Review - God Went to Beauty School

God Went to Beauty School
by Cynthia Rylant
Date: 2003
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: YA
Pages: 64
Source: Kobo

What would God do if he was just a normal guy? Get a dog? Sit around and watch TV? Cook up a storm in the kitchen?

This novel, written in free verse, explores what God's life might be like. It's by turns humorous, profound, and thought provoking.

Ever since reading (and really enjoying) Inside Out & Back Again, I've been wanting to read some more novels written in verse (if you have any recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments of this post... 'cause I'm still looking for more!).  I came across this book and thought it sounded like it might be interesting... although, to be honest, I had some reservations because I'm not a fan of Christian fiction.

This book turned out to be nothing like what I expected, though.  It's rather non-denominational (well, it's told from a mostly Christian perspective, but not an exclusively Christian one.  Yeah, that's kind of confusing... but you'll see what I mean if you read it).  Really, this is a book that just about anyone might enjoy.  There's no real plot to speak of; rather, the book is a series of short vignettes that offer a glimpse into the everyday life of God.

I giggled out loud at some of the early poems.  There's something amusing about the creator of the universe trying to make spaghetti or getting addicted to his cable TV.  But each poem makes you think as well, about some of the deeper questions that we all have.  The last poem, especially, is a doozy, but it manages to stay consistent with the flavour of the rest of the book without getting too preachy or dogmatic.

God Went to Beauty School is a very quick read, but a worthwhile one.  I really enjoyed it.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.43 out of 5