Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree / Holiday House for the eARC. Regardless, this review remains my personal opinion on this book.

The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is a book about Tegan Masters, a 16-year-old girl who had just risen to heaven as a result of her untimely demise. Though when heaven greets her in the form of the Hotel Lodge she considers her worst memory, she doesn't chalk herself as amused. Worse, when it turns out her personal angel, Zelda, apparently designed her heaven based on her happiest memory, Tegan could not be more displeased. A coming-of-age book about life in the afterlife, Tegan ultimately realizes what it truly means for her to be happy.

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself empathizing a lot with Tegan and Zelda as the people (and angel) they are as opposed to characters in a book. I also liked how they interacted with each other, their dynamic, and their relationship. They are quite literally everything, and have really, really cute scenes together. I also really enjoyed how the plot developed and moved along; there were plenty of times where I picked up the book as soon as I had the free time to because I just had to know what happens next and where the story goes.

Not too much of a thorough review of this book because this was very much one of my "turn off your brain, read, and enjoy" books that I was reading in my rotation. Though as for recommendations on who this book is for, I would especially recommend it to sapphic teens looking for representation and to teens who are struggling with handling how heavy their emotions are and want a fictional character that they can relate to regarding such.

This isn't the best book in the world by any means, but this is definitely a book I would pick up and reread to get out of a reading slump or just to read a cutesy little sapphic love story about two girls my age trying to get a grip on their emotions, face life experiences (and embarrassments!) that they'd rather forget, and slowly fall in love along the way.

Teagan is dead, and heaven is a grimy motel with a tampon infested pool – at least according to Zelda, the (cute) angel who designed it.

When you die, one of two things happens:
- you get sent to purgatory, or
- a heaven is created for you, based on your happiest memory

Surely someone’s made a mistake?

“The Worst Perfect Moment” takes readers on a journey through memories. It presses pause on life, and wills you to notice your world: What do you have? What do you wish for? Who are you?

I remember feeling stuck when I was a teen, and I think this story could be valuable for those who relate. It’s not too late to live.

the worst perfect moment starts with introducing the main character Tegan, who died and is now in front of a motel she hated on earth. there, she meets an angel named Zelda and they kind of like form this bond of friendship.. or more.

i liked the idea this book had as i have envisioned its potential. before i tell you why i gave this 2 stars, i would like to focus on the positives first.

if only it wasn’t written too dull and boring. i was enamored by the book’s cover and description when i stumbled upon this on NetGalley and i told myself i really need to try this one out for myself. sadly, it didn’t meet my expectations and I'm just so.. sad.. because everyone seems to absolutely LOVE this book.

the writing was not my cup of tea. everything sounded so immature with all the “butt-face”, “turd waffle”, and my favorite.. “you are being the Queen of Assholia right now” LIKE?? BE FOR REAL WHAT

I'm not hating, not one bit. i just think the writing needs a whole lot of work because as far as i know, this book is supposed to be sad and a tear-jerker and you hit me with a “you are being the Queen of Assholia right now”.. please..

anyways, thank you so much to NetGalley once again for this read! <3 thank you as well to the author for letting me read this ARC!

DNF at 71%

This book feels far more middle grade than YA which I think is my biggest issue. The main characters are 16 but their dialogue feels very 11-year-old. Insults like “butt-face” and “dickcheese” and the constant poking out of tongues and saying “I hate you.” Both MC’s attitudes bothered me, especially in the first 1/3 of the book, to the point where I nearly gave up on it.

Every single character annoyed me. I kept waiting for it to get better and it just…kinda got worse until I just couldn’t force myself to keep going.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing me with an ARC of this book.

"The Worst Perfect Moment" by Shivaun Plozza offers a fresh take on the afterlife as sixteen-year-old Tegan Masters navigates heaven's bureaucracy, represented by her supposed favourite place, the Marybelle Motor Lodge. Guided by Zelda, an angel, Tegan explores her happiest memories centred around the dreary motel, grappling with the concept of eternal bliss versus dire consequences.

Plozza's original portrayal of heaven as a flawed system, mirroring earthly bureaucracy, adds depth to the narrative. Tegan's emotional journey towards understanding happiness in death is both relatable and poignant, while Zelda serves as a captivating foil and love interest. While the dialogue may feel overly immature at times, the book's exploration of humanity in the divine is compelling. Despite occasional frustrations with certain characters, the rewarding realizations and emotional depth make "The Worst Perfect Moment" a highly recommended read, especially for younger audiences. Prepare for a rollercoaster of emotions that may leave you in tears multiple times.

