Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, 622 pages

This book is the sequel to the book Impulse by Ellen Hopkins. I thought Perfect would follow what happened to the characters in the book Impulse. But, what it is about is characters related to the characters in Impulse. written in the same tense as Impulse. This was a very thought provoking book. Perfect follows the lives of characters who were all associated with Conner. Cara is Conner's twin sister who is striving to be perfect in every way. Kendra is Conner's ex girlfriend who is trying to win beauty pageants while losing weight to the point her health is at risk.  Jenna is Kendra's sister who finds herself in a relationship with Andre.  All these teens are trying to find their perfect selves in a way that destroys their lives and those of their loved ones.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins, 666 pages

I had been searching for this book for a while when I found it while searching our catalog in our new Evergreen library system.  I enjoyed reading this book, even though it dealt with many taboo subjects.  But, I really felt like I connected with the three main characters in the book. Vanessa feels flawed as a person and only feels good when she is cutting herself.  Tony is a young, homosexual drug user who is living on the streets, trying to recover from the lose of his partner and from being abandoned by his father.   Conner is a teen who feels he cannot live up to the high standards his parents have set for him and recovering from having a sexual relationship with a teacher.  Each of the three find themselves locked up together in a psychiatric hospital called Aspen Springs.  The three each tried to commit suicide in their own way: Vanessa by cutting, Tony by pills, and Conner by shooting himself in the chest.  They are each sent to Aspen Springs to recover.  The three connect in a very special way.  The ending was shocking.