I fell in love on page one. Ariel gripped me immediately and didn't let go until their story had been told. I love how authentic this book felt. Sweet and charming and painful and loving and so much more in one place. Somewhere out there is a teenager who is going to read Ariel's story and feel seen. Probably a lot of someones are going to feel this way. Great writing, great characters, and overall great story. Loved it. 4.5/5 stars.

I feel like this book is definitely a realistic portrayal of the lengths students and just any young person has to go through in this generation just to have a future.

The writing did both a magnificent yet powerful way of conveying the level of pressures and anxiety Ariel was facing, to the point where it made me realise just how much pressure I put on myself throughout high school and then even more in uni.

I like how Ariel was able to recognize and comfort his sister Rachel who was in the same situation as himself, even if he was quite naive about his own situation. However there were times when he believed he was the only one in that type of situation and I related to that so much. And I think many other people can as well.

The bi, gay and lesbian on page representations were handled very well. As well as the own voices Jewish representation it did highlight how often religion and education can go hand in hand when dealing with stressful situations.

Although there were a few cute and lighthearted moments in this book I definitely think I would have to be in the right head space to reread it.

Plot Summary: Seventeen-year-old Ariel has only one goal: To make it into Harvard. As first chair violin, community volunteer, and to-be valedictorian, he is doing everything he thinks he needs to do to be the perfect college applicant. Failing Calculus was not part of the plan, so Ariel scrambles through sleepless nights and reluctantly seeks out Amir to tutor him. Sparks fly between him and Amir, but can Ariel afford to add a budding new relationship to his long list of commitments?

Sophomore novels always make me nervous, but Laura hit this one right out of the park. This book contains a very honest, raw portrayal of academic pressures and the ridiculous performance standards that come with it. I’ve always maintained that there isn’t enough money in the world to make me repeat high school, and this book captures exactly why. Laura strategically uses all the subplots to press on the central conflict, layering the tension as we go through the story. While I wasn’t a valedictorian or even one of the high ranking students in school, I definitely related to the close-knit community that Ariel was placed in, and the never-ending pile of things one commits to when living in such a community. I honestly don’t remember how I managed to juggle them all, and Ariel’s growing stress and inability to say no to his family or friends resonated with me. I’m also glad that the romance wasn’t the central conflict and didn’t take over the central conflict, and the story retained the weight of the struggle. The climax and resolution of the conflict were very satisfying as well. As far as representation goes, Laura continues to do an excellent job with seamless inclusivity without it coming off as tokenism. It warmed my heart to see the close family, sibling, and community dynamics, as well as Ariel’s interaction with faith. A lot of it reminded me of my own childhood, and I’m glad this book exists for teens today.

Overall a highly enjoyable book with a gripping storyline and well fleshed-out characters. I’m ecstatic to say that I’m still in love with Laura’s writing and storytelling, and can’t wait to read more of her work in the future.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley.

You Asked for Perfect was an anticipated book from me when I first heard about it, as I definitely struggled with perfectionism, anxiety (both school-related and not), and placing high expectations on myself at a competitive high school, even if I didn’t want to go the traditional get-into-an-Ivy-league route. Plus, the main character is bisexual! Like, this book was made for me, and it mostly lived up to those expectations.

As others have noted, the emotions and worries highlighted with Ariel are SO ACCURATE that it’s rather stressful to read, especially if you too were under a lot of academic in high school. I particularly enjoyed that the novel explored how this pressure is being applied at younger and younger grades, and how it can lead to psychosomatic symptoms (that happened to me!). And yay for positive, loving sibling relationships! I also loved the acknowledgement/realization that the whole college process involves a lot of gaming the system. Ultimately, the strength of the book lies here; the writing is clean but nothing spectacular. Not that it has to be flowery, but it’s very obvious–a lot of telling and simple sentence structure.

There were a couple of believably issues I had with this book, though, that kept me from being fully emerged in Ariel’s academic world. The major ones concern major time-skips…there is a part where Ariel gets a dangerously low amount of sleep while reading a book for an extra credit assignment, but then it completely skips over the 20-page paper he has to write for it…which seems like it would be MORE stressful and cause him to spiral further? And why is his Harvard interview before he’s even written is essay for the application? I’m pretty sure the interview happens after you actually apply. And what does he even want to study? Also, this well-funded suburban school with all these AP classes has overhead projectors, not document cameras? (This is minor, but as someone who was in high school fairly recently and spends a lot of time at one still, this threw me out of the story.)

While I love the inclusion of a bi male main character, his sexuality is described pretty simply in terms of liking “girls and boys,” which is rather binary and just a definition I’m kind of tired of seeing in YA when the knowledge of non-binary people and gender fluidity (some of whom identify as bisexual!) should be pretty common to a teen in the LGBTQ community today. The romance with Amir is cute but takes a back seat, so I wouldn’t go in expecting that to be a major element. [Also, when DOES this take place? I love that Rosa’s coming out episode of Brooklyn 99 was mentioned, but that episode aired in 2017 and it says he watched it in eighth grade? Which would mean it is set a couple of years in the future? This isn’t really a problem I suppose, but it is strange.]

