Title: You asked for perfect
Author: Laura Silverman
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
Synopsis: Ariel is doing very well in school because he wants to get into his dream college, Harvard. But when he fails a calculus test his perfect score might be in danger. On top of that his extracurricular activities are very time-consuming. How can Ariel juggle school and also his personal life?
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book so much. The story it tells is one that I think many students can relate to. This book deals with the pressure people feel to always do a good job in school and to always be the best. Ariel, the main character of this story, is trying to juggle his life and the huge amount of workload the school is putting on him. Having lots of extracurricular activities and being in AP classes seem to be the only ways to get a place in the college of his dreams, Harvard. But is it really what he truly wants? And most importantly is it worth all this sacrifice?
Education shouldn’t equal to burden and stress. That’s not what education and school should demand from students and young people in general. School should be a place where people go to learn with their peers, not one where they stress themselves. I think it’s unfair and absurd how schools and also colleges during the application process demand so much from their students. You’re asking for things people can rarely achieve and the few ones that do can’t keep up with them for long periods of time. However you decide to see it you must admit that it does not make very much sense.
Something I really enjoyed was the relationship he had with his family and other loved ones. You could definitely feel the love surrounding the main character and I think this aspect was really important also for the ending of the book.
Major points to the author for including so much representation. Ariel, the main character, is bisexual and he is, along with his family, a practicing Jew and so you can read how religion affects his daily life. Ariel’s best friend, Sook, is lesbian. And then we’ve got Amir and his family. They are Muslims and Amir is gay. I really appreciated all the representation, it was great and I learned a lot of stuff, especially about Jewish festivities.
SPOILERS down below, so stop right now if you haven’t read the book.
I liked reading about Ariel and Amir’s relationship. Amir is a sweet cinnamon roll too pure for this world and I just want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him from all harm. Amir and Ariel were so cute together and all those Harry Potter references were killing me.
Ariel and Sook’s friendship was believable and perfectly capture one of the main themes of the novel. Sometimes when you are too wrapped up in what you’re doing you don’t notice what the people around you are going through. This is exactly what happened to Sook, she was so focused on her band that she didn’t realize her best friend needed her. I’m happy that in the end everything was good.
During the whole novel I was really stressed for poor Ariel. Every time he talked about making lists I started to fret. He definitely needed to open himself up and talk with others, with people who could help him figure out the best decision for him. I was so happy when everything turned out okay in the end.
I enjoyed this story very much and I really cannot recommend this book enough.
