Facing the World

I just recently finished North of Beautiful. This book was an amazing compare and contrast of opinions, which I personally enjoyed.

Terra Cooper has always been different. That in itself is obvious enough. There's no need for thinking about it. The port-wine stain birthmark stretching across her cheek is like an automatic signal. Terra is a simple person, but has always wanted to get the birthmark removed. After many and more laser surgeries, she's given up.

Terra is a very round character. She has a very simply constructed past that was based all around her birthmark. Going from one laser surgery to the next is extremely crazy, even if they are years apart, they all seem to be described about the same way: a surgery that didn't work. This seems like a real put-down for Terra, as it would be for any of us if we were in her situation.

The theme of this book is adversity and accepting yourself. This is a very common theme among young adult novels, and it is one of my favorites. 😝 I think that this book also adds some personality to this common theme: for example, adding romance in to go along with the original problem.

One of my favorite parts of the way this book was written is the problem. The first impression the reader gets is that the problem is her birthmark, but, in my opinion, the real problem is that Terra isn't accepting the way she was born, and that that is the way she is, and that's what makes her HER.

I think that all of the characters in this book are round. I think so because this book is all about dwelling on the past, and that kind of goes hand in hand with the fact that characters are round. The only person who is flat in this book is Terra's ex-boyfriend, Erik. You really don't know much about him, but I think that that goes along with the fact that Terra doesn't really know him as we'll as she thinks.

I think that anyone would enjoy this book because it isn't based all around girl and boy books, it's a book for everyone. ENJOY.