Review: “Perfect”
This book found its way to me via a book club. I was looking for a good story, and I liked the synopsis.
The Premise
Seryna has lived a safe existence throughout her teenage life, sticking to her close-knit clique of friends and enjoying her niche as an athletic girl who isn’t caught up with boys. As her senior year winds to an end, she decides to “let loose” and finds herself drunk at a party with an over-enthusiastic male friend trying to rape her — until he is yanked away by a mysterious stranger. After a few other encounters, she learns his name: Kieran. Kieran is an FBI agent investigating her family for their suspected dealings with a drug-laced type of alcohol that has been causing teenagers to behave dangerously. Kieran is rich and powerful, and despite their age difference and their different stages in life, they believe they are soulmates. She helps him with his investigation, while their romance blooms into an erotic thrill. Suddenly the “perfect” life she’d planned seems entirely different, and her loyalty to her family is soon tested, along with her plans for the future.
The Pros
This coming-of-age story was filled with tension and suspense. I enjoyed the fleshed-out characters, the FBI undercurrent tale, and the high drama of the chase. The description was so well-written that I could easily imagine the situations and every scene — from the lush hotels and cabin Kieran took her, to the waterfall that inspired the novel’s cover. The emotion was visceral, and this element of the book was amazing. I also liked that we were in Seryna’s head and experiencing things from her point of view, feeling her insecurities and doubt in her frequent self-reflective moments. Her friends also added a nice levity to the heavy drama of the story, and I liked that breath of fresh air in the snarky girl-power moments.
The Cons
However, the mounting tension eventually fell flat for me — the steady pace wound up to a fizzle of action in the last couple of chapters, and I felt like the payoff should’ve been greater. I also think the story would have been better served if it left out the “erotica” element entirely. It seemed to be a knock-off of “Fifty Shades of Grey” — being swept off her feet by a rich, handsome man who took her virginity… yeah. It just really wasn’t necessary, when the story (with maybe 10% of the steaminess) was so great on its own. It spoiled it for me, and made me dislike the protagonist. For someone who was supposed to be “strong and independent” as she kept saying she was, I did not get that at all, and I found her self-centredness off-putting. One minute she’s torn up about possibly losing a friend, and the next she’s naked with nipple clamps. It was just… too much. I felt myself actively wishing something bad would happen to her, and being disappointed when things turned out okay! Her distraction with the sex also made her less of a dependable narrator, because she was often chiding herself for not noticing things, and she also had dreams that seemed to bleed into reality. It left me feeling confused as a reader, and affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
Conclusion
I wanted to like this book so much more, because there is a lot to like here. The writing talent is excellent, but I just wish it were better directed to shape the story into something that wasn’t so derivative. If the focus was on more of the suspense and the FBI story, rather than the sex (which was already questionable, as he is older than her and investigating her family), it would have made an absolutely amazing book. I struggled with a lot here, but I do think the book is worth the read. My peeve (too much sex!) would, of course, be someone else’s enjoyment, so I’m just saying that for ME, this didn’t work. Despite my issues with the plot, the writing style and flow were captivating and kept me reading to the end. This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I am definitely going to read the sequel to see what happens next.
