Perfect by Natasha Friend

Title: Perfect
Author: Natasha Friend
Age Group: Tweens
# of Pages: 172
My Rating: 4/5

Isabelle is an eighth-grader with a complicated life. Her father died about two years ago and her mother is an emotional wreck. After her younger sister ratted her out for throwing up all of her food, she is now stuck in a help group. She thought this was going to suck until she discovered that popular girl (and her idol) Ashley was in it too.

As she struggles with binging and purging, Isabelle learns that Ashley is not the flawless goddess she always admired and moving on can be a difficult but rewarding task.

To be honest, I was not a fan of Isabelle throughout the book. Most of the time, she was this annoying premature teen that I wanted to throw a ball at. She was completely obsessed with Ashley and the idea of being with the It kids. You know, typical teen issues but with a bulimic problem to top it off. There were a couple of times where she redeemed herself but overall, I didn't like her. I guess for the most part it was because she had not yet enter high school so I made her character worse than she was in my mind.

As for the book itself, it came off pretty well. I like the writing style and the plot can get pretty good for something that deals with adolescents who struggles with bulimia. It has a realistic portrayal of what it is like to wolf down all of these junk food and throw it all up. Unlike most stories that are about bulimia (actually, I'm taking a guess here), it is not overly depressing nor emotional. Yes, Isabelle is dealing with tough issues but it's not to the point where the novel becomes angsty. With the length of this book, I find that the author wrapped it up very nicely from start to finish.

If anyone would like a short but pleasant read about a young teen with real life problems, Perfect is a great novel for that. Or for anyone who is not yet in high school, this should be a pick up.