I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Faking Perfect by Rebecca Phillips Published by Kensington on June 30, 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 272
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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When Lexi Shaw seduced Oakfield High's resident bad boy Tyler Flynn at the beginning of senior year, he seemed perfectly okay with her rules:
1. Avoid her at school.2. Keep his mouth shut about what they do together.3. Never tease her about her friend (and unrequited crush) Ben.
Because with his integrity and values and golden boy looks, Ben can never find out about what she’s been doing behind closed doors with Tyler. Or that her mom’s too busy drinking and chasing losers to pay the bills. Or that Lexi’s dad hasn’t been a part of her life for the last thirteen years. But with Tyler suddenly breaking the rules, Ben asking her out, and her dad back in the picture, how long will she be able to go on faking perfect?
Faking Perfect is a meh book, hence the three star. It is really questionable whether I actually liked this book, whether I actually cared for the characters and really left me wondering whether saying this is a romance book is correct!
I can see this review turning into a commentary on everything negative in the book. But I will do my best to think of the positive.
So the negative – it was predictable, I knew who Lexi was going to end up with, but that is also a reason that makes these types of books so good – you can settle into a comfortable routine – it’s a safety blanket. The extra bits regarding Lexi’s family life – if I’m truly honest I didn’t really care, I liked some of the decisions that Lexi made in regards to her family, but that whole plot left me feeling a little flat and unfulfilled.
And then there are the characters – everything is told from Lexi’s perspective – so Tyler is this supposed super bad boy and Ben is like some perfect god. But that is really all that I got from it. And I could never understand really why Lexi wanted to fake perfect? Why did she have to cover her freckles, take ages to get ready? It annoyed me endlessly.
And I wanted so much more from Tyler – rather than (and this may be a slight spoiler) falling in love with a girl and therefore apparently changing his attitude? Meh.
The only character I felt we really got to know was Nolan – her childhood best friend. If the story had focused on Lexi and Nolan that would have been awesome.
However I must have enjoyed this book because I read it one sitting – which is always a positive. Also I like the fact that the romance doesn’t overwhelm the story, it’s there ticking away in the background.
Faking Perfect is an enjoyable read, but one that seriously reminds me of Marmite – you’re either going to love it or hate it.
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