing he could do would make me like him. When the book ended, I wondered what happened between Terra’s parents. Did the Mom stay with the Dad? Did the Dad really tame his ways? Then I got to wondering what the hell happened with Claudius? I really liked Claudius. I think I liked Claudius more than I liked Eric AND Jacob though Jacob was pretty awesome.

This book deals with a lot of body image issues that teenagers go through when they’re in high school and middle school and what not. I would definitely recommend this book to those of you guys out there who want to read something thought provoking and just plain ol’ good. This book was a definite treat for me and I’m sure it will be for you as well.

Final Grade: B+

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