Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Title: Better Than Perfect

Author: Melissa Kantor

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: February 17, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Juliet Newman has it all. A picture-perfect family; a handsome, loving boyfriend; and a foolproof life plan: ace her SATs, get accepted into Harvard early decision, and live happily ever after.

But when her dad moves out and her mom loses it, Juliet begins questioning the rules she’s always lived by. And to make everything even more complicated there’s Declan, the gorgeous boy who makes her feel alive and spontaneous—and who’s totally off-limits. Torn between the life she always thought she wanted and one she never knew was possible, Juliet begins to wonder: What if perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Melissa Kantor once again delivers a tale that is equal parts surprising, humorous, heartbreaking, and romantic. Powerful and honest, Juliet’s story brilliantly portrays the highs and lows of life in high school and will resonate with any reader who has experienced either. 

Last year, I read Melissa Kantor’s Maybe One Day and had my heart completely broken. In a completely good way. When I started reading Better Than Perfect, I was prepared to have my heart broken by Melissa Kantor once again. And while that didn’t happen, this was still an emotional story to read.

Juliet thought she had her whole future figured out. On the eve of her senior year of high school, she has the perfect boyfriend and a plan to ace her SATs so she can get into Harvard early and start her happily ever after with her boyfriend. But not everything is going according to plan. When her dad moves out, Juliet has to deal with her mom completely losing it. When everything gets to be too much, Juliet starts questioning everything she’s always believed in. What if there’s more to living than always working towards the next goal? Is that the way to happiness? When Juliet meets Declan, the one person who hasn’t known him her whole life and makes her want to be spontaneous, she starts being torn between her old life and the possibility of a new one, one where perfect is the last thing Juliet has to be.

I was very excited to read Melissa Kantor’s Better Than Perfect if only because of how much I loved Maybe One Day last year. Though I didn’t have quite the same emotional reaction to Better Than Perfect than I did to Maybe One Day, it was still a story that I really enjoyed and drew me in completely. Before I say anything else, though, I will say this: there is a fairly good chance that many people will lose interest in this story because of a certain behaviour on the main character’s part (see the post I wrote earlier this week if you want more on that). But that didn’t stop me reading or make me like the story any less. Aside from that, this is a very relatable story. Or at least it was one I could relate to and one that got me thinking. Is reaching goal after goal the only way to happiness, or is there a way to be happy without always striving to be everyone’s idea of perfect? Better Than Perfect definitely explores this question and got me thinking about it a lot, to the point that I’m still thinking about it over a week after having finished reading the story. The most relatable aspect of the story for me, though, was definitely Juliet.

When you first meet her, Juliet is your typical type A high school student. Or at least that’s how she appears to everyone around her. But from the moment I started reading, I realized that it was more of a front she was putting on than anything else. She wasn’t happy being what everyone wanted her to be. In fact, she was pretty miserable. Much like the story is one many people will be able to relate to, Juliet is someone many people will be able to see themselves in. I know I was. That’s what made this story so interesting to read. The one aspect of the story I didn’t really like though, was Jason, Juliet’s boyfriend. Looking back, I don’t actually think I was supposed to like him all that much to begin with. To be completely honest, he’s a bit of a prick and has slightly controlling tendencies. And at this point in her life, her relationship with him was clearly making Juliet miserable. In all honesty, I was kind of rooting for her to dump him. Declan, though, him I liked. A lot. I kept wanting for more to happen with him, but due to the circumstances, it never really did. The way the story ended, the door was left open for something more to happen with Declan and Juliet. In my mind, they get to have their happily ever after and that’s all that really matters.

Melissa Kantor’s Better Than Perfect is a story many people will be able to relate to, whether it’s that they relate to the overall themes or to the characters in it. This story about finding out perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be is one you’ll want to give a try.

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

Title: Maybe One Day

Author: Melissa Kantor

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: February 18, 2014

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plants for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine. 

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the late page is turned.

Before I even started reading Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day, I had been warned that it was a story that would pull at my heart strings. And it did. By the time I reached the end, I was a complete mess. But it was completely worth it.

Olivia and Zoe have been friends for as long as they can remember. They've always known what their future would look like. But that future started changing when Olivia and Zoe were cut from NYBC the summer before their sophomore year of high school. Now juniors, Olivia and Zoe have re-imagined their future, but that future never included Olivia being diagnosed with leukaemia. Zoe does everything she can to stay positive and put on a brave face for Olivia. But the sicker Olivia gets, the more trouble Zoe has staying positive. Without Olivia around, Zoe doesn't know who to turn to for support. When she starts falling for Olivia's crush, Calvin, Zoe thinks she's found a way to deal with it all, even if she feels guilty about it all. And even though the odds are against her, Zoe knows Olivia will make it through this. She just has to.

When I got Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day in the mail, it came with a note saying I should keep ice cream or cake close by as I read. I really should have followed that advice. By the time I reached the end of the story, I was a complete mess of tears. This was a truly moving story, looking at how something like leukaemia doesn't just affect the person with the diagnosis, but also their friends and family. Because first and foremost, this was a story not about romance or dance, but about Zoe and Olivia's friendship. And as sad as they story could be, I loved that it was focused on the girls' friendship. So often in YA, friendships fall by the way side once romance comes in. Maybe One Day showed just how strong friendship can be, how important it can be, to the point where friends become family. In a way, reading about the friendship made me miss my own best friend. And of course, that ending brought me to tears, but also made me smile through those tears, because that's just who Olivia and Zoe are.

I loved Olivia and Zoe, and I loved their friendship. They were so different, yet similar in so many ways. But they were perfect for each other. As cliché as it might be to say, Olivia and Zoe balanced each other out perfectly. Seeing them together made me smile, despite everything else that was going on in their lives. And like I already mentioned, seeing Zoe and Olivia together made me miss my own best friend and the fact that university made it so we're so far away from each other. Beyond the friendship, there was also romance, but in an understated way. I liked that Calvin didn't push Zoe to do anything she didn't want to do. He was just there for Zoe, in as much as she allowed him to be. My only wish is that I could have seen a little more of that story, no matter how much I loved the story's focus on friendship.

Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. This story about two best friends is one that will make you want to pick up the phone and call your own best friend. You don't want to miss out on this one.