The Divining Wand

Although Crazy Beautiful, the highly acclaimed YA novel by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, celebrates its “official” release day today – September 7, 2009 –, the truth is that it’s been available for the past two weeks. Why the early debut? Well there’s unlikely to be a definitive answer but one might suspect that given the rave reviews found on Lauren’s website page, Books For Teens,, it simply could not be held back.

Here’s a sampling of critical reactions:

“Lauren Baratz-Logsted doesn’t write icky, gooey love. She writes stark, broken, gorgeous love.” ~ Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of Wake

“Written in spare, evocative, prose, Lauren Baratz-Logsted crafts a beautiful story of love and redemption so gorgeously rendered I was enthralled from the very first page.” ~ Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Evermore

“CRAZY BEAUTIFUL is gripping, with moments of sheer brilliance.” ~ Ellen Hopkins, New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Impulse


“…a powerful story about recovery and friendship.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Yes it is categorized as YA fiction, but almost anyone can relate to the book’s universal theme which is based on the “Beauty & the Beast” fairy tale. Brilliant idea, yet what prompted the author to try the adaptation?

In her own words, Lauren explains:

“I just love taking classics and playing with them, seeing how I can make the story contemporary, freshly relevant to a new audience. I’ve always loved “Beauty and the Beast,” it’s the only one where the male is as compelling, if not more so, than the female; in most other fairy tales the male exists as a goal for the female, functioning simply to make her look better. With CRAZY BEAUTIFUL I wanted to look at bullying but also at how through our own actions we are sometimes the architects of our own tragedies, as the Beast was, as Lucius in CRAZY BEAUTIFUL was, and how to find redemption. Oh, and I can’t forget the theme of surfaces: how mere physical features shape how others react to us and how their reaction in turn changes our own feelings and actions.”

And that developed into CRAZY BEAUTIFUL:

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.

Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.

However, in addition to her modern retelling of a fairy tale, it’s also Lauren’s writing style that captures your attention…and heart.

For example, please read a few sneak peek lines from Crazy Beautiful:

If I’d known then what I know now…

I, never having loved before, have no real answer to the question.

Having read Crazy Beautiful, I can only describe it as “insanely gorgeous.” For what an extraordinary experience to be placed into the minds of 15-year olds and believe you’re a part of them by understanding and feeling what they do. Amazingly natural, the sparse, well-chosen words were just enough to allow this reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks, while reading in between the lines. And the swift, sharp pacing also kept the focus on the subjects and their conflict. There’s no need for unnecessary detours here, as “Crazy” and “Beautiful” tell their truths.

Of course within this storyline there are your high school protagonists – the bully and his followers and the need-to-be-popular, judgmental clique –, but they too are presented as genuinely real. For balance and pure pleasure, the author offers two wonderfully developed relationships between Lucius and his sister and Aurora with her father.

A story of finding self-love, then accepting and embracing pure universal love, Crazy Beautiful is not only a keeper, it’s one to gift to so many.

Crazy Beautiful can be purchased at any online retailer or at your local bookstore and you may also enter The Divining Wand’s Book Giveaway. Beginning today – Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. EDT, just leave a comment on this post and your name will be placed into a random drawing for a copy of the novel with the winner to be announced in Thursday’s post. Teen or adult, Crazy Beautiful is for you!