The Look by Sophia Bennett

Ted is fifteen, and...oh yes...tall. When she's spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it. 

At the same time, Ted's fashionista sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Should she be the model sister for Ava? Life in front of the camera is harder than it looks. And will they still be smiling when it’s over?


I have been waiting for 'The Look' to be released for so long, and my expectations for it were very high. Sophia is one of my favourite authors, and her 'Threads' series is one of the best I've read! And you know what? 'The Look' did not disappoint! I wasn't sure how two very different topics like modelling and cancer would mix in a book. But I was confident that Sophia would be able to pull it off. And boy, did she do it well! I love Sophia's writing - some scenes were so fun and light, while other were serious and emotional. She wrote both  types of scenes so well! I couldn't put the book down, I spent two hours one night , just reading it - I don't think I've done that with a book since Harry Potter! Sophia just has this way of engrossing you in the story, making you really care for the characters and next thing you know, it's two hours later and you've finished the book! It's just amazing.


I liked Ted, the main character. She was brave and funny and very kind. She was really supportive of Ava. I loved their sisterly relationship, it was one  on the best things about the book for me. Another thing I loved was hearing about the life of a model - I even found myself a bit jealous of Ted at times! :) Modelling was hard for Ted, but once she got her big break, it was brilliant! So glamorous!  Although there seems to be a few greedy agents and mean, grumpy photographers in the modelling world -so maybe it not so glamorous after all! But still...the money... WOWZERS! Just kidding! :)


My favourite character was Ava - I admired her. She was so strong and positive about her illness - she was a real fighter, just the type of character I love! And she was the one who convinced Ted to try out modelling in the first place At the beginning of the book, I think she was a little jealous that Ted got scouted and she didn't , and I thought she was going  to be a self-centered, shallow character, but she was not! Ava was so much more than that. She was as supportive of Ted and her modelling as Ted was of her cancer. She encouraged Ted so much, even when she needed Ted the most. 


One character I didn't care for at all was Daisy, Ted's 'best friend'. She was unsupportive and selfish, I thought and I felt she was sort of trying to 'dump' Ted as a friend, for the popular annoying girl, Cally, at a time when Ted needed her most. *Tiny spoiler alert-very small, won't really ruin anything important for you!* I was surprised at the end when Ted became friends with Cally and Dean, as well as staying friends with Daisy. Cally and Dean had always been nothing but mean to her and then when she became a model, they were all over her! Eh, hello?!*Tiny spoiler over*  And Daisy was always putting Ted down, and never stood up for her when people were being mean to her - she didn't seem to care at all. Some friend! Tina was another character I loved to hate. She had a great personality and was just FABULOUS (as she would say!) but then towards the end of the book I saw her true colours...And I realised she was pretty selfish and greedy!


The boys in The Look were...meh. I thought Nick was quite mean to Ted and I just didn't warm to him at all! He was cold, and irritated me. Ava's boyfriend Jesse isn't in the book much, but  I must admit, in the parts,he was really sweet! He, and the girls dad, were the only exception! And I didn't even like their dad THAT much.  But all of the other men and boys, I wasn't crazy about! Especially the mean photographer, Rudolf... Grrr! Have some respect dude!


The Look is a very character driven novel. There is no real fast-paced story to it, but that definitely didn't take away from the book! It was lovely to read a book about ordinary people, who just happened to have extraordinary things happen to them! It's very different from the Threads series, this is. It's a lot more more serious and...well not dark, but...deep? I just love how Sophia's books deal with quite materialistic (not in a bad way!) issues,  at the same time, as quite serious ones. There isn't any inappropriate content in 'The Look', but I think it is suited to an older age group than the Threads series. Ultimately, The Look is a wonderful  tale of loyalty, friendship and discovering who you really are.

Rating: 5/5

Source: For Review - thank you to Chicken House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review

Format: Paperback - OMG the pink page edges are SO COOL!
Pages: 336
Age group: 11+
Official Publication Date: 1st March 2012 
Publisher: Chicken House
Author Website: www.sophiabennett.com

Challenges: British Books Challenge and ABC Reading Challenge