Review: “Perfect Little Flaws”
I chose this book from an ARC program as I am a fan of the author. This is my fourth book I’ve read and reviewed by this author; the others are:
The Premise
Maren is mourning the recent death of her brother Jake, whose soccer legacy still looms in the halls at their school, when soccer star Vince moves in to claim the void he left behind. Though determined to dislike him, she finds herself thrown together with him frequently, and he soon wears her down. As a photographer, she likes to find the flaws in her subjects, but it soon becomes harder and harder to find flaws in Vince as their friendship blossoms into romance.
The Pros
This was a heartwarming, sweet story of young love. I liked all the characters and was glad to see the two main characters develop a friendship before it turned into anything romantic. Vince showed his true colours in the ways he supported Maren, and it was clear that he wasn’t just a dumb jock as the typical stereotype he could so easily be.
I also loved Maren’s relationship with Andy — their dialogue stole the show! It was great to see her have a genuine person who understood her, and even though he has his own battles and demons to fight, he was always there to support his best friend. The novels represents LGBTQ+ characters beautifully and multi-dimensionally (I’m also a big fan of any novel that doesn’t OVERSELL the gayness unnecessarily but works it into the fabric of the story!)
It also did a great job of slowly building the insidious relationship with the teacher, which is an important theme to explore and represent with tact and precision in today’s world. Overall this was a great story and these characters will stay with me for awhile.
The Cons
I loved this and enjoyed it a lot, so there are very few negatives for me. My only con is again (as with some of the author’s other books) that I am a sucker for wanting more conflict! While there is a fair deal of conflict around her parents’ weird behaviour, the conflict between the couple seems practically nonexistent. He’s a sweet guy and apart from one tiny event, there isn’t really anything keeping them apart except her own internal drama.
Conclusion
This was a lovely novel and one I would highly recommend to teenage girls, or anyone who likes a good story. I really appreciated the multitude of themes it interweaves and explores seamlessly, and I liked the novel’s overall message. I’m already a fan of this author, and of course will love to keep on reading more of her books.
