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Beautiful

by Amy Reed (Goodreads Author)

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 2,094 ratings · 330 reviews

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie’s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who’s worth noticing.

Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined… one moment, one choice, changes...more

Hardcover, 232 pages

Published October 6th 2009 by Simon Pulse (first published September 23rd 2009)

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Mar 21, 2010 Daisy added it

Take a deep breath and steel yourself for Amy Reed’s debut novel “Beautiful.” It’s beautiful for sure, but it’s not easy, nor is it supposed to be. Consider the verbs Reed uses: punched, scraped, gutted, crush, explode, smash, destroy, cutting, burning, scarring. But really, what better words are there to describe thirteen-year-old Cassie’s harrowing descent into the world of drugs, alcohol, abuse and the sex she wishes she weren’t having?

“Beautiful” is a gut check of a young adult novel. It’s t...more

15 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2009 Courtney added it

Shelves: 2009, ya-fiction

It's hard to know exactly how to describe Beautiful in a way that will do it justice. Alice down the rabbit hole. Amazing.

First things first: what Daisy said here. I especially agree with her when she says Beautiful reads like a memoir. It does and that makes it almost unnerving at times. It's almost like a memoir you don't have permission to read, if that makes sense--that's how personal it is.

Amy Reed has tapped into a voice that will haunt you. You will ache for Cassie, you will want to hel...more

8 likes · like · see review

Dec 10, 2009 Loryn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Young Adults

Recommended to Loryn by: Heather Johnson

Shelves: young-adult-ya

Before moving to a small town outside of Seattle, Cassie had always been what most people would call a good kid. She had lived on an island called Bainbridge Island and she was invisible, living but not fully. She had fake friends, and did well in school because it was what was expected of her.

For the first week or so at her new school as a seventh grader, it seemed like things were going to be exactly the same as when she went to school in Bainbridge. That all changed though when Alex, the gir...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 15, 2013 Nette Howard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: beautiful-amy-reed

I thought that this book was a very accurate tale of how drugs can consume one's life. Cassie moves to a new town and decides she is done being a good girl. she finds a friend, alex, who is friends with guys in high school. They all do hard drugs. Cassie then becomes infested with trying to fit in. All the wants is to be cool, so she starts to do drug as well. With her growing need to supply her addiction she turns to a nerdy boy in her advanced class for his adderal pills. She starts dating one...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 28, 2011 LibraryFairy™ rated it 2 of 5 stars

I first bought the book because of the wonderful cover but it wasn't my cup of tea. First of Cassie's character had so much potential but it wasn't explored. Most of the story flew right past me and if your a bit slow like I am you wouldn't understand the author's cryptic words. We never knew what was up with Cassie's dad. Alex wasn't well described altough she was one of the books main characters.The only interesting part of the book was Sarah. Altogether it seemed like a failed attempt at copy...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 A Beautiful Madness rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Am I the only one who thought this book was similar to the movie Thirteen, with Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Woods? There was something in it that really reminded me of this movie. After all, Cassie goes from being a good girl, to being a ‘bad” girl, caught in a world of lies, drug, sex, alcohol and abuse.

This is not a light read, that’s for sure. There is something really troubling in reading about a thirteen-years-old going through all Cassie is going through.

The fact that Cassie is only thirt...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 28, 2011 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, ya-fiction

Full review here: http://stackedbooks.blogspot.com/2011...

At times this one is too real, too pulsing, especially because these girls exist and are lost and broken. My heart ached for Cassie and was repulsed at the same time. She is such a SMART girl but that's not enough and no one would be able to convince her anyway.

The writing is almost stream of conscious, and I really dig that style. It worked so well to give the lost girl a voice.

