Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

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Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng


Genre: Horror

Reviewed by Julia W., 11th Grade

Rating: 8/10



Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is one of the most interesting books I have ever read.  It was somehow creepy but exciting, happy yet sad, and imaginative yet so real all at the same time.  If I got to choose one book to make into a movie, this would be it.


The novel follows Sunday (Sunny) Lee.  In her early teens, Sunny was on a TV show called Sweet Cadence with two other girls, Candice (Candie) and Mina (Minnie).  The girls formed an Asian-American Girl Group both on the TV show and in real life.  When Mina suddenly dies, Sweet Cadence is over and Sunny is left with so many questions.  Now, Sunny is eighteen and is surprised when she hears that Candie is joining an audition program that will eventually lead to the formation of a new K-pop group.  Sunny can't resist and also joins the program, not because she has much interest in being a part of the group, but because she feels the need to talk to Candie.  She wants to know anything and everything Candie knows about Mina's death--and if the secrets the three girls were hiding at the time had anything to do with it.  At the program, however, Candie refuses to be open with Sunny.  To make matters worse, the other girls in the program keep suffering weird injuries and ghostly visions constantly appear.  It quickly becomes clear to Sunny that someone is out for blood.


Reading this book was a whole new experience for me because it is the first horror book I have ever read.  With that being said, though, I would definitely would say it's far from what I would expect a typical horror to be.  Was it creepy?  Yes.  Was it mysterious with all kinds of plot twists?  Also yes.  But did it prevent me from sleeping at night?  No.  I would say I'm someone who gets scared pretty easily, but this didn't bother me too much.  Even so, the writing style and overall plot was very different form what I usually read, and I enjoyed the change!  Additionally, I really liked how the author opted to switch between the past and the present every few chapters.  In doing this, I wasn't able to have the full context until the very end.  I think this was a very smart move because in doing it this way it is impossible for the reader to guess what is going to happen next because they don't have all the necessary information to do so (that and it is so wild I doubt anyone could guess regardless). 

More than anything else, I love how this book highlights the bond between Sunny, Candie, and Mina.  While they work on Sweet Cadence they truly have such a special relationship.  They trust and respect each other more than anyone else in their lives.  I also think the novel was excellent at hitting on other aspects of life like family issues, relationships, and more while still staying on track with the main plot.  Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is a great read and will definitely make you think twice because when you think you know what's going to happen...you definitely don't, trust me.

 

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