Monday, September 21, 2020

About the Book

Book: Perfect

Author: Nancy E. Wood

Genre: Contemporary YA Fiction

Release Date: September 1, 2020

Isn’t that something everyone wants to be?

Gina has done everything she could to please her parents, gain her friends’ approval, and get that one guy’s attention, but it never seems to be enough. There’s no pleasing everybody.

She’s struggling just to get through the year when a mysterious guy abruptly decides to become part of her life and disrupts everything she’s ever believed in.

Could he actually be right? Is perfection really unattainable? Or by listening to him will everything she’s worked for fall apart?

Click here to get your copy!

MY REVIEW

The book is one I think every teen should read. It deals with a teenage girl who struggles with self esteem. Gina tries to please everyone and has a hard time saying no. Her dad is a pastor and that makes it harder on Gina. My dad also was a pastor and we were expected to be seen and not heard. The pressure was on us daily as our lives were scrutinized by the congregation. I felt bad for Gina as she tries to juggle school, church and a social life.

The story is a realistic look at how much pressure it is to think you have to be perfect. In the story it deals with bullying and jealousy which I’m sure everyone has dealt with in their lives. It is hard to please everyone and Gina’s friend Joel tells her, “Be the person God created you to be.” There is a part in the book that talks about adoption which helped me understand how hard Gina has been on herself.

I really liked Joel and thought he helped Gina see herself as Jesus does. He is very encouraging to Gina and I enjoyed reading how their friendship blossomed. Joel has his own struggles at home which I was hoping the author would expand on a little more. We do get a glimpse of what Joel’s home life is and how much he cares about his family.

The story has a good theme of trying to be perfect. It is a vicious cycle that some of us go through. The enemy wants us to think we aren’t good enough so he can keep us from Gods plan for our lives. It doesn’t matter what people think of us because “God’s opinion is the only one that matters.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Nancy E Wood was born into a missionary family and lived in Hungary until she turned twenty. Her whole childhood, she loved reading and stories, writing some of her own, but never believing she actually had the talent to be an author. Speaking multiple languages, she never thought she would be good enough in any to become a wordsmith.

Her senior year of high school, she was encouraged to write short stories, one of which turned into Perfect, a novel that couldn’t stay short. After sharing it with a few people, she decided to get it published a couple years later. She went to college in Florida, where she studied English and Music. After graduating, she married and moved to California. She published her second standalone book, I’ll Take the Lie, in the summer of 2019 and is currently working on a sequel to Perfect. She also runs a blog for young women, where she writes relatable and motivational posts that point to God. She has also done some speaking in different Christian schools and youth groups, encouraging teens to pursue Christ through some of the most difficult years of their lives.

More from Nancy

You’re not good enough. No matter how much you do, you’ll never do enough. No matter how good you look, you’ll never be pretty enough. No matter how little you eat, you’ll never be skinny enough. No matter how kind you are, not everyone will like you. You’ll never be enough.

These words, or something very similar, have echoed in my head since I was a kid. I don’t know when it started, and I certainly don’t know when these words will fade away forever from my mind and heart.

I was born in Budapest, Hungary. My parents are missionaries, and they raised me to love God from the very beginning. I got saved really young, and church was my life. My parents reminded me many times that I was the example, and that my little sisters looked up to me, so I had to be careful about how I acted. My whole life, I was taught that I had to be good, had to please authorities, and had to do the right thing no matter what. But what was the right thing? And what if it didn’t please the authorities?

For much of my life, I was torn. I was told that something was not right, but to me it seemed perfectly fine. I wasn’t happy. I was confused. I was living my life according to other people’s expectations. I didn’t know what was right or wrong. I felt like a horrible person, even when I was doing “the right thing.” What was wrong with me? So many times I felt alone, even though I had many friends. Nobody could understand me.

Nothing about this lifestyle changed until my senior year, the year I had my first boyfriend. He was studying to be a psychologist and helped me change my thinking. Other than having constant conflicts with my parents, who weren’t too thrilled about my dating somebody, he opened up my eyes to how much people-pleasing had taken over my life. I realized I had so many masks for each person I was around, that I didn’t even know who I was underneath. Long story short, I thought a lot about who I was. I started questioning what I believed and why. I started writing “Perfect,” which has a lot of parallels to my life then.

God was there through it all. I didn’t know how to defeat it, but I took a step. I talked to my parents. I told them about all my bitterness, of trying to live up to standards I didn’t believe in, of all the things I did that I didn’t enjoy doing. I told them how much I wanted to please them, but how I felt like I always fell short. They were extremely surprised, and then supportive. We were able to work through years of hard feelings on my part that they hadn’t even been aware of.

More steps. I used to write and not share it with anyone. I was afraid of what people would say. When I finally decided to open up and show people, I was overwhelmed at the good feedback. Instead of judging me, people could relate! I wasn’t alone in my people pleasing. I take little steps all the time when I do something I’m not comfortable with; giving hard advice, telling someone something they don’t want to hear, going to other people for help, seeking mentors, opening up to people.

Am I completely free? No, not yet. There are times I still come under the icy grip of doubt and fear. What if people stop liking me? What would happen if I disappointed someone I love and they don’t forgive me? But I know that I am a lot farther along than I was years ago. I may never be perfect, (in fact, let’s just admit that’ll never happen), but I can keep taking steps, getting closer to God and farther from my perfectionism. And now I know that I’m not alone.

I may not be perfect, but I believe God can still use me.