The ending bothered me a bit. It wasn't quite what I wante...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 07, 2010 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought Beautiful on a whim...and ended up being floored. I've never read anything like this before. It is probably the most emotionally-charged book that I have ever read. Reed paints a very vivid picture and creates such a realistic plot. I've often wondered how does someone get to be like "that"? Reed has come along and given us a gut-wrenching story that illustrates the "how". Once I started reading I could not put it down...I finished it all in one sitting. I believe that Reed does an incr...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Rachel added it

Moving to a new town allows Cassie to recreate her personality in Amy Reed’s novel, Beautiful. Cassie immediately makes friends at her new school in Seattle. They label her as beautiful, which justifies Cassie’s claim: “That is what I am now: beautiful, with this new body and face and hair and clothes. Beautiful, with this erasing of history” (Reed 6). Breaking away from her past life of innocence, Cassie experiments with drugs and develops negative, self-destructive habits. Although she adopts...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 03, 2013 Rebecca Payton rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! It's about a girl named Cassie who just moved to a new town. She doesn't have a great home life, her parents barely talk and when they do you can tell their is tension in the room. Cassie is a very smart eighth grader. In her old school, she used to be considered as one of the popular girls. Ever since she moved to this new town, Cassie has been trying to fit in and eventually does; except this is a crowd she should've never started talking to. She starts hanging ou...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Isabel rated it 4 of 5 stars

It being not an intense book, or so I thought. To be perfectly honest with you, Beautiful was not what I expected. Based on the title, I thought it was some stupid book about some girl not thinking she’s beautiful, and that occassionally comes up. But after reading the online summary, I was amazed to find out that there would be some intriguing content hidden in there. So, I borrowed the book. Now anyone reading this, here’s my terrible summary.
Beautiful is a book involving the life of a teen t...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Brandi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful, was a well written book about a girl named Cassie who moved to a new town in Seattle and started a new school, and wanted to create a new identity. She didn't have the best family, her dad was never there and her mom is an alcoholic. Even with family issues, she was still a good girl who kept her grades up. She was a good girl who never got into any trouble and wasn't popular. At her new school a girl named Alex ran into her and became the first person to show any interest in her. To...more Beautiful, was a well written book about a girl named Cassie who moved to a new town in Seattle and started a new school, and wanted to create a new identity. She didn't have the best family, her dad was never there and her mom is an alcoholic. Even with family issues, she was still a good girl who kept her grades up. She was a good girl who never got into any trouble and wasn't popular. At her new school a girl named Alex ran into her and became the first person to show any interest in her. To Cassie, Alex seemed cool because she was a middle schooler who hung out with a ton of high school boys. Little did Cassie know what she was getting herself into. Alex comes from a dysfunctional home. Her dad had hung himself, her brother moved away in Portland and is in a gang against fat people, and her mom does drugs and is abusive. Alex is abusive to Cassie, and Cassie feels trapped and intimidated, but she's in too deep. Now her new identity is Alex's best friend. Cassie gets into drugs, (like pot, acid, cocaine, pills, etc.) and alcohol without any consequences. She also has sex with her boyfriend, under the influence and doesn't want to. She feels like she has to. She feels trapped. Eventually Alex's half sister Sarah, comes to live with her and her birth mom (alex's mom) that didn't want her but was forced to take her after her father went to jail for raping her. Sarah and Cassie hit it off. They become best friends and feel safe around each other, but they hide it from Alex because if she knew, she'd beat them both up because Cassie is supposed to be HER best friend. Sarah's dad's lawyer made a mistake and were going to release him. One day he started writing letters to her saying he knows where she is and he is going to come get her. Sarah took all the pills and her house and killed herself. Cassie was devastated. Police came to question her about it, and she told them everything. They ended up moving again. She finally got to get away from it all.
I liked this book a lot because it's something i can relate to. We're about the same age, and we both moved to a new town trying to fit in and crate new identities. It was informational. It taught me about what it feels like and what your mind set is when on drugs. Which isn't a good message, but it made me think how i wouldn't do them. How fast she got addicted. Its a good story to tell older kids about what can happen.(less)

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Mar 09, 2011 Sarah BT rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating: 2.75

Beautiful is an interesting little book. It's very gritty and perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins. I can see readers who love gritty realistic fiction devouring this one. But adults will see the many faults that are in the book. It's also a bit odd because the character is so young, but I don't know how many middle school libraries could really carry it and I don't know if older teens would read about the addictions of a 7th grader. So I don't know who the audience really is. I guess 7...more Rating: 2.75

Beautiful is an interesting little book. It's very gritty and perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins. I can see readers who love gritty realistic fiction devouring this one. But adults will see the many faults that are in the book. It's also a bit odd because the character is so young, but I don't know how many middle school libraries could really carry it and I don't know if older teens would read about the addictions of a 7th grader. So I don't know who the audience really is. I guess 7th and 8th grade readers who are reading the gritty books allready and can get this one at the public library would be the prime audience.

