Scan barcode
kcontagious's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
samstillreading's review against another edition
4.0
Perfect-ish definitely isn’t a romance, or a rom-com. It’s kind of the opposite, of the heroine learning to love and live with herself and accepting it’s perfectly okay not to know all the answers by a particular age.
Prue is under pressure from her family, her friends and herself. She’s been dumped by her fiancé for unknown reasons, she never finished university and she lives in her super successful brother’s house under the guise of looking after his dog. She fell into a job that’s kind of okay, but compared to everyone else, she’s well behind the pack. After an unfortunate incident involving a hired dress that looks like a goldfish and the best man at a wedding, Prue knows she needs to get things back on track. So she devises a list of what she needs to do before 30 – get a proper job, her own place and find someone new. It’s a year of ups and downs, made more difficult by her distant, yet critical mother and her best friend’s life falling apart. It’s a year in which Prue will recognise her own negative behaviours and become more aware of others. It’s also a riot of messy confrontations and hilarious moments.
Fiction involving less than perfect characters is becoming more popular and I’m happy to see it. In creating a character who is realistic and flawed, it can be difficult to get someone who is both likeable and relatable. For the most part, Seaborn has done that with Prue. Sure, she is annoying at times but it’s to emphasise growth and a turning point. Prue is nearly always relatable (sorry – I didn’t get the hired dresses thing, there’s always Zara and H&M) and her honesty makes for some good drama and wicked cackling. The parts where she’s not so nice – awkwardly relatable. The characters around her are also brilliant and come to life through her gaze until they reveal themselves in full to the reader. There’s her mum, Cynthia, a highly successful chef with a thing for wigs and plain speaking that hides her own past. Delia, Prue’s best friend, has it together – she’s married with her own place, so what if her husband is always cancelling? Ben, Prue’s brother, is the school failure who turned into a famous author of erotic novels – but his family thinks that just makes him weird. All the characters are not perfect, and showing their issues to each other makes the story so much stronger.
The novel moves at a good pace, separated into months and prefaced by those ‘best life’ social media posts that you’d love to block but you can’t because the poster will call you out on their absence. As the months progress, these posts become a bit more realistic and honest, reflecting Prue’s own journey. It’s a fun read with some hilarious moments and memorable characters. (I kind of wish Ben would get his own book as his life sounds like a riot). Jessica Seaborn has created a great debut novel, that would also make a great TV series.
Thank you to Penguin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Prue is under pressure from her family, her friends and herself. She’s been dumped by her fiancé for unknown reasons, she never finished university and she lives in her super successful brother’s house under the guise of looking after his dog. She fell into a job that’s kind of okay, but compared to everyone else, she’s well behind the pack. After an unfortunate incident involving a hired dress that looks like a goldfish and the best man at a wedding, Prue knows she needs to get things back on track. So she devises a list of what she needs to do before 30 – get a proper job, her own place and find someone new. It’s a year of ups and downs, made more difficult by her distant, yet critical mother and her best friend’s life falling apart. It’s a year in which Prue will recognise her own negative behaviours and become more aware of others. It’s also a riot of messy confrontations and hilarious moments.
Fiction involving less than perfect characters is becoming more popular and I’m happy to see it. In creating a character who is realistic and flawed, it can be difficult to get someone who is both likeable and relatable. For the most part, Seaborn has done that with Prue. Sure, she is annoying at times but it’s to emphasise growth and a turning point. Prue is nearly always relatable (sorry – I didn’t get the hired dresses thing, there’s always Zara and H&M) and her honesty makes for some good drama and wicked cackling. The parts where she’s not so nice – awkwardly relatable. The characters around her are also brilliant and come to life through her gaze until they reveal themselves in full to the reader. There’s her mum, Cynthia, a highly successful chef with a thing for wigs and plain speaking that hides her own past. Delia, Prue’s best friend, has it together – she’s married with her own place, so what if her husband is always cancelling? Ben, Prue’s brother, is the school failure who turned into a famous author of erotic novels – but his family thinks that just makes him weird. All the characters are not perfect, and showing their issues to each other makes the story so much stronger.
The novel moves at a good pace, separated into months and prefaced by those ‘best life’ social media posts that you’d love to block but you can’t because the poster will call you out on their absence. As the months progress, these posts become a bit more realistic and honest, reflecting Prue’s own journey. It’s a fun read with some hilarious moments and memorable characters. (I kind of wish Ben would get his own book as his life sounds like a riot). Jessica Seaborn has created a great debut novel, that would also make a great TV series.
Thank you to Penguin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
nedge's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hermione_7's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is the perfect book to read at the start of the year. It is relaxing and reflective.
emmoikay's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
becsbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
"It's foreign to me ... Being close with people. I never really experienced it, expect with you dad ... Sometimes I worry I've passed it onto you. It keepts me up at night."
Pure is at the ripe old age of twenty nine and comes to the realisation everyone around her is living their version of their best life and she is not.
Prue is still recovering from a failed engagement, has abandoned her university degree and finds herself working at a call centre for lonely people. Oh and did I mention living with her highly successful older brother.
Rock bottom isn’t the life Prue wants to live so she build the courage to get her life back on track by thirty. Pure comes to the realisation that finding the perfect life and her version of perfect are two vastly different worlds. It’s ok to not have your shit together and it’s even more ok to start again to find what truly makes you happy.
What a fabulous debut novel. I love each of the different relationships in Prue’s life and the different challenges each one overcomes. The notion of finding your version of happy and knowing it might not be as text book as someone else’s, yet doesn’t mean you’re not on the right path really resonates with me. I also loved the use of social media captions at the beginning of each month.
Pure is at the ripe old age of twenty nine and comes to the realisation everyone around her is living their version of their best life and she is not.
Prue is still recovering from a failed engagement, has abandoned her university degree and finds herself working at a call centre for lonely people. Oh and did I mention living with her highly successful older brother.
Rock bottom isn’t the life Prue wants to live so she build the courage to get her life back on track by thirty. Pure comes to the realisation that finding the perfect life and her version of perfect are two vastly different worlds. It’s ok to not have your shit together and it’s even more ok to start again to find what truly makes you happy.
What a fabulous debut novel. I love each of the different relationships in Prue’s life and the different challenges each one overcomes. The notion of finding your version of happy and knowing it might not be as text book as someone else’s, yet doesn’t mean you’re not on the right path really resonates with me. I also loved the use of social media captions at the beginning of each month.
taliajade4's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gab12's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25