Called a teen book but I loved it and can't wait for the movie ( )

Not something I would generally read, so it is difficult to rate it. Actually, I think it generous to give 'Gorgeous' two stars. I did not expect the supernatural spin on it, which seemed to get more ridiculous as the book went progressed. I suppose the younger age group for whom it was intended might like it more. ( )

While I didn't love this book, I can say that it surprised me how much I ended up enjoying it. You might have seen me post how utterly baffled I was when I first started this. Paul Rudnick's story isn't something I've read before. It's completely out in left field, and yet that's what kept my attention. Even when I didn't love Becky. Even when I had no idea what was going on. I was intrigued enough to want to keep going. Gorgeous gets points for that.

Here's the thing about Becky Randle: at first she was pretty tough for me to like. I had nothing in common with this quiet, introverted, mousy young girl from a trailer park. It grated on me that she was constantly putting herself down, and refused to come out of her shell simply because she didn't think she was worthy of it. I cringed as she simpered about the popular girls, and how the guy she liked didn't even know she existed. I wanted to scream, "Come on Becky! It's only HIGH SCHOOL!". Then, things took off and suddenly I wasn't so annoyed with her anymore. Only completely absorbed in her transformation.

The Becky that comes out on the other side of this story, although I still never fully felt invested in her, was much different that the one I first met. Stronger, more sassy, and just that slight bit more comfortable in her own skin. What I did love about her journey was how she addressed all the madness that ensues in Hollywood. How we idol worship, how the very rich behave, and how beauty makes us do crazy things. Becky gets a piece of all of this, and it was engrossing to watch her battle between her old self and the person that fame was trying to turn her into.

I suppose this is a fairy tale of sorts, when you get right down to it. Almost like a Cinderella story, but without all the overly sappy parts. Although there is a fair bit of adorable romance. The saving grace for me was Becky's best friend Rocher (pronounced like the fancy chocolate of the same name) and her spit-fire, completely-loyal-best-friend personality. I should also warn you that there are many instances of what we shall call "adult language" in this book. That, more than anything, stuck out to me while I was listening to the audio book. Rocher cusses a lot.

That being said, the story ended up sweeping me up by the end. It still never made total sense, and I still had tons of unanswered questions that were eating at me, but I'll concede that it was an interesting ride. If nothing else, Gorgeous gets credit for being so original. It takes a story that we all think we've seen before, and puts a spin on it that is out of this world. So, I'd say give it a shot if it jumps out at you as something you'd enjoy! You might be pleasantly surprised. ( )

From lmnet

2013

320 pages



Scathingly satirical, causticly comic, wickedly witty, in-your-face pun-y, and filled with more laughs per second than any comedy show, Gorgeous slapped me in the face and made me laugh until I cried. From the very first irreverent paragraph, I was hooked and better yet, pleasantly shocked! Rudnick has that rare, ethereal gift of winsome wit that many fiction writers would kill for. David Sedaris (the funniest writer I've ever read) says, "Paul Rudnick is a champion of truth and love and great wicked humor, whom we ignore at our peril."


Becky Randle grew up in a trailer in East Trawley, Missouri, the daughter of a morbidly obese mother who dreams of Hollywood, glamour, movies and the good life. Just before her mother dies, she makes Becky promise that if something magical shows up, Becky should play along. She swears there will be magic and that Becky should use it. When getting some of her mother's old clothes ready for charity, Becky happens upon a phone number with an area code in New York. Becky calls the number and a woman sends her a plane ticket and some cash to come to New York. Becky is confused; why would someone, a complete stranger, send her money and a ticket to New York? She enlists the help of best friend Roche--whose mother named her after the box of fancy chocolates, famous for their gold wrappers. Roche convinces Becky to take the ticket already and get on that plane. If this isn't magic, what is?



Becky is whisked away by chauffeur to meet mysterious Tom Kelly, a designer so revered that he has become a recluse even from the world of high fashion. He tells Becky he will make her three dresses: one red, one black and one white. The dresses will magically make her the World's Most Beautiful Woman. The magic only lasts one year. Within that year, Becky must meet and marry Mr. Right or the magic wears off.



Wearing Tom's couture designs, Becky is immediately transformed to Rebecca Randle. Her legs morph into supermodel legs, her skin becomes flawless, she is drop dead gorgeous.The kind of gorgeous that is simply other-worldly. Everyone clamors to meet the new "It" girl. Soon, she's on the cover of Vogue and tapped to film a movie with hot Hollywood teen hunk Jate Mallow. The press is soon calling them Jatecca and papparazzi snap their every move.



Rebecca revels in the attention but finds it a bit vapid...that is, until she meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne. Suddenly, Becky knows what she must do. She must marry the prince and use her beauty and his power to help change the world!



What happens when a normal girl from nowhere rubs elbows with the A-list and British royalty? A hilarious romp that will have readers laughing out loud and quite possibly rolling around on the floor, gasping for breathe.



Libba Bray, no slouch to fierce and sardonic wit herself, wrote," Rudnick's considerable talents as a satirist as he uproariously eviscerates our celebrity-mad, class-concious, appearance-obsessed, reality-TV-vapid culture with puckish delight." (New York Times Book Review).



Highly, highly recommended grade 9-up. Profanity runs amok but it's so funny!

[Thursday, ‎October ‎17, ‎2013] When eighteen-year-old Becky Randle's mother dies, she is whisked away from a trailer park to New York City, where fashion designer Tom Kelly offers to transform her into a glamours Rebecca, a girl fit for a prince but soon she begins to fear that she will lose touch with her real self.