On the other hand, the (ownvoices) Jewish representation was great, although I’m not Jewish so I can’t properly evaluate it. Still, the way synagogue, Sabbath, and other hallmarks of Jewish culture are present throughout Ariel’s life are lovely and this is definitely a great “window” for non-Jewish teens or a “mirror” for Jewish teens. I particularly like how his rabbi reached out to help–for some, religious communities can be a huge resource with these mental health difficulties. That said, there was unfortunately very little exploration into Amir’s Muslim identity…

I know this review might come off as a little negative because I had so many little details I noticed and critiques, but overall, I did enjoy it–and I didn’t even mention the delightful inclusion of music (Ariel’s music tastes aren’t that different than mine…our parents must have been into the same stuff). I breezed through it and it’s got a lot of important things to say. I just wished it were a little more fleshed out so the world itself would match the emotional content.

The moment I read about this book I knew I had to read it because anxiety is something I can totally relate to. I am the kind of person who gets immeasurably stressed out about pretty much anything but especially anything academic. I think this story is one that needs to be more prevalent in the Young Adult genre particularly because it is an issue that seems to be getting worse not better. For a lot of teenagers applying to university the feelings of constant adrenaline and stress will be so familiar. It feels like your entire future is at the mercy of those few months and how you perform in exams which have little to do with real life.

The main character in You Asked For Perfect is Ariel, a young man so focussed on his application to Harvard University that his entire existence becomes a whirlwind of pressure and anxiety. I liked reading about him and his family a great deal. These characters felt realistic and I got attached to them very fast. Ariel and his family are Jewish and I really enjoyed learning about some Jewish traditions through this family’s experiences. The love and affection these characters have for each other made their relationships so believable and really heartwarming. I tend to read a lot of dark and gritty books and whilst there are some intense issues in You Asked For Perfect, I actually really appreciated reading about genuine and good people who care about each other. One of the main facets of this story is Ariel’s developing relationship with Amir, who helps him in calculus. Their relationship was adorable and I liked that Ariel’s bisexuality was never made an issue of – it is just part of who he is which was nice to see in a Young Adult novel.

I did actually find reading You Asked For Perfect quite difficult at times just because I could literally feel Ariel’s stress in myself. His struggles were so perfectly put across by the author that it made every sentence really hit home. Ariel’s little sister also deals with an overwhelming schoolwork related anxiety and this was even more distressing due to her young age. I genuinely believe that that this is an accurate representation of a situation too many children are in. I think there is a very real problem with the way schools and society pile pressure on kids to constantly feel like they are competing and that they are never doing enough which is immensely sad.

I think You Asked For Perfect is a fantastic novel for young people. I shows a problem so many people are dealing with but it’s also an engaging and warm story in it’s own right. It feels modern and there were also some great Harry Potter references which I loved! I would highly recommend this book as a real, powerful and life-affirming novel that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Laura Silverman’s debut, Girl Out Of Water, is one of my favorite books of all times, so I’m not going to lie: my expectations were high for You Asked For Perfect, even higher given the synopsis of this book. Dealing with academic stress, anxiety, an adorable romance looming on the horizon? This honestly sounded too good to pass up and, friends, let me tell you, this book was perfect.
Sorry. You knew I would do this, wouldn’t you.

A STORY FOR AND ABOUT ANXIOUS MINDS
💭
You Asked For Perfect deals with academic anxiety, as our main character Ariel, valedictorian, always, always sets the highest expectations on himself to succeed and to do it all, pushing himself hard to manage it all.

If you ask me, Laura Silverman manages to perfectly capture that feeling. You’re young and yet, you feel like you’re already running out of time, constantly restless and needing to do it all at the same time. It’s that feeling, really, that just seized me and made this book such a good, uncomfortable, highly relatable reading experience for me and, most likely, why I loved it so much, too. Ariel’s anxiety was so relatable, on many levels to me. I graduated from my Masters’ degree a couple of years ago, yet I could still feel that anxiety, that tension, that overachiever NEED taking over and I still now, in so many ways in my life, feel that crippling anxiety. How complex, yet how valid it was, too, made me, in a way, feel seen, too and I adored it.



CHARACTERS I FELL IN LOVE WITH
💭
You Asked For Perfect, in addition to perfectly tackling a theme that echoed deep with me, gave me a cast of characters I fell in love with. Ariel was a main character I could relate to and rooted for, right from the very first pages. It was hard, complicated, gut-wrenching, even, at times, to read as he wore himself away and exhausted himself with work, too, but if half of me wanted to reach out and hug him, another half of me 300% understood him, so… well, that was an experience. People surrounding Ariel were just as endearing, from his best friend Sook to his best valedictorian-spot-enemy Pari, the cast of characters was so naturally diverse and well developed that I enjoyed them all.

