Is Alina as "hideous" as she says she is? or is that just because she is surrounded by so many beautiful people?

I don’t think Alina ever describes herself as “hideous,” but she’s keenly aware of the fact that she isn’t what most of the people around her would call pretty. She’s been sickly her whole life. She has no appetite. She barely sleeps. She’s had a rough time of it.

Alina really goes through two makeovers in the book. The first is purely external, and while it’s fun wish fulfillment, it also doesn’t “take” for just that reason. When she finally embraces her power, she starts to eat and sleep, to feel healthy. She stops wasting her time and energy trying to be someone else. She gains confidence. She becomes the person she was meant to be. And that’s where the real transformation takes place. She never becomes beautiful in the standard sense, but by story’s end, she’s come into her own and that makes her lovely. At least, that’s what I was shooting for.