Doreen
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
If Doreen Gray were to take a selfie upon her arrival at the elite Chandler Academy, it would capture a face marked with acne, a head full of frizz, and eyes looking anywhere but at the lens.
What Chandler queen bee Heidi Whelan sees is a desperate hunger for acceptance and the makings of a willing and useful proté. Heidi's roommate, Biz Gibbons-Brown, works her Photoshop magic to create a stunning profile pic of Doreen -- a glossy, digital makeover that Doreen initially rejects . . . only to wake up the next morning transformed as the girl in the picture.
But Doreen quickly becomes accustomed to her newfound power and lives without considering consequences of her actions. Only the picture knows the truth, and she will do anything to protect her secret.
In this sharp, scandal-filled retelling of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, the men of nineteenth-century London become three girls of twenty-first-century New England.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sex, lies, and secrets are the hallmarks of Manaster's debut, an appropriately dark retelling of Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Heidi is the queen of campus at the Chandler Academy boarding school, a role she has built for herself and takes very seriously. When Doreen Gray cousin to Heidi's roommate, Biz comes to Chandler, Heidi sees a chance to turn a quiet, plain girl into one of the most powerful women on campus, along with Biz and Heidi herself. Heidi's plans don't unfold as planned, leading the trio down a dangerous path. As updates go, Manaster's gender-bent version is quite faithful, with power-hungry Heidi a stand-in for Lord Henry, Biz a moral foil la Basil Hallward, and a Photoshopped image of Doreen the vehicle for her transformation and a gruesome record of her downfall. Readers familiar with the original will have no trouble identifying the many parallels. Filled with vivid imagery and characters readers will love to hate, the story takes on a haunting, sinister tone early on, maintaining it through the descent into madness. Ages 13 up.
