Another Incredible Ellen Hopkins Read

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Summary: 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.

Review: Another emotional roller coaster ride by Ellen Hopkins.

This is a sequel of sorts to Impulse, but it is not necessary to read Impulse first. Hopkins does such a good job portraying the four characters. Each character is a unique person with their own wants, desires, and needs. Like her previous works, there are unpleasant topics that are dealt with including alcoholism, racism, eating disorders, and sexual abuse. Throughout my reading of this book, I found myself hoping that each character would get their happy ending, would find their own perfection. This book was very bittersweet and full of ups and downs. 

The characters were all connected in some way, but it felt a little silly and hard to believe that these connected teens all had major issues. It felt a bit like a soap opera. Regardless, this book still packed a big emotional wallop. Everyone has different ideas and concepts of perfection. The most important thing to take away from this book is that people are not perfect and no one can ever be perfect. You can try to get as close as you can, but perfection is never attainable. In the end, some get what they wanted and others came crashing down to reality. A very moving book.

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those who enjoy poetry, novels told in verse, young adult fiction, or fiction about tough issues.