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sc104906's review against another edition
3.0
Kara has always ensured that she comes across as perfect. It is her senior year, she has an excellent academic record and looks beautiful, but she has few close friends and can't overcome her fear of failing the ACT/SAT. After taking this test and having a black out panic attack, Kara begins taking a drug she gets from a new group of friends. She totally rocks the test, but someone has begun blackmailing her about the drug use. Kara can't have anyone find this crack in her perfect persona. Soon, she takes on the blackmailer by working to figuring out who is doing it and how to stop them. The conspiracy effects more people than she could ever imagine, perhaps Kara can lead the charge in freeing those impacted.
An interesting high school conspiracy. It certainly keeps readers on their toes. I did take issue with Kara because she was just so obsessed with her appearance to the world that it just became too much at times. All in all though, this was a pretty decent book.
An interesting high school conspiracy. It certainly keeps readers on their toes. I did take issue with Kara because she was just so obsessed with her appearance to the world that it just became too much at times. All in all though, this was a pretty decent book.
heyitsmelina's review against another edition
3.0
If you’re new here, you might think how did you go from a five star review to a two and a half star review?! Well, I’m kind of a tough reviewer, and so when I say it’s a two and half stars, it doesn’t mean that I hate it. It just means that while it could have been an enjoyable read, it really didn’t do anything to me.
If you want to read more of my review, you can check out it out on my blog: https://www.melinaelisa.com/melinas-book-club-pt-6/
If you want to read more of my review, you can check out it out on my blog: https://www.melinaelisa.com/melinas-book-club-pt-6/
sheenlynbree114's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Have you ever felt like you weren’t good enough and you have to push yourself just to be good at something? Yup. Maybe we’ve all been there. Pushing Perfect is about Kara, who doesn’t want to be called perfect, yet doesn’t want to be imperfect. And that leads to one thing to another.
Kara is a good girl. She study so much to make her parents proud, though she’s a little bit hard to herself, which lead her to panic attacks and failing. And she resorted to a teeny bit illegal thing.
The story is fast paced. She met friends along the way. I don’t think Alex became part of the bad influence, but rather she took part in Kara’s journey of finding herself. The mystery is good. I kept thinking who was the Blocked Sender and a little bit confused and mistrusting there. Did not expect who it was tho. I thought it’s gonna be focused on drugs, but it was not really. It revolved around it tho. The solution for the mystery is kinda rushed. Like really? Everything stopped after that conversation? But then this is YA, and it’s understandable that there’s not gonna be a big scene or everything.
A good read overall.
Kara is a good girl. She study so much to make her parents proud, though she’s a little bit hard to herself, which lead her to panic attacks and failing. And she resorted to a teeny bit illegal thing.
The story is fast paced. She met friends along the way. I don’t think Alex became part of the bad influence, but rather she took part in Kara’s journey of finding herself. The mystery is good. I kept thinking who was the Blocked Sender and a little bit confused and mistrusting there. Did not expect who it was tho. I thought it’s gonna be focused on drugs, but it was not really. It revolved around it tho. The solution for the mystery is kinda rushed. Like really? Everything stopped after that conversation? But then this is YA, and it’s understandable that there’s not gonna be a big scene or everything.
A good read overall.
ejivar's review against another edition
4.0
I had this book lying around on my shelf for about two years before I finally decided to give it a read. Honestly I had zero expectations going in so imagine my suprise when I couldn’t put the book down. I finished the book in one day. It was a very fast paced and enjoyable read. Though in my opinion the ending was a bit underwhelming.
kba76's review against another edition
3.0
Kara is determined to be the best she can be. It's never clear whether the pressure placed on her comes from her own ambitions, or those of her parents. However, she has extreme anxiety over spots in her forehead (the way it's described sounds disfiguring, but nobody seems to notice) and has panic attacks at the prospect of messing up her SATs.
