Just Look at Me Now

by Nell Dixon

[Leah]

Life is fabulous for Tia Carpenter. She has it all, money, looks, a great job as the beauty expert at stylish Platinum magazine and, at last, the attention of her unrequited high school love, Josh Banks. But Tia has a secret – back at school she was Barbara Baker, overweight, crooked teeth, frizzy hair and no fashion sense. Cosmetic dentistry, losing seven stones in weight and a complete makeover later, Tia has successfully erased her past life as Big Barb, tub of lard, until the day Juliet Gold, the bane of her teenage existence, arrives to work at the magazine. Juliet always got everything she ever wanted, and now she wants both Tia’s job and Josh. Tia will have to use every makeover trick she’s ever learned to stop Juliet from uncovering her past and stealing her man.

When I received a copy of Just Look At Me Now by Nell Dixon, I wasn’t sure what to make of the book. It sounded a lot like Ilana Fox’s novel The Making Of Mia but I was still intrigued by the book because I like Ugly Duckling type novels and although it took me a while to read it, I finally managed to pick it up and managed to devour it in two days because it was just fantastic.

The similarities of Just Look At Me Now and The Making of Mia are plentiful. The female characters after their transformations are called Tia and Mia respectively, they both work on a magazine, and they both change their images drastically due to bullying and there is a character called Josh in both novels. But I don’t think you could mistake one for the other, they just happen to be remarkably similar. Because I like plots like Just Look At Me Now and The Making of Mia, I was drawn into the book immediately as Tia’s nemesis from school re-enters her life at Platinum magazine.

I really loved Tia. Right from the off, I was on her side and loved her immediately. There’s something about her throughout the book that seems vulnerable but she’s well able to handle herself when necessary. I completely understood why she changed her name after her weight loss and make-over, because who would want to be known as ‘Big Bard, tub of lard’? Tia’s friends Ravi and Saffy along with her godmother Ginny were wonderful too, some of the funniest and sweet characters I’ve come across. Juliet, Tia’s nemisis, was horrid and I completely disliked her. She was a very evil villain. Josh Banks, on the other hand, was delightful and he and Tia made a wonderful double act, and I couldn’t help hoping they would be able to work it out between them and get together!

So as you can tell, I really enjoyed the novel. The book is written in the third-person, allowing the novel more scope and I thought that was a very clever way to do things as we got to see not only what Tia was thinking but Juliet and Josh also. Nell Dixon has written a fantastic ‘Ugly Duckling’ inspired story that a lot of people will be able to relate to. I’ll definitely be picking up all of Nell’s other novels as she’s a huge talent, I may have only read one of her novels but of her talent I am sure! I can’t wait to see what she releases next and I’m looking forward to getting her other Little Black Dress novels.