"how can i look for happiness in this memory when the happiest thing is happening to me right now and i'm already dead?"

what a rollercoaster of emotions.

i didn't have any expectations going into this book and yet, i ended up tearing up and aching multiple times at tegan's story.

she had to deal with the grief of her own death (spoilers!), leave her loved ones behind and be faced with memories of her life she'd rather would stay burried, all of this while being accused of maybe not being ''pure enough" for heaven.

i'd be an emotional mess in denial too.

i also found zelda's character very endearing and both souls (so to speak) finding each other and healing through this challenge warmed my heart.

it's a surprisingly lighthearted story dealing with important topics in a teenager's life such as how complicated friendship can be, what it's like to have an absent parent and how to live on beyond hardships.

and, overall, a pretty wholesome queer love story.

i'd like to thank netgalley for providing me an early copy of the book. all opinions expressed here are my own.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree/Holiday House for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

Right off the bat, this cover stole my attention. The synopsis is what sent me rushing to make a request. I was immediately intrigued by what seemed to be a sapphic YA version of A Christmas Carol as Tegan Masters went hunting through her memories, accompanied by a frustratingly unhelpful teenage angel named Zelda, trying to figure out why a two-star motel in New Jersey is her own personal heaven. Tegan goes on a coming-of-(eternal)-age quest to figure out why this—what she thinks is the worst weekend of her life—is really her best moment ever.

Tegan was deeply relatable as a 16-year-old queer girl trying to figure out where she fit in the world. Her hurt is palpable, and her walls are righteously high. Her instant dislike of Zelda—who immediately comes onto the scene and slathers ketchup on mushrooms, truly disgusting—sets her on edge. Their banter sometimes feels younger YA, but the energy of adversaries-to-lovers is spot on. Watching Tegan overcome her feelings about Zelda’s version of heaven being so wrong and getting to a place where what she wants (the right heaven) versus not wanting anything bad to happen to Zelda is a great walkthrough of the difficulties and overwhelming emotions of young love.

Plozza’s pacing feels steady. Tegan is an introspective and funny narrator. She’s clearly a teenage girl dealing with a lot, and it’s evident in her running thoughts. The break in perspective to show us the weekend in more detail doesn’t take the reader out of the atmosphere; it just gives it a magnifying lens. Tegan’s character is also fleshed out and nuanced. Zelda falls a little flat, but this isn’t her story, and I felt okay not having too many questions about her at the end. I did have questions about Tegan’s family and selfishly wanted what Tegan did: a chance to see them after everything. But each side character was entertaining (save Kelvin) and nuanced enough. It was very much a look at the world from Tegan’s viewpoint and her love and interest in each character was evident in the way she spoke of them.

Overall, 4 stars. It is a great, cozy, paranormal, sapphic YA read that I kept trying to pick up despite knowing I couldn’t get any reading done during the day.

Favorite quote: “I am sixteen, dead, and I have seen the ocean. It was here the whole time.”

4.5☆

How can I even start talking about this book?
For me, this book was everything, I know my 16yo self would have related so much that it hurts.

"The worst perfect moment" is a YA sapphic book that approaches death and personal development with humorous and light writing. This writing is very YAtish but fits the characters and the tone so well that it makes it too easy to get entrapped in Tegan' story. Through her, we see the thoughts, insecurities, and fears of the youth, specifically the LGBTQ+ youth, and although sometimes she managed to get on my nerves, as any other adolescent would, her character is so well written that I could relate to her and feel what she felt.
This book not only deals with death and the youth as aforementioned but is also a book that talks about our personal development and how hard it is to dig deep in our feelings and thoughts. Tegan is not the only one who ends up having to do some introspection.
These topics were so well written that I absolutely fell in love with the book.
We are also presented with a sapphic romantic subplot, and although I did like it (they are the cutest together), I felt it was a bit rushed and plain. This is also what happened with the rest of the characters, I got the feeling that the only one that was well developed was Tegan. The rest of the characters were a bit plain.
Another reason for me to take 0.5 out of the grade was the fact that some other aspects, such as the discussion of heaven and hell and the angels, were only talked as very superficial matters. I would have loved to see more about it.

Still, it was a book I loved and would really recommend it.

