A great listen for a YA thriller. Fast moving but kind of predictable. I did like the idea of "perfect girl" and how on one side it was used against her, and on the other how she had to get over it.

A perfect read for the YA audience as it does point out how we never know what is happening in another person's life. We are typically too focused on ourselves and our own problems and miss the big issues happening with others. It gives the message that we do need to talk more open about our feelings and if we see something is not right, we should point it out.

A thrilling and entertaining ride.

Perfect Girl is the perfect thriller! With romance, ghost stories, drama among friends, and a stormy, creepy setting, it's sure to have readers on the edge of their seats. I'll be purchasing for our high school library collection and look forward to other works by Tracy Banghart.

A girl who was raised to be "perfect" finds herself having to test everything she's ever been raised to be when a killer comes after her and her friends at a slumber party... she'll have to break her mold if she wants to survive. Jessa has always been told to be perfect, to follow the rules, and to be agreeable.... yet when a storm happens and Jessa's friends are also over another unexpected guest is there...and is after bodies. The killer wants a perfect girl and Jessa is who he has his eye on. Jessa will have to find a way to stop the killer and break the rules she's followed all her life is she wants to survive the night. This one really wasn't for me sadly, I really wish I could like it more but I just wasn't invested in any of the characters or the story. Jessa just felt so annoying and I get that she has growing to do but she really was a hard character to root for. Ultimately I didn't care all that much for the story and I guessed the killer early on, it definitely felt like a cw teen drama. While this wasn't for me I do think another YA reader might have fun with it.

Release Date: November 19,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Perfect Girl was a fun YA thriller that gave vibes of some of my favorite teen mystery tv shows - think PLL. Nothing overly original, some of the twists were easy to figure out, but a quick and easy read! I'll definitely be reading more from Banghart in the future.

Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart, 304 pages. Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan), 2024. $20.
Language: R (168 swears, 13 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
High schooler Jessa is the rule following, future lawyer, great student that everyone expects her to be—despite the fact that being that girl no longer makes her happy. Her friend group is drifting apart, but a concession from her parents allowing Jessa to have a sleepover while they’re out of town is going to help. But when Friday night comes, the power goes out, strangers start creeping around the house, and Jessa isn’t the only one who made plans.
A thriller with a game of truth or dare, loss of power and cell service in a haunted house, and two basement locations gives readers ample opportunity to wonder what will go wrong next. With the very real possibility of losing the future before ever having a chance to live it, Jessa will discover that being perfect is not always ideal and that exact obedience is not always safe.
Jessa is depicted as White on the cover, Ryan is Black, and Alexis is bi. The mature content rating is for underage drinking; mentions of drugs, pornography, and trafficking; illegal activity; scary elements; kissing; innuendo; and sexual harassment. The violence rating is for blood and gore, mentions of domestic violence, gun use, assault, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

This book?!?! This book was an absolute storm of emotions!!! Even though it was *slightly* predictable, I was literally on the edge of my seat rapidly tapping my screen. I just couldn’t read this fast enough!! I loved the way this author crafted the story: from the main plot to the subplots with every character, it was intertwined beautifully. Could’ve done without the post-covid trope, but I was hooked from the first page all the way until the last.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, 90’s horror movie vibe with a little dash of romance, this is an absolute must!!!

This was a ride from start to finish and I was served up an ending I definitely didn’t see coming.

Jessas parents were going to be out of town for an evening. Her brother was staying at a friends after the Soccer game. Recent kidnappings from a local town had Jessa begging to have friends stay the night with her. When her mom agrees, her 3 friends soon do as well.

The night has come and everything is set. The movies have been downloaded for streaming, snacks have been purchased. They have the house to themselves. Until they don’t. Then the storms come. It’s all downhill from there.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tracy Banghart and MacMillan publishing for providing the ARC. This was a fun YA that had me on the edge of my seat.

