Book Review: Pretty/Ugly by Jennifer Anne Gordon
Genre(s): Dystopian Fiction
Book Synopsis:
Omelia fills the empty place in her heart with Instagram clicks, likes, and subscribes, hiding the scars of grief under a mask of makeup, cloaked in an online personality. She yearns to be someone new: a girl in a magazine, a character in a book, a beauty queen. Anything not to feel, to be numb, but the sharp pain accompanying the red spot on her face cannot be ignored. Nor can the black, spindly tarantula-like vines that creep up the side of her face and the fever she spikes, forcing her to confront the fact that the person she has become may not be who she is at all.
Dubbed ‘the New JFK, ‘ Sam is the heir apparent to a powerful but emotionally distant political family, living the life he neither dreamed nor wanted. He sleepwalks through his days filled with self-loathing, rage, boredom, and an ache under his heart that reminds him that he is not complete. He is roused from slumber when a political scandal erupts that coincides with the end of the world. Too many Adderall and Old-Fashioneds leave Sam wondering, is he crazy or haunted?
When lives are emotionally ended in childhood, it takes an apocalypse to see the ephemeral beauty of living again.
Review:
Pretty/Ugly is set during a pandemic, and there are some definite parallels between the story and some of the real world events from the last few years. But the story isn’t so much about the disease or the lockdowns, but about people learning to live with themselves and their pasts. Learning to accept themselves and open up to one another.
I really enjoyed both Omelia/Nicole’s story and Sam’s, and I liked how they came together at the end. But this book doesn’t really have a happy ending—it’s more bittersweet, and it really does feel like the end of the world at the story’s conclusion.
There was so much sensory input in the writing that it almost felt real. I was drawn into this story and found it hard to put down. It was a very enjoyable read.
Microbiologist’s sidenote: The disease featured in this book is completely fictional, but the author did some research on the herpes simplex virus family and some of the symptoms are at least plausible. I’m still not sure about the black vines and what those are supposed to be, but as I said, it’s fictional. Weird things can happen in book worlds.
Author website: jenniferannegordon.com
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