A cozy, yet angsty novel about what it means to reflect on ones life and what true happiness means.
I immediately fell in love with the beautiful cover and the blurb finally convinced me to request this book. And I definitely wasn't disappointed.
I really cheered for Tegan and Zelda and wanted them to have their happy end, their piece of heaven, so badly. The love story had a nice pacing to it overall and wasn't too on the nose. You could experience Tegan slowly falling in love with all of Zeldas quirks, which I really enjoyed. Their dynamic was hilarious and they became very dear to me over the course of the story.
The book managed to be serious about the right things, while also keeping a fun and cozy vibe - something that is extremely hard to pull off. But here it was executed brilliantly and I really want to emphasize that. In general it really made me think about my life, about happiness and what is really important in the grand scheme of things. It was a surprisingly deep read, which I honestly hadn't expected.
The overall vibes were very nice and reminded me a lot of the atmosphere, that can be found in the "Life is Strange" games. And since I really like them, this was perfect.
This novel touched me in so many ways and even made me cry multiple times - just as a brilliant book should! It is probably one of the best young adult book I have read in current years!
I have already ordered the physical copy and can't wait for it to arrive, so I can re-read this tragically beautiful book again!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me access to this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think that this book is perfect for a younger YA group. I would highly recommend it if you want to have a good cry.

This book can be a bit immature at times which is what makes it younger YA. However, I do think this is a good option if you’re looking for a sad yet wholesome book.

I enjoyed getting to read this, it had everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall feel of this book. The characters were what I was looking for and thought it was a unique idea for the young adult romance. Shivaun Plozza does a great job in creating this story and characters and left me wanting to read more.

If heaven was based on your happiest memory, would yours be a run- down hotel in New Jersey?

Tegan was 16 when she died and discovered heaven was not what she thought it'd be. A sassy angel named Zelda created Tegan's heaven, but she is sure Zelda got it wrong. Now Zelda has to prove she was right, and Tegan has to figure it out or get sent to Purgatory.

This book is brutal with the way it tackles Tegan's complicated emotions about happiness and feeling like she's always the one left behind. I do like a book that makes me feel things, and I felt a whole lot of things.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC, I saw the cover of this book and instantly wanted to read it. The cover is pretty, and I am a sucker for nicely drawn book covers. The humor and insults are a little dated, it reminds me of when I was in high school. I definitely felt a little cringey reading it. However, the feelings Tegan went through as she went down memory lane, toward the middle of the book, gave me a different sense of nostalgia. I have felt her pain and it was nicely written. It made me understand her more, instead of finding her and Zelda annoying teenagers. Toward the end, she starts going through alot of emotions before finally understanding. I loved that she stood up for herself and was able to achieve peace. I wish we were able to see how her family felt about her passing, but I understand that it's her story and it had to end where it did.

I didn't know a lot about the story when I started it, but I was really positive surprised. I requested the book because I was in the mood for some a queer YA book and this looked like the perfect book to fulfill that.

In the beginning, I was a bit sceptical if I would enjoy the story. I couldn't really connect to Tegan in the first few chapters and thought about just dnfing the story for that reason. But I'm glad that I kept reading because it turned out to be one of my favourite books I read this year.

The story is funny and emotional, and I even shed a few tears reading it. It did take some time for me to really get into the story, but once I was in it I couldn't put it down and needed to know how it ends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for this EARC!

The worst perfect moment by Shivaun Plozza - review

First of all thank you so much @netgalley and @holidayhouse for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc before the publication date. The book will be released May 14th.

4⭐️
🫑

I will start by saying I went into this without any expectations and the only thing I did know about it is that it would be a sapphic ya romance.

And boy was I surprised getting into the story 😅. It starts off with the FMC Tegan, who is sixteen and she has just died in a car accident. She has woken up in heaven, but everything is wrong, the moment is just not as perfect as she imagined heaven would be like. The angel, Zelda, who is in charge of her heaven recreated a memory of a motel in Jersey where she spend an awful weekend with her sister Quinn and her dad. Because of this fault in her heaven she decides to make a complaint at the manager of Zelda, and suddenly they have a month to prove that Tegan is ready for eternal happiness in heaven and that Zelda didn’t make a mistake. Otherwise there will be unthinkable consequences.

I really need some time to get my thoughts in order because this book made me laugh and cry and it made me just feel all the feels. It was just absolutely amazing and not what I expected but in a good way.