3.5 stars (rounded down)

Jessa is the “perfect girl” - always nice, polite, and follows the rules. She invites her friends over her a sleepover, and things go south quickly. Fights ensue, power goes out and then there is a killer out there!

The romance, while a subplot, was very cute. And it definitely was a creepy plot that made you want to keep reading.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but felt it ultimately missed the mark in some areas. I didn’t feel the character development of Jessa becoming “less perfect” was ever that meaningful. And while it wasn’t a huge deal, I kind of wanted the stakes to be higher with the killer.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC.

Perfect girl was a very quick and easy read for me. I will say if you are a pretty little liars fan this book will be right up your alley. Perfect girl has the same vibes. The book was a little predictable for me.

Thank you for NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book caught my attention from the very first page. It was a quick and easy read. Before i knew it, I was already at the halfway mark. I really enjoyed the main character Jessa and I found her to be extremely relatable. 5 stars!!

This was an excellent way of putting so many different types of horror in one book. I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t put it down!

First and foremost, a big thank you to both Tracy Banghart, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and NetGallery for the advanced copy of Perfect Girl to read and review!

I was immediately intrigued about this book from both the blurb and the cover art. It literally screams campy 80s horror movie, which are my favorite to both watch and read.

The book kept me hooked from the first chapter all the way to the last page. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head while I was reading this book, which is how you know the author puts heart and soul into it.

The atmosphere was set perfectly. A high school slumber party on a dark and stormy night, but the slumber party takes place at a seemingly haunted house. Like... the perfect setting for a book like this. The pacing is fast enough where it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time, but not so fast that it feels rushed.

I normally feel like dual POV's aren't the best in books like these, however, I kind of ate my words with this one. The other POV's came in at the perfect time to push the plot forward and give the reader a chance to make predictions on who the suspect is.

Speaking of the suspects... wow. Although I was able to guess who it was pretty early on, it was still fun to be shocked by the twists and turns of the book. Again, the reveal is very reminiscent of 80s horror, which I was not upset about.

Although this is a Young Adult horror/thriller book, I think readers of all ages will enjoy it, especially around spooky season.

Jessa is polite. Maybe too polite. But that's her whole vibe. She's the perfect girl. Straight A's, the ideal friend. She's never disappointed her parents. So when she asks to have a sleepover the one night they're out of town to see a show, her wish is granted. And what could go wrong on a dark and stormy night in a haunted house designed for a horror movie (multiple entrances and exits, all windows, in the middle of nowhere)?

A lot, obviously. Which is what make's Tracy Banghart's The Perfect Girl so fun.

At the sleepover, Jessa and her friends hit the classics. They watch a movie, they have pizza AND popcorn, and they have a pillow fight while setting up their basement slumber party. Every scene is a romcom girls' night until the power goes out and the girls have to venture upstairs in the dark, where they bump into.... Jessa's brother and his best friend, who is also Jessa's crush!

From there, Perfect Girl takes a turn away from the bubblegum fun teen movie it could have been towards the horror genre. With no power, no internet, and rapidly dying/dead cellphones, the girls (and the boys) turn to truth or dare to calm their nerves. There's surely no harm in going outside in the raging storm on a dare. That is, until one of the girls sees footprints that weren't there before.

New guests arrive to the party and as the tension ratchets up, Jessa and her friends must confront their fears, changing relationships to each other, and identities (hey, Perfect Girl!) to survive the night. The killer searching for his perfect girl just might have found her, but the perfection he dreamed of may not be all it's cracked up to be.

I LOVED this book. From effective flashback chapters showing the other girls missing at the hands of the serial killer to a haunted house payoff at the end of the book, Banghart knows her tropes and how to employ them to great success. Jessa may have shed her perfect girl persona at the climax to make a beautiful mess, but Banghart has pulled off a tidy and engaging feat in Perfect Girl.

5/5 stars! AND THIS BOOK IS OUT TODAY! SO BUY IT!

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I had such a great time reading this book - that being said, before I jump in to the full review, I am taking away a star just due to the predictability of it all.

