Flight into Fantasy

Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Crazy Beautiful was the first book I chose to read this week during my short exploration of the theme of Beauty and the Beast. It bears little actual resemblance to the fairy tale itself, except in very superficial ways, and it suffers from the fact that I waited almost a week after I finished reading it to write up a review. If I’d reviewed this book after I’d finished it, I might have gushed more, but as it is, the flaws became more noticeable as time passed.

Our beast is Lucius Wolfe. He snuck into his old school’s chemistry lab, stole some chemicals, and experimented with them in his parents’ basement. Naturally, an accident happened, and Lucius was badly scarred. He lost both hands and now has to wear hooks. He and his family have moved to a new town for a fresh start, even though Lucius has seriously damaged his parents’ trust in him.

The beauty is Aurora Bell. Her mom has recently died, and her dad has taken a job as a school librarian, and so Aurora and her father also end up moving to the same town as Lucius. The two of them catch each other’s eyes on the bus, and, without a single word being spoken, are suddenly fascinated with each other.

As I was reading this book, which was a fast, one-sitting read, I liked it. Both Lucius and Aurora are nice kids, and I liked watching Lucius slowly try to shrug off his loner persona and realize he does care for other people. I also liked the relationship between Aurora and her dad, which was very sweet. And while I did find the romance flawed (more about that below) Baratz-Logsted had me rooting for both these kids.

But…and you knew there would be buts… there were problems. First of all, for a book that’s supposed to be about how we shouldn’t judge other people by physical appearance alone, the romance seemed pretty shallow. Aurora was fascinated by Lucius’s smile. Lucius thought Aurora was pretty. They spent a lot of the book ogling each other from afar. There were a few conversations, but Lucius shows more actual friendship toward Nick the security guard than he does Aurora. So I’m supposed to believe these kids are in love? OK, granted, they’re in high school, and high school romances weren’t exactly sophisticated or full of depth, but still, considering the story’s theme I would have liked to know why it was these two were fascinated with each other aside from “He’s so mysterious/sad” and “She’s so beautiful and nice.”

Which brings me to something else. I couldn’t stand Aurora. From her Disney princess name to her sugary-sweet personality, she just seemed too perfect. Except, of course, at the end, in which she jumps to shrewish conclusions for the sake of the plot and allowing Lucius to save the day.

Lucius I found more fascinating. His motivations were much clearer, and I found his loneliness truly heartbreaking. I also thought his protectiveness toward Aurora was terribly endearing. Plus, he’s got a lot more to work through, and the development of his relationships with his parents was fun to watch.

I don’t know if Crazy Beautiful would have worked better for me if I’d actually been a teenager. I hate to make a pronouncement one way or another, since that way I run the risk of labeling all YA as unsophisticated, which it isn’t at all. But Crazy Beautiful could have had a lot more depth. If you like YA romances, and you don’t mind somewhat lackluster characterization, go for it. But I think there are better books for your time. C+.

Other Opinions

• The Book Vault
• Devourer of Books
• Juiciliciousss Reviews
• Presenting Lenore
• One Librarian’s Book Reviews

P.S. I got this from Bookshare