J. R. Thornton

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read this in advance.

If you like stories like The Secret History, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Yellowface, even Saltburn, this one may be right up your alley. It’s a YA, dark academia, psych fiction mashup peppered with a peek into some unique insider-y subcultures (Harvard, frats/secret Ivy League societies, art gallery/auctions).

The backdrop:

Chris is the son of Czech immigrants, a talented artist who’s reached a small level show more of acclaim. He’s an incoming Harvard freshman on scholarship, a social-fish-out-of-water who finds himself randomly paired with an old-money European roommate, Lucien. At first meeting, Lucien pronounces that Chris is too common a name and reinvents him as ‘Atlas.’

Lucien takes ‘Atlas’ under his social wing and raises his on-campus status which opens the door to exclusive invitations, clubs, and events that Atlas would never unlock on his own. In exchange for access and validation from these rich-kids-of-Ivy-League-Instagram types, Atlas willingly and eagerly follows Lucien’s lead down some highly questionable paths culminating in art forgery.

As is common in these types of stories, Atlas/Chris has no identity other than what is projected onto him by others. This is not a knock, it’s a necessary ingredient to bake this type of cake. Readers quickly see through Lucien, but ‘Atlas’ refuses to, despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

It is sometimes hard (at least for me) to identify or empathize with a character who is such a noodle-spined social climber. Atlas is, until he finally isn’t, but at considerable cost. This reads as more adult than YA, but is focused on 18-19 YO characters and a cautionary/coming of age gone wrong tale.

This is well-written, easy to read, and kept me turning pages. You know it’s not going to go well for ‘Atlas/Chris’ and it doesn’t - but there is a satisfying resolution. Along the way, bits about Harvard and the art world feel like a peek behind carefully manicured classist facades in an insider-y way.

There is prevalent recreational drug use and alcohol (blackout drinking) throughout this story, so be aware if that’s an area of sensitivity.

Definitely worth a whirl if this is the kind of story that appeals to you. show less

I was excited to read this book because I have always found Chinese culture intriguing. It was interesting to learn about it from an American's perspective.

Beautiful country got my attention in the first few chapters, but somewhere in the middle, it began to bore me. The first half of the book was just random anecdotes about China, loosely tied together with Chase's narration and thoughts. A lot of these stories were interesting, but some of them seemed irrelevant. It wasn't until the last show more half of the book that there was an actual plot. Around page 225, (view spoiler) I was finally excited to find out how everything wrapped up... Then, the ending fell flat. It was very anticlimactic and disappointing.

The whole book was told from Chase's point of view. In the beginning, Chase seemed too immature... Then, he seemed like he grew up (yay, finally!) until he made some really stupid and immature decisions. However, I understand that he had to grow up because this is really a young adult book. Also, Chase couldn't stand up to his dad, which really annoyed me. (Chase's strange relationship with his father is explained later in the book.)

The other characters, however, were really interesting. Little bits and pieces of the other tennis players and their lives were very interesting. I actually wish we learned more about those other characters. Madame Jiang had an interesting story too. I also liked Victoria - she was very sweet and loyal.

In the end, Beautiful Country had some interesting parts and characters, but the idea of an American teenager in China was better than the actual execution. show less