Nothing But the Truth: Review

Title: Nothing But the Truth (And a Few White Lies)
Author: Justina Chen Headley
Release Date: April 2007
Published By: Little, Brown
Pages: 256
Goodreads Rating: 3.65 stars


Review: Patty Ho is a snarky hapa (half-Asian, half-white) teenager who struggles with her mixed heritage. Her domineering mother wants her to be a perfect Taiwanese girl, while she wants to be white like the father she's never known. When she goes off to California for math camp, what seems to be torture at first soon turns into an opportunity for freedom to find herself. The only problem? Nothing goes the way it should.

I'll just come out and say it: I loved this book. Probably one of the aspects I enjoyed the most was how much I could relate to it. Like Patty, I'm also hapa so I understand a lot of the issues she dealt with because of being biracial. I've often found myself wanting to lean towards one side or the other (when I was little, I wanted to be full white, and now I frequently wish I was full Asian), and that's something Patty struggled with as well. Reading NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH was such a deeper experience since I had such a strong connection to it.

But even apart from that, I adored it anyway. Although it clearly deals with a variety of difficult issues, the book is packed to the sides with humor. Patty is sarcastic and amusing, making observations on her life with such hilarious honesty that I often ended up grinning while reading this. I didn't get the opportunity to read it all in one sitting, but if I had the time, I certainly would've devoured this in a handful of hours.

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH was an endlessly entertaining read with a variety of tough issues explored. I loved being able to relate to Patty so much, but also appreciated that Justina Chen Headley went beyond the multicultural problems and explored universal struggles of self-discovery. This is a book that absolutely anyone can read and enjoy. I would recommend this to everyone, and consider it one of my favorite books. This will definitely appear on my Best of 2011 list!

North of Beautiful: Review

Synopsis: Born with a port-wine stain birthmark covering her entire right cheek, Terra Rose Cooper is ready to leave her stifling, small Washington town where everyone knows her for her face. With her critical, reproachful father and an obese mother who turns to food to deflect her father's verbal attacks, home life for Terra isn't so great either. Fueled by her artistic desires, she plans to escape to an East Coast college, thinking this is her true path. When her father intercepts her acceptance letter, Terra is pushed off-course, and she is forced to confront her deepest insecurities. After an ironically fortuitous car accident, Terra meets Jacob, a handsome but odd goth Chinese boy who was adopted from China as a toddler. Jacob immediately understands Terra's battle with feeling different. When Terra's older brother invites her and her mother to visit him in Shanghai, Jacob and his mother also join them on their journey, where they all not only confront the truth about themselves, but also realize their own true beauty. North of Beautiful is the engaging third YA novel by Justina Chen Headley. This is a gorgeously-written, compelling book featuring universal themes of defining true beauty, family bonds, personal strength, and love.

Details: North of Beautiful by Justin Chen Headley, 373 pages, 4.09 stars on Goodreads.

My Thoughts: Oh man. We're doing this "my thoughts" thing literally, right? Because as soon as I finished the book, that brilliant, eloquent thought popped up: "Oh man." Which, to be honest, is a lot more brilliant and eloquent than what I usually think ("OMG PUPPY SO CUTE. ME EAT COOKIE NOW.") In any case, this book is definitely worth of an "oh man". Also the five awards it won, but the "oh man", too. 


The narrator, Terra Rose Cooper, has one of those voices that are so nice and easy and entertaining to read, but at the same time is somehow real and raw and emotional. From the hooking first sentence (because, oh yes, that is how you start a novel), the voice drags you in and in and in, and the next thing you know, you're crying for Terra and laughing for Terra, and after a while, you're pretty darn sure you are Terra. 


When I first started reading about the countless (and futile) laser surgeries Terra has tried, and the thick make-up she has to wear, I didn't quite get that when she said birthmark, she meant a birthmark. I had to Google Image search "port wine stain" before I got it. If you're not familiar with those, do it now. And you can see why it really, really sucks for Terra. 

But naturally, that's not enough. Terra's dad is controlling and abusive in a different way than in other books I've read, or families I've met. He doesn't physically yell, but he constantly makes thinly-veiled cutting remarks, attacking you verbally and shattering your resolve. 


Enter Hot Boy. Every YA book should have one, in my opinion. More than one works too. But anyway, the Hot Boy is this book is a goth, adopted Chinese guy named Jacob. And he's sweet and sensitive and funny and cute and lovely and amazing. Plus? He totally understands her and her insecurities because he has to deal with similar ones as well. 


All in all, this is a super amazing book that you absolutely must read. As in, right now. Five smilies out of five.