There are two things that stood out for me, in this book, when it comes to the relationships: the family relationships and the romance.

Let’s start with the family. More often than not, we don’t get a lot of family moments in young adult books, something I’ve always been craving and here, Laura Silverman gives us this incredible family, these dinners, these moments when they tell each other about their day… she just creates such a great family cocoon that I wanted to jump in and have dinner with them all. Ariel and his family are Jewish and I appreciated seeing their faith and seeing it so naturally being such a big part of their daily lives.

Onto the romance now. It was the softest, most adorable romance ever, I adored how it slowly developed over time with them becoming friends, talking a little more and developing feelings and I HAD FEELINGS TOO OKAY I’m sorry I can’t coherently talk about them, I just loved them OKAY.

OVERALL
💭
I’m keeping this non-spoilery but, if my review didn’t manage to convince you, let me tell you: I cried and, when I cry while reading a book, it means something. There’s no sophomore slump for Laura Silverman, who delivers a perfect story that I 300% recommend for YA contemporary lovers, anyone wanting to read about anxiety and academic pressure and… well, if you’re looking for me, I’ll be screaming about this book for the next hundred years.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Title: You Asked for Perfect
Author: Laura Silverman
Genre: YA contemporary
My rating: 4 stars
Trigger/content warnings: anxiety, stress and panic attacks

Representation: Jewish & bisexual main character, Muslim & gay love interest, Korean & lesbian best friend.
Themes: Education, religion, family, culture, love and friendship.


I might not have asked for perfect, but this book delivered it anyway! (cheesy, but I couldn’t resist)

Our main character, Ariel, is a senior in high school. He wants to get into Harvard, to do that he is taking a lot of classes, at some point the pressure gets too much for him and he decides to enlist the help of childhood acquaintance, Amir to help him study.

I felt a connection to this book and to Ariel because I have been through a similar experience in terms of education and my own mental illness. It's been a few years now since I have had to think back on it and where I ended up. As someone who has had to quit A-levels to preserve my mental health, this book struck a chord with me and it felt so relatable and accurate.

I really felt for Ariel, you could see how breakable he is. He is so afraid of failure that he practically breaks with the stress of it all.

This book mainly deals with the theme of education, when do stress and pressure go too far? When does it start becoming unhealthy and potentially unsafe? Pressure in education and the sense of having to be "perfect" is not a healthy or realistic way of thinking. Unfortunately, so many children aspire to be "perfect" but do not realise that nobody can be. It's an unattainable goal that leads to sometimes dangerous outcomes.

When you leave education or decide to go a different route than the one laid out for you, there is a huge stigma. People judge you without even knowing what you have been through. No one ever told me there are other options. I grew up (like many of us probably did) with this toxic way of thinking. With the thought that if I don't go to university, I am a failure. But I ended up doing more harm than good to myself, trying to achieve things that I couldn't.

Now, obviously, I am in no way saying "education is bad! No one should study ever again!" Because that is just ridiculous, we need education, everyone does. But what I am saying is that schools and parents nowadays, sometimes put too much pressure on their kids, without even realising it.

I got very emotional while reading this book, I really commend the author for writing something that tackles issues as this book did.



Now onto the relationships that Ariel has, with his parents, friends, religion and Amir.

Amir and Ariel have now taken one of the top 5 spots in my favourite couples of all time. They were, pretty much, perfect together. I loved their relationship and even though this novel in no way focuses on romance, Amir and Ariel's growing affection for each other was such a lovely thing to read.
Both Amir and Ariel are out to their family and friends, who are nothing but accepting and loving of them both, in every way.

Religion and culture also play a big part in this book. I absolutely loved this aspect. All the relationships Ariel had, with his family, friends, religion etc, were so healthy, supportive and amazing.


Now onto just a couple of minor things I didn't like and consequently why I didn't rate this 5 stars.

-While I liked Sook (Ariel's best friend) I thought she was a pretty selfish character and a terrible friend and she did annoy me at times.
-The ending was a bit abrupt for me personally.


Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you like novels that deal with hard-hitting subjects and diverse characters!

Review to be posted on my blog, closer to the release date.

I’m actually a bit infuriated with this book. This book should have been great. It has all the makings of a really good YA book that would hit home for a lot of teens out there, especially those on the precipice of adulthood, dealing with the overwhelming responsibility of making massive decisions that have long-term impacts.

But this book was not great.

I was shocked to see that this wasn’t a debut novel, because it really felt like it. This book commits what I think is the one of the cardinal sins when it comes to fiction: It tells me, rather than shows me.

