What does it mean being the perfect girl. No one thinks that you would ever step out of line. To be fair most of your life this has been true. The one to always mess up has been your brother. Yet with girls going missing in town, it seems better to stay with others in large numbers, so when Jessa’s parents allow her to have some friends over while they aren’t at home, she is going to make sure it is a fun but perfect night. Yet a storm and some unexpected guests have other plans for the night.
This is a lovely fast paced horror novel. It is not super dark and hits all the right notes for someone looking for a horror novel without all the gore. The antagonists hit all the right notes and come of as just the right amount of crazy. I think that teens are truly going to love going on this crazy ride.
Thank you so much to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Such a scary good book!

It really makes you think about how sometimes people can be nice to a fault and what happens when you are too nice and polite to the wrong person. Especially when you put other people's feelings first consistently just because you don't to be rude, even if that person gives you a weird feeling.

That's exactly what happens in this book and the consequences are potentially deadly when you are too nice. You learn from her mistakes that, yes it is good to be a kind person, but it is also important to speak up and stand up for yourself, even if it means you are "rude".

Such an amazing book and will recommend to everyone!

This was such a fun read for me. I liked how mysterious & spooky everything was at the beginning of the book, however, I think it wasn't higher up on the list for me because it talked about COVID and quarantine. There's nothing wrong with that, I just personally don't like it being brought up in my books.

In this, we follow Jessa, the perfect girl. Polite to a fault, she's struggling to make decisions about her own life without feeling guilty. When she has a sleepover with her friends without supervision for the first time ever, she's visited by a classmate thst seems to know a bit too much about her. A huge thunderstorm hits her small hometown and knocks out all of the lights, she'll have to leve behind her politeness to survive the events that transpire next.
I think it was wonderful social commentary on not only societal expectations of women and how they don't even begin to match mens, but also how feminism can be dangerous when it isn't used with an intersectional lens.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tracy Banghart for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Perfect Girl coming out November 19, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read books by this author before and I really enjoy her writing. I know this is YA and the characters are in high school, but the characters felt a little younger than HS. There was a lot about Jessa crushing on Ryan and being embarrassed if anyone said anything to him. Then the not wanting to make a mess was a whole thing. I was just expecting a little more. I enjoyed the creepy haunted house and the horror vibes. I liked parts of the book, but I just wanted something different. I would read more books by this author.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! It reminded me literally of Scream with teenagers having a sleepover and their teenage angst and drama but also being kidnapped and hunted. It was a super fast read. I finished it in one sitting, no regrets. It was very YA but still such a good time.

What a wild ride! Reading this felt like watching an old teenage slasher movie. I read this in one sitting and couldn't put it down. It read more like a horror book than a thriller, but I loved the girly spin on the usual scary storyline. If you need a quick, creepy book to get you out of a reading rut this is it! I gave it 4.5 stars and rounded it to a 5 because it was a little predictable, but I liked it so much anyway.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I read this! I had to read it in one setting because I had to know what was going to happen. The perfect book to leave you guessing and to give you some jump scares along the way.

This was a good popcorn thriller book. It wasn't super fantastic, but it did its job.
Our "perfect" main character Jessa has some friends sleep over while her parents go out overnight. Jessa loves order and following rules. She hates when her friends call her "perfect" or things like "Judge Jessa." Jessa doesn't think she's perfect, she just likes following rules. When that night there is a big storm that knocks the power out, the girls think someone might be creeping around outside, and Jessa realizes there might be someone out there who enjoys the fact that she is perfect.
Jessa has some pretty stressed friendships. She hasn't really spoken to her friend Tiny in a while because she has an older new boyfriend she would rather hang out with. Alexis and Kellan are both sleeping over as well who are closer with Jessa. The atmosphere is pretty tense, especially when Jessa's bother Josh shows up at home with his best friend and her crush Ryan. I feel like the issues everyone has kind of amped up the spooky atmosphere, especially due to the fact that girls had been disappearing recently around their area. Thinking back, I did really enjoy the night going from bad to worse instead of going from good to bad. It really added to the thriller-y aspect of the book.
While the plot was a little predictable, it was still good. I'm used to finding out whodunit close to the end, but we found out relatively early and then had to hope that *person or persons unknown* would get away. It was also a unique (to me). The reasoning, the culprit(s), the method, while they didn't wow me, I did say "huh, that's interesting. I like that."
The pacing was well done. It was fast paced throughout. I didn't find myself thinking anything was lagging, slow or unnecessary.

The pacing was slow and made it a little hard to get through. I think the action should be more prominent, and maybe the reader could be thrown into the danger and fear more, and a little sooner. The characters mixed well together, and other than the pacing, the suspense was tangible, especially with the “false alarms” in the beginning leading into the tension and action. I think the mix of characters and possible suspects along with the looming crime in York builds sufficient tension. Though the story was a bit predictable at times, this is somewhat expected for a YA thriller. Over all, a good build up, good group of characters and call backs throughout the story that help build tension.

The mystery was a little bit predictable, but the tempo was high and captivating, and the pressure-building left you breathless! It was definitely an enjoyable popcorn thriller you can consume in one sitting, enjoying a thrilling night! Okay but this book definitely highlights one of my genuine fears of being abducted or attacked. And while this centers around high school kids, this is still a very real fear of mine that has me kind of always questioning who and what to trust, both in life and also in this book. I kept internally yelling at characters trying to get them to stop making dumb decisions while simultaneously believing that in a fight or flight situation I’d probably legit freeze and therefore be the first to die. And while thrillers don’t guarantee happy endings, I did have hope. I’ll leave it at that as I don’t know how to avoid another spoiler.

