blakehalsey's review against another edition
This book is not an easy read. It's gripping, poignant, beautiful--but it's difficult, sad, and made me want to wrap Cassie and Sarah up and hug them for a year.
aarikia's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
abbyreads8's review
3.0
3.5 stars - I really enjoyed this story, especially Cassie and Sarah's friendship. For a full review, watch my video about the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anOU29cahFk&list=UUSh6EQIUJ0LDQAiTLqmnv8A
pikasqueaks's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to give this book a higher rating, and I can’t figure out exactly what’s holding it back. The voice in this was wonderful and authentic, for one. The writing itself was also quite endearing. I could understand where Cassie was going with what she was doing, I could understand why she did some of the things she was doing.
But there was something lacking from this. Maybe it was a stronger ending, or more redemption for Cassie. As a character, she is not without her flaws – but we know what’s underneath those. During portions of this, we get a glimpse of why she has become this empty shell.
In the end, I just felt that there was something missing. Perhaps that was the point, to mimic the empty shell that Cassie had become. But I don’t think it was.
I’d still recommend it to others. It’s still a great read, it just didn’t feel fulfilling in the end.
But there was something lacking from this. Maybe it was a stronger ending, or more redemption for Cassie. As a character, she is not without her flaws – but we know what’s underneath those. During portions of this, we get a glimpse of why she has become this empty shell.
In the end, I just felt that there was something missing. Perhaps that was the point, to mimic the empty shell that Cassie had become. But I don’t think it was.
I’d still recommend it to others. It’s still a great read, it just didn’t feel fulfilling in the end.
maybedeathisagift's review against another edition
4.0
A thirteen year old girl trapped in a life she never asked for. This book was real. Very realistic characters with very realistic lives. I wish I could have given it five stars but the ending made me cry so much out of anger I just couldn't do it. I don't even know if a different ending would have made it better. I think its just one of those books that needs to have said ending. Any book that has the power to make me cry is pretty amazing in my books (haha). I wish she would make a book out of Sarah's point of view next. That seems like it would be an extremely powerful read.
aliasmitchie's review
5.0
This story had me feeling numb and hypnotized the whole time. I can see where the mixed feelings come in, why some people hate it and some people love it. Personally, I really liked it. I wish there had been more resolution, but in a way it was a more realistic ending.
ajones623's review against another edition
3.0
I read Reed’s other novel, Clean, last year and decided that she had a lot of potential. Clean read like an Ellen Hopkins novel which are always intriguing and (almost) never fall flat. However, Beautiful did not add up to what I thought, and hoped, that it would be. The novel revolves around the life of 13 year old Cassie. Cassie, the new girl in school, wants nothing more than to fit in with the “cool” kids so she changes her entire image to catch their attention. No surprise there, it’s what happens in a lot of novels, movies and television shows these days. It’s not just her image that she changes though, Cassie pulls out all the stops, easily giving in to peer pressure and shedding her virginity without a single thought. From her first weekend at her new school onward her life continues in a downward spiral in which neither her mom or dad notice how bad things get. Of course, everything that could happen to Cassie does. She let’s an older guy convince her to have sex with him, she lets her “best friend” convince her to do acid and smoke pot, she doesn’t blink an eye when she’s at a party and her friend emerges with a bag of cocaine and she keeps going back for more, her uncle comes on to her and the list just goes on and on. It’s hard to believe that everything that happens really happens in the span of one school year. That jacket praised Reed and claimed that Beautiful was this generation;s Go Ask Alice. I don’t agree with that statement. Go Ask Alice really illustrates how drug addiction, alcoholism ad depression are diseases and affect a person negatively; the novel doesn’t end by putting a nice, neat bow over everything. However, Beautiful tries to do that. Cassie, somehow, dumps her violent best friend, her drug habit and her boyfriend and is on her way to being a better person, as if she wiped the slate clean and could forget everything that happened in the past year. It would have been nice to see Cassie have more consequences for her actions, you can’t put a pretty bow on life.
lavaplant's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
yourfriendtorie's review against another edition
3.0
I literally read this book in one day. On one 3-hour bus ride, actually. I liked it. I saw a little of myself in the 13 year old character. It's about a smart teenager who reinvents herself to run with the bad kids at her new school. And are they bad! Man, was kind of shocked in that classic way that older people are when they realize that the yardstick with which kids measure badness these days is way more over the top, or maybe it's applied to younger kids, than it was back in our wild acid-tripping and running away from home days.
What I didn't like about this book was the way it seemed so self-consciously written to become a bad movie I never want to see. Not even on late night cable when I'm visiting my parents.
What I didn't like about this book was the way it seemed so self-consciously written to become a bad movie I never want to see. Not even on late night cable when I'm visiting my parents.