The story seems to jump around too much without much explanation or back story. One moment Cassie is a good girl and the next she's pulled into Alex's world-there's no explanation how she got there. We know Cassie's family moved for a reason and we're led to believe it's some big secret, but we never find out what. In some ways Cassie's fast descent makes sense, especially given her age, but I wish the author would have described it a bit more. I wanted more development for Cassie and why she was choosing to leave her good girl image behind. And what was it about Alex's crowd that really drew her in? The only explanation the author really gives us is that at her old school Cassie tried being popular and that didn't work and she wants to leave her good girl image behind.

Alex is an interesting character and she's a fantastic villain, but we don't get to know her all that much. She was the person I wanted to know the most about, but she seems to come in and out of the story as needed. I wanted explanation for Alex's behavior and wanted to explore her backstory. I found her more interesting than Cassie, but we get to meet her in the beginning and then we miss out on any interaction with Alex for a good portion of the book until the end.

Same with Alex's half-sister, Sarah. Sarah causes tension between Cassie and Alex because Alex can't share friends and while this creates an interesting dynamic, it's only there when the author remembers to throw it in. There are also issues with Alex and Sarah's home life that as an adult reader really bugged me. Most likely, Sarah would not be placed in the home she's placed in, yet the author overlooks this fact to make an interesting story. When I read this for book club, all of us complained about this fact (we're all adults, but I think teens won't care and instead view it as "adults don't care about us.") I also really hated the adults in this book and they do some awful things that as an adult reader was hard for me to read and understand their actions.

The story is told from Cassie's point of view, which may explain why we get a limited view and never get to know more about Alex, Sarah, or the adults in the story, but I wish we had been given a bit more. I never felt too much sympathy for Cassie and never really cared for her. I didn't think she or the other characters where that fleshed out and I wanted them to be. The story left me wanting more.

I think this is a book that teens of realistic fiction would enjoy, but anyone older than fifteen or sixteen would probably have too many issues with it to really enjoy reading it.

Book Pairings: Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks

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1 like · like · see review

Jul 20, 2010 Robert Kent rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade-ninja-reviews

All right, so just to be clear: Beautiful by Amy Reed is not appropriate for all age groups. Come to think of it, the life of the modern American teenager is not appropriate for all age groups. Both it and this book contain lots of sex, including some incest, drug abuse, alcohol, suicide, violence, all manner of foul language, and many other adult elements I usually don’t get to write about here. I’m not too worried as I know most of you Esteemed Readers are adults, but if you are under the age...more

6 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-romance-to-everything-in-between, ya-tragic-to-happy-or-maybe-not

I don't always need a happily-ever-after at an end of every book. I also don't live in some fairytale bubble, where I only read fluffy-sappy-love-stories. With that being said, I'm really conflicted about this book. On the one hand, I didn't really care for this story at all. Part of me thinks, I may have missed some over arching context, like it went over my head or something... Then, there is the other side of my brain that is shouting that this book was tragically brilliant.

I think that anyon...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 18, 2009 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