Thank you to the author for tossing in some 90s nostalgia. Buffy was one of my favorite movies growing up. This book was overall a quick and easy read that I found hard to put down. It touched on some tough but very real topics that not just high schoolers but people of any age may be able to relate to and it was nice to see Jessa’s character progression and how she was able to allow some mess into her life. I think maybe my one issue is that the characters went through this really traumatic situation together and there’s only the briefest mention of Jessa going to therapy but not a lot about how everyone was able to move on.

Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart was a great book to help me get out of my reading slump! I found the writing to be very enjoyable and quick to get through. Before I knew it, I was already 50% into the book after reading for only a couple hours.

We follow Jessa, the perfect high schooler who has her whole life planned out. When her parents are out of town for the night, Jessa and her friends find themselves stuck in a storm that took the power out. No service, their phones are dying, no one is getting along, and to make it worse? Unexpected guests keep showing up. What could possibly go wrong?

Jessa was very likable. I felt like she showcased feelings and struggles that can resonate with many. I will admit, at some point to the end I kept yelling at my kindle because Jessa just kept being polite and respectful instead of standing up for herself but I do understand that this was a part of her character.

There was a small group of side characters that were enjoyable but ultimately not my favorite. At the beginning it seemed like each character was getting some development but I feel that it got lost a bit along the way. Additionally, there was a subplot of romance that was cute but overall I didn't care for too much.

The pacing of the story was pretty good, the first 40% was build up to the climax where we got some fun and interesting scenes. Almost every chapter ends on a mini cliffhanger so it keeps you very entertained and wanting to learn more. There was one scene of the group playing truth or dare where school sh***er drills were mentioned as well as mentions of covid throughout the book which took me out of the story sometimes.

I did find our bad guy to be very predictable and easily noticeable (to me) with the way they were written in. Given the small cast, some of the dialogue from said character, and descriptions about them, it just seemed very in-your-face even with the twists that were meant to throw you off. I want to mention that there were a few “before” chapters that we have sprinkled throughout the story and I see how they were wrapped up and connected but at the end of the day, they weren't needed.

Lastly, the ending seemed a little too neat and quickly wrapped up. I don't want to talk about this too much as I don't want to spoil anything but it just wasn't realistic at all and once again, while I understand that it wrapped up another little side story that was brought up throughout the book, it felt a bit out of place.

Overall, if you're looking for a quick, fast paced, fun young adult thriller I would recommend you give Perfect Girl a try!

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

A well-written thriller with biting social commentary. While I wish the pacing had been a bit different, the overall themes was executed so well it mattered very little.

A smart, fast-paced read with complex, dynamic characters and an intriguing plot. Will definitely add to my classroom library.

Perfect Girl is a horror that offers up some genuinely heart pounding tension and isn't one to read when it's dark outside. The twists and ending were pretty satisfying and I enjoyed it as a quick - and scary - read.

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy to be reviewed

— 3 stars ★
I have to be honest, I was a little worried about this book because I didn’t realize it was a YA thriller. I haven’t read a YA thriller in a super long time but I must admit, I really enjoyed this book! I’m a pretty quick reader when it comes to books I like, so it’s not a big shocker that I finished this book in one day. Even if you aren’t a quick reader, I’m certain this could easily be read within a day just from the length of the book and how it’s able to keep you GLUED to your seat!

I only have a couple gripes about this book. First, it was super predictable. I wish there was a bit more mystery behind what was going on but almost immediately I knew who the bad guy was going to be. However, this could just be me catching onto clues or watching a LOT of criminal minds…

Another gripe that I had was that I wished that the characters were fleshed out a bit more, especially our main protagonist – Jessa. I felt like sometimes the “nice, perfect girl” trope/characteristic was leaned into a bit too much. It honestly kind of annoyed me how she didn’t really want to fight back because it would have been considered rude, LOL.

I also didn’t really care for the “before” chapters that were included. It just kind of gave background that what was happening in the present time was repeated history. I just felt like it was a bit unnecessary.

Overall, I still had fun with the book and thought it was nice to read on Halloween! It’s a good YA slasher that’s quick and easy to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the eARC of Perfect Girl in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent YA thriller! I was reading before bed, and had to stop until the next day, because I was getting so creeped out by it. I liked the little "twist" (calling it that because I don't want to say anything to spoil it for people) at the end. Overall, I would highly encourage those who think the summary sounds interesting to read it!

(I definitely recommend checking trigger warnings, because it touches on a lot of difficult topics.)

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This was an absolutely nail biting thriller! I couldn’t stop reading and the plot twists were SO good. I flew through this.

🤯🤯🤯 There are few books I can’t seem to put down and this was one of them. Finished this super quickly because I could absolutely not put it down. Reminds me of an early 2000s teen thriller movie and I loved it.

This was such an incredible ride! From the first page to the last I was so drawn in by the premise and the build up, and it only continued to get better as the story progressed. I love that this was loosely based from the author’s personal life- that made it feel extra impactful and special. For it being an incredible thriller with some truly wild and unhinged twists and turns, it also had some amazing moments of girlhood that I loved and was so happy to see have their moment to shine. And some haunting!!!! Hi Betty :) Truly, this was such an enjoyable experience and a book I couldn’t put down from the moment I picked it up. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!!!!