What They Say
When Maisie is struck by lightning, her face is partially destroyed. She's lucky enough to get a face transplant, but how do you live your life when you can't even recognize yourself anymore? She was a runner, a girlfriend, a good student ...a normal girl. Now, after a single freak accident, all that has changed. As Maisie discovers how much her looks did and didn't shape her relationship to the world, she has to redefine her own identity, and figure out what 'lucky' really means.
My Review
As soon as I heard about Faceless, I wanted to read it. I thought it sounded so intriguing, and I've never read a novel about facial disfigurement before, never mind one that includes a partial face transplant. It genuinely surprised me, did Faceless. The cover fits the book perfectly, and I liked that we dived straight into the action, with Maisie out on a run before being the storm causes a fire that means she ends up in hospital, with some of her face gone. It's one of those books that horrifies you, thinking how you would cope should it happen to you? Sure, Maisie was lucky (lucky really was the watchword) but in a sense she wasn't. Yes, she was lucky to survive, but she was left with part of someone else's face. That's insane, because how do you deal with that at sixteen/seventeen?
I actually loved Maisie, and her journey was an emotional one. This is not a fun book, this is a hard book but an important book. It's hard to read at times, because you just want Maisie to be happy, but it's so hard to be happy when you go through what she goes through and to see her struggle, and to see how the public react would make me want to hide away forever, because the public, and especially class-mates, are so unforgiving, even if they don't mean it to be and I winced with Maisie every time someone stared or made a comment. It's a shame we still don't live in a world where nobody cares what you look like. Where you don't stare at somebody because they look different.
I really enjoyed the book, if enjoyed is the right word for a book like this. Maisie's story is an important one, and Alyssa Sheinmel handled it with sensitivity and care, and I enjoyed getting to know Maisie, she was way stronger than she probably even knew herself. This is a must read for all, and I found it so absorbing I managed to read it in just a couple of sittings!
I actually loved Maisie, and her journey was an emotional one. This is not a fun book, this is a hard book but an important book. It's hard to read at times, because you just want Maisie to be happy, but it's so hard to be happy when you go through what she goes through and to see her struggle, and to see how the public react would make me want to hide away forever, because the public, and especially class-mates, are so unforgiving, even if they don't mean it to be and I winced with Maisie every time someone stared or made a comment. It's a shame we still don't live in a world where nobody cares what you look like. Where you don't stare at somebody because they look different.
I really enjoyed the book, if enjoyed is the right word for a book like this. Maisie's story is an important one, and Alyssa Sheinmel handled it with sensitivity and care, and I enjoyed getting to know Maisie, she was way stronger than she probably even knew herself. This is a must read for all, and I found it so absorbing I managed to read it in just a couple of sittings!