Review: This Book is BEAUTIFUL!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2014
Dedication from the book-To all the girls in the world:YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.Don’t let the world tell you otherwise.My CommentsWow, oh wow, how I WISH this book had been available when I was in high school.  However, I’m utterly grateful to have read it at this point in my adulthood as well.  This story had my full attention from the beginning and I just had to know what happened to Madison “Mads.”  She’s not your typical teenager, but she suffers way too much emotionally from low self-esteem no matter how many times her best friend, Chase, tells her how amazing she is.  That’s not surprising though because sometimes an outsider’s perspective can help tremendously.Enter Zach Taylor, the new kid in school and instantly noticed because he’s a hunk.  Madison hasn’t even spoken to him, but she immediately wishes she could catch the attention of a guy like that and believing this to be impossible she starts feeling low again.  So when he seeks her out and pursues her friendship, no one is more surprised than she is at his sudden interest in her.  It’s just too good to be true!  Instead of allowing herself to hope, she ignores the guy and even convinces herself that it’s some cruel joke for him to like her.  Little does she know the incredible plan God has for her.Before I even read the story, I noticed the dedication of the book and felt like this story was for me (LOVED the dedication).  I never believed myself to be pretty or knew my worth in high school so when I heard about this book, I knew it was for me.  Any other girls reading this review ever dealt with low self-esteem? We ALL have and I truly believe this book will have a huge impact on the females who pick this up.  It DEFINITELY affected me deeply!Even though Madison is WAY too hard on herself and MOST of the time (even when not being mocked or laughed at) it’s in her head that something is wrong with her.  She also makes the mistake of comparing herself to ALL the girls around her including her mom, which convinces her further of being inadequate.  She annoyed me a few times in the book about lies she believed and misunderstandings with Chase.  But again, I’ve been guilty of the same issues.Despite this book being a Christian YA book, I didn’t see it as preachy at all.  Madison has no idea how much God loves her and once she discovers this reality, it changes everything she knows.  Her heart is already incredible, but she is a slave to thoughts of ugliness and unworthiness.  When a person doesn’t understand God’s love for them, this can be a problem.  No matter how much you’re told how beautiful you are, it’s a revelation that must come from God or you’ll never believe it/never understand the truth of it/start to doubt it.It was really cool how the author implemented that doubting God, feeling ugly, feeling worthless, and even depression from those thoughts are part of spiritual warfare.  No matter what others say, only what God says should be important and focused on.  Everyone relates to peer pressure and wanting to fit in, but knowing who you are in Christ is the best way to knowing joy and being free from negative comments from others (even a certain little brother who was  just spiteful throughout the book).It was sooooo easy to hate Ashley’s character in this book, but we do learn why she’s so cruel and it makes sense.  Zach is also not who he seems to be, but I really enjoyed his character.  Some of the dialogue from Zach had my eyes go wide more than once.I was able to figure out what was going on from the beginning, but it made the story no less exciting for me as I waited for Madison to overcome her torment.  I also enjoyed how she got a job at a coffee place and her boss was an enhancement to the story.Barnes writes spiritual warfare in such a tangible way, I considered her as talented as Frank Peretti (one of my fave Christian authors and a genius at writing spiritual warfare in fiction).  I thought that God went through so much trouble to get His message across to Madison and to break through to her, I just couldn’t believe what it took for her to understand.  However, God pursues EACH of us this way and He definitely has spent years working on my heart to understand the same message.  He loves us, He fights for us, He’s relentless to make us understand who He is, He will never stop, and He’s determined to show us our worth because even though He’s already make the ultimate sacrifice, He still goes out of His way to show us how beautiful we are to Him.Madison finally learns this crucial lesson and it changes her in magical ways.  I connected with this story and it was much deeper than I anticipated.  I hurt with Madison, I wanted to stand with her against lies and cruelty, I was happy for her, and I rejoiced for her when she overcame!  What a great book, a definite jewel that shines for God and His beautiful creation……US!! :)At the end of the story there are two bonus short stories that I simply loved on top of this great book!!  One is from Zach’s perspective and one is from Chase’s perspective, brilliantly done and very special.I want to thank the author from the bottom of my heart for the review copy provided.  I was not required to write a positive review, but books like this one make it easy to do so.  The opinions expressed are my own.