Beauty

Ana wants to be ugly. She has worked very hard at it, ever since she was twelve years old. Ever since the day a man complimented her on her beauty and she saw the look of hatred, jealousy, and anger in her mother's eyes. Now she doesn't bathe, doesn't trim her toenails, doesn't brush her hair, and eats nothing but pastries, bread, and moldy cheeses. Her nutrition has left her body pudgy and her face blemished. She is happy because she seems to have her mother's favor; however, staying ugly takes a lot of effort. Queen Veda, Ana's mother, is a calculating ruler. Vanity is her main focus and she is never without her strange Beauty Consultant. He is a creepy little man that is always lurking around. His eyes turn red whenever he approves of the way the Queen looks. He mixes beauty potions and creates creams out of ingredients like spiders and leaves for the Queen to use to maintain her beautiful appearance. It is Queen Veda's jealousy that leads her to devise her most diabolical plan ever. The Queen creates a new Academy for the best and brightest girls of the land. About fifty girls receive personal invitations to attend this prestigious academy and Pell, Ana's best friend, is one of them. Ana is heartbroken, thinking that she will lose her best friend forever. But on the advice of the Beauty Consultant, Queen Veda sends Ana to the Academy, too. Pell and Ana are thrilled to be attending a school that will provide rigorous academics, while at the same time being roommates. However, a sinister plot awaits all the girls that attend the Academy. BEAUTY is a fast-paced fairy tale that pulls at your heartstrings. The reader will cheer for Ana when she finally realizes the truth about her mother. The sinister plan could have been more sinister and the ending a little more complex, but overall this is a fascinating story, definitely one for fans of queens, princesses, and fairy tales. Reviewed by: Karin Perry

Ana, daughter of Queen Veda, ruler of Ran, has spent the last four years making herself ugly to win her mother's love. She doesn't bathe, keeps her hair unattractively short, and eats only pastries. After four years of this, Ana is convinced that she has finally succeeded in gaining her mother's love. Then she realizes that all of the beautiful girls of Ran are being sent to a prestigious Academy for Girls in the mountains, including her best friend. When Ana is chosen to go as well, she resists for fear of leaving her now-loving mother. But once at the Academy, Ana realizes exactly how much beauty means to her mother, and how much it can influence others. A powerful story about love and standing up to those who mean most to you, it also teaches you that it truly is what's on the inside that counts.

Beauty was a sort of hidden take on Snow White... the connection only becomes really apparent later in the book so don't shy away from this if your not a person for re-tellings, its not an obvious re-telling...no dwarves, no prince, no cottage in the woods... only the general idea of queen wants to be most beautiful in the land so she tries to do away with her daughter's beauty or, in this version, her daughter tries to do away with her own beauty. Some of the other reviewers feel that the book built up to nothing and then concluded too fast but I think it had a nice complete ending and that there was nothing more to say. The epilogue was corny and unnecessary but it did not effect or reflect the book as a whole, so, read the book, don't read the epilogue, and be happy...