WHAT I LIKED:
* Full of diverse characters: a bisexual Jewish protagonist, a gay Muslim love interest, a queer Korean best friend, etc.
* There were places in the novel where I felt the protagonist Ariel’s anxiety was real. It felt like a real conflict.
* I loved the family dynamic. Their love was so sweet and authentic (however, this REALLY undermined the conflict of the story!)

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
* Pretty much everything else
* The conflict was CRAZY FLIMSY. The author kept saying he was stressed and worried, but I only actually felt like that was true ONE TIME.
* The characters were AS FLAT AS A BOARD. Outside of Ariel, I didn’t connect to a single character in the story.
* The love interest, Amir, was...maybe the most boring love interest of all time?
* The book sets up what we think is the central conflict (he’s going to fail Calculus! All his hard work down the drain! Must get hot tutor!) then IMMEDIATELY solves that conflict (two tutoring sessions and he aces the test! Yay for stress-free problem solving!!).
* The decision he makes at the end of the novel was WILDLY out of character for him. We weren’t walked into that decision AT ALL - and we’re just supposed to accept that this was within the realm of Ariel’s decision making?

I really wanted to like this. But I just can’t. I don’t know if even the most stressed out college bound teen would like this story. Plus, they don’t have time to read anyways.

You Asked for Perfect absolutely gutted me. Shattered my heart. All the feels.

I was not expecting this. In fact, I put off reading this book for a LONG time, because I was so much less excited about it than about Girl Out of Water, Laura Silverman's first book (which is, um, apparently one of those books I meant to write a review for and never got around to...oops). However, since I'm trying to be a good little reviewer - and also, hello, academic stress, I can relate - I picked it up last week.

Ariel Stone is the classic, driven, overachiever student. Except he's Jewish and bisexual. Also, he's waaaaaaay stressed out, and despite the 10+ year age difference I can so relate.

"I used to like studying. That burst of satisfaction when new material clicks. The competitive gratification of finishing a test first, knowing you got everything right."

YES! So true! But then there is the pressure we type-A people like to put on ourselves...and the expectations of our family/teachers/friends...and next thing you know, studying is about as fun as plucking your leg hair out with tweezers.

"If I stay any longer, he'll see what's happening. He'll see I don't understand. I'm not smart enough. I'm an imposter. If I'm going to lose everything I've worked for, at least I don't have to do it in front of an audience."

I really just wanted to wrap Ariel up in a big hug. Like, this kid put so much stress on himself, and he cares so much about his family - and, oh, let's not forget Amir, because Amir is cool on his own and he and Ariel together is just adorable. Oh, and his FAMILY! Actually, both of their families...why did I not have relationships like this as a teenager? They are supportive - academically and emotionally. The sibling banter is fun and believable. I liked that the story included Ariel's little sister Rachel, and showed just HOW YOUNG the academic pressure can and does start. It broke my heart, not just Rachel, but Ariel, and Isaac (another young savant that is a secondary character but also struggling).

"If it's not important to you, why do you tell everyone I'm applying there? It's all you guys talk about. Like it's the only worthwhile thing about me." My voice begins to shake. "If I don't get in, that's it. I'll be Ariel, the one who didn't get into Harvard. I'll let everyone down. I'll let you guys down. And I might not get in. I really might not, because I'm not perfect. They asked for perfect, and I'm not."

Ariel really grows so much through this story, even though it takes place over only a few weeks. He realizes a lot of his pressure is internal, and he realizes that sometimes...people are more important than academics. Basically he came to the realization that I wish I had, years and years ago. Realizing that sometimes, a couple of extra points on a test aren't worth missing quality time with family and friends. Oh, and he also got a cute boyfriend out of it, which is always a plus. ;)

5/5 stars. Go buy it, go read it, go hug it.

Review will be published 28 Feb 2019 at the link below.

I was never a super-dedicated student, but I had friends who were. (I’m looking at you Kim and Val). Ariel is super dedicated. He has his life scheduled to the moment: quizzes, extra projects, orchestra, volunteer work, planning to become Valedictorian and contemplating his answers for his interview with Harvard.

Ariel is out (he’s bisexual) to his loving Jewish family…but he hasn’t got time for dating or having a relationship! There’s no place left for having fun.

Then the unthinkable happens and Ariel fails a Calculus quiz. After a panic fueled visit to the guidance counselor, he asks family friend and classmate, Amir to tutor him. He’s known Amir most of his life but they’ve never hung out; it’s just one of those things.

It only takes a couple of study sessions for Ariel to realize there’s a spark between them. The problem is that Ariel’s life is already full and things are starting to fray at the edges. He gets a C on an English paper, lets down his best friend then forgets to go to his new boyfriend’s art show. When his little sister Rachel ends up in the emergency room because of stress, things truly begin to unravel.

The short of it is that there isn’t enough of Ariel to go around. While he does his best to hide it, he’s ashamed, frantic and spiraling out of control.

