DNF Review: Pushing Perfect by Michelle Falkoff

Pushing Perfect

by Michelle Falkoff

Source: eARC provided for review.

My rating: 2.5 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

A girl’s quest for perfection results in dangerous consequences in this layered, suspenseful YA novel by the author of Playlist for the Dead.

How far would you go to be perfect?

Kara has the perfect life. She gets perfect grades. She never messes up. Until now. Because perfection is an illusion, and Kara has been struggling to maintain it for as long as she can remember. With so much pressure to succeed, it’s hard not to do whatever it takes. 

But when Kara takes a new underground drug to help her ace the SATs, she doesn’t expect to get a text from a blocked sender, telling her to follow a set of mysterious instructions—or risk her dark secret getting out. Soon she finds herself part of a group of teens with secrets of their own, who are all under the thumb of the same anonymous texter. And if they don’t find a way to stop the blackmailer, their perfect futures will go up in flames.

This dark, emotionally resonant contemporary YA novel is perfect for fans of We Were Liars (sorry, but no) and The Secret History.

**

I read Playlist for the Dead last year and I really enjoyed it. That’s why I was so excited for the new book by Michelle Falkoff. Sadly, it was my biggest disappointed of the year.

For starters, the summary tells the whole story, there was no surprise, not even the identity of the Blocked Sender (for me).

I’ve read MANY stories about characters struggling with panic attacks, but Kara is the only character I couldn’t connect with. I understood her, but that didn’t make me like her. She was too “plain” she never made me feel anything.

The lack of connection wasn’t the worst thing about this book. The problem started when the mystery began, it didn’t feel realistic, I found it overreacted. Honestly, I wasn’t able to keep reading.

I don’t like to DNF books, I almost never do. I just didn’t care about Pushing Perfect.

The premise was good, the characters were okay, but there wasn’t anything that made me want to keep reading it.

I gave this book 2.5 or 3 stars, just because I didn’t totally hated it. I just don’t care about it.

 

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ARC Review: Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Playlist for the Dead.

Author: Michelle Falkoff

Source: ARC provided by Publisher. Thank you!

My Rating: 3.5 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.

***

I’ve read many books about suicide in the last year, but I hadn’t read any from a male POV until Playlist for the Dead. I’ve heard some people comparing it to Thirteen Reasons why, but except for the MC trying to understand why his friend killed himself, I can’t see the point. 

Michelle Falkoff’s debut is sad story but not a heartbreaking one. It’s a thought provoking read about guilt, revenge and understanding.
The main character, Sam, and his dead best friend Hayden had a strong relationship and they shared their love for music and comics. They were geeky and loner, that’s why they were bullied by Hayden’s brother and his Bully Trifecta. 

Although this was an entertaining read and I wanted so bad to reach the ending. I can’t help but feel disappointing. You see, I thought: books + music = love. 
I feel like I wasted my reading time searching those songs from Hayden’s playlist, when in the end it was incredible unnecessary. The playlist didn’t make Sam understand, it didn’t make me love more the story. 

Another problem I have with this book is that Sam voice wasn’t even a little aggressive, which is one of the things I enjoy more when I read this kind of books. He was too passive and plain. Even after everything The Bully Trifecta did to him and Hayden, Sam still was too soft on them. 
I could relate more to a secondary character, and I can’t help but wonder if Sam’s POV was a wise choice from the author. 

Overall, this was a good story, but it wasn’t remarkable. I liked it. And I can say I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. 

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What's new? Playlist For The Dead by Michelle Falkoff

 

 I just realized there are a lot of books with suicide as a main topic these days: Falling into place, My heart & other black holes by Jasmine Warga, I was there by Gayle Forman, The last time to say goodbye by Cynthia Hand... just to mention some.
And since I love those kind of books, I'm really excited for Playlist For The Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Check it out!

Expected publication: January 27th 2015 by HarperTeen

 

 

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.

Read More