I recently finished reading the book Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Mariller. In this novel there are 5 sisters. Their names are Tatiana, Jena, Iulia, Paula, Stela. Ever since they were young they went to faery realm on the night of the full moon. On one of their visits Tatiana falls in love with a young man named Sorrow. Jena the sensible sister is wary of him as is her magical frog Gogu. Jena says Tatiana can't see Sorrow any more. This causes her to grieve and Jena's frog Gogu turns out to be her cousin Costi who supposedly drowned years ago. The story is mainly about Jena protecting her home from her tyrannical Cousin Czer, protecting the Faery Realm, and learning the true meaning of love.
Something that really stood out to me was how Jena never once saw herself as attractive. She would sell herself short. The witch of the faery realm told her that there were two eligible young men. Out of the five sisters they picked her. Not her lovely older sister Tatiana or blossoming Iulia but "bushy haired, flat chested, opinionated Jena." She told her that maybe she wasn't as unattractive as she thought she was. The witch is telling Jena that there are different meanings of beauty. She described Jena the way Jena thought of herself. Ordinary. Nothing special about her. However both Costi ans Czer both fell in love with her. If she was so ordinary then why did both young men fall in love with her. Also the leader of the night people was drawn to Jena. He told her that she had a "spark" most women lacked. What the leader of the night people is that although she may not be as beautiful as her sister there is something about her that draws people to her anyways. He says that she has a "spark". She was full of spirit and independent. She may not have been beautiful in the traditional sense but she wasn't "ordinary" and had attractive qualities.
I think that Jena really grew as a person. But there is a problem that many women around the world like Jena face. The meaning of beauty. Many women in the world never see the beauty in themselves. They only see their flaws but never their good points. Jena was like that. Many people seem to think there is one definition of beauty. However there so many meanings of beauty. If you personally ask individuals what's their definitions of beauty you'll find that most people have different definitions. My definition would be that is that there are many ways to see beauty. You just need the right eyes to look. If someone asked you to describe yourself and then asked someone else to describe you you'd find that the stranger's description of you is better.