This story is a reminder that there are much more important things in our lives than schools and grades. We all have to fight our way through things to measure what’s of value to us.

Is it family? Friends? Music? Playing soccer with your little sister?

This is a book about finding your way back to the things that are truly important, the things that make us who we are.

I have so much to say about this wonderful book.

To summarize, this book follows a high school senior named Ariel as he deals with the overall stress of his senior year. Trying to become valedictorian and get into Harvard, while still maintaining his position as first chair violin in his school’s orchestra along with many other social and academic responsibilities ends up creating the most unmanageable workload ever seen by man.

This book is absolutely magnificent, and it resonated with me so strongly as I read it. It’s all about Ariel trying to achieve perfection in every area of his life. He’s taking a full course load of ridiculously difficult classes, he’s supposed to play a solo in his school band, and he’s also joining his friend in her non-school band. He volunteers, he has synagogue and other religious holidays, and of course, there’s supposed to be some time in there to fit in friends and romance.

Just to start with, I really loved how three dimensional Ariel was. All of his relationships and interactions were fleshed out and unique. You got to see his relationship with his parents, sister, and friends. Ariel’s bi, and we get to see the evolution of a romance that was also complex and unhurried. I especially loved how religion was such a huge part of Ariel’s identity, and how his Judaism interplayed with the other facets of his life.

I read this book in the middle of the semester, in the middle of a busy week. I normally don’t do that because school is so stressful, but this book was really captivating. And I’m glad I read it in the middle of a school week. Because in the week I read it 2 things happened.

One, I saw myself in someone. I’m a ridiculous overachiever myself, and it calmed me to see that trying to do everything at once isn’t something that is exclusive to me, which is something I sometimes feel.

Two, it helped me accomplish more that week, but in a non-stressful way. Usually, I try to do everything all at once, with the only acceptable outcome being perfection. But since I saw how that is literally not possible through Ariel’s actions, I tried taking things one goal at a time, trying not to stress too much over the time it was taking, or the weight it had on my grade.

There were many other things I appreciated about this book, the cute romance, the religious aspects, the familial relationships, the friendships, but this book was a masterpiece because it showed the interplay of all those things with school. It showed how anxious Ariel became, and how he worked himself until he bled (literally) to be the best.

Ariel is so afraid to ask for help the entire book. He’s in competition with the other candidate for valedictorian and refuses to think of a friendship with her because of what it might mean for his Harvard application if he let friendship get in the way of his GPA. This book did a wonderful job of showing me that I’m not alone in an area that often feels very isolating. I really want everyone to read it and love it, because this book just spoke to me on an emotional level.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Ariel Stone has always had one goal, getting into Harvard. Now in his senior year of high school, he has done everything possible to get in: on track to become valedictorian, taking as many AP classes as possible, first chair violin in the school's orchestra, and volunteering at an animal shelter. However, a 50% on his first Calculus quiz of the year puts his dream in jeopardy. At first, Ariel thinks he can just skip sleep to put more hours in studying. When it is clear that won't be enough, Ariel admits he needs a tutor. Amir got a perfect score on that quiz, so Ariel reluctantly asks Amir to tutor him. Their families have always been friends, but Ariel and Amir have never gotten to know each other well. Now, though, Ariel can't help but notice how good Amir looks. Ariel admits to himself that he likes Amir, but he's not sure if he can fit a relationship into his already packed schedule.

While I never put the pressure on myself to be the absolute best a everything or get into an Ivy League school, I can relate to the unrealistic pressure Ariel puts on himself in this book. I had to take deep breaths a few times and remind myself the stress was fictional, not something I needed to go through personally. LOL I loved how close Ariel is to his family, including his little sister. My favorite part of this book was definitely Amir. Good at calculus and a Harry Potter nerd, too! My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer. I would have been happy to continue reading about the rest of their senior year, which was hopefully less stressful.

We often think that high schoolers, especially those from affluent families, have nothing to complain about. What's a little pressure compared to violence, starvation, and bigotry after all? And American teens are very lucky. They're also under huge amounts of pressure. When you take more classes than you can truly be expected to handle. When you can't every enjoy learning something. When you can't trust your friends because everyone is running an angle. It's ridiculous, the expectations we put on young people to achieve yet we never equip them to be adults. And that's what this book explores, the pressure applied even be the best intentioned adults.

It’s been a long time since I last did a blog tour and I’m so happy to be back at it again for one of my most anticipated YA releases of the year! I’ve followed Laura on Twitter for a while and I’ve been looking forward to this book since I first read the synopsis. And that cover only made me want to read it more!

