Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Publication: March 25, 2008 by Simon Pulse

(282 pages, paperback)

Summary: Kate Brown's life has gone downhill fast. 

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Her father has quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, and Kate is forced to work with him. Her best friend has become popular, and now she acts like Kate's invisible. And then there's Will. Gorgeous, unattainable Will, whom Kate acts like she can't stand even though she can't stop thinking about him. When Will starts acting interested, Kate hates herself for wanting him when she's sure she's just his latest conquest. Kate figures that the only way things will ever stop hurting so much is if she keeps to herself and stops caring about anyone or anything. What she doesn't realize is that while life may not always be perfect, good things can happen -- but only if she lets them....

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My thoughts: I've come to expect a lot from Elizabeth Scott books, and Perfect You did not disappoint one bit. If anything, it exceeded my expectations. Kate's just lost her best friend, her father has gone crazy, and she likes (more than she'd like to) a guy who can't possible like her back. So, basically, her life sucks. Or at least that's how things seem to Kate. One of my favorite things about Scott's books are how easily relatable and honest they are. I completely felt Kate's pain, and yet I also knew that things weren't as bad as Kate thought.

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To begin with, Kate was your average girl; prettier than she believes herself to be, desperate for the guy she likes to notice her, and completely blind to the fact that he has. And her life just happens to be falling apart. I think every teenager (at least, teenage girl) has felt like everything is changing and for the worse. I found Kate really nice, sarcastic (which, hey, happens to be my favorite quality in book characters), and realistic. Her thoughts were honest, and, okay, I'm sounding like a broken record, but she was really relatable.

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The writing, while not amazingly fantastic, was good, and fitting. It sounded like a teenage girl, which is all you can ask for in a YA contemporary novel. I really liked the story too. Kate's life is pretty bad, and I felt all of her emotions. The characters were realistic and well-written too, fleshed-out without revealing their entire stories. One of the onl ythings I didn't like (and I won't hold it against the book, since the point was for the reader to not like it) was Kate's grandma. She was obnoxious, superficial, and I couldn't bring myself to agree with her even when she was right. Other than her, I really liked the entire premise and writing style.

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Not to sound like a totally unprofessional girly-girl here, but my favorite part of the book was Will. He was cute, hilarious, three-dimensional, and perfect for Kate. Well, not perfect, but just what she needed. He was probably the reason I liked Perfect You best of all Scott's books. My favorite thing about him was how insecure he was. It's not realistic to find a boy who is into you, great-looking, and totally unafraid of going out on a limb. Will was sensitive and vulnerable in a way most YA boys usually aren't, which made me love him even more.

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Overall, Perfect You was kind of perfect. It had honest characters, a good story, nice writing, and a POV character I really connected with. It's my favorite Scott book, which is saying a lot. Sorry for the slightly rushed review, but, to summarize, go out and read Perfect You right now.

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Covering the Cover: It's cute and the colors fit really well.

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Writing: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5 stars