BOOK REVIEW: Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills

This is a book review for Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is March 3, 2015.

Erin Bailey's life changes forever the day her mom is diagnosed with breast cancer. It's always just been Erin and Mom, so living without her is not an option. Life takes another turn when the cancer is linked to a rare genetic mutation, and Erin must grapple with the decision of whether or not to have her own DNA tested. Her only outlets are flying lessons, where looking to the horizon calms her deepest fears, and her new friend Ashley, a girl she met in an online support group. But when a flash decision has Erin flying away to find her new friend, she embarks on a journey from the depths of despair to new love and a better understanding of the true meaning of beauty. This thought-provoking story brings readers to the emotional brink and back again, as they experience Erin's fear, her frustration, and ultimately . . . her freedom.

This book starts right after Erin finds out about her mother's cancer diagnosis. To top it off, her mother tells her about a test for the BRCA gene that would tell Erin if she has the gene for breast and ovarian cancer. There is a lot of emotion in these passages. As Erin says, there is her life before and then there is her life after. I felt so sad for her that she had to be strong for her mother and take care of  her, while dealing with thoughts of DNA testing and normal everyday life at school. People tell Erin that there is nothing she can do. They tell Erin that she shouldn't even take the test until at least eighteen, if not twenty-one and that she shouldn't make any decisions based on this test until at least twenty-five. In the notes at the end of the book, the author mentions the extensive research she did on this testing and this gene. But nowhere in the book or the notes at the end of the book did she mention why these age limits were recommended. I don't know anything about this gene really so that information would have been helpful. Nevertheless, I could understand Erin's frustration when everyone told her to just forget about it. She was seventeen so they were telling her not to even think about it for the next year. How does a person even do that? Erin did make some questionable decisions because she wanted to know the answer, but I understand them. Like Erin, I am an obsessive planner so there is no way I could just not know.

Here is what I disliked about the book: the romance, or lack thereof. There were two possible love interests and it was hard to tell who the author wanted Erin to end up with. First Erin had a major crush on a loner at school. But there was no chemistry and no relationship development at all. And then when it "ended" after approximately three "encounters" (I can't even call them dates), I just didn't care. Then she met someone else. This guy was the "real" love interest I guess, while the first guy was just a distraction or something. I hated this romance from the start. There was zero chemistry and somehow these two characters loved each other after a day or two. And this other guy didn't want to fall in love with anyone, even Erin, because he wanted to protect her. Sorry, but gag me with that one. The "relationships" between these two men did nothing to add to the story and I found myself skimming over those sections. I was much more interested in Erin's dilemma and her mom's illness.

Halfway throughout the book, Erin did something incredibly stupid. I won't give any spoilers, but it was just plain stupid. I tried to understand why she chose to do what she did, but I just feel it was a selfish decision on her part. The ending of the book left me in tears (naturally) and once the author stopped harping on the romance, I could concentrate on the heartbreaking decision Erin had to make, along with dealing with her mom's illness.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Borrow. The beginning is great and the ending was very emotional, but the middle part was too much to take. And the subplot with the two guys distracted me from the story.