Melissa Kantor

From the acclaimed author of Maybe One Day, Melissa Kantor, comes a poignant coming-of-age story that skillfully captures the singular experience of being a teenage girl. This beautifully woven tale will appeal to fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen. Juliet Newman has it all. A picture-perfect family; a handsome, loving boyfriend; and a foolproof life plan: ace her SATs, get accepted into Harvard early decision, and live happily ever after. But when her dad moves out and her mom loses it, Juliet begins questioning the rules she's always lived by. And to make everything even more complicated there's Declan, the gorgeous boy who makes her feel alive and spontaneous—and who's totally off-limits. Torn between the life she always thought she wanted and one she never knew was possible, Juliet begins to wonder: What if perfect isn't all it's cracked up to be?

Better Than Perfect

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

3.5 stars!

Maybe One Day was one of my very favorite reads last year. It was my first introduction to Melissa Kantor. I loved how she brought out so many feels within me. I was definitely looking forward to reading this book as soon as I saw it was coming out this year. It was tough to be patient and wait for the audio instead of jumping into the ARC that I had. But since I also listened to the audio of Maybe One Day and it left such a lasting impression on me, I was eager to feel all the same emotion for this one. I received the audio, downloaded it and immediately started listening.

I went into Better Than Perfect completely blind, like I tend to do with most books I read. I did read the synopsis when I first heard about it coming out last week, but I never refreshed myself by reading the description or any reviews in detail before reading it for myself. Going into this one blind worked well for me.

Juliet and her boyfriend are both super smart. So smart they are applying to Harvard. Juliet has her life completely planned out, and everything seems to so perfect. That is until her dad moves out and her mom has a breakdown. Now her life doesn’t seem so picture perfect, and she’s struggling to figure out who she is, what she’s doing, and where her future is headed.

Okay, okay… let’s touch on the subject of cheating. Yes, there’s cheating in this book. And though I know cheating in books really bothers some people, it doesn’t bother me. Now, that doesn’t mean I condone cheating in real life. It just means that it’s real, it happens, we hear about it every day, and for me to read about it in a book just makes the book more realistic to me. Though I may cringe and feel sad when it occurs, it doesn’t not in any way take away from the story for me. So the fact that cheating was in this book in no way affecting my enjoyment of the story.

I think one of the main reasons that I wasn’t blown away with this story is the characters. I had trouble connecting with them on any sort of substantial level. I liked Juliet enough and felt bad for her and her struggles… but I didn’t feel for her like I do with some MC’s. I also never connected with the other characters either. Her boyfriend was okay, but, honestly, Declan was just meh. I had trouble buying their whole insanely-strong attraction for each other. It just didn’t work for me. I think I needed more on the feelings side of that one.

I love how Melissa Kantor is able to approach such sensitive topics with such gracing, adding in humor and emotions throughout. Her characters always undergo such wonderful inner strength growth and development, which is always a plus to me. Though I didn’t love this one as much as I did Maybe One Day, I definitely still enjoyed it. It was an entertaining read, and one I would recommend to fans of this type of story.

Audiobook Impressions:
I’ve listened to a few other books narrated by Catilin Davies, and I have yet to develop any complaints. This story was fast-paced and flowed perfectly, so listening to it was great. I listened to the entire thing over a weekend while doing chores around the house, which isn’t the norm for me. Caitlin does a wonderful job with the performance of books like this, adding emotion and distinguishing between characters beautifully.

(Thanks to HarperTeen for the review copy!)

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Better Than Perfect

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