The Making of a Beauty by Joanna Alonzo Review

 

The Making of a Beauty by Joanna Alonzo was an awesome book, but very emotional. And just as a warning, the main character self harms, and there are some chapters where we see her cutting. Those chapters do have a warning at the beginning though.

This story is a prequel in the author's The Sacred and the Scarred series. Book one, The Beauty in Their Scars, released this week, and I can't wait to continue Calysta's story.  She has so much she struggles with as the half sister to popular twins Karina and Paige. She feels like a shadow compared to them, because of them and their friends'treatment of her. But suddenly their situation changes and they have to move and it looks like things just might get better for Calysta...or maybe not. 

This story takes place in the fictional countries of Ancoria and Qranth. At the beginning of the story, the Daniels family lives quite comfortably in Eirin City in Qranth. Due to certain circumstances they have to move to Chelidon, an isledom of Ancoria, where most of the story takes place, and the family isn't living near as comfortably, much to the dismay of the twins. We see the story from Calysta's point of view and see her struggles, quite intensely at times, and her trumphs. There are family, and friends, and enemies, and crushes. And we see her learning about God, Jesus and Christianity. 

I loved the relationships Calysta made and the way God starts working in her life. And how she learns about true beauty. The little boutique where she works sounds like a wonderful place and her boss sounds like a wonderful woman and friend. One strong in her faith. 

Then there is the introduction to Brendan who I can't wait to learn more about.  So far he seems like a bit of a creep, but we only see him briefly. 

Though there are some heart wrenching scenes, there is a good amount of humor and typical teen angst as well. 

It's a great book and I'm glad I realized I needed to read it before The Beauty in Their Scars.