Mag Monday: Triple Threat

I've come across three beautiful women on three gorgeous magazine covers this week. First up, W has created another stunning cover, this time featuring the ever-elegant Carey Mulligan.

Nylon, meanwhile, chose Dianna Agron to represent their '60s issue, making her look a little bit like Twiggy and a lot like perfect.

Finally, Kat Dennings fronts Bust looking more beautiful than ever. Love!

Review: The DUFF By Kody Keplinger

In a sentence: A fun read that aims to achieve more than it does.

The DUFF tells the story of 17-year-old Bianca Piper, who is opinionated, snarky and super-close to her two gorgeous best friends. She begins to doubt herself when Wesley Rush, the hottest guy in school and resident man-whore, dubs her "the DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). She also has issues at home, and when she's assigned to be Wesley's partner on a school project (natch) she turns to him for solace... in the form of sex. Yep, they become friends enemies with benefits, and so begins a complicated relationship with lots of complicated feelings.

I think the book had great potential, but it didn't quite make it there. The message of loving and accepting yourself is an awesome one, but was pushed a bit too hard at times, so we're told rather than shown, making it slightly less meaningful. The writing is solid and the story is unique and interesting, but the pacing felt a little off to me - for instance, it felt like Bianca went from throwing Coke in Wesley's face to jumping in bed with him in a matter of pages (i.e. way too quickly). The characters, too, are interesting and likable overall, but also really got on my nerves a few times. I loved the fact that Bianca is smart and sarcastic, but her snarkiness got a bit grating after a while and could come across as bitter and even nasty. Plus, for someone so cynical and opinionated, it was surprising that she got SO hung up on the Duff thing - and went along with Wesley even when he kept calling her that, without ever mentioning how much it hurt her. As for Wesley - he was totally adorable and swoon-worthy, but again didn't quite live up to how amazing he could have been. I was waiting for him to say or do certain things, and they never happened.

All these things aren't major complaints - it just means that instead of LOVING the book as I thought I would, I only liked it. I think a lot of it comes down to Keplinger's age - she was a teenager herself while writing it, and that's pretty damn amazing, but the book does feel a bit immature and lacking in perspective in places. Having said that, I'm excited to read more of Keplinger's work and see how she develops as a writer. All things considered, The DUFF is a great debut and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Rating: 3/5

Eye Candy
I pictured Kat Dennings as Bianca and Chace Crawford as Wesley.

Source

Source

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 2010
Publisher: Poppy Books
Get It: Book Depository

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I should really know by now not to judge books by their covers.

Take Beauty Queens. Never having read anything by Libba Bray before, I took one glance at this cover and dismissed it as not my thing. Something about the headless girl in a bikini just put me off. Without even reading the blurb, I assumed the book would be nothing more than cheesy, rudimentary fluff. Then I saw Audrey's raving review on Holes in my Brain and thought twice about my judgement. Last week I finally read Beauty Queens and discovered just how wrong I was.

Telling the story of a group of teen pageant girls who get stranded on an island after their plane crashes, Beauty Queens is most definitely not cheesy, or even very fluffy for that matter. What it is, is sharp, witty, intelligent, fun, and bloody hilarious. Bray satirises everything from beauty pageants and reality TV to commercialism and sex education - but it's never preachy and always spot-on. She has such a clever way with words that the whole book is totally quotable.

But while the language is awesome and the plot is interesting, it's the characters that really make the book a standout. Initially I was worried about being able to keep track of all the different girls, but each is so well developed that it wasn't a problem at all. They were all strong, distinct, realistic and, suprisingly, even likable - yep, I liked every single beauty queen. And I loved the way they all came together to survive, and used their skills to thrive. They were such great company that I took more time than I needed to read Beauty Queens, because I didn't want to part with them. Now I'm going to hunt down as much Libba Bray as I can get my hands on!

Rating: 5/5

Spoilery Talking Points

• The only problem I had with the book - and it was very minor - was the fact that Petra was so freaked out about her medication at the beginning that she risked her life, but later on the fact that she'd only had a week's worth is totally dropped. Wouldn't her male hormones start emerging after she stopped taking the medication? 
• I looooooved the relationship between Petra and Sinjin. They flirted with word play, quoting Dickens. Dickens! To a Dickens nerd like me, it was just about the sexiest exchange ever.
• I was so upset about what happened with the Casanova wannabe pirate and Adina. What a jerk! But then, it was kinda good and definitely more realistic that all the pairings weren't soulmate material. Plus I really liked Adina's personal journey, as well as Mary Lou's - though my absolute fave would have to be Tiara's!

Eye Candy
Everyone is pretty in this book, natch. Here are some of the girls (and guys) I pictured...

Candice Accola as Tiara

Blake Lively as Taylor

Ed Westwick as Sinjin

Kat Dennings as Adina

Lauren Conrad as Petra

Lucy Hale as Mary Lou

Lincoln Lewis as Tane

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Get It: Book Depository


Related
Speaking of beauty queens, Ashley Tisdale recently did a parody of Toddlers and Tiaras (a show I enjoy way more than I'd care to admit) that could possibly be the best work she's ever done. Hilar!