Review: Scary Beautiful by Niki Burnham

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Scary Beautiful. by Niki Burnham. 2006. Simon & Schuster. 264 pages. ISBN: 9780689876196

“Scary beautiful” is how people describe Chloe Rand, the heroine of this 2006 romance by Niki Burnham. Until recently, her relationship with her boyfriend has kept the other boys in her class at bay, but when he unceremoniously dumps her and moves across the country, she finds herself being treated very differently by her classmates. Being an attractive single girl invites all kinds of rumors and insults. The only plus side of Chloe’s newly single status, aside from lots of free time to spend with her friends, is that it frees her up to flirt with Billy, the cute geeky boy working at the pizza shop. There’s just one catch - one of Chloe’s best friends is already interested in Billy. Will she understand Chloe’s feelings, or will Chloe lose her friends along with her boyfriend?

I can’t get enough of Niki Burnham! There is just something about her writing style that makes me want to devour her books in one sitting. This one is especially refreshing because it characterizes a beautiful girl as more than a mere Barbie doll, or popular mean girl. While I think most girls are annoyed by beautiful women who lament their good looks, Chloe is not annoying, and the reader comes to sympathize with her particular set of issues. Billy is also my kind of romantic hero - the nice boy who blends in the background until you notice how cute he really is.

I noticed some commonalities with the Royally Crushed trilogy I read a while ago. The biggest one is that the protagonists in both stories have a core group of supportive friends from whom they keep secrets for fear of being misunderstood. I also noticed that both girls are torn between love interests, and that each one seems to prefer the boy who is less likely to return her feelings. These are themes I enjoy in YA fiction, and I think Niki Burnham has a real knack for presenting them with just the right amount of drama to engage tween and young teen readers.

Scary Beautiful is great for pleasure reading, and is sure to appeal to middle school girls who also like Lauren Barnholdt, Lauren Myracle, and Rachel Vail.

Looking for more teen and tween romance recommendations? Click here to browse my past romance reviews.

I borrowed Scary Beautiful from my local public library. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.