Now, I might be years out of high school, but I related to Ariel so much. I mean, everything in high school being a breeze until you hit your senior year and suddenly you’re dying? My exact experience. We didn’t have AP classes (we did dual credit instead) and I waited until college to cry over calculus, but my goodness. Ariel’s experience with calculus was basically the same as my experience with college-level physics. And the whole thing about shutting yourself off from your friends so that they can’t see how much you’re struggling? ME. I was always the friend who had everything together academically, so it took a lot for me to admit that I just was not understanding that class. Again, this is me relating so much to a fictional teenager.

If I, a 28-year-old woman, can relate to this book, clearly teenagers within its target demographic will too. It’s just so well done, from the writing to the diversity to the teenagers who actually speak and act like teenagers. I’m so impressed and I can’t wait to read more from Silverman.

Academic stress and mental health problems have been my two greatest nemeses for as long as I can remember, and they both impact one another so much, it's easy to crack under the pressure. I did crack. I dropped out of university twice due to academic pressure and untreated mental health issues, and it's something that still eats at me today — the feeling of failure, like I'm not going to amount to anything because I ruined this opportunity. This book addresses all of that!

Truly, this is such an important read for students. It's heavy at times, with Ariel clearly suffering from severe anxiety, but the message is one that needs to be shared. Academic stress is intense and Silverman does a great job at creating a relatable protagonist suffering from this. The relationships are fun, and the representation is wonderful.

Bisexual (he SAYS this!) Jewish protagonist!! Read this book!!

You Asked for Perfect exactly delivered what I expected and even more than that. This book took my heart. It was so adorable and cute. And not only there is a mushy romance, but it also talks about a very important issue which the young generation is facing – the high school stress and academic pressure.

* Amazingly relatable
The academics can really stress out students, especially if they are rigorous ones. Ariel is a senior in high school and he is trying to excel and do everything he can to get into Harvard. This, of course, results in a stressful life for him. He was even ashamed to admit to his parents and friends that he failed in his Calculus test and that he is stressing out. This whole Ariel situation was really relatable.

* Adorable M/M romance
The M/M relationship is in this book is so cute and adorable. Ariel is a bisexual Jewish boy who is always busy with his academics and trying to excel in it to go to Harvard. He never paid much attention to Amir, who was his neighbour. When Ariel fails in a Calculus quiz he asks Amir to tutor him and then he notices how crushworthy he is. The best thing is that the romance is low-profile. They weren’t kissing after every single page.

* All the diversity and cultural representation
This book has it all in terms of diversity and the representation is at its best. Almost every character in the book is a diverse character.
- Ariel is Jewish
- Amir, the love interest of Ariel, is Arabian and Muslim
- Sook, Ariel’s best friend, is Korean and sapphic
- Malka, a common friend of Ariel and Sook, is also Jewish
- Pari Shah, Ariel’s friend and competitor, is Muslim
- Ariel is bisexual, Amir and Sook are homosexual

Ahh, so much diversity and representation, right? I don’t know much about Jewish culture but knowing about so many Jewish things made me so happy. All the synagogue talks were interesting. And all the Jewish FOOD? It made me so hungry. There were matzo ball soups and various other dishes, which I probably can’t pronounce 😀

* Wonderful characters and relationships
This book definitely has one of the best set of characters. I loved every single character. Ariel is just a stressed-out boy who would instantly make you feel for him. Amir is such an adorable one. He is softest and so well fitted with Ariel. I loved the relationship between Ariel and his little sister, Rachel. That definitely made me want a brother that I never had. He was so careful about his little sister and always made time for her.

Sook was Ariel’s best friend. She asks Ariel to help her with her band with Malka and Ariel agrees to it. Sook’s and Ariel’s relationship was friendship goals. Ariel considered Pari as his competition. They both were constantly competing with each other for the first position as a Valedictorian. Though she tried to be a good friend to Ariel, he was never at ease with her. But soon he realises that Pari too is living with the same stress as he is.

Ariel’s and Amir’s families were so amazing. There are only a handful of YA books in which we have awesome families and this one is definitely one of them. Ariel’s parents were so supportive of him when he came out in front of them years ago. When Ariel and Amir declare about their relationship, the reaction they gave were so adorable.

* All the HP references
Okay, so this book is full of HP references. Amir is a Potterhead and he used so many lines from HP. I haven’t read the complete HP series so obviously, I missed on many references. But if you are into HP then you are definitely going to enjoy all those references.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a book which would definitely make you happy and you shouldn’t miss this. With wonderful characters, diverse representation, adorable romance and relatable plot, this book is a complete package and will surely make you fall in love with it. I would definitely recommend this to every YA contemporary lover.

Even though we’re only in the second month of 2019, You Asked For Perfect has already made my list of favorite books of the year. I honestly don’t think this review could’ve come at a better timing for me too because I recently just finished what I anticipate to have been the hardest academic week of my semester. I had multiple exams and essays due, and I was constantly studying during my free time. You Asked For Perfect follows Ariel Stone, a high school senior who constantly pushes himself to be the best, all-around college applicant. Throughout the story, we follow his growth, understanding, and eventually acceptance of his success and capabilities.

