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North of Beautiful A Justina Chen Novel Justina Chen Headley Books

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North of Beautiful A Justina Chen Novel Justina Chen Headley Books

This novel has been calling to me for a while, so I finally picked it up. It is a beautiful book told through the eyes and emotions of Terra Cooper a girl emotionally abused by her father, not just because of the large port wine birthmark on her face, but also because that's him. He terrorizes the entire family, holding them hostage to his perfect ideals and demands. In turns, her older brothers and then her stand as a buffer between her father and mother, always waiting for the physical abuse. They all cower under the weight of his abuse.

But then, purely by chance, Terra meets Jacob who has an imperfection of his own and is incredibly unselfconscious about it. He slowly changes Terra's way of seeing herself over Christmas break. To see someone that doesn't balk at her birthmark, that actually prefers her without her pancake makeup on, it's so unbelievable to Terra. Meeting Jacob and his mother sets off a chain of events that changes the lives of everyone in Terra's household including her father's. Terra defines beauty in a different way now. And her opinion about herself comes less from what others think about her and more from what she thinks of herself.

It's a great lesson. Believing that you are beautiful despite the flaws you see in yourself when you look in the mirror. Seeing the good things about yourself instead of the bad things when you look. It's easier if you don't have the huge birthmark that Terra has, and yet, I think we still see our flaws first when we look in the mirror. That tape plays telling us we're ugly, remembering a boy, a girl, a parent, a relative that told you how ugly you were. Ideally, we could learn our lesson from Terra and develop a thick skin. Forget the past hurts and move on. Ideally. But take it one step at a time and keep her in your mind. There is some truth in fiction, however small. I plan to be looking for the positives rather than the negative thanks to Terra and Jacob.

This novel is beautifully written, the emotions raw and painful. You can feel the hurt with each insult and unspoken word. I know emotional abuse and it is like walking on eggshells, trying to be on that fine line between pleasing and perfect. One wrong wobble and the insults and barrage of anger begins. All the negative seeps into your soul and getting rid of it is next to impossible.

I hope that North Of Beautiful sheds some light on this problem. It's the kind of abuse one can't see and yet it's as damaging as physically hitting someone. And Justina Chen does a beautiful job of laying the story out to u slowly until we are sure of what is going on.

I highly recommend this novel for lovers of comtemporary literature.


Tags : Amazon.com: North of Beautiful (A Justina Chen Novel) (9780316025058): Justina Chen Headley: Books,Justina Chen Headley,North of Beautiful (A Justina Chen Novel),Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,0316025054,Girls & Women,Social Themes - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Beauty, Personal;Fiction.,Birthmarks;Fiction.,Personal appearance;Fiction.,Beauty, Personal,Birthmarks,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fiction,Fiction-Psychological,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,TEEN'S FICTION - GENERAL,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Girls & Women,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance

North of Beautiful A Justina Chen Novel Justina Chen Headley Books Reviews

I've heard so many amazing things about this book. It's been on my TBR for way over a year and I finally decided that I must sit down and read it it. Well, I didn't love it. Do you ever read a book that everyone adores and you...don't? Doesn't that make you feel like something is wrong with you? That's the way North of Beautiful made me feel.

I really love the concept of the story. I thought it was going to focus on Terra overcoming her struggles, and it did, but there's also a lot more going on in the book. My biggest issue with the book is that I didn't like Terra. I kept thinking I reach a point in the story where I would begin to like Terra, but that never happened. She was very...self centered. The only thing that made her sympathetic was her insecurities with her birthmark, and even then she was so defensive and prickly it was hard to relate. I guess that it's understandable that she was like that because she had dealt with stares and comments her entire life, not to mention dealing with her evil father. But even after taking all of that into consideration I still couldn't like her. I felt like she was a bad person. She treated everyone badly. Her boyfriend wasn't the best but he's all but forgotten about during most of the book when she could have easily broken up with him. There was nothing holding her back. Then she never tells Jacob that she even has a boyfriend! Ugh...it was like watching a train wreck. I also didn't care much for her relationship with her mother. She was always talking about sticking up for her or intervening when her father was being nasty, but she never did it. I'm going to stop with the semi rant....I think you get my point.

There were a few things that I really liked about the story. Jacob was fabulous. I loved everything about that boy. I also really liked Terra's mother. Her growth throughout the book was great and I really enjoyed seeing her come into her own. I also really liked that half of the book takes place in China. Yay for books with foreign settings!

Overall, I had some problems with the book, as you can see. But if you read other reviews you will see that I am definitely the minority. Most people loved it, but it wasn't for me.
This novel has been calling to me for a while, so I finally picked it up. It is a beautiful book told through the eyes and emotions of Terra Cooper a girl emotionally abused by her father, not just because of the large port wine birthmark on her face, but also because that's him. He terrorizes the entire family, holding them hostage to his perfect ideals and demands. In turns, her older brothers and then her stand as a buffer between her father and mother, always waiting for the physical abuse. They all cower under the weight of his abuse.

But then, purely by chance, Terra meets Jacob who has an imperfection of his own and is incredibly unselfconscious about it. He slowly changes Terra's way of seeing herself over Christmas break. To see someone that doesn't balk at her birthmark, that actually prefers her without her pancake makeup on, it's so unbelievable to Terra. Meeting Jacob and his mother sets off a chain of events that changes the lives of everyone in Terra's household including her father's. Terra defines beauty in a different way now. And her opinion about herself comes less from what others think about her and more from what she thinks of herself.

It's a great lesson. Believing that you are beautiful despite the flaws you see in yourself when you look in the mirror. Seeing the good things about yourself instead of the bad things when you look. It's easier if you don't have the huge birthmark that Terra has, and yet, I think we still see our flaws first when we look in the mirror. That tape plays telling us we're ugly, remembering a boy, a girl, a parent, a relative that told you how ugly you were. Ideally, we could learn our lesson from Terra and develop a thick skin. Forget the past hurts and move on. Ideally. But take it one step at a time and keep her in your mind. There is some truth in fiction, however small. I plan to be looking for the positives rather than the negative thanks to Terra and Jacob.

This novel is beautifully written, the emotions raw and painful. You can feel the hurt with each insult and unspoken word. I know emotional abuse and it is like walking on eggshells, trying to be on that fine line between pleasing and perfect. One wrong wobble and the insults and barrage of anger begins. All the negative seeps into your soul and getting rid of it is next to impossible.

I hope that North Of Beautiful sheds some light on this problem. It's the kind of abuse one can't see and yet it's as damaging as physically hitting someone. And Justina Chen does a beautiful job of laying the story out to u slowly until we are sure of what is going on.

I highly recommend this novel for lovers of comtemporary literature.