Perfect Book Review

Perfect Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books
Publishing Date: September 13, 2011
ISBN: 9781416983248
Genre: Young Adult

Book Description:

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.

Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood.

Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

My Thoughts:

                                So as you all know Ellen Hopkins is one of my favorite authors by far and I have finally collected all of her books, therefore be prepared for reviews on all of them.  ‘Perfect’ was absolutely amazing, it touched me in a lot of different ways. ‘Perfect’ showcases four teenagers’ lives as they all do their best to be perfect. Whether that definition is defined by them or their parents they push themselves to extremely dangerous, even life threatening limits to do what it takes to become perfect!

                This book honestly made me so sad, not because it was bad but because it was so brilliantly written. I saw people from my own life in these characters; I know firsthand what it feels like to go to a funeral of someone you loved who committed suicide. That part was really hard for me to read but this book held so many real problems that teenagers face. They don’t want to let anyone down and they feel like they have to be what everyone else expects them to be. Perfect at school, sports, be pretty, skinny, excel at everything. That causes more than a little damage and Ellen Hopkins focused on that. I really like that she addressed eating disorders in this one because that is a huge problem in today’s society. Girls see these women on TV that are so skinny and perfect and they want to be like them. They will hurt themselves, starve themselves, and do anything just to look like that. What most of them don’t understand is the damage it does to their bodies. Same thing when it comes to steroid use that is another thing I am really glad she touched on. Every young adult should read Ellen’s books I think they would help tremendously!

                As I have said before, Ellen’s writing style never ceases to amaze me and I love the way she writes, such talent put into words. I don’t know how she does it but all I know is that I pray she never stops!

* I purchased this book on my own accord and decided to review it. I was not compensated for this review.