*Review* : Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Series : No

Released : 5th March 2012

Publisher :  Egmont UK

Format : Paperback

Source : UK Book Tours/Publisher

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)|Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

Ugly people don't have feelings. They're not like everyone else. They don't notice if you stare at them and turn away. And if they did notice, it wouldn't hurt them. They're not like real people. Or that's what I used to think. Before I learned...
After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan. Ryan's a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her; he can't imagine why this place shouldn't be as unwelcoming as the rest. Until he meets Jenna. But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found...

 .................................... My Thoughs  ....................................

In Short 

- Laura straight away throws you into the storyline, I was gripped from the first page.

- Both Jenna and Ryan are strong characters which I felt was partly because they both have their own chapters. 

- I love the big twist half way through the book and how it comes from nowhere.

-   Skin Deep is a meaningful book with a strong meaning behind it.

- I did feel a bit disappointed with how Ryan's character suddenly changed. 

In Long

Skin Deep is a book which left me feeling mixed things. There is so much I love about this book but there is also things which I felt could have been improved. I guess I was a little gutted about the few things I disliked as it did ruin the book a little for me. Till about half way through this book it was going to be a 5/5 then I felt everything went a bit downhill before picking up again.

Let’s start with the positives. You are straight away thrown into the story, I almost felt like Laura had thrown me into the scene and I loved that. It definitely shows how talented Laura is to be able to make me feel like I was there with the characters within 2 pages!

Right from the start I was made to feel empathy for Jenna for a number of reasons and I almost felt protective over her. This also made me quickly grow a bond with Jenna, her feelings always felt so real to me and I always felt like they were feelings which most people would feel in her situation (instead of being a bit over the top). Another reason I felt I was able to connect with both her and Ryan was that I was able to see into both ‘their minds’. Having a chapter each definitely made both Jenna’s and Ryan’s characters stronger. Ryan was another character I really liked but was also the reason I kind of disliked part of the book. Laura built Ryan’s character up in a great way and I really liked him, just like I did Jenna. Then suddenly all the characteristics I felt Laura had built up were gone and Ryan did something I didn’t really expect. And then he kind of undid it but then did it again. This bit kind of confused me. I can see the storyline needed it to happen but maybe not in that way. I can’t really explain it in any other way without it becoming a spoiler.
Another thing which made this not a 5/5 for me was the age of the characters. I felt this book would have been so much better with just slightly more mature characters. Jenna was only 14 (I believe) and although it didn’t affect most of the book at some points she came across as very immature and I had to remind myself she was only 14.

The storyline quickly pick up again and Ryan was back to how I had come to know him. Suddenly a big unexpected twist comes from nowhere which made me forget (or almost) all the little things I disliked and become totally engrossed into the book. I struggled to put the book down towards the end.

This book really has a strong meaning and although I didn’t really feel this came through properly until the end it definitely did come through. The ending was very powerful, I did kind of wish Laura would have made the rest of the book that powerful but the ending felt very thought out. It was definitely my favourite part of the book.

Final Thoughts

Skin Deep is a meaningful book in which Laura has been able to create some strong characters to portray a very strong storyline. I would definitely recommend reading Skin Deep, you can not help but be dragged into the story.