Book Review: Beautiful Curse by Jen McConnel

Beautiful Curse
by Jen McConnel
Release Date: December, 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Genre: YA Fantasy, Retellings
Get a Copy: 
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Goodreads Summary: Sixteen-year-old Mya Jones is cursed.

She is, hands down, the most beautiful creature on earth. But beauty can wound, and Mya finds herself reviled and shunned by her peers. If there is even a chance that she could start over, Mya longs to take it, no matter the risks.

So when the strange Mr. Merk offers her a new life away from home, Mya is hesitant but hopeful. Only she didn't count on the mysterious Ross, or her feelings for him.

Cindy's Review:  
Beautiful Curse started out quite mysteriously. Things happen without any reasons, like the main character suddenly getting so gorgeous, it's scary. So as the suspense continues on, the protagonist gets taken into this mythical, magical world, like an escape route to her problems. 

I didn't read the whole synopsis, which I think is even better, because I was left in suspense who the love interest really was. **I didn't include that part in the synopsis.** When Mya, the main character was brought to a different world by the mysterious Mr. Merk, he told her that his master needed her there. Mya was completely in the dark when it comes to Ross. Not only that she doesn't know anything about him, but she can only be with him if she can't see him. She also can't see some invisible servants and butlers. 

As I started to read on, this plot really reminded me of Jessica Day George's Sun and Moon,Ice and Snow, which turned out that they both were retellings of the same myth. 

We start to see the trust begin to form between Mya and Ross, Mya does something that ends up breaking apart this mythical world and returning Mya to her old, terrible life. Soon, all our questions are answered and Mya does anything she could to save Ross. 

It's really hard for me to explain this without mentioning the real myth, so I apologize for sounding all choppy and not thorough. 

Overall, I thought Beautiful Curse was a really fun read. I enjoyed the suspense immensely and was really glad I got kept in the dark. It's really exciting to find out who those mysterious characters really were. :)

The Rating: 8~

Author Bio:
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).

She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and a proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.

A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She's a graduate of Western Michigan University, and she also earned her MS in Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

Links: 
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Author Website: http://www.jenmcconnel.com/