3.5 out of 4 stars.

I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland.

The reader is introduced to a group of friends that all have artistic interests and live in New York City. There is Penelope that builds pottery, Lily that composes and plays music, Georgia who writes books, and Barb that designs costumes. Lily and Barb are the two that are most focused on because they have the biggest issues around the concept of beauty. Barb wears a fat suit and a wig even though she is beautiful underneath it and Lily has trademarked herself as hideous. The sequence of events that happen next in this book are almost impossible to write out in order and to describe very accurately due to them being off the wall. However, in short, the group believes there is a murderer within the circle, Lilly invents a way to change her appearance through magic, and Penelope goes to the hospital with life threatening cuts. Very very very wacky.

This book is NOT for everyone. I want to make that very clear. I actually looked up the ratings for this one on Goodreads before I started reading and it scored very low so I almost didn’t continue.  Ironically enough I went forward because the cover was so intriguing. I suppose I am a target market for the unfortunate importance of beauty in more ways than one! I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book because it really was too bizarre for my normal taste but I do give it credit for keeping my attention and when I started reading it I never thought of putting it down so that says something. Some parts are so much fantasy that it borders on absurd. However, if you are in to originality this is your thing. I have to admit it was refreshing for me to take on something that was so wild because it does open up your imagination. I notice I am flip flopping back and forth on my thoughts. All in all, great plot but moderate to “eh” writing to make it flow a little more properly.