I’ve always sought perfection.
Much of what I do off of online is the outcome of the unattainable desire to be perfect.
This is an odd book review for me. To be honest, most of the books I review, I do not have such a personal connection with.
I cannot even begin to describe how much I related to Gina in the book, Perfect. All the ways Gina pushed herself were very familiar. I felt like I was reading an alternate version of my life story. Gina is someone who I believe we all relate to to some extent.
Of course, we cannot forget Joel. He was the voice of reason who pushed Gina to realize that perfection is impossible. He knew the struggle and brought so much hope into the story. He helped Gina (and me) realize that living to be perfect is not living at all.
All that said, this was an incredibly relatable story about an almost taboo subject that brought tears to my eyes.
Thank you Nancy for gifting me a copy of Perfect.

Rating: 5/5
Language: n/a
Romance: some crushing, rumors spread
Spiritual: characters are strong Christians
Violence: n/a

*I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Quotes:

"I know. But you can do this. You're braver than you think."

"So I returned to God. I asked Him to forgive me and show me how He wanted me to live. Since then, I've stopped caring about what people think of me. God's opinion is the only one who matters. He knows my heart." ( )

The book is one I think every teen should read. It deals with a teenage girl who struggles with self esteem. Gina tries to please everyone and has a hard time saying no. Her dad is a pastor and that makes it harder on Gina. My dad also was a pastor and we were expected to be seen and not heard. The pressure was on us daily as our lives were scrutinized by the congregation. I felt bad for Gina as she tries to juggle school, church and a social life.
The story is a realistic look at how much pressure it is to think you have to be perfect. In the story it deals with bullying and jealousy which I’m sure everyone has dealt with in their lives. It is hard to please everyone and Gina’s friend Joel tells her, “Be the person God created you to be.” There is a part in the book that talks about adoption which helped me understand how hard Gina has been on herself.
I really liked Joel and thought he helped Gina see herself as Jesus does. He is very encouraging to Gina and I enjoyed reading how their friendship blossomed. Joel has his own struggles at home which I was hoping the author would expand on a little more. We do get a glimpse of what Joel’s home life is and how much he cares about his family.
The story has a good theme of trying to be perfect. It is a vicious cycle that some of us go through. The enemy wants us to think we aren’t good enough so he can keep us from Gods plan for our lives. It doesn’t matter what people think of us because “God’s opinion is the only one that matters.”
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion. ( )