Perfect You

Reader reviewed by Julie M. Prince

Sixteen-year-old Kate is in the embarrassing position of working at a mall booth with her eccentric father selling overpriced infomercial vitamins. Her father recently quit his normal job to pursue this dream, and as a result, things are going downhill fast in the Brown household.

To top it off, the one person Kate would usually turn to in times of stress and trouble is now pretending she doesnt exist. Her best friend, Anna, has shed 80 poundswell, more than that if you count Kate, whom she dumped along with all the weight. Now that Anna is running with the popular crowd, Kate is left on the sidelines.

The authors voice is easily distinguishable. If I were to read something else by Elizabeth Scott, like her previous novel, BLOOM, or her next one, STEALING HEAVEN, I wouldnt have any trouble recognizing her work. Shes just got that certain something that stands out.

This story is fun and relatable, with great, realistic interactions, especially between Kate and her older brother, Todd. I found Kates love interest, Will, to be my favorite character. He teases Kate in much the way boys tease the girls they like in grade school. Kate was at her best when she bantered back and forth with Will.

At times, Kates whining self-centeredness seemed a bit over the top, especially when she launched into the list of her lifes problems for the fourth or fifth time. This can be contributed to teen angst, I suppose, but I found it mildly irritating.

However, the fun story overrode the irritation, and I had trouble putting it down. I was anxious to see how things turned out with Kates relationships with Will and Anna, as well as whether someone would thump her dad upside the head to knock some sense into him. Id like to see more from Elizabeth Scott!

Im not the only one. Check out these other YABC reader reviews:

» Awesome - reviewed by Alexis

» An honest look into a teen's life. - reviewed by Tasha

» Amazing! - reviewed by Holly

» Nearly perfect! - reviewed by Kristin

» Kate's life may not be perfect... but the book pretty much was! - reviewed by Megan

» perfect you, perfect book - reviewed by Hillary

Off to turn another page&.

Reader reviewed by Hillary

Kate's life sucks. Her dad just quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, her old best friend, Anna, hates her, and her brother, who has a college degree, spends his life laying on the couch at home. With no friends and no one to talk to, Kate is on her own. That is, until she and Will start hanging out at the mall together during their breaks. Oops, did I say hanging out? More like making out. Too bad Will's been with, like, half the school so it's not like this is anything special. It's just another hookup to him. Right? Unwillingly, Kate starts to fall for Will. But back at home, things aren't going so well. Life isn't so prefect anymore.

I liked this book. I thought it was a little hard to get into at first but after I got to the exciting part, it ended up being great. (If you look at the girl's feet on the cover, they're paler then the rest of her legs...weird....) I thought that Kate was a little annoying at times. And Anna was awful. I hated her a lot (though I think I hated Kate more for wanting to still be friends with her even though she was such a jerk to her!) Overall, it was a really good book and I would definitely recommend this book.

Elizabeth Scott is also the author of Bloom, Stealing Heaven (May 27, 2008), and Living Dead Girl (September 16, 2008).

Reader reviewed by Megan

Kates life is far from perfect. After losing seventy pounds, her best friend in the whole wide world dumps her to join the popular crowd. Not only did her dad quit his job, but he is now selling horrible infomercial vitamins at a tiny booth in the mall (and expects her to help out!) Her older brother got a college degree and is living at the house again. And then, there is Will.

Kate has secretly liked Will since (well& since forever). But, once he humiliates her in their first year of high school, she vows to never again show how she feels. So, when Will starts trying to talk to her again, she just snubs him. However, she has a harder time controlling her emotions when he kisses her behind the mall. She really likes him, but will she just become another statistic?

There is just one word I could use to sum it all up: wow. Elizabeth Scott amazes me again with her interesting characters and her wonderful plot. Kates story is something all teens can relate to: trying to find happiness when all we feel is unhappy. Kate certainly found her happiness, though it took the help of a few characters to shove her in the right direction. It amused me that Kate could not see that Will actually liked her, and I thought that it gave a cute twist to Scotts novel.

Reader reviewed by Holly

Kate Brown is having a bad year. Her dad quits his job to go sell vitamins at the mall, her best friend has gotten popular and now ignores her, and Will won't leave her alone. On top of that, she has to live with her college graduate brother who won't get off the couch. Her life is falling apart, or is it?

This book has everything and it touches the subjects gracefully. I devoured this book in one sitting. It is WELL worth picking up! It has wonderful twists and turns and is exactly like high school is!

Reader reviewed by Kristin

As I dived into this book, I automatically liked two things: Kate's witty remarks and the fact that her dad quit his job for vitamins.

What? I liked the event that ruined her life? Yes, well kind of. This event led her life to Will, who I adore.

Will, cute, funny, and totally liking Kate, even though she has no idea. How could she not pick up that Will was totally flirting with her?

However, the one thing that also bothered me about Kate was that she would assume things about Will so she wouldn't get hurt. However, they mostly backfired because they hurt Will and eventually her also. Her assumptions and the fact that she would not let him explain himself made her relationship with everybody especially Will very tumultuous.

However, I could definitely relate to Kate. She, of course, was in a much worse situation, but she was very real. Kate complained a lot (like me!), her parents were insane (like me), and she didn't really have any real friends (fortunately not like me).

SPOILER
Even though I hated Kate's former best friend, when she tried to talk to Kate again, I was sincerely happy for her! And when she realized her former best friend only cared about herself, Kate moved on. That is just awesome and tough of her.

This deep, touching book is about moving on and accepting the changes that come along with life, no matter how hard or easy.

Reader reviewed by Tasha

There is nothing perfect about Kate's life. Her dad just quit his job to sell crappy, infomercial Perfect You vitamins, she has to work-for no pay- at the hideous vitamin stand, and her best friend has become popular and doesn't even give Kate the time of day. If things couldn't get any worse they do. Her family is quickly falling into debt and then her pot-stirring grandmother has moved in with her family and is anxious to bash Kate's father at any opportunity that she gets. Then there's Will. He has a reputation of being a player, but when him and Kate start having secret make-out sessions behind the mall she hopes that maybe they're something different, after all Will is the only one who doesn't joke her about her dad's job. Even though Kate loves making out with Will, she doesn't want to like him. She's afraid that she'll just be another check on his never ending list of girls. What's a girl like Kate to do?


This was an amazing book. Kate's voice was so honest and heartfelt that I instantly got drawn into the book. I loved how the issues Kate faced were the issues normal teens face. There wasn't any of the fake drama that I sometimes find in teen books, which was completely refreshing. Kate was also hilarious. Her sarcastic remarks, especially the ones directed at Will, had me laughing extremely hard. Will was also a great character. He sounded so completely crush-worthy and honest, that I had a hard time not wishing he were real. Not only were the characters great and easy to relate to, but Elizabeth Scott's writing style was awesome. There was something about the way the words flowed on the page that really jumped out at me. While reading Perfect You I felt like I was so connected to the story that I never wanted it to end. I haven't read any of Elizabeth's other books, but I can certainly tell you I will be now! All in all this was a fantastic book that I highly recommend to any teen regardless of reading level or interests to pick up and read. It will give you a look into the real eyes of a teenager and know that you aren't alone in the problems you face.

Reader reviewed by Alexis

I loved this book. Kate had problems and most main characters have the PERFECT life. I thought this book went too fast. It kept me reading and that is a good thing. I think that it was sad that Anna wasnt her best friend because she became popular. I think that it kinda stinks that her dad was making the whole family suffer because of his "dream" I think it was also sad at the very end, but it was also very good. I liked this book and would reccommend it to all of my friends without a doubt.