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Lori R. Lopez wears many hats, although at times she feels the hat is wearing her. An award-winning author of short stories, novels, novellas, verse, songs and more, she designs her own covers and illustrates nearly all of her books. When the mood strikes, she pens a humorously serious column called “Poetic Reflections” at Fairy Fly Entertainment, a website shared with her two talented sons Noél and Rafael. She grew up in Wisconsin and also lived in Hawaii, Florida, Spain, and Key West before settling in California. Vegetarian or vegan most of her life, Lori’s work is often quirky yet at times addresses more serious themes such as the rights of animals and children. Stories and verse have appeared in assorted publications including Weirdbook, The Horror Zine, Bewildering Stories, The Sirens Call, and numerous anthologies.
Reviewed by Trisha Dawn for Readers' Favorite
Beauty by Lori R. Lopez is about a family's ordinary pit stop gone terribly different. The Aches, who are on their way to see the Grand Canyon, had to make an urgent stop after traveling for hours. They had no choice but to go for the gas station and diner with a peculiar attraction. Having read that the attraction is about a beautiful sleeping girl in a glass box, Rose - the teenager of the family - convinced her father to buy tickets for viewing. However, what they discover about the sleeping beauty is more for books of horror than for fairy tale ones.
The story of Beauty may be short, but it keeps you hooked until the very last word. Lori R. Lopez has a way with words that grabs and holds readers' attention consistently all throughout the novel. The author also has this ability to get the desired reaction from readers. The characters, most especially the Aches and the relationship between each of them, are like the sprinkles on top. They didn't overpower the story line, but they made everything colorful. The Aches were, of course, made to be more than normal, but Lopez was able to write them in a way that they could still be relatable.
As for the mood, the balance between humor and the more sinister side was just right. It is usually difficult to make humor and horror merge successfully with each other, but Beauty is a cool exception. What's cooler is that underneath all of this, there's still a lesson to be learned and a realization to think about. Lori Lopez's Beauty is an awesome read. It's funny, dark and twisted, but still suitable for teens.
