At sixteen, Perla is the youngest graduating senior of the hypercompetitive Monte Verde High. Praised - and not-so-quietly bashed - as "Perfect Perlie Perez," Perla knows all the late nights, social isolation, and crushing stress will be worth it when she gets into the college of her (and her parents') dreams: Delmont University.
Then Perla doesn't get in, and her meticulously planned future shatters. In a panic, she forges her own acceptance letter, and next thing she knows, she's heading to Delmont for real, acceptance or not. Soon, Perla is breaking into dorm rooms, crashing classes, and dodging questions from new friends about her lack of a student ID. Her plan? Gather on-the-ground intel to beef up her application and reapply spring semester before she's caught.
But as her guilty conscience grows and campus security looms large, Perla starts to wonder if her plan will really succeed - and if this dream she's worked for her entire life is something she even wants.
From rising star Tracy Badua comes a gripping, incisive tale of acceptance, self-discovery, and the infinite possibilities that await when we embrace our imperfections.
What a fantastic premise! A great way to shine a light on the pressures parents can put on their children, deliberately or otherwise. A look at how colleges can build or crush lives. Even a meditation on security in those colleges!
I enjoyed this more than I didn't; I liked the tone, Perla's emotions were always honest, it was interesting to read and learn more about colleges and the classes and organisations in them. It's fascinating to read.
However, the characters were a little one sided. This one is smooth and likes to party, that one is a warm hearted nice guy, so on. It wasn't enough to knock me out of the story, but looking back at it I did notice it.
Overall though I really enjoyed this and I'll be highly recommending it! It's a really fascinating look at what panic can drive us to, how what drives us at sixteen isn't what drives us later on - and I adore that, although it does end nicely, it doesn't tie everything up in a bow! There was an easy, obvious way to end this, and Tracy didn't pick it, and the actual ending feels wonderfully true to life. Definitely give it a go.
This is not a Personal Statement publishes on the 17th of January, 2023 in the US, and on the 16th of February, 2023 in the UK, using the same cover as far as I can tell. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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