My mother was a librarian, and sometime in the summer of 1973, she handed me a novel that upset, intrigued, and convinced me so fully, I almost refused to go to middle school. She didn’t really give the novel to me. She shoved it into my hands, insisting that I read it. That book was the novel Go Ask Alice, purportedly based on a teenager’s diary. The story is, as we all know now, a vivid cautionary tale about drugs and their rabbit hole allure.
But really, the most frightening aspect of that no...more My mother was a librarian, and sometime in the summer of 1973, she handed me a novel that upset, intrigued, and convinced me so fully, I almost refused to go to middle school. She didn’t really give the novel to me. She shoved it into my hands, insisting that I read it. That book was the novel Go Ask Alice, purportedly based on a teenager’s diary. The story is, as we all know now, a vivid cautionary tale about drugs and their rabbit hole allure.
But really, the most frightening aspect of that novel was that I understood completely why “Alice” wanted to be other, different, new. Her need made sense. It could be me. It would be me if I didn’t watch out.
It took me a few years to get over the reading of that novel, but when I opened to the first page of the novel Beautiful by Amy Reed, I was right back in my young self, reading Go Ask Alice for the first time. From the first pages of Beautiful, I was shouting to myself, “No! Stop. Turn around. You don’t need Alex. Don’t go with Alex. Stop.”
But the main character Cassie has to follow that white rabbit down the hole. This is her journey. This is the hole she has to fall into, taking us with her. And we want to go. Not really. Okay, yes, we do. We have no choice. Her loneliness and despair are ours or could be ours. Reed writes with clarity and a sure knowing of how damn bad that adolescent life can be.
Cassie is the smart, formerly ugly “loser” who wants to change but then changes in a way she never imagined possible. We can only hope that as with the Lewis Carroll Alice, Cassie wakes up, wiser but no worse for wear.
Reed writes with an immediate, first person present tense tsunami of adolescent pain and confusion. Cassie’s story is one we understand but wish we didn’t have to. But because we do understand, we want to follow Cassie all the way through to the truly climactic end.
How easy it is for us to simply move onto a path that is wrong. At age 13, it is even easier, especially if the family system is broken, the child unmoored. Reading Reed’s story might shake up a reader, much as Go Ask Alice did me. But that book and Beautiful are so worth the ride.
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Apr 29, 2012 Riley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, young-adult

3.5 stars, really. The writing is excellent, but the story is terrifying. Even though I read this in about a day, I can't really say I *enjoyed* it, because everything was so horrific. It was like sliding down a rabbit hole of drugs and sex and bad decisions. If I were a parent, I'd probably have nightmares.

What I *did* enjoy and identify with was the very fundamental yearning to fit in. (I also really liked Sarah and their relationship. Alas...) Cassie's struggles are real, her reactions human....more

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Jan 27, 2011 Sydney Chan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: advisory-2010-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Cassie moves from her small town to a place where she can change who she is. She goes from a quiet good-girl to a rebel who is sucked into peer pressure. Cassie does everything and anything to make Alex, a girl she "befriended," like her. With a group of "cool kids" she begins using drugs, smoking weed, and having meaningless sex with a boyfriend she dislikes. She only decided to go out with him because he said she was beautiful. Then one day, she meets Alex's half-sister who is abused, malnouri...more

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Aug 05, 2010 Emily Ellsworth rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was so awful that I'm thinking about changing my Twilight reviews to be one star higher.

Has their ever been a protagonist as unlikeable as Cassie? The whole novel is unbelievable. Cassie is a nice, sweet girl, that moves to a new school and has the chance to be popular. In a matter of days she is doing drugs, has casual sex, and drinks. At 13. Not likely.

Also, I realize that her parents are pretty uninvolved in her, but really? If she smoked pot as much as she said she did, there is no...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 18, 2010 Val rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although the book is classified as Young Adult fiction, anyone who has ever been a young adult can enjoy it. The toxic friendship between Cassie and Alex is something most girls have known all too well at some point in their lives and seeing it here on the page is both riveting and therapeutic. The author is just as adept at describing the more fulfilling, life-changing best friendship between Cassie and Sarah, that instant connection that feels almost like falling in love. Reed does such a wond...more

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Jun 09, 2010 laaaaames rated it 3 of 5 stars

Three point five really.

I feel like I want to review this on two different levels. Firstly, this book is really strong. I was swept into it immediately, and Reed writes with such urgent immediacy that you just keep up with Cassie. I also found something so real and true about how Cassie gets swept into the "wrong" crowd. Having been a new kid at the same age, I know how these decisions can be made for you, and if you don't have a strong sense of self already (or if you're not just a big dorknerd...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2010, young-adult

Hmm. I don't know about this one. It was charismatic and kind of electrifying in the beginning and then... well, it sort of became monotonous. And the ending was sort of BLAH. The book is definitely addicting and I read it all one sitting because the beginning really grabbed me but at some point I felt like the book featured too much bad girl drama and not enough thinking or reflection or growth was actually happening. The main character, Cassie, became draining after a while because she's obvio...more

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Mar 06, 2010 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, tour

Beautiful is an extremely in-your-face novel about what really goes on with some teens at an extremely young age. Even though I've never been in a situation anywhere near as intense as Cassie's, I could still relate to the emotions and desires that led her there. Wanting to fit in and trying to make friends at a new school, not to mention having that one friend who you know is no good, but still better than no friends at all.

