Blog Tour: Future Perfect

Future Perfect
by Jen Larsen
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 6th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, High School
Rate: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Every year on her birthday, Ashley Perkins gets a card from her grandmother—a card that always contains a promise: lose enough weight, and I will buy your happiness.

Ashley doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way she looks, but no amount of arguing can persuade her grandmother that “fat” isn’t a dirty word—that Ashley is happy with her life, and her body, as it is.

But Ashley wasn’t counting on having her dreams served up on a silver platter at her latest birthday party. She falters when Grandmother offers the one thing she’s always wanted: tuition to attend Harvard University—in exchange for undergoing weight loss surgery.

As Ashley grapples with the choice that little white card has given her, she feels pressured by her friends, her family, even administrators at school. But what’s a girl to do when the reflection in her mirror seems to bother everyone but her?

Through her indecisions and doubts, Ashley’s story is a liberating one—a tale of one girl, who knows that weight is just a number, and that no one is completely perfect.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I read the blurb of this book, I was immediately intrigued by the idea behind the plot. And when I began reading the book, I found myself sympathising with Ashley quite a lot. Although she seemed happy with herself (at least at first), I didn’t much like the way her grandmother tried to bribe her throughout the book. Despite the excuses Ashley tried to make for her grandmother, my opinion of her didn’t really change.

I liked the interactions I got to see between Ashley and her friends, but I did notice that not many of the students were expanded upon. Quite a few of them came across as ‘bit’ characters… and Morgan just seemed like a foil; there only to be an enemy to Ashley. Even towards the end of the book, I didn’t get the impression of many of the characters having lives outside of their interactions with Ashley… only really Laura; and Jolene, to a slightly lesser extent. It put me in mind of Marvel’s Wanda, whose children disappeared whenever she stopped thinking about them.

I think the strongest part of this story was the friendship between Ashley, Jolene and Laura… but I also thought her relationship with Hector was kind of sweet, even if I did get the impression she didn’t really want to be with him. At the same time, I was kind of happy with how she handled the situation with Brandon towards the end.

I did think the author handled Jolene very well. I actually found it easier to get angry for Jolene… though it was interesting to see the way she responded to that and how she didn’t want anyone to fight her battles for her. It was also interesting to see a different, more accepting side to Clara.

I liked seeing Ashley’s relationship with her father, but I would have liked to see more of her with her brothers. I did feel that the goals at the start of the book didn’t seem to come across as goals she really wanted… and I thought that the ending stayed true to that.

Speaking of the ending… I kind of felt it was rushed. There was a bit of a letdown, even though the ending was kind of a satisfactory one. In many ways, I felt like there was more of the story that could have been told.

I’d give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. It’s not quite at the level of 4 stars… but I would be interested in reading more books by this author; and potentially a sequel to this book.

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Jen Larsen is the author of Future Perfect and Stranger Here: How Weight Loss Surgery Transformed My Body and Messed With My Head. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of San Francisco and currently lives in Madison, WI. Find her at jenlarsen.net.