CRAZY BEAUTIFUL by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 2009) is a contemporary re-visioning of Beauty & the Beast, told in he-said/she-said fashion, about a boy with hooks for hands and a gorgeous girl who meet on their first day at a new school.

REVIEW YYYY

Month's ago when I read the blurb for this Beauty and the Beast modern day love story I was smitten. I knew I had to read it and I was not disappointed.

Lucius is a great re imagining of the beast; someone dark and brooding, hardened by his past, yet still maintaining the softness of character that we look for in our anti-hero. There were moments that his inner voice conveyed how intelligent he was and the depth of his emotions, and it would leave me with a painful ache in my chest.

Aurora en captures Belle perfectly, from her pretty face, to her saintly morals and perfect manners; she is the picture of loveliness, and we can easily see why Lucius is drawn to her from the very beginning. Her suppressed sadness a quality that Lucius could relate to. It was as if he could understand her pain and she his. For the moment that their eyes meet...it seems as if they KNOW each other.

The POV switching between chapters had the perfect balance and kept the story flowing along beautifully. I adored witnessing their reactions to one another, and the chapters were the perfect length, so it flowed really well!

The only complaint I have about this love story is that as it had reached the pinnacle of it's story arc. IT ENDS! quite abruptly and this was quite frustrating only because I wanted more.

Crazy Beautiful is a story that has a cast of characters that help round out the novel but do not distract from Aurora and Lucius' story. Lauren Baratz-Logsted has written a great story that has the perfect balance between truth and love and the ultimate power to forgive.