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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Crazy Beautiful

Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Published 2009
208 Pages
Rating: B+

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.

Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her.

But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering.

Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.
(taken from back of book)

All right..where to begin. I have a lot of wonderful things to say about Crazy Beautiful, but then I also have some little bitty problems with it. But it is still B+ worthy in my book, I really enjoyed reading it!

So to set the story up for you guys there is Lucius Wolfe (kind of a bad ass name is you ask me, and I think it is really fitting to his character). Lucius is the guy with hooks for hands, he blew off his hands while he was 'experimenting' in his basement. He choose the hooks so he could remind himself every day what a 'beast' he is. He is a new student at the high school (I cant remember the name). He is the outcast, the crip, the one who scares all. There is another new student and her name is Aurora Belle, except she is the total opposite of Lucius. She is out-going, charming, beautiful, friendly, and the one person Lucius cannot stop thinking about ever since they first had eye contact. Their relationship is somewhat of an odd one, since they don't really interact a lot with one another but when they do, it has so much meaning. I found myself loving their 'relationship' if you can call it that, they both wanted to be something different and in the end, it all works out.

Okay, so onto what I thought was really good of the book! There was a lot of good in the book actually, and instead of writing and telling you about it, there are two quotes that I want to take directly from the book because I thought they were awesome, and really make you think about yourself and how you value your friendships. So without further ado:

"Then I decide I do want to do it. If he is my friend, and I believe he is, and if friendship means wanting what's best for the other person and not simply what's best for the other person in relation to you, then I have to do it. I am ethically bound." - Lucius Wolfe
Reading this made me so happy, Lucius is not the kind of guy that has a ton of friends, he actually only has one guy who he calls his friend, Nick Green. And seeing Lucius realize what it means to be a friend is truly something special. It was cute.

Next one, still dealing with friendship: "This is, I think, what it must mean to be human: to want something good for someone else." - Lucius Wolfe
Wanting something good to happen to another person is something that a lot of people dont do easily, some get jealous, and some get angry, but having Lucius say this about another person is eye-opening, since he is growing up as a teenager, he is finding what it feels like to be a friend and to want something more for another person.

Some of the parts in the book were funny, I found myself Laughing of Loud more than a few times, but I also found myself tearing up just a tiny bit. I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the idea of gaining the strength to finally put someone above yourself, because that is what Lucius does in this book, he puts Nick Green and Aurora above himself. It is very amazing to read.

Oh and my little bitty problems with the book: I wish it was longer..unless of course there will be a sequel! But I wish there was more to read, I didn't want the story to end. And the characters could have been a little more developed but I think it worked with how little you knew about them, and then as you read more they kind of just grew on you.

All in all, it was a good read, and I plan on rereading it in the future! I am crossing my fingers that there will be a sequel! That would be awesome!

Oh! And the cover!! I love it! I love the black and white, it is perfect for this book. The font is pretty awesome too! It might possibly be one of my favorite covers of this years books!

-Arielle
Dang that was a long review, ha.

7 comments:

  1. I hope there's a sequel too! I started reading a little bit of the book and I really like it!

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  2. I really want to read this! Great review!

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  3. The cover IS really gorgeous. I heard that it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which is awesome! I love fairytale retellings! Great review! :D

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  4. Can we share Owen? ;)

    most girls like Wes (and I do too!) but Owen just appeals to me more. I think it's that whole "being honest to the point of brutal" that makes me interested. Oh, that and how he's just so cuuuuute! Remember that part when Annabel went over his house and when his insane sister was pretending to be a model with her friends? That scene where they ALMOST kissed made me go :D!

    Airplane food=horrible. My first trip I refused to eat anything. But that was a bad idea because I got sick a few hours later...lol. Aww, thanks! Your reviews are pretty awesome too<3

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  5. Great review! I like that you commented on the quotes you used, why you picked them and what they meant to you when you were reading.

    I also totally agree about the book's length; more please! I could see there being a sequel, although I don't know what would happen during it.

    Yes Beautiful cover, for sure.

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  6. Hey, I noticed that you became a follower of my blog! Thanks. Great blog you have here! I will be back for future visits. You have some great books on here, and I love the cover on that book too.

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