Watching Cassie's journey deeper and deeper into this life was painful...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Eliana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Something about this book just didn't hit me as realistic.

I know that was sort of the point of the book--that it was supposed to be a shock that the sort of situation described in the book can happen in real life, but it just didn't seem like it was possible that this specific situation could happen in real life, unlike other books I've read that deal with the subjects of drug abuse, rape, etc, which portrayed these topics more realistically. (Specifically any book by Ellen Hopkins.)

Also, the wr...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 30, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't know...
As of right now, I'm still in the middle of the book. So, maybe it's not right to judge just yet, but I swear that after reading the mere first chapter, I thought, "Wow... this is going to be one of THOSE types of books." You know the type- You pick it up and instantly feel depressed and sick and like you reallllyyy need a reaaalllyyy hot shower to rinse away the negativity? That's all I have for the plot line. (So far. Maybe it'll get better...???) As for the rhetoric... I'm tor...more

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Feb 05, 2010 Nic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, 2010, realistic-fiction

This is one of the books that left me thinking about it later. I felt Cassie was a real teenager making real choices and how bad choices can lead your life in a downward spiral as can try to fit in.

I loved this book.

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 29, 2012 ✽Laurenj426✽ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sadness, teen-drama, violence, ya-fiction, abuse, make-it-stop, never-try-reading-this-at-home, contemporary, standalone, 2009-release

2.75-3
I bought this book because the cover looked really engaging.

I was hoping for something with a lot of meaning and morals and stuff like that, but I really could barely finish it. It was disturbing to me about this girl's life,, and the things she did when she was just 13. All of the drugs and abuse and things that people want to shelter their kids from. Unfortunately that doesn't happen all the time. Cassie's story is just like that. I thought they'd go more in to Cassie to, but the aut...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Shannon rated it 1 of 5 stars

I've read alot of young adult books lately and I have to say I am getting thoroughly tired of whiny, pity party teenage girls! All of these authors are giving the world the impression that all teenage girls are these horrible monsters full of self hate...although they are making me soooo proud of my own girl who bears absolutely no resemblance to these pathetic losers.

By the time I had read (for the 3rd time!) Cassie describing some ceiling or another while she was being used by some guy I felt...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the books, where details mean everything. The way every character is formed, is what makes the story so enjoyable. From the way the author describes Sarah's nervous habits, to the imagery that makes you fell like you're right in the story, Amy Reed's debut novel is one you'll visit again and again.

Beautiful tells the story of Cassie, a goody two shoes girl who moves to a different city, determined to shed her play by the rules past. Cassie becomes friends with a girl named Alex,...more

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Dec 04, 2009 Princess Bookie rated it 4 of 5 stars

My Thoughts: I started reading this one and had it finished within a few days. We meet Cassie who is just trying to find her place in the world. She was always the goody good girl and never did anything wrong. That all changes though when she meets a few new friends. She starts doing drugs and having sex and just overall not caring about anything or maybe she cares too much and just lets it all go. I especially liked her friends sister which ends up surprising me what Cassie goes through with he...more

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About Amy Reed

Amy Reed was born and raised in and around Seattle, where she attended a total of eight schools by the time she was eighteen. Constant moving taught her to be restless and being an only child made her imagination do funny things. After a brief stint at Reed College (no relation), she moved to San Francisco and spent the next several years serving coffee and getting into trouble. She eventually gra...more

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Quotes from Beautiful

“Maybe this is all love is and all it will ever be-- boys fucking girls and pretending it's love, girls getting fucked and pretending they like it, saying "I love you, too," and wanting to throw up.” — 42 people liked it

“And that's when it hits me, the punch in the stomach, the carving out of my insides. That's when I realize that none of this is a movie. I will not go out with a bang. There is no ending. There are no credits. I will wake up and I will keep waking up and this will always be waiting for me.” — 38 people liked it

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