Genre: YA Romance
Rating: A
For: Fun
From: The library
When I found myself guiltily browsing at the library the other day, this one jumped out at me just because of all the wonderful things I remember hearing about it awhile back. When I posted it on my library loot that day, the reactions for this book was overwhelming positive to the point that I knew it would NOT go back unread and that it needed to be bumped up to top priority in the stack.
Well, and I'm so glad I did! I loved it just like you all said I would! It's another one of those lovely books about inner beauty, the importance of liking who you are and being yourself and an over all pep talk in the self image department.
The story is about a very beautiful girl named Terra, physically perfect in every way except one, she has a port wine stain birthmark on her check. She's tried all sorts of things to get rid of it, to no avail. As much grief as that causes her, she has even worse family problems. Her dad is emotionally abusive, her mother has withdrawn, and her brothers have virtually run away. It's all quite a mess and basically extremely depressing.
Then one day, as she and her mom are driving , they literally run into Jacob and his mom. Both of these people end up being their saving grace in a way that's really quite fascinating to watch. Jacob is one of those "real" boys that I love to love. He opens her eyes to what's really important and he's just awesome.
Besides that, he teaches her all about geocaching! We used to geocache a lot at our house, but have lately fallen out of the routine. I really miss it. This book made me remember what was so fun about the hobby. It also made me want to visit China, which is not often high on my travel wish list.
The writing is wonderful too. Very poetic and beautiful. Beautiful to the point of tears at times.
Bottom line: I loved it!
To learn more about author Justina Chen Headley, read her blog here.
Other reviews:
Melissa's Book Shelf
One Librarian's Book Reviews
Write Meg!
The Bluestocking Society
Miss Remmers' Review
... and tons of others. I'm thinking I'm nearly the last one to read this!
Wow, I've never heard of geocaching OR this book. I haven't read much YA lately but I'll look for this one. Thanks for the lovely review!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of geocaching - I'll have to Google it. It's nice to read about young people overcoming obstacles despite the dysfunctional family dynamics. Good review.
ReplyDeleteAnn
I've heard a lot of great t hings about this book and I think I'll pick it up when I'm less leery about YA.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed this one as much as I did! It's one of my all-time favorites -- just so beautiful and memorable. Love the love story, too, which made it all the better!
ReplyDeleteYeah! I love to see this book get more exposure :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I'd forgotten about this one, but I really did enjoy it. I'm glad you did too. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete