Kelly's Reviews > Perfect Girl

“I’d rather be a bitch than you’re perfect girl.”

Same. It’s actually so crazy to think of the pressure we get from our parents, or that is sometimes self inflicted, to be perfect all the time. I get it and can relate in a way but am also so glad that as the 4th and youngest in my family, my parents were like “you’re good right?” Any pressure throughout the years was definitely self inflicted on my part and luckily I learned to give myself grace for not being perfect.

Okay but this book definitely highlights one of my genuine fears of (view spoiler)[ being abducted or attacked. (hide spoiler)] And while this centers around high school kids, this is still a very real fear of mine that has me kinda always questioning who and what to trust, both in life and also in this book. I kept internally yelling at characters trying to get them to stop making dumb decisions while simultaneously believing that in a fight or flight situation I’d probably legit freeze and therefore be the first to die. And while thrillers don’t guarantee happy endings, I did have hope. I’ll leave it at that as I don’t know how to avoid another spoiler.

Thank you to the author for tossing in some 90s nostalgia. Buffy was one of my favorite movies growing up. This book was overall a quick and easy read that I found hard to put down. It touched on some tough but very real topics that not just high schoolers but people of any age may be able to relate to and it was nice to see Jessa’s character progression and how she was able to allow some mess into her life. I think maybe my one issue is that the characters went through this really traumatic situation together and there’s only the briefest mention of Jessa going to therapy but not a lot about how everyone was able to move on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for this advanced copy!