The only critique I have on the story is that the vocabulary and behaviour sometimes seemed a bit immature. For example, every time Tegan asked Zelda a question she would answer with “spoilers” and she wouldn’t actually answer the questions.
Therefore I would say that the book may be for a bit of a younger audience.

However, it does deal with some heavy topics, such as death and the afterlife and being redeemed. I do think that it is heaven is depicted in such a unique way. It also shows the bureaucracy of heaven and that it isn’t necessarily better than earth. That there are faults and mistakes that happen, and that it is not so easy to just decide on the perfect moment. The angels don’t really understand what it is like to be human and therefore do have some preconceived ideas on what a perfect moment should be. Which I found such an interesting take.

Further I really enjoyed the characters, the relationships and the complexity. I just loved the relationship between the main characters. They are just soo cute, “normal”, and relatable, even though I haven’t been sixteen for a while. Both seem like just teenage girls with their teen troubles and insecurities but also their weirdness.

I also really love the depiction of the relationship of Tegan with her family, her dad and her sister, Quinn. They just have each other but have sticked together through it all. The flashbacks are just the best and I loved seeing their interactions. And I would just love to give Quinn a hug as she has lost her big sister who is everything for her.

Further the deeper meaning of finding the “problem” and happiness is soo beautiful. And I would definitely recommend you to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for the arc!

First things first; this book was such a pleasure to read!

It was funny, heartbreaking and loveable all at once. I fell in love with the bookcover, it is so cute!

Tegan Master is only seventeen when she enters heaven after an caraccident. Or is it a mild version of hell? What do you call it when the afterlife gives you the most depressing motel in New Jersey, all to yourself with slimy mushrooms for breakfast and all?

Not at all pleased with her heaven, Tegan is convinced her angel, Zelda, has done something wrong when making her heaven. She goes on a mission to prove to the upper management that Zelda has made her a wrong heaven, while that annoying, cute, sassy Zelda with thirteen freckles has to prove other wise.

This is a cozy, queer romance about a youth that has to find herself in the afterlife. Highly recommend this book!

This novel is a love story of a different kind - we follow along as Tegan and Zelda fall in love and come of age in the afterlife. They must (at first begrudgingly) work together to figure out what Tegan's perfect heaven would be. In the process, they developed a delightful dynamic that was incredibly fun to read. At the same time, the novel deals with grief, anger and changing and challenging your perspective. It's a story full of love of all different kinds and defiance and it's delightful to read.

This book brought back so many old memories that I definitely forgot about, as we all try desperately to forget our middle school years. But it made this read more emotional, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I also absolutely love the relationship Zelda and Tegan have and all their goofy interactions.

This was honestly an interesting concept. I really enjoyed reading this story because of it's sort of uniqueness. I thought it was interesting that the Heaven we know is just a reinactment of our "happiest memories" and I think it's even more interesting that the main character was set up with an event that actually is her worst memory. My first thought was oh this is definitely hell then, right? Like I'm getting The Good Place vibes, you know what i mean? Anyways, the characters I adored. It was such a pleasure to spend time with them and I feel like this is something I can go back to time and time again. The way this was written gave me a little bit of a.. breath of relief, I suppose, at the thought of dying. I don't know, it's probably bad thinking that way but whatever you can't tell me what to do lol

Tegan Masters is dead at 16 and finds herself in the parking lot of the motel where she spent the worst weekend of her life. When she walks inside, she finds out it’s her personalised slice of heaven and meant to replicate the happiest of her memories. She can’t be stuck in the Marybelle Motor Lodge for eternity, can she? As she files a complaint about the calculations her personal angel Zelda has made, an investigation is launched and they need to work together to figure out what has happened, while Tegan also has to confront her past.

I thought this was such a lovely story about accepting traumatic events, choosing happiness, and moving forward! Aimed at a teen audience, it dealt with big topics in an age-appropriate way. While I would categorise it as a YA romance, it wasn’t nearly the sole focus of the narrative. Tegan and Zelda have a rocky path to acknowledging and acting on their feelings while everything seems to be pitted against them.

The mystery of what had happened to make Zelda land on the Marybelle being the best choice for Tegan’s heaven was built beautifully – the way the story unfolded and the events and characters were described really gave room for a lot of possibilities, and I went through quite a few scenarios I thought that had happened while reading before finding out the truth.