Beautiful World by Anastasia Hollings
11:28 PM
Author: Anastasia Hollings
Release Date: May 25, 2009 (paperback)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 209
Source: Bought
Overall: 1 Star
Summary:
Amelia Warner will stop at nothing to get what she wants: everything.
Seventeen-year-old Amelia Warner is always on the outside. Moving from boarding school to boarding school with her brother and their father, the untenured professor, doesn't help. Amelia lives inches from the sons and daughters of the elite, forever looking in on the beautiful people. A natural-born charmer who doesn't lie so much as rework the truth to her advantage, Amelia is well-versed in the art of faking a high-society identity to get limited access to the luxe life, but she's never figured out how to truly belong. Then she meets Courtney Moore, the Upper East Side heiress who needs a friend as badly as Amelia wants to be that friend, and suddenly a world of opportunity opens up for her. Parties, shopping, her own wing in the Moore mansion—it's all hers for the taking, as long as she can keep her real life a secret, especially from the new acquaintance who's been asking way too many questions. Can Amelia stay one step ahead of the doubters to secure her place in the beautiful world?
Seventeen-year-old Amelia Warner is always on the outside. Moving from boarding school to boarding school with her brother and their father, the untenured professor, doesn't help. Amelia lives inches from the sons and daughters of the elite, forever looking in on the beautiful people. A natural-born charmer who doesn't lie so much as rework the truth to her advantage, Amelia is well-versed in the art of faking a high-society identity to get limited access to the luxe life, but she's never figured out how to truly belong. Then she meets Courtney Moore, the Upper East Side heiress who needs a friend as badly as Amelia wants to be that friend, and suddenly a world of opportunity opens up for her. Parties, shopping, her own wing in the Moore mansion—it's all hers for the taking, as long as she can keep her real life a secret, especially from the new acquaintance who's been asking way too many questions. Can Amelia stay one step ahead of the doubters to secure her place in the beautiful world?
My Thoughts:
I'm trying really hard to say something positive about this book right now. I debated in the first place if I should even write a review because I knew it was would be pretty negative, but I decided I should probably get this book rant out of my system.
I was attracted to this lovely cover with two models enticing you to join them in the 'Beautiful World' and even the plot sounded entertaining enough. The short prologue captured my interest with the idea of a picture never giving a complete story, but then I moved onto the first chapter... and right away, I bad feeling grew in the pit of my stomach.
Admittedly, I did not have high expectations for this book, but I was still very disappointed. Told mainly in Amelia and Courtney's point of view, these two teenage girls live very different lifestyles... and you know what? I didn't like either of them. In fact, I was borderline loathing Amelia after only a few chapters in.
Ann Warner, or Amelia as she prefers because her real name makes her out to be some sort of peasant, is a girl who believes everything in life should be hers in life for the taking because she's beautiful. She's a smart girl but she uses her intelligence for all the wrong reasons, lying to people in order to make them believe she's a high society kind of gal. So when she meets heiress Courtney Moore while on vacation in St. Bart's, she sees it as an opportunity to get closer to this world of luxury she has always craved.
Amelia spends much of the novel either whining about how she was pretty but still didn't having anything or being devious and using people for her own advantage. Courtney wasn't much better either. She's actually a nice person but she was too naive for my liking and although she's also gorgeous, she lacked self-confidence in herself. She was too trusting and accepted things without ever really thinking about it.
So now you're probably thinking if I didn't enjoy it from the start, why did I keep reading? Well, a part of me kept hoping that these girls would see the light and some sort of practical sense would be knocked into them. Amelia might actually feel bad for how shallow she was and Courtney would wake up to the 'real' world. It's the only reason I kept going... but it's too bad I was wrong. Beautiful World lacked character development and much of the details in the story are told to you, instead of being shown to you.
In the end, I was glad when I finally finished Beautiful World because it meant I could move onto other books which I knew I would definitely enjoy a whole lot more. I really did try to think positive while reading, but in the end, it was not meant to be and this book was simply not my cup of tea.
6 comments
That's too bad you didn't enjoy it. =( It's always rough when you can't really find anything redeemable about a title. Especially because I read for character, I hate it when characters don't develop, grow, or learn.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad when I buy a book and then I end up hating it. I could've brought a good book with that money. That's why I stick to libraries but when I can't wait for a new book to come out (which is almost all the time) I just go out and buy it myself. :)
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This sounds quite interesting but I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it! I'll definitely avoid this if I come across it!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard about this book until I read your review. Sorry you didnt't enjoy it and it doesn't sounds like one I would either.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least it doesn't happen too often- finding a book I didn't enjoy, I mean. I'm usually pretty good at knowing when I'll like something and when I won't but I guess my Spidey sense was off for this one. It's a good thing I only spent a few dollars for it and not the full price. ^.~
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