I honestly don’t even know where to start with my review because this book is just too relatable for words. It sounds crazy to say, but I’ve never identified so much with a character—Ariel Stone is me. His thoughts, worries, and stress surrounding academics and grades constantly roar in my own mind, and his journey as a high school student applying for college felt like a throwback to my senior year. His development throughout the story is phenomenal, and I was consistently rooting for him throughout all his struggles.

Even though I grew up in a fairly stereotypical Asian household, my mother was never a “tiger mom.” She always stated that all my ambitions were my own which is why I connected so strongly with Ariel’s academic-related anxieties and fear of failure. When you place so much weight on academics, you can’t help but have a mental spiral of thoughts. “If I don’t do well on this exam, I won’t get an A in this class. If I don’t get an A in this class, I won’t have a 4.0 GPA. If I don’t have a 4.0 GPA, I won’t get into the best college. If I don’t get into the best college, I can’t get the best job then I’ll be homeless(!!)” Granted, when we think this way, we know we’re being overly dramatic. We know that five years down the line, we’ll be okay, but in the moment, we can’t help but freak out.

I thought Laura Silverman did a wonderful job illustrating the internal thought processes that Ariel had surrounding his worries, and in a funny (and somewhat ironic) way, it was really calming to see the similarities it had with myself. Little things such as calculating what how many points you can afford to lose on a quiz to how a single assignment impacts your total grade and whether it affects your ability to end with an A in the class made the book all the more meaningful to me.

Not only that, this book is filled with amazing diversity and representation. Ariel is Jewish, and I loved how his faith was weaved into the story. From simple food descriptions (someone please introduce me to Matzo ball soup) to talking with the Rabbi, it was amazing to see the incorporation of religious culture and tradition into a character’s everyday life. Ariel’s love interest, Amir, is Arabian and Muslim, and he is soooo soft. I loved their interactions together, and their romance is filled with Harry Potter references. Ariel’s family was also so wonderful, and I loved that they simply existed in this book.

Four years ago, I was preparing for the ACT and powering through my junior year of high school to present myself as the perfect college applicant. Fast forward 6 months, I would have finished researching the plethora of colleges and started writing my essays. Like Ariel, I was Ivy Bound. I knew what I wanted and was determined to get it, but eventually, when the results are in and your choices are laid out in front of you, you have to ask yourself—what do I really want? If you would have told junior year Tiffany that she would get into an Ivy League school but say no, she would've thought you were crazy. **spoiler** I would've loved to see a continuation of Ariel's story where we follow his journey in choosing which college to attend. It would have given the story a final closure, but I can also understand why the author kept it open-ended.

Overall, You Asked For Perfect was an incredibly soft yet relatable read. If you haven’t added it to your TBR yet, you seriously need to add it right now. This is the book high school Tiffany would have needed so I'm glad that I'm finally reading it now.

I’m not a huge fan of contemporary fiction and I especially don’t like romance, but if you’re uncomfortable reading a book with Jewish LGBTQ+ representation then you should probably skip this book; I, however, think it’s great that the publishing industry is investing more in diversity (not enough, but at least a little bit more).

I think my main issue with contemporary books is that there never really seems to much of a plot for me to get invested in and that most of it is just day-to-day fluff. That’s not to say that contemporary books don’t offer a good distraction from the “real” world, but for me personally, it’s not enough of a distraction. An average life that most of us already lead kind of pales in comparison to the adventures in sci-fi and fantasy. Why study for tests when you can slay dragons?

When I think back to being in high school, I definitely was not as devoted to studying as the main character, Ariel. I don’t know if it was because of the school that I went to or if it was just the fact that most of my classes felt boring to me, but I just was not obsessed with my grades. I was fine with my 3.55 GPA and only 2 AP classes and even then I didn’t understand why people burnt themselves out over school. But then again, I didn’t have my sights set on the Ivy Leagues either.

I’m 25 years old and I still do not get it. The pressure that we put on teenagers to have their lives planned out and be perfect seems like an immense waste of time — putting aside the fact that perfection isn’t real, how we can expect that from hormonal teens who don’t fully understand what it’ll mean to be “full time” adults? Also, are good high schools really that competitive? I never thought I went to a good high school, but I didn’t think it was that bad. 

But I digress.

In regards to writing style, Silverman does a great job in making sure the reader feels that overwhelmed feeling that Ariel feels. There were times where I actually felt anxious, but that’s probably because Ariel’s anxiety about getting into Harvard is pretty on par with my anxiety about getting into the graduate program that I applied to. However, the main problem that Ariel faces can literally be fixed by talking to the people he cares about, which is one of those tropes that I find frustrating.

There was a paragraph that I felt I related to because of the fact that it was something I saw a lot of in college (and still see a lot of on social media).

