Review by victoriac4 -- Perfection and Other Illusive Th...

[victoriac4]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Perfection and Other Illusive Things" by J Mercer.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Perfection and Other Illusive Things by J. Mercer is an extremely entertaining young adult novel that I could not put down. There are some unexpected twists as you read, making sure you are always on your toes. The plot makes sense and the characters are flawlessly written. You feel like you are actually seeing things as they are happening, and you feel a bond with the characters as you read.

The novel is told through the eyes of Eden, a high school student with a low self-esteem. She spends the majority of her life following what her best friend, Billie, believes and not what she believes herself. Eden is a high performing student, co-captain of the volleyball team, and never does anything wrong. She is a model teenager.

One day, Eden wakes up perfect. Everything she ever hated about herself has changed. She’s skinnier, her nose is thinner, her hair is thicker. On this morning, she is late to school for the first time ever and runs into the school “bad boy” Hawk at the front entrance. Eden had a crush on Hawk but had never talked to him, so she feels that she is experiencing some kind of magic that has made her perfect.

As Eden navigates this new life where she sees herself in a new light, she faces struggles that most teenagers her age face. As she gets closer to her new boyfriend, she starts having issues and conflict with her best friends. They don’t agree with the way she is living her life now, and they make sure she knows it.

There aren’t many instances of profanity, but the first use was on page 28. There was also a typo on page 64, as the word “me” was forgotten in a sentence. I also noticed an excess use of commas, but nothing that made reading the book difficult.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The book was written with a plot that flows really nicely, while providing you with some twists that you didn’t see coming. Despite the very few grammatical errors, this book is written extremely well. You get to know the characters in the story and feel like they are your own friends. I highly recommend this book because you will just have to know what happens next and you won’t be able to put the book down until you are finished.

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Perfection and Other Illusive Things
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