Fairest of Them All by Jan Blazanin

Synopsis from bn.com:

If life were a fairy tale, Oribella Bettencourt would have a "happily ever after" kind of future ahead of her. A Hollywood producer has come to Des Moines in search of a perfectly modern Princess Rapunzel, and Ori — a model, dancer, and star of the beauty pageant circuit — lands the part. And why shouldn't she? With her hardworking, self-sacrifi cing mother guiding her career, Ori is stunning, dedicated, poised...and then there's her hair. Breathtakingly lustrous blond hair that sets her apart from all the other girls at school. So what if she doesn't have any friends her age, or anyone to talk to other than her mother? She's on the verge of having everything she's ever dreamed of.

But in this fairy tale, the beautiful princess wakes up to her worst nightmare — when almost overnight, Ori begins to lose her hair....

Fairest of Them All was a great read. It was interesting to see how Ori handled her diagnosis and the consequent loss of her modeling/acting/pageant career. It was kind of sad that Ori had no friends and was basically socially incompetant because she threw all her energy into her career. I was happy to see that Ori finally got her chance to just be a teenager towards the end of the book.

My only complaint was that the transition to the new and improved Ori was a little sketchy. I felt like she jumped into her next big commitment really soon. It seemed like one second she was down and depressed and the next she was joining the volleyball team. I think I would've liked to see all that happen in more of a process over time instead of just instantly.

Blazanin had her own unique writing style and I liked it a lot. This novel was very memorable and I can see myself reading this again. The cover was beautiful as well. Fairest of Them All was Jan Blazanin's first published novel and I hope to see more from her in the future!

Fairest of Them All will be released April 21, 2009.

4 out of 5 stars