Review: Crazy Beautiful

Title: Crazy Beautiful

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Publishers: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Length/Format: 193 pgs / Harcover Finished Copy

Genre: YA Romance

Source: My local library

Summary from Goodreads (Crazy Beautiful)

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.

~ My Opinion ~

I realize that this book was published a few years back, but I had not heard of it until my sister checked it out from our library and declared JUST HOW MUCH SHE LOVED IT! So I thought I would give it a try. At first when I read the synopsis, I did not understand what about drew my sister in...It sounded pretty morbid to me but the romanctic aspect was enough for my sister. Admittedly though, I was intrigued. It was a completely new topic for me, I have never read about a teen boy who accidently became a double amputee.

The book itself is described as a contemporary re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorite fairytales!

 It is written from two perspectives, Lucius and Aurora's. Early on, Lucius describes the losses he has suffered because of his accident. I actually felt really bad for him. He lost more than his hands...He lost his home, his freedom, and even feeling like he belongs anywhere. Aurora is also recovering from aterrible loss...the loss of her mother to cancer. Can I just say that recently cancer has become way TOO familiar and her loss affected me on a personal level. Needless to say, I was sad for both characters. Their losses eventually bring them a sense of understanding to draw them closer but how they handled their hardships differed immensely.

As both characters were high school sophomores, the setting was easy to relate to , although some of the other charcters were generally a bit cliche but it did not take much away from the story. Lucius is of course bullied relentlessly in such a setting. He is humiliated on the first day and repels everyone except for Aurora. Aurora has it easy in the friendshp department, people are attracted to her because of her beauty and amiable ways. However she is claimed by the popular kids leaving Lucius to sit all by himself, wondering if Aurora is "maybe" his friend.

The characters in this story were easy to like, and I really did like Lucius, he was incredibly witty and mostly humorous save when he became upset with his circumstances. Aurora on the other hand, was way too nice, she didn't seem like any one I know. I liked her but I'm not sure she would exist in real life.

The other characters were cliche high schoolers and the setting was good enough and believable. What I really liked about this book was how easy it was to read and how much it made me laugh. It was sad but delightful and I am completely satisfied with having read it because it was original in it's own way and a light enjoyable read. My sister was not too happy with the ending but I thought it was perfect!

I think this is a fabulous book for a not too comprimising read. I would recommend it to fans of fairy tale retellings and YA romance.

That said, you should also check out Beastly by Alex Finn, another Beauty and the Beast variation !(it was recently made into a movie)

Rating: 4 stars (I really liked it)