UK vs THE WORLD (49)

UK vs. The world is a weekly meme I made up lol.

It's simlair to UK vs. US except the UK covers are battling it out with their foreign counterparts from all over the world, because who doesn't love judging books by their covers!

UK                        vs                      Indonesia

The look by Sophia Bennett

Mist: I really like the almost Sex and the city feel to the Indonesian cover but I love the UK cover! I love the pink and the piercing blue eye, it's definitely more eye catching in my opinion and the winner for me this week.

Ninfa: I've always loved the UK cover for The Look. Very modern, glamorous and girlie and intriguing with the very intense look on the girl's face. Really like it :)
I also like the bold colours of the Indonesian cover, but I'm not too keen on the actual image, so it's a UK win :)

Which do you prefer?

Set in the UK (4)

'Set in the UK' is a series of posts me and Donna, my UK appreciation month co-host over at Book passion for life, will be running throughout November to highlight books that are set in the UK for you to discover.

The look by Sophia Bennett

When Ted is spotted by a model agency, she can’t believe it. At the same time her gorgeous sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Can she be a supermodel and a super sister? Or will she have to choose between fame and family?

The look is a really fun book set in London about a girl who is 'discovered' by a model agency. I enjoyed this book, though it has a sad tone, it also has its funny moments and emotional ones. You can check out my review here, if you want to find out more.

Blog tour: The Look - Guest post

On chemo, hair and writing …

At the beginning of The Look, two sisters get surprise news. One gets scouted as a model, and the other is diagnosed with cancer. As soon as I had the idea, I could picture various key scenes in the book, but it took me a while to be brave enough to write about a girl undergoing chemotherapy. Especially as it’s the counterpoint to a story about fashion and glamour.

I don’t remember reading that many books growing up that included characters dealing with serious illness. The ones that stick out for me are the same classics that many people quote. In fact, Amanda Craig, the children’s book reviewer for The Times, has written about it here. There’s Colin, the boy in the wheelchair in The Secret Garden, who discovers his inner strength thanks to no-nonsense Mary and the rather magical garden itself. Katy, who swung too high in What Katy Did and Learned Many Lessons About Self Control in the pages that followed. Clara, who also malingered in a wheelchair in Heidi until Something Rather Wonderful happened. And then, as I grew up a bit and my reading tastes changed (for which, read raging hormones), Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre, who Only Really Deserved Her Once He Lost His Sight but (spoiler alert) got it back again anyway. Phew.

Illness seemed to be used as A Way of Learning Lessons About Life. Perhaps that’s unavoidable. It’s not why I chose to write about it, though. More, I wanted to demystify something frightening as much as I could. Because when you can talk about it, you can work out how to help people better. And I like it when people can help each other. I really do. Also, on a seemingly superficial level, I wanted to write about hair.

Yeah. Hair. It’s really important to the plot. I always knew that the central scene (if you’ve read it, you’ll know the one) would involve hair and heads, but it’s interesting how important they became at many other points in the story. Early on, Ted’s gorgeous sister Ava is partly defined by her glossy mane. Ted has always hated her ‘bird’s nest’. The Moment When The Wig Comes Off turns out to be much more significant than I thought it would be. The Squashed Fedora is crucial. And there’s a moment when I describe a borrowed beanie that still makes me cry a little bit.

The book was already largely plotted when I discovered that losing their hair can be one of the things that young cancer patients worry about the most. To their doctors, it’s a reversible side-effect, but to them, it’s a key part of their identity. I was very nervous about writing the central hair-related scene. I thought it would be one of the ‘down’ bits of the story, but as I wrote it, it became one of the joyful parts, and one of my favourite scenes to write.

The girls discover how deep their relationship goes in this scene, and how it’s changing, and what good things they’re both capable of. As the book says, and as I found while I was writing it, ‘sometimes, you have to be brave and take a risk’. So many brave teenagers do it every day, and to do their lives justice, I’ve found that sometimes a writer needs to do it too.

The look by Sophia Bennett.

Ted is fifteen, and...oh yes...tall. When she's spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it.

At the same time, Ted's fashionista sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Should she be the model sister for Ava? Life in front of the camera is harder than it looks. And will they still be smiling when it’s over?

The look - Review

The look by Sophia Bennett
Available 1st March 2012
http://www.doublecluck.com/

What's it about?
Ted is fifteen, and...oh yes...tall. When she's spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it.
At the same time, Ted's fashionista sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Should she be the model sister for Ava? Life in front of the camera is harder than it looks. And will they still be smiling when it’s over?

My review

As well as being a fun, witty book, The Look is thought provoking and even educational - er in a good way though!
Ted is a completely endearing character, I loved her young naivete about the world, especially about the modelling world lol And it was great to see her grow up, to learn not just about the world she's thrust into when she's 'spotted' but also about who she is. She actually felt like a little sister to me, I was terrified for her when I thought maybe it could all go wrong for her and I was so proud of her for her actions at the end and a particular salon scene in the middle of the book that almost had me in tears.
She handles her Sisters illness really well considering to start she knows nothing about Lymphoma, neither did I, but I know more after reading the book.
I also liked her Sister Ava who tries to stay upbeat during her illness although you can see she has her difficult moments when I just wanted to cry for her.
I was also glad to see the author had obviously done a lot of research in the modelling world, all I know is what I've seen on America's next top model lol and the book had a really great insight into at least one side of this fast paced world, and I could really imagine the photo shoots from the great descriptions.
I really enjoyed reading The Look and laughed out loud so many times at Ted's inner monologue as she strives to understand the things going on around her.

My thoughts on the cover
This is a great cover, it seems like it's plain, it's just a girls face. But I think it suits the book perfectly and I love the colour tones and the font for the book title, also the page edges are pink! So cool!

Favourite quotes

'They say they're 'legit', but they're talking about signing me up. Did they not notice my legs? Or the monobrow? Or the hair? Or the fact that I'm still at school? Or that I don't know who Mario Testino is? Or that I'm sitting next to a goddess and they haven't shown the slightest interest in her? These people clearly have NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING.'

'He's leaning in towards me. He's looking at my lips. They've probably got hot chocolate foam on them or something, but I can't seem to move any of my muscles to wipe it off.'

Find the author

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads