Aaaaaa what a lovely book!!! Honestly, I didn't expect to like this book so much, although this is a theme that I really like and would like to see in other books, it's not always very well executed. In fact, one of the highlights is the fact that we are trapped together with the character in this melancholic afterlife, desperate to understand why she is there. I loved the characters, I loved their relationship, a good coming of age (if you can talk about that to dead people), and a delicious read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

A thoughtful story of self-discovery and romance found in the afterlife, The Worst Perfect Moment follows Tegan, a deceased teen who finds herself in a version of heaven she did not expect: a recreation of what she considers one of the bleakest moments of her life. But she's not alone. She's accompanied by Zelda, an angel that studied Tegan's life and crafted a version of heaven based on what she considers to be Tegan's happiest moment. What follows is a desperate search for answers as Tegan tries to understand why she has found herself in such as place, before her fate is sealed forever.

While often providing more questions than answers - Zelda often answers Tegan's questions about what's happening with a simple "Spoilers!" without any indication that we'll ever find out what those spoilers actually are - there's still enough payoff at the end to understand the journey we take to get there. Though some readers may grow tired of the repetitive nature of the plot, where Tegan and Zelda revisit moments in Tegan's life in order to better understand why her heaven is the way it is, their connection is sweet and develops naturally through their adventures together.

With its light-hearted dialogue and comical imagining of the afterlife in a similar realm as The Good Place, it is sure to be a hit for those seeking a relatively low stakes drama that still richly tackles the difficult subject matter of death, forgiveness, and loneliness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink for this ARC.

You’re dead, you’re 16 and your angel picked the wrong heaven. An intricate, beautiful YA tale of finding out what truly matters.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tegan Masters is dead. Ripped from life by a texting driver and dumped into her worst memory. Here she is, at a god awful two star motel in New Jersey. The place where she spent the most painful few days of her short life. And she is supposed to be spending eternity here? No. No. No. This can NOT be happening. Suddenly a cute angel named Zelda appears. She is the one that rummaged through Tegan’s memories and picked this one to be her heaven. Zelda must have made a huge mistake, right?

Shivaun Plozza spon an excellent YA tale with this one! It dives deep into teenage angst, family trauma and what it means to love and be loved. I loved the intimate look into Tegan’s psyche. Her journey through her memories is both haunting and spellbinding. She works so hard to keep her bad experiences at bay, but her angel Zelda makes her relive all the worst of them. It’s painful and exciting to watch her wade through her history and learn what true happiness is made of. And the conclusion she comes to is one that not only young adults should hear. It’s truly a universal epiphany.

This might be a YA book, but I, as a woman in her forties, enjoyed it very much as well! To see the world through Tegan’s eyes is captivating (and green 😉). To get a glimpse into what could happen once you’re dead is very interesting. Plozza wrote an option of what might occur that is somehow very believable.

I love that Tegan stands her ground but also slowly opens up to the possibility of actually being at the right heaven after all. The way she challenges the work of the angels is what makes her a very strong young woman that you just have to root for.

The Worst Perfect Moment is a great example of what a YA novel could be. Don’t let that fool you though, because this is a story for every and all ages.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen anybody compares this one to The Good Place. Tegan is dead and fast tracked to heaven. Her heaven as it turned out is a cheap shitty motel where she is supposed to spend eternity because calculations seem to indicate that this is the place of her best memory. Fundamentally the premise is flawed because as a reader you immediatly suspect à twist à la "it was the people there that made it a happy memory" but you are telling me that nobody in the thousand years of heaven has had this problem before? I know, I know it's a story meant to explore the emotional state of Tegan wrapped in a funny setting where you depict heaven as an administration. But still the entire thing bothered me. If you say "this place sucks and spending the eternity there is going to be hell." in your supposedly "heaven" to supposedly "angels" I'd say there should be some reaction, other than Zelda's annoyingness. Zelda, the angel who is in charge of Tegan, is forced to prove her happy memory calculations after Tegan complained.

Scientifically, I disliked the approach Zelda took: you're not supposed to prove a memory is the best by proving a select few are worse. That is not how mathematical demonstrations work. Yes, again, I know this entire thing is about the exploration of a character with a messy past and teenage friendships. However, it didn't work for me. Other reviewers say that Tegan refuse to see it but she does it she just hates the whole process because she refuses to spend her eternity in a shitty motel as she should. But then she has to backtrack to save Zelda who barely deserves to be saved (listen she is an angel and without proper angel worldbuilding it doesn't tell us anything about the ins and outs of angel life and death)

In the end, The Worst Perfect Moment left me more frustrated than anything. I knew what it was going for the themes it wanted to deliver on, the attempts at humor (like the other said, cringy vocabulary) but it left me unfulfilled.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review! 😇🪽😵

Ok, wow. Not gonna lie, but this legit moved me, like, I was reading this on the bus trying to hold back tears because I didn't want to cry in public.

There was such a good balance of humour and heart; while some of the characters can be silly, this book is not afraid to confront real issues and lean into the characters' emotional moments. Seriously, this got heavier than I had expected.

I loved how Tegan's narrative arc was handled, like the set-up and her journey with Zelda through her memories leading up to the climax, the pacing and Tegan's emotional journey, everything was so well-executed and felt so realistic. Everything leading up to Tegan's revelation culminates in, well, the Perfect Moment.

Tegan and Zelda's relationship was so sweet and charming, like their dynamic is so fun to read. I loved their banter, which might come across to some as too childish or immature (they call each other stuff like buttface and dickcheese) but I honestly found it so endearing. (Also, I'm in no position to talk; I'm a legal adult and the way I talk IRL is Worse.)

The setting and the world-building reminds me of The Good Place, with the bureaucratic Upper Management, the not-so-perfect afterlife and the cast of quirky characters. But while The Good Place was religiously secular, this afterlife is (surprisingly) Christian-coded, with concepts of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and capital-G God. Not gonna lie, it kind of bugged me a little to assume that everyone's afterlife would be a Christian one, but as a setting/premise it does work for the story, so I'll let it pass.

All in all, I definitely recommend giving this a read, it will warm your heart and move you to tears and make you laugh. Maybe even all at the same time. 🫶

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was immediately sold. I naturally gravitate toward stories that center around the afterlife, especially ones that put their own unique spin on it or weave their own interpretations of what that could look like. It’s always so fascinating and there are so many places you can go with that kind of story. With this, I thought it would be much the same, so I was really intrigued to read it for myself. Instantly this book seemed perfect for fans of The Afterlife of Holly Chase and Afterlove.

Unfortunately, this one ended up being a major letdown for me. I think first of all, I expected and wanted this to be more emotional in the same vain as maybe a Nina LaCour novel, having this mix of dreamlike quality and true-to-life emotions, with a writing style that maybe leans more lyrical and melancholy. But for me, this ended up being spun more on the comedic side. You know what it’s like? It’s like one of those movies where there’s a wacky sidekick and the main character has seven days to complete a task or prove some grand thesis like that true love exists, all while the wacky magical sidekick is along for the ride and poofs in every now and then with their antics. Like, it’s very much giving those vibes, which were unfortunately not exactly the vibe that I wanted.

All of that aside, I was actually enjoying the ride. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it was still entertaining enough. But the longer it went on, the more frustrated I ended up getting on Teagan‘s behalf. And here’s where I really have a bone to pick with this plot: I mean, I’m just gonna say it… understand why Teagan is so upset and confused as to why this shitty hotel is supposed to be her eternal heaven. I would be too! Literally no one explains anything to her and just drops her here for her to feel lost and confused as to what’s going on. And then when she understandably questions why this is supposed to be her “happiest” memory and clearly expresses that she doesn’t want to stay here, everyone acts like she’s being so difficult and unreasonable. They’re like “What are you talking about, this is your happiest memory,” again, without giving ANY follow-up as to why. And quite frankly, I agree with Tegan: I’d give Heaven a one-star review too, judging by the way they run things and don’t communicate at all with the recently departed souls who have no idea what’s going on and are given next to no guidance unless it turns into a full-blown bureaucratic investigation. Like, damn, this Heaven is legit run like a DMV, or worse, Spirit Airlines where the customer service sucks and no one actually takes the time to answer your questions but rather makes you feel like you’re the difficult one who’s wasting their time.

It would honestly save so much confusion if this whole “investigation” Zelda takes Tegan on, showing her snapshots throughout her life leading up to where she is in the afterlife, could just be, I dunno…the standard? Like, yeah, why wouldn’t this be considered just a general orientation for each soul, if they so needed it? And they act like Tegan is such a special, difficult case who needs to spend thousands of years in purgatory which…I can’t believe that their biggest challenge is a fifteen-year-old girl with very real struggles she’s been through in life and is expressing pretty reasonable emotions given everything. Like, damn, if you consider her a difficult case…what do you do with everyone else? I just don’t buy this. Like, there’s nothing Teagan is going through that countless other people haven’t also gone through, if not worse. And I also don’t think the answer is being in purgatory thousands of years just for being human and going through our own personal struggles. Because if that’s the case, then almost every departed soul should allegedly be held in purgatory. I just don’t vibe with this belief system. And in Teagan‘s case, why? What has she done to deserve this, to deserve thousands of years of agony, other than…going through ordinary life shit? It seems very extreme and unnecessary

Tegan touches on this in the story as well, so it’s not like it isn’t ever addressed, but I’ll reiterate anyway. Why are all people just alone in their own heavens? That seems like solitary confinement and not conducive to a version of heaven for people to find eternal happiness. It’s literally proven that just having a five minute conversation with Robbie already made Teagan feel so much better and gain so much more clarity than when she was by herself. Wouldn’t that be an indication that souls in heaven should be, I don’t know, brought together to coexist and be able to heal through shared experiences as opposed to being completely isolated from everyone else? And in Robbys case, what good does it do to be separated from the love of his life, leaving him to wait in agony for her for all eternity? What good does that do to him? How is that heaven? In what universe is that eternal happiness? Because that actually sounds like punishment. Also why does it literally take until Tegan to start questioning these things? Are you really telling me that no one else has ever thought to question how corrupt and backwards this system is? How did it literally take a 15-year-old girl to Make them question their business practices? I’m just not buying it.

In summary: The logistics of this version of heaven and this story pissed me off so much. It was such an unnecessary waste of time. This is why heaven gets a one star review from me. Because this is some bureaucratic, bullshit dystopian version of heaven. Besides all of that, I still didn’t think the payoff was good enough in the end. As said earlier, Zelda as a character comes across as just a wacky sidekick. I found her just really annoying and cartoonish, so I just couldn’t get on board with her being a love interest. Thus, by the end I couldn’t bring myself to care about the ending.

Other Issues:

* Not gonna lie, the repetition of Tegan addressing Ms. Chiu gets old after a while. And for how often she’s referenced in here, she actually doesn’t take up a large space in the story at all to justify why Teagan keeps referencing her. Like, I get it, I understand her significance and why she means so much to Teagan. But it just isn’t explored enough in the story other than a few lines at best.

* This book is terribly guilty of constantly repeating the same words over and over and trying to get the same laugh (dickcheese, buttface.) It just comes across as particularly juvenile and lackluster writing.

The premise of this book really intrigued me. A dead girl stuck in a crappy motel in New Jersey? Ah, yes please! This is just the kind of quirky, unique, weird and wonderful book I'm down for! The book really hooked me at the start. I loved the premise and found myself really wanting the same answers as our protagonist!

While this book was really heart-achingly beautiful in many ways and very healing in others, the writing style was simple and at times felt more middle grade than YA to me. The romance was very minimal as well.

A really interesting, unique and emotionally affirming read that I would recommend for younger YA readers.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

‘Forever is much better with the people who matter.’

Many thanks to Holiday House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

That kind of hurt, but in the way that feels really good you know? This book was everything I wanted from it. It was heartwarming, heartbreaking, funny, and devastating.

Being with Tegan for her journey was emotional and difficult but I enjoyed the fact that she wasn’t an ‘easy fix’. Her problems were dense and her trauma was something that couldn’t just be fixed with her feelings being erased.
I was borderline sobbing at the end. I think it’s so important for stories like this to exist. To show that people with trauma still have happiness even when they struggle to see it. Tegan’s realisation was heartfelt and meaningful.

I loved Tegan and Zelda’s relationship. Zelda’s character was hilarious and sweet and I adored her.
The ending was satisfying and resolved things in a lovely way.
Overall, an enjoyable, sweet, kind of heartbreaking read but I really loved exploring Tegan’s memories with her.

Okay!!!!!!!!!

Omg I absolutely LOVED this book, this has to be one of my favourite YA reads in recent years. The characters are charming and well developed, the plot and concept is so unique and the writing is sometimes a bit juvenile, but overall very very charming.

We follow Tegan Masters, a sixteen year old who has recently died and found herself in heaven … only, it’s not the heaven you’d imagine, it’s a recreation of a dingy 2 star motel in New Jersey. The angel in charge of her heaven, Zelda, insists this is where her happiest memory was, and is totally 100% her perfect heaven. Tegan is not so sure. After a complaint to the higher-ups, Zelda is given one month to prove to Tegan that this is her perfect heaven… or else they’ll both face the consequences.

The romance between Tegan and Zelda and developed so naturally and was so sweet and they just fit so well together!! I just cannot speak enough about how much I ADORE both of them as characters in their own right either.

Tegan is so sweet. I loved getting to know her family and friends through the flashbacks, I adored her fierce protectiveness for her sister, and I totally related to her struggles with friendship and romance.

Zelda is … omg my daughter. I love her SO much. She is so zany and weird and adorable and witty. I love her fashion sense, and I love her yearning to explore human life. Get this angel to a cat cafe!

Some of the reveals were a little bit predictable and Kelvin was a bit cartoonishly bad guy at times. I do also wish the heaven system was presented with a bit more nuance as well?? Overall I still found it a super entertaining read, and would absolutely recommend it for your next sapphic YA read.

THOUGHTS

This book was delightful and sad and wonderful and melancholy—in other words, a real mix of emotions. Though it isn't perfect, it's a thought-provoking look at mortality and what comes after we die. I adored dropping into this little pocket of memory and distilled human experience.


PROS
Smart Ass Angel: I adored the character of Zelda, who is supposed to be a sort of angel guide to this afterlife but is, really, just a grumpy teenage desk clerk. She adds some attitude, some life and vibrancy, to this melancholic space in the afterlife. This sets a quirky sort of tone, and her banter adds levity to the book that wouldn't otherwise be all that lighthearted. The growing chemistry between Zelda and Tegan, too, is just so much fun to watch unfold.

Melancholic, Bland Afterlife: There are no pearly gates and streets of gold in this afterlife. This afterlife is a rundown motel in the middle of nowhere, and as unfortunate as that is for Tegan, I can appreciate what that adds to the story: a sort of blank canvas, a neutral space for Tegan's life and memories to unfold. I also appreciate that this isn't a book where a character discovers they've died and then has to reckon with that discovery. Tegan knows that she's dead from the start. Does that mean she's okay with that fact? Absolutely not--especially since her afterlife is a rundown motel. But the reckoning here comes with a dive into Tegan's memories--into what life she did manage to live--and not in reconciling the fact that she is, you know, six feet under.

Character Development: Shivaun Plozza absolutely nails the character development in this book. Both Tegan and Zelda make a strong entrance in the first chapter, and they stay true to these characters while also adapting, changing, bonding, and reconciling hopes and dreams with a more down-to-earth reality. The rough edges, desires, and aspirations of both of these girls are both bittersweet and beautiful. I adored getting to know them as well as watching them get to know each other--and reconcile with their individual lots in this (after)life.


CONS
Communication Skills: I really don't like a book that revolves around miscommunication, and luckily, that's not at all what happens here. There's no miscommunication; there's just a general lack of communication. And I get that part of this lack of communication is Zelda's character. Part of it is Heaven's whole schtick. And it really is meant to be frustrating. That's part of the plot. But boy was it frustrating at times! Even if it serves a purpose, I still hate being frustrated, you know?

Dialogue: As much as I adored these characters and their individual trajectories, there were times when their edgy/voice-y dialogue just didn't quite stick the landing. Like Tegan's reliance on the insult "dickcheese." I mean, I guess points for creativity, but it felt a little... out of place, to be honest.

Dwindling Impact: As much as I enjoyed the funky bureaucratic system of this heavenly afterlife, I did feel that the unusual setup diminished the impact a little. If we're really going to dive into a consideration of the morality of, well, morality--of who gets into heaven, what heaven looks like, and eternal systems of punishment and reward--I find the impact is always stronger when the initial concept of "heaven" is one that is, well, familiar. Plozza's afterlife is something new--and something really not that great. So it makes sense that Tegan would push back against being stuck in a mediocre motel for all of eternity, but this sort of fight against Heaven lacks a bit of punch when it isn't a fight against, well, an established sort of heavenly rule system. It's a good fight and a just one. But it isn't a fight against anybody's actual conception of heaven.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9/10
Fans of Akemi Dawn Bowman's The Infinity Courts will like this dive into an unsettlingly new sort of afterlife, full of unexpected rules and unfortunate realities. Those who enjoyed battling with the questions of eternity raised by NBC's The Good Place will like this new dive into a not-quite-right afterlife.

I really loved the concept and set up of this novel. It's such a unique premise, and it grabbed my attention right away. The voice felt younger YA/upper middle grade, which is wonderful because that's a range to find. Even though I found the characters a little abrasive, I was still rooting for them, and I enjoyed this format as a way to look back on Tegan's life.

*I didn't factor this into the rating, but the ARC formatting was very distracting and made the file difficult to read.

When you die at 16, the last thing you expect is that your "heaven" is a ratty motel and now you have complaints with the angel management to deal with and memory lane to stroll down with with an annoyingly cute angel. Tegan Masters is 16 and she's dead. She wakes up to find herself at the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the most depressing hotel ever and when an angel appears and tells her its the "happiest memory" she has, Tegan has some complaints. Now she has to stroll down memory lane because this isn't her happiest memory and she wants to find her one happy memory... but when she does, will she get her happily ever after? This one was definitely for younger YA readers and unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I was lured in by a cute cover and a potential sapphic romance but this one just felt really dull and boring to read. I felt myself checking out and skimming parts to just make it to the end. It really just wasn't for me and it kind of missed the mark on all my expectations. While this was a miss for me, if you enjoy afterlife stories, give this a go!

*Thanks Netgalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink | Holiday House for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The Worst Perfect Moment was an absolute charm.

The humour was spot on from page one. It's rare for me to read a young adult book where the protagonist's voice is authentically that of... well, a young adult! But Shivaun Plozza pulled through with a consistently accurate depiction of the modern teenage mind: nihilistic and damn hilarious with it. Every comedic moment was timed perfectly, and it was a perfect contrast with the grief-stricken narrative.

Speaking of which, this book had a unique depiction of the afterlife, and dealing with being dead. The main character, Tegan, has been given a heaven in what is apparently her greatest memory, but was actually the location where she spent all her time as her life fell apart around her. Reading about her coming to terms with the complexity of her heaven, and picking apart the entangled feelings associated with the beloathed memory was enthralling.

It felt like reading an episode of The Good Place, but even better because gay people were in it! This book had the perfect combination of normalised LGBTQIA+ identity and explorations of our struggle. Tegan's lesbianism was simply there, inarguable and tasteful, and even more so was her romance with Zelda, the angel who created her imperfect heaven. But that didn't stop Plozza from using Tegan and Zelda's trips through memories and time to retrospectively navigate Tegan's journey through her first lesbian crush and date and heartbreak.

If you love grief narratives, complicated sapphic romances, and unique portrayals of the afterlife, heaven, angels, time travel, and God herself... pick up Plozza's The Worst Perfect Moment!

Thank you author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!!

I read the book in one sitting…. There’s just something so compelling in this story. I love Zelda being obsessed with earth stuff including cat cafés (same). I love the side characters like Kelvin and Carol and Ms.Chiu. I LOVE Tegan and Zelda bickering. This book is about grief and abandonment and inspiration and loneliness and love. Tegan’s new reality and her memories fit together seamlessly throughout the whole story. I can’t get over it and I’ll probably go in and read it again. Ugh! I cried 4 times. And then we’re gonna go ahead and add in a supernatural reference!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If a book nearly makes me cry, you know it's a good book.

Tegan's tumulus adventure into the afterlife, with the unhelpful help of angel Zelda, is a raw look at the complications of being a teenager and dealing with grief in its many forms and for its many reasons. The book starts with the main character's appearance in the afterlife, heaven, after her untimely death at 16. She's stranded in what her angel tells her is her happiest memory, a depressing gross motel, and Tegan wants nothing than to prove the angel wrong and get her real heaven. Zelda takes her through her memories to relive moments of emotional conflict in an effort to teach her what true happiness is, including disloyal friend groups and a parent leaving.

This book was an emotional reminder to find happiness in the places that happiness truly exists, not where we tell ourselves we should feel happy. Tegan's battle with needing to feel wanted is heartbreaking, but it's an integral part of the story. I think often YA stories can either brush over hard topics or go inappropriately into detail -- this book does neither. It discusses an important part of adolescence and young adulthood in a nurturing and comforting way.

The sapphic representation is endearing in a 16 year old falling in love kind of way -- a little awkward to read as an adult because it's embarrassingly accurate, down to the teasing name-calling and memorizing how many freckles are on a face.

It's so rare for me to find a book where I can't tell if the prose or the plot is better, and The Worst Perfect Moment is definitely one of those books. I was blown away by the opening words and was only more impressed with the story as I went on. Tegan's story packs so much heart and nostalgia into every scene, even for moments and memories I haven't experience myself. This is such a wonderfully heartbreaking book, in the best way possible.

I liked the idea of the book but couldn't get into the book. Altought I can understand the appeal of this book and why people like it I just got kinda annoyied from the prickering between the two main characters. One part I did enjoy were the many details the author included.

DNF at 18%

The Worst Perfect Moment is a YA Paranormal Coming Of Age Romance that has me in all my feels.

“Forever is much better with the people who matter.”

This is a slower paced, introspective kind of novel that’s focused on character growth. It asks the question of what it means to be truly happy with a central theme that reminds me of the movie Inside Out. And I loved it. The ending made me cry and smile all cheesy at my phone.

Tegan Masters is dead. She wakes up in heaven which happens to be the Marybelle Motor Lodge—the crappiest hotel where she experienced the worst weekend of her life. Zelda, a cute and sarcastic angel, insists heaven is an exact replica of a persons happiest moment and this is Tegan’s.

I loved Zelda. She was such a fun character. And the exact perfect angel for the job. Her silly and teasing nature could be so unpredictable and fun at times. She brought a levity to a difficult journey that she had to take Tegan on. And oh my gosh poor Tegan. I wanted to give her a hug while reading. It was a slow unveiling of her most vulnerable layers and I hurt for her.

I’m not going into Spoilers! but I am so happy with the way this book ended and it’s overall themes. I highly recommend it for fans of more character focused, slower paced stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet realistic fiction story about facing the hardest parts of life in order to grow and realize all of the goodness in our world. The description of Purgatory and what happened there was terrifying.

The Worst Perfect Moment is a journey through one (dead) girl's saddest memories and the angel leading the way. We follow Tegan who is 16, dead, and stuck at the worst motel in Jersey. Her angel Zelda says that the Marybelle motel is her happiest memory, which means Tegan will be there for eternity. One complaint to upper management later, they have 1 month for Zelda to prove that she chose the right memory and for Tegan to prove that she is emotionally strong enough to not be sent to purgatory. The next month is full of trips to sad memories, confusion, strong emotions, and a bit of falling in love. The feelings of not being chosen, not being the right one, of wanting a parent who doesn't want you back, all hit close to home and I was in tears by the end. I loved the ending, I loved the characters, I loved the story. The writing is a bit on the younger end of YA and insults like "buttface and d*ckcheese" are thrown around a lot, but to me the story and ending overcame that.