Perfect You | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Scott
Creator: Lisa Fyfe
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Book
List Price: $9.99
Buy New: $5.78
You Save: $4.21 (42%)
New (21) Used (7) from $5.78
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 10563
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1416953558
EAN: 9781416953555
ASIN: 1416953558
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Over 600,000 Feedbacks Posted!!! BRAND-NEW IN-HOUSE READY TO SHIP!!! NOT A REMAINDER, BARGAIN OR BOOK CLUB BOOK!!! WE ARE A FIVE-STAR SELLER!!!
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Kate Brown's life has gone downhill fast. Her father has quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, and Kate is forced to work with him. Her best friend has become popular, and now she acts like Kate's invisible.And then there's Will. Gorgeous, unattainable Will, whom Kate acts like she can't stand even though she can't stop thinking about him. When Will starts acting interested, Kate hates herself for wanting him when she's sure she's just his latest conquest. Kate figures that the only way things will ever stop hurting so much is if she keeps to herself and stops caring about anyone or anything. What she doesn't realize is that while life may not always be perfect, good things can happen -- but only if she lets them....
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Charming, humorous, and utterly satisfying July 25, 2008
Elizabeth Scott's second novel is just as poignant and addictive to read as her well-reviewed debut, BLOOM --- perhaps even more so. In the year since BLOOM's publication, Scott has clearly honed her skills, crafting a tighter story that fluently captures the anxieties of talking to (let alone trusting) a first crush, the self-deprecation and anguish of losing a best friend, and the bemusement that comes with having to parent...your parents.
But what does all of this have to do with vitamins?
It all started when Kate's father quit his job at a prestigious software company because his desk had broken in half. He figured it was a sign. Not even a month later, he cashed in his retirement fund to purchase boxes full of infomercial vitamins called "Perfect You." His plan? To buy a booth at the mall and sell them to anyone who would take the bait --- with Kate's help, of course.
So instead of going to parties with her friends and cheering for her boyfriend on the basketball team, Kate is stuck trying to hide her mortification when her father wears his B-Buzz vitamin bee costume during her shift, or worse yet, when he gets thrown out of the Sports Shack for pushing vitamins on their customers. But wait. Kate doesn't have a boyfriend. Nor does she have any friends aside from the three Jennifers who are so busy competing to be each other's best friend that they barely notice her.
Granted, Kate's life hadn't always been so terrible. Prior to her sophomore year, she spent every waking second with her best friend, Anna, who never seemed to care what anyone else thought --- at least not until hunky Sam, the boy Anna had been in love with for forever, called her a "wide load."
After that, everything changed. Anna came back from her summer in Maine, determined to be a different person. She was blonde, 70 pounds thinner and suddenly popular, which, of course, meant No More Kate. So for the first few months of 10th grade, Kate spends every day alone --- that is, until Sam's cute friend, Will, kisses her behind the dumpsters at the mall.
In the chapters that follow, Kate bumbles through a series of crushing setbacks (Anna delivers one too many blows to her dwindling self-worth, her parents separate due to her father's seemingly endless mid-life crisis, Will asks her out on a date --- to humiliate her?) before ultimately crumbling in defeat.
But, as those who liked Scott's first novel are aware, Kate's story is far from over despite the trauma she has endured, and readers will breeze through the last few chapters with genuine pleasure.
PERFECT YOU has just the right combination of humor, charm and weight to satisfy old fans and win over new ones. Its rich characters --- especially haughty but wise Grandma --- are brimming with quirky idiosyncrasies meant to both irritate and please. Like in BLOOM, Scott navigates familial dysfunction and teen melodrama with aplomb, and teens will eat up what develops when Kate and Will finally "get real" at the end.
--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling
 Entertaining July 8, 2008
Perfect You is the story of a high school sophomore whose life slides rapidly downhill when her father quits his 9-5 job to chase his dream of selling vitamins at the mall, she's forced to work for him, her best friend stops talking to her, and her grandmother moves in with the family to help out financially.
The narrator is not just snarky but truly bitter at times, but it's easy to see why she's so and it's balanced by her vulnerability where her former best friend (fat girl gone mean girl) is concerned. The ending felt slightly rushed and the romance tests belief at times, but there were some great lines and I liked how the various storylines were dealt with in a believable and satisfying manner.
An overall good book June 20, 2008
When i first started reading this book i wasn't sure if i would like it. It just looked like a book of a girl who hated her life and maybe that would change toward the end. But as i got further into the book i realized that i couldn't bring myself to put it down and ended up reading it in one night.
This is a good, slightly frustrating book with a somewhat predictable ending but good overall.
A great book, from a great author! May 16, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Kate Brown is having a rough year. Her dad decided to quit his job to sell Prefect You infomercial vitamins in the mall, her best friend is too popular to talk to her and Will won't leave her alone. Put all of that together and you have a lethal combination. Kate is struggling with having to work in the mall, for free, with her dad who loves to embarass her. Then, there's also the fact that she can't stop thinking about Will, even though he's out of her league. She also has a college graduate brother that still lives at home and can't get a real job. Can Kate handle what's happening to her family? Can she handle not having a best friend anymore? Or better yet, can she forget about Will?
With Kate's vivid, swanky attitude and Will's charming wit, this book is defintaly a hit. With each turning page, you will see style and grace in Elizabeth Scott's writing. You feel for Kate as she goes through the trials and tribulations of teen years. You will cry with her as her family starts to fall apart, as well as the relationship with her best friend, Anna. You will root for her to overcome and wish she could have her best friend at her side. And eventually you will figure out Will's intentions. This book is well written and a must read.
[...]
The Story Siren Reviews: May 8, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
What a great read! This was my first time reading Elizabeth Scott and she will definitely be an author I will continue to read! Perfect You was an insightful look into a teenage girls life, Kate's confusion over her lost friendship is beyond believable. You see that happen all the time in high school. I guess I was lucky I moved in the fifth grade and didn't have to experience losing my childhood friends, although at the time I didn't see it that way. The supporting characters and the back ground story, was something that I think I actually enjoyed the most. I love when a story goes beyond focusing on the main character, sometimes the background characters are what make a story seem real. I was happy to see that in the end Kate learned to give people a chance and not always assume the worst.
|
|
|
