such a pretty face by cathy lamb

genre: fiction

recap: {front and back flap} two years and 170 pounds ago, stevie barrett was wheeled into an operating room for surgery that most likely saved her life. since that day, a new stevie has emerged, one who walks without wheezing, plants a garden for self-therapy, and builds and paints fantastical wooden chairs. at thirty-five, stevie is the one thing she never thought she'd be: thin.

but for everything that's changed, some things remain the same. stevie's shyness refuses to melt away. she still can't look her gorgeous neighbor in the eye. the portland law office where she works remains utterly dysfunctional, as does her family - the aunt, uncle, and cousins who took her in when she was a child. to top it off, her once supportive best friend clearly resents her weight loss. by far the biggest challenge in stevie's new life lies in figuring out how to define her new self. collaborating with her cousins to plan her aunt and uncle's problematic fortieth anniversary party, stevie starts to find some surprising answers - about who she is, who she wants to be, and how the old stevie evolved in the first place. and with each revelation, she realizes the most important part of her transformation may not be what she's lost, but the courage and confidence she's gathering, day by day.

review: i thought this was going to be a lot like this book, so i put off reading it for awhile. wow, holy completely different, batman. definitely a lot heavier than the light fluff i usually read, and i wasn't expecting that, but i really enjoyed it. lots of mental issues and kind of sucks you in. i like the flashbacks, i love the interior design/art aspect woven in, and i like that there is a hint of mystery but not the scary kind. hate the abusive people in her life, and it was frustrating when she didn't stand up to them. but then she finally did. not quite as strongly as i wanted her to, or as i would have done, but at least it happened. i liked that for once it was realistic about money, at least relatively, in that she needed a second job and had $16 to get through a two week period. the cousins were a little weird, and lance was particularly annoying. couldn't tell through most of the book if he was gay or not, but then i guess he wasn't in the end. very good overall. very sad too, but very good.