Book Review: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Life is a journey and the people you meet along the way help determine its route. For high school senior Terra, life has always been defined by the suffocating atmosphere of her small town (where everyone knows her as the girl with the port wine stain) and the pristine house where she lives with her verbally and emotionally abusive cartographer father. Though she dreams of escape for herself and her mother, it takes a chance encounter with adopted Chinese teen goth Jacob to finally set her on a course towards independence and self acceptance.

At nearly 400 pages, North of Beautiful has the space to really explore topics such as the nature of beauty, the beauty of travel, sticking up for yourself, and trying to fit in when you stick out. As in the collages Terra loves to create, there are many interesting disparate details – from ancient maps, geocaching, and Chinese history to candle making, coffee tasting and metalworking - that come together to form a pleasing whole.

I loved how the “meet-cute” with Jacob in part one improbably leads to Terra and Jacob accompanying both their mothers on a trip to China in part two of the novel. Her horizons expanded, Terra really blossoms – her relationship with her mother improves and she finds herself falling in love with someone who sees beyond the facial flaw that has always held her back. Jacob is seriously swoon-worthy and is part of one of the sweetest first kiss scenes I’ve read in a long while.

NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL is out in hardcover now. It’s a novel whose journey is definitely worth taking. Find out more about it at the author's website.

FUN FACT: Author Justina Chen Headley and I share a dream travel destination: Bhutan! Not only does she mention it in this interview with Jocelyn of Teen Book Review, she also has Jacob say in the novel that he loves Terra’s port wine stain because it is the shape of Bhutan. Cool!