When Kara becomes friends with Alex she ends up being offered a new drug to ease her anxiety. She keeps it quiet, and thinks all will work out okay. Only someone knows her secret and is determined to use it to their advantage.
What seemed like it was going to be a novel about teen pressure and living with a sense of needing to achieve, quickly became a mystery along the lines of Pretty Little Liars. Every time they think they know who's behind it, a new detail comes out. Odd. I thought this was going to be much better than it ended up.
Thanks to edelweiss for the advance copy.
When Kara becomes friends with Alex she ends up being offered a new drug to ease her anxiety. She keeps it quiet, and thinks all will work out okay. Only someone knows her secret and is determined to use it to their advantage.
What seemed like it was going to be a novel about teen pressure and living with a sense of needing to achieve, quickly became a mystery along the lines of Pretty Little Liars. Every time they think they know who's behind it, a new detail comes out. Odd. I thought this was going to be much better than it ended up.
Thanks to edelweiss for the advance copy.
caledonia's review against another edition
2.0
This book is all potential. Like a great foundation but the start drags on, and the middle rushes really fast and the ending is really anticlimactic. The characters were very surface based, they didnt really have any chemistry with one another and the dialogue was a little forced at times. Honestly though if she ever decided to go back and rewrite it, making Kara less squeaky and not rush the plot I would read it.
islandgeekgirl's review against another edition
3.0
This book caught my interest because I enjoyed the author's other book I'd read "Playlist for the Dead" and because it seemed like the type of book that could have a lot of twists and turns that would surprise me. The beginning pulled me in but the more I read, the more I found myself able to predict what would be happening.
Kara was an interesting character. The book was told from her POV and we got to see her struggling with maintaining her perfect image. She had a hard time dealing with the pressure of her parents, of high school, and the expectations she had for herself. It caused anxiety and she needed some help in order to get through her SAT test, which led her to taking some pills to calm her nerves and where the main plot of the book started.
I liked the supporting characters that the mystery brought in. It felt like they were going for a bit of a 'How to get Away with Murder' vibe, which I will always fully support. I liked the dynamics between them, which pairings could be trusted, which ones were more tentative. Their group and the banter and friendship was my favourite part of the story.
The mystery was a little too predictable for me. Maybe it's because I watch so many shows that like to throw twists in at every random moment so I'm always expecting it, but I found the whole blackmail and the person behind it to be exactly who I was expecting it to be. The ending seemed a little rushed and maybe a little too easily tied up but I could deal with that since the characters all seemed to learn something from the whole mystery.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Kara was an interesting character. The book was told from her POV and we got to see her struggling with maintaining her perfect image. She had a hard time dealing with the pressure of her parents, of high school, and the expectations she had for herself. It caused anxiety and she needed some help in order to get through her SAT test, which led her to taking some pills to calm her nerves and where the main plot of the book started.
I liked the supporting characters that the mystery brought in. It felt like they were going for a bit of a 'How to get Away with Murder' vibe, which I will always fully support. I liked the dynamics between them, which pairings could be trusted, which ones were more tentative. Their group and the banter and friendship was my favourite part of the story.
The mystery was a little too predictable for me. Maybe it's because I watch so many shows that like to throw twists in at every random moment so I'm always expecting it, but I found the whole blackmail and the person behind it to be exactly who I was expecting it to be. The ending seemed a little rushed and maybe a little too easily tied up but I could deal with that since the characters all seemed to learn something from the whole mystery.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
azrielsbookshop's review against another edition
3.0
I think the ending was kind of bland and could have been more climatic— maybe even unrealistic
shwet_haha's review against another edition
4.0
This book is totally underrated and deserves much more attention than it receives. Maybe it isn't the best Thriller out there but as a YA novel, it has a very unique plot. Like Alex rightly says in the book "Its always the ones you least expect it to be". The book also has a lot of representation. You've got an Asian, an Indian, a black character, and a Gay character. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it was definitely a page-turner for me.