Review: Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: Crazy Beautiful

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Hardback: 193 pages

Reading Level: YA

My copy: Received as a trade on swaptree.com

Rating: 4 out of 5 wicked stars

 

Blurb:

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 thoughts...

I have to admit that I didn't know much about this book before reading it, I am not sure I even read a review on it.  I think I read about it on amazon.com and thought it sounded like an interesting read.  I expected boy meets girl, boys has competion aka love triangle, and the drama it takes to get girl...but what I didn't expect...humor...of all things.  This book had me busting out laughing at times (and my husband looking at me like I am crazy..but that's another story).

Okay so they say this is the contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but I am not sure I would have thought of it that way had they not pointed that out.  This kid, Lucius,  blew off his hands and has two hooks...on top of that, he is starting a new school, how's that for a stressful first day?  That is where the humor came in..Lucius has the greatest, although dark and twisty, sense of humor.  Some of the things he says and thinks had me cracking up.  I love those unexpected surprises.  This story is told from alternating view points, Lucius and Aurora, and flows quite well.  It is a quick read at only 193 pages, but I recommend it if you want a little humor, romance and drama.