This is one of those “I can’t put this down because I NEED to know what happens next” books for me. Albeit a little predictable, the twists and turns did keep me on the edge and wanting to keep reading. If you’re looking for a cozy thriller (my fave) then this is the book for you! The sleepover, storm & power outage gave me Pretty Little Liars vibes, which I was obsessed with. It made me feel super nostalgic, like I was watching a 90’s thriller at a sleepover back when I was a teenager 😂

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a quick read cozy thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! 🖤

If I'm being honest, this book started off slow. Something felt off with the pacing, but I couldn't stop reading it. I kept forgetting the character's names and I didn't really know where it was going. I loved the way it ended, and I think that was what saved it. If the whole book had been written like the ending, I would've given it a solid 5 stars. The side characters were lowkey annoying and I wish they had more of a backstory rather than just adding to the plot a little bit. Overall, if the ending hadn't been as good, it would've been 3 stars. Really bummed about this one because I wanted to like it :(

Rating: 4.5 stars!

4.5 stars? 5 stars? A sleepover, a storm bad enough to cause a power outage, a ghost, and a serial killer?! What is there not to love about this thrilling story! This book had my jaw dropping constantly! Highly recommend!!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️

Bella just wanted a little excitement. She got a fake ID, went to a club, and left with a boy. Now she is missing. The sixth girl to go missing. All because she broke the rules.

Jesse is perfect. Perfect daughter, perfect grades, even the perfect rule follower. She's never done anything out of line.

One sleepover and a game of Truth or Dare is about to change everything she thought she knew about herself, her home, and her neighborhood.

My Thoughts

It has a decent storyline, but the poor execution makes the tale drag. Filler words and sentences litter the pages, pulling the reader from what is important to what is mundane.

The post covid trope has become trite and rehashed. This book tries way too hard to be "relevant," with tiktok dances, emoji talk, and school shooting references.

The imiture writing style is better suited to a young teen. I'm not saying it's badly written, just very, very young.

The plotline takes off around the halfway point. Until then, most of the tale is just unnecessary character build-up. 100 pages of fluff, 100 pages of plot.

Unfortunately, there is nothing unique, new, or original about this book. Every twist, turn, and new motivation has clearly been copied from other popular books. I understand that there truly aren't any "new" ideas, but this just felt old, tired, and done before.

Don't get me wrong. It was well written. At no point did I consider DNFing. It held my attention even if it had been done before. It was a familiar story in a visit with friends kinda way.

It's very much horror for a tween.

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

This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire plot. While certain points were a bit predictable, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment at all! The writing flowed well and was easy to understand, while still keeping me engaged with the characters and the plot. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers and will be purchasing a psychical copy!

Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart was a great YA thriller that hooked me immediately and kept me turning the pages.
This story is such a well-paced, well-written book that I couldn’t put down.
I was so hooked from the moment I picked up Perfect Girl.
I loved the atmosphere, the tension-filled sense of foreboding and suspense.
The author comes up with an extremely intriguing plot that keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat.
The mystery was well thought out and the characters were well developed.

Thank you to both Tracy Banghart and Netgalley for the gifted ARC of “Perfect Girl” in exchange of an honest review by me.

3⭐️
I enjoyed this one! I was quite fond of the characters and grew attachments to them throughout my reading experience. It was the perfect spooky read I needed for October. The only “criticisms” I have are the unneeded extra romance and the amount of Covid-19 references. I think having references of the pandemic is great but using past tenses is not the way to do so. A lot of people are still affected by it now at this very second. Also, there should not be as many as there was. Regarding the love interest, I loved Ryan (don’t get me wrong), but I felt like there was far too much focus on this crush they had going on rather than the spooky events at hand. However, I still really enjoyed the experience as it was a good read for Halloween and would totally read from Tracy Banghart in the future. If you like ghosts, evil people, halloween, and sleepovers, I would totally recommend this one!

(“Perfect Girl” comes out tomorrow, November 19th!!!)