Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Perfect You
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Pages: 304
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: March 25, 2008


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

Everything in Kate's life that can go wrong, does go wrong; her family is falling apart, her best friend isn't talking to her, Will keeps bugging her, her social life is down the drain, and her dad quits his job to sell vitamins. That's a lot for one teenager to handle. Kate is trying extremely hard to get through her daily routine consisting bullies, heart-ache, and embarrassment. You think that's it? Think again. When her grandmother comes to visit, and Will starts to show interest towards her, her life spins out of control. Will she finally crack?

Perfect You is a completely captivating read. Scott takes readers into a roller-coaster ride full of pain, angst, and love. Perfect You had strong themes of independence, love, family, and friendship, creating a riveting tale so powerful, that it will bring out many emotions for readers to ponder upon. Scott was able to twist a cliché plot into an enthralling tale that will have readers flipping to the end, itching to be pulled into Kate's life.

Kate is a sensible and practical character in the novel. She needs a break from everything that was going around her. She needs a break from all the pain and all her problems; too many things were expected from her. That's where Will comes in. Will and Kate's history together isn't quite as believable as it should have been. Scott needs to create a more realistic back-story with these characters.

At some parts of Perfect You, so many different things are happening all at once. There are too many events going on in the novel that may confuse the reader. It's overwhelming and suffocating at the same time. The drama really needs to be lessened.

Kate's character doesn't make sense. She's sickeningly thoughtful, one second, and then she's ravingly angry the next. The readers are thrown off trail unexpectedly through these 'mood-swings'. It didn't contribute to the plot. It just made it more random.

The Bottom Line: Perfect You is an interesting read with some weaker aspects. The title, for me, doesn't really make sense. It's just the name of the vitamins. I don't get why it is, but otherwise, Scott did a great job! A- :-)

---Report Card---
Originality: 9/10
Ending: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 9/10
Theme: 10/10
Imagery: 8.5/10
Setting: 4.5/5
Voice: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Tone: 5/5
Cover: 9/10
Total Score: 89/100 (A-)