Beautiful World Bk. 1
by Anastasia Hollings

    BEAUTIFUL WORLD by Anastasia Hollings
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  6/2/09
    Publisher:  HarperTeen
    Reviewed by:  Jaglvr
    Rating:  4 Stars


    Amelia (ok, it’s really Ann, but only her dad and her brother can get away with calling her by her real name) wants
    so much more out of life than her current lot.  

    Her father is a professor who can’t seem to acquire tenure during any of his teaching jobs.  And her mother has run
    off to live an extravagant lifestyle, cutting all ties to her and her brother.  Amelia has heard rumors that her mother is
    currently the mistress to a wealthy French man.

    It’s on a working trip (for her father) to the resort island of St. Bart’s that Amelia and her brother, Zach, meet
    Courtney Moore.  Courtney is everything Amelia wants to be.   Fate must be watching out for Amelia, because
    Courtney’s parents invite the two of them to join the family for brunch at their table.  From that moment on, Amelia
    and Courtney are inseparable during the vacation.

    But too soon, Courtney’s family has to return to New York.  Amelia has spun a web of lies about the posh life that
    she and Zach live.  Courtney is fascinated with the adventures that they have (supposedly) experienced.  Courtney
    hopes to meet up with the two again in the future.

    Amelia, an excellent manipulator to get what she wants, knows exactly how to play Courtney to be able to enjoy the
    perks that a rich lifestyle can bring.  It’s only when Amelia finally is introduced to Courtney’s best friends, Piper and
    Geoff (yes, with a “G”), that she has to really step up her game and remember which lies she’s said to whom.  

    BEAUTIFUL WORLD is the start of a new series by Ms. Hollings.  The author has taken the “sad little poor girl”
    theme and tweaked it.  Instead of having to suffer through the agony of a poor girl looking in (think Reed Brennan in
    the PRIVATE series or Jenny Humphrey in the IT GIRL series), Amelia is determined not to let her lack of funds
    stand in her way.  Amelia is a conniving and manipulative girl, determined to wend her way into the world she feels
    she should’ve been born into.

    The story leaves the reader hanging, as it seems Amelia has met her match in Piper.  Will the two battle for
    Courtney’s friendship, or will they become tight and forget that Courtney even exists?