Faking Perfect/Rebecca Phillips Though this book initially looked very chickflicklit, I was impressed by the depth Phillips portrayed and the way her characters were so carefully constructed.
 
Lexi, our main character, was exciting and real the whole way through, and I loved watching her grow through the events of the book. Her reaction to the events of the book were always fun to see and I anticipated her very real actions and her bold moves. I loved seeing her interact with her friends as well as with the three family figures she had.
Her motivations felt genuine and Phillips made her voice extraordinarily real.
 
Her relationships with Ben, Tyler, and Nolan respectively were each distinct and had an interesting dynamic and revealed a lot about Lexi. Watching Lexi realize who was important and unimportant to her was fascinating, as was seeing her thoughts and opinions change, often following instead of preceding her actions.
 
I loved that this book wasn't afraid to tack in some more taboo issues, such as teenage pregnancy. I enjoyed the two major settings, and the way that Lexi's high school was set up in a way that felt natural, instead of overly dramatic as some novels tend to do. Smaller characters with Grace, a girl Lexi babysits for, and Lexi's pet snake and its backstory, add a lot of depth to this book.
 
The concept of everything teetering precariously was very prominent throughout this book, and the tension remained at a level that made me eager to continue reading.
I finished this in an evening and found it well worth the time invested. It left me with a smile on my face, and will leave you with one too.
 
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Faking Perfect by Rebecca Phillips is an absolutely outstanding young adult romance. A marvelous cast of characters, a unique storyline and realistic situations make the novel easy to relate to and impossible to put down.

Lexi Shaw has carefully created a persona that helped her cultivate a circle of friends who are popular and well-liked. In an effort to appear as perfect as her friends, Lexi covers up the things she does not like about herself (i.e. her freckles) and her past (her drug addicted absentee father). But she refuses to give up the one friend who knows everything there is to know about her, Nolan Bruce. Nolan's family provides her the stability and normal family life she does not get in her own home and despite her friends' disdain for him, she will not let them come between her and her best friend. Although she has had a long term crush on perfect Ben Dorsey, she also has a penchant for bad boys and she scratches this particular itch with Tyler Flynn. Lexi and Tyler have been involved in a secret no strings fling for months but it is purely a physical relationship with a strict set of rules that Tyler must follow if he wants to keep seeing her.

Lexi has not had an easy life with her single mother and sometimes their roles are reversed since her mom is more interested in her latest loser boyfriend than paying bills or keeping food on the table. Lexi escapes as often as she can by hanging out at the Nolan house or going out with her friends. She does not always make the best or wisest decisions, but fortunately, she learns from her mistakes. Her experiences with Ben become a turning point as Lexi comes to the realization that no one is perfect. Once her secrets are exposed, Lexi finally begins to embrace herself, flaws and all.

Faking Perfect is a compelling novel with an appealing, angst free storyline. The cast of characters is vibrantly developed with relatable flaws and imperfections. Rebecca Phillips realistically depicts teen behavior and she handles some very difficult issues in a forthright and matter of fact manner. It is a heartfelt and thought-provoking young adult novel that I highly recommend to readers of all ages
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** spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars! This was such a great read! There were many clichés and sections of the book where I was just like, "Seriously?", but overall it's pretty well written and the story was interesting for the most part . However, it does have some sexy times, quite a bit of cursing, and some pretty serious stuff(like drugs, parental neglection, partying, etc). The main character worried over petty stuff and pissed me off a lot, but I also understood her. She was living with a parent whom I considered pretty crappy and was just trying to get to know the other one. I didn't like how she cared about being popular or how she didn't count the blessings she did have and took people (Like Nolan and Tyler) who actually cared about her for granted. I liked that she liked snakes. That is something different I don't see in books. Then, I liked how that connected to her father. I didn't like Ben, because he was arrogant and I didn't understand why she liked him. Tyler, even with his issues, cared for her and was a better choice for her. They connected with each other emotionally without knowing it because of their similar lives. The difference is Tyler was never faking perfect. He just accepted who he was and Nolan was the same way. Nolan is probably my favorite character. He seems pretty cool to me. Anyone who sticks around after how she treats him in the book is an A + friend, though I would not have put up with her bullshit for that long. Anyway, this was a great contemporary read and I do recommend it if you just want something both interesting and quick to read! ( )

It seems like all the contemporary YA books I've read lately have shallow, weak protagonists with dysfunctional families. And as I read them, I can't help but thinking, "what is the point of this?"

Lexi is "faking" her way through high school by turning herself into a clone of the popular kids; however, I never got what was so "bad" about her former self (hiding your absentee father and alcoholic mom doesn't equate to you being nefarious). All the while she is secretly hooking up with the resident (misunderstood) bad boy, while also longing after her friend, the "perfect" Ben.

I don't see what she saw in Ben or why she was so obsessed with him. There was never any chemistry there and it seemed she really only cared for him because of his status and how he could make him look. When they do get together he is controlling and demeaning. She is complacent about the relationship and the whole time I'm thinking...again...."what is the point?"

I actually liked Tyler from the beginning and wished we could have gotten to know him better. Nolan was a good friend to Lexi as well, and I'm glad when things went sideways with them that she swallowed her pride to make things right.

I did enjoy seeing Lexi reconnect with her father after so many years. As something that had hurt her and irrevocably shaped her, his leaving and reappearance created character development that I found otherwise lacking.

Ultimately, I did not connect with Lexi or any other character. And even though I read through it pretty quickly, I find myself blasé about the whole book. ( )

For more reviews go to: http://best-of-ya.blogspot.com/

Like most high school students, Lexi Shaw is pretending to be someone she’s not. In order to fit in with the popular crowd at school—and ultimately make Ben Dorsey fall in love with her—she needs to look and act the part. This means hiding the fact that her mom is hardly ever around because she is too busy off drinking with one of her boyfriends. And making sure no one finds out what she does with Oakfield High’s resident bad boy in her room at 1 A.M. Oh, and keeping her relationship with her best friend a sort of secret because her popular friends think he’s weird.

Although this seems like it is going to be about the Lexi-Tyler-Ben love triangle, it is really about Lexi’s self-growth. For two years she has tried to be the perfect everything just so she can impress a boy she doesn’t truly know—ultimately losing herself along the way. She has been fixated on her idea of Ben instead of who he really is; she even pushes away two of the only real friends she has because she can not bear to disappoint him. When everything blows up in her face—and someone from her past resurfaces complicating things further—she snaps out of it and allows herself to be, well, herself. Mostly because she doesn’t really have a choice, but also because she finally sees that what you wish for might not always be what you actually want.

Nolan is probably my favorite of all the characters. He does not care an ounce what people think of him and actually takes pleasure in making them squirm when he gets the chance. (Still not sure what everyone’s problem with him is either…) I just really liked his friendship with Lexi because he shows how much he cares in a quiet kind of way. He is her rock and she knows she never has to hide who she is from him and that he’ll always be there for her no matter what. I wish we had gotten to know Tyler more because he is so sweet (albeit a little hotheaded) and could have been a great character. I wanted more Lexi and Tyler scenes that really took the time to develop their romantic relationship.

As for Lexi, she is a bit lost, has low self-esteem and believes that she is not good enough for anyone. She doesn’t have the greatest support system or role models at home—Nolan’s parents practically raised her and her mom doesn’t even bother to attend her high school graduation. I can see why she would want to pretend to be someone else and I applaud her for standing up to her mother.

I think this cover is perfect. The girl in the picture just looks so FREE which perfectly sums up Lexi at the end of the book. (It is the same image used for Heather Topham Wood's Falling for Autumn, but honestly I much prefer the way this one was designed). ( )