Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor
Series: No
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 17th 2015
Source: HarperTeen [Edelweiss]

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 follows a girl who has a perfect life. But after dad leaves and her mum spirals into depression and eventually ends up in hospital, she begins to realise that her perfect life may not have been as perfect as she thought. Everything in her life becomes complicated, and she begins to realise that being perfect isn't the most important thing in the world - having fun and enjoying herself is.

Juliet was a fantastic main character. She was so comfortable in her perfect life that when everything starts to fall apart, she doesn't know what to do. She's been putting on this perfect front for so long that she doesn't really know who she is or what she really wants to do. Juliet's life falling apart was probably the best thing that could have happened. If it hadn't, she would have followed the path she was on and she would have had to keep pretending. But Juliet started to discover herself and find things that she actually loved doing. She became more adventurous and outgoing, and actually started to enjoy herself.

I really didn't get why Juliet was with Jason. He was actually pretty controlling and wanted everything to follow his perfect plan. He had his and Juliet's life completely planned out and went a bit crazy whenever Juliet deviated from his plan. I don't think she realised how controlling he was because she was so focused on keeping her perfect life and Jason was part of that. But I just really didn't like him. As soon as he started getting crazy jealous over her knowing guys that weren't him I lost all interest in their relationship.

Declan on the other hand was one of the sweetest guys ever. I felt bad for him because Juliet was slightly leading him on and hadn't mentioned that she had a boyfriend. Throughout the whole book you can see she clearly has strong feelings for him, but she doesn't want to mess up her life anymore, which was a shame since they were really good together.

Juliet started to grow close to her father again after everything that happened with her mother. It turns out that her father and brother had been protecting her from how bad her mothers problem was and it had apparently been going on for years. So obviously Juliet wasn't happy about being kept in the dark, but she eventually began to repair her relationship with her father and grew close to her brother again.

 I loved seeing Juliet discover herself and actually have fun for once. She's experimenting and hanging around with her new friends more instead of locking herself away and studying. Obviously Jason didn't like this because of his perfect plan, but it was so nice to see Juliet realising what was important in life.

The ending was fantastic and left me with a huge grin on my face. It was such a perfect ending.

Overall, Better Than Perfect was a brilliant read. It focused on a character discovering herself and finding out what's really important in life. It had a fantastic message and a brilliant romance, I really enjoyed it.