"There was a time when we were all in this together. As freshman, there was only one AP class we could take. I remember we felt like the cool kids — important because we had extra work. There were, like, a hundred of us taking the class, and on weekends a dozen of us would meet up at Whole Foods. We’d make a big deal of it, pushing tables together and spreading out all our textbooks and papers, but then we’d mess around talking and eating all afternoon.

But the more AP classes I took, the smaller that peer group became, and the less time I had to pretend to study because there was so much actual work to get done."

In fairly recent years, there seems to have become a glorification of the image of the over-worked individual, as if never having time for self-care and for the people around you is something to be proud of. People even “humble brag” about it (I’m sure we all know someone like that). Not only is this detrimental to an individual’s mental health, but it’s also a pretty toxic attitude to be around and I think YOU ASKED FOR PERFECT handles this issue pretty well. 

Personally, I found Ariel to be annoying, even though he does redeem himself in the end. I understand the pressure of getting into school, but there were so many times that I wanted to shake him and say “Seriously? You can afford to go to any college you want but you think not getting into HARVARD is the worst possible thing? Even though you have no idea what you want to major in or what careers you’re interested in? Also, do you need to be valedictorian?” 

Overall, I did actually like this book. There are things that I didn’t like about it (as I’ve mentioned above) but I don’t think that my personal preferences really dictate whether or not a book is actually good. I know that there are kids out there that are like Ariel. This is certainly the right book for the over exhausted teenager who puts too much pressure on themselves and I could see this being put on English reading lists. In fact, it should probably be gifted to every kids entering high school and maybe revisited before starting their junior year. There’s more to life than perfection, which is unattainable anyway.

I grew up in a predominately Jewish neighborhood—I bet my high school was around 75% Jewish. I went to tons of bar/bat mitzvahs in the 7th grade and even caught on to some Jewish prayers over the years. I find that its quite rare to see a YA book that gives such an inside look into Judaism.

As the YA book community evolves and grows, readers are being exposed to different cultures and backgrounds. Like any religion, there are tons of rituals that go into the Jewish faith and this book showed the rituals by discussing the different holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including different prayers, and how vital a relationship with your rabbi can be. It also highlighted the importance of family by showing how special Shabbat is to Ariel’s family. No matter what was going on in their life, the family came together every Friday for Shabbat dinner. Most importantly, this book didn’t feel preachy in any way. This wasn’t a book about Judaism, it was just a significant part of the character’s life and person.

Another thing that I loved was that there was no discussion about a character’s sexuality. There was a little glimpse into Ariel’s coming out experience, but queerness wasn’t the central focus of the book. We are slowly getting to a point where LGBTQ+ characters and relationships are just the norm and don’t have to be the focal point.

While I really really loved this book, there were times where the plot got a little redundant. It was such a quick read and moved so fast that sometimes I was longing for the chance to sit in a scene a little longer. Give the reader more insight to our characters. I feel like it just scratched the surface.

I think his was a great follow-up to her debut, Girl Out of Water, and I can’t wait to read what ever she comes out with next.

I was sent an e-arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book hurt my heart real good. You Asked for Perfect is about Ariel who is struggling at being the best at everything so he can get into Harvard. I've known people like Ariel so that's a large part of what I loved about this book. I've seen people struggle the way he does and it sucks. Even in college, I got really close to a fellow graduate student who would do a stupid amount of extra stuff on the side to give himself an even bigger head start. I just wanted to jump into this book and hug the crap out of Ariel. I really liked Amir as well and I loved the relationship they formed. Seeing Ariel and Amir interact was definitely a favorite part of the book, but I'm also glad their relationship wasn't the focal point of the story. It was really about Ariel taking a hard look at himself and seeing how hard his life had become. I also loved that Amir represented people who have hobbies that they don't want to turn into jobs. My review blog is an example of this. I like reading and writing reviews. I like taking the time out to think about the books I've read. That doesn't mean I want to be a professional reviewer and make this my job. Amir spoke to that aspect of my life a lot.

Ariel's story was handled brilliantly. There were so many conversations with different characters about the future and expectations, and I loved them. Laura does a great job of showing how different stress can be for people, especially when you compare the academic pressure Ariel has with the musical pressure that Sook has to face. I will say that I wish there were conversations about college not necessarily being the next step for everyone, and that there's something to be said about learning for fun and enjoyment. There are a lot of reasons why people don't go to college and get degrees. I was hoping this was going to be brought up, but it really didn't. I adored the fact that Ariel found comfort in his religion. There were beautiful moments when he would talk to his rabbi or just find a sort of calm in the synagogue. Finally, I loved that we got to see how Ariel influences others in good and bad ways. Specifically in his sister. I saw a lot of myself in Rachel because I skipped a grade in elementary school. I knew where the story was going to go, but I just wanted to jump in and tell everyone to stop stressing.


Beautiful book with great characters and conversations about school and stress.