Title: The Perfectionists (The Perfectionists #1)
Author: Sara Shepard
Genre: Young Adult // Murder // Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Format: Audiobook
Source: Borrowed (Library)
In Beacon Heights, Washington, five girls—Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker—know that you don’t have to be good to be perfect. At first the girls think they have nothing in common, until they realize that they all hate Nolan Hotchkiss, who’s done terrible things to each of them. They come up with the perfect way to kill him—a hypothetical murder, of course. It’s just a joke...until Nolan turns up dead, in exactly the way they planned. Only, they didn’t do it. And unless they find the real killer, their perfect lives will come crashing down around them.
The Perfectionists will be a winner for anyone who is a fan of Pretty Little Liars and Get Even.
Plot: If you've read anything by Sara Shepard, you'll know what to expect from The Perfectionists: rich girls with a secret. Regardless of its formulaic approach, I found The Perfectionists to be thrilling and exciting. The murder isn't the focal point of the novel, in fact, the first chapter begins after the murder is committed. What was thrilling was seeing how everything pieced together, everyone's motives, and the oh-so-evil cliffhanger at the end which made me rethink everything I had known.
Characters: What I liked the most about The Perfectionists was the wide range of backgrounds these characters came from. These characters are diverse in more ways than in terms of race. We've got characters dealing with mental illnesses in their family, same-sex parenting, domestic abuse, victims of bullying, and drug abuse. One of the biggest problems with Get Even was that the characters flowed into each other and I was unable to tell some characters apart; this surprisingly was not the case in The Perfectionists. Each character had a distinct voice with distinct movies, plus each character's perspective was told for a full chapter.
World Building: Not much can be said about the world building in this one. Shepard does take full advantage of her world by exploring every nook and cranny of it.
Audiobook Performance: Cassandra Morris' performance was top notch. While her male voices weren't 100% believable, she does have the voice of a snotty and insecure teenager which helped me lose myself in the book.
Short N Sweet: The Perfectionists is a fun character-driven murder mystery that will satisfy anyone familiar with Ms. Shepard's other works.
Labels: 4 stars, book review, harper collins, review, Sara Shepard, the perfectionists
