Wednesday 30 September 2015

Review: Future Perfect by Jen Larson


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.


Kindle Edition, 320 pages
Expected publication: October 6th 2015 by HarperTeen

Terri's Thoughts

**I received and advanced copy of this book from the publisher HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!  The expected publication date is October 6th 2015**

This story was just alright for me.  I expected it to be so much more than it was.

Pretty much every character in this story was messed up in one way or another.  Ashley who says she is confident with the package she is in struggle the entire story with said package, Laura struggling with knowing who she was and what she wanted to do and Jolene struggling with her transition.  While it is common for people of this age to struggle with their identities I am not sure there is a group of friends with such drastic struggles.

Where I struggled the most is I didn't really take a message away with me from this story or Ashley's journey.  She was confident in being big, she was not confident, she was?  How did her journey empower her etc. 

While there is a message of acceptance hidden within the pages I did invest myself in Ashley and her struggle.  I just really wish I liked her more.  Overall an OK read.



About the Author


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.
Website
Twitter




No comments:

Post a Comment