The Worst Perfect Moment is a Young Adult book about a girl who dies and ends up in her own version of heaven but it's not what she expected.

This book talks about death in a way that does not provoke fear but instead gives you the opportunity to reconsider your life's choices and meditate on yourself. I like that everyone reading this book, despite of age, can get a unique and hopeful view on death.

The characters are so well written without having to be super complicated or confusing. The main character is relatable with the teenage problems and feelings of any human at that age. Zelda has to be my favorite character as she is curious and fierce.

I like the fact that the plot explores the main idea not just in one way but gives the reader the chance to be curious about it as many "what ifs" are answered.

In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book. It made me laugh, cry, and think about what it really means to be alive.

I liked the premise of this book, especially as I haven’t read something like this in some time. Whilst this is a YA and I did expect immaturity from the characters, the characters were too immature (just when it came to dialogue).
I would definitely recommend this to my younger students, but not to students who would be the same age as the main character.

This book was surprising at every turn and very interesting to read. I really liked the theme.
The love story was a tad predictable and some vocabulary used was cringe and overdone. But you can overkook that for the general plot and story.
I love the overall message and the messiness of life shown.

A sweet read about accepting what you can’t change and learning to appreciate what you have. The premise of a dead teenager having to prove her heaven-maker angel wrong is so unique and certainly pulls the reader in. I would have liked to see and hear Zelda and Tegan have more meaningful conversations as their relationship developed as it felt a little rushed and superficial to begin with but did definitely felt right by the end. Overall it was a book I kept wanting to come back to and I liked the quirky, sarcastic teen characters - and wish I had my own Mrs Chiu!

3.5 stars, rounded up.

A sapphic mash up that's a little bit 'The Good Place,' a little bit of a reverse 'It's a Wonderful Life,' a little bit 'Beetlejuice,' and a whole ton of sass, mushrooms, and ketchup.

The good:
*I appreciat that there's a place for queer people in heaven without it even being mentioned.
*I enjoyed Tegan's voice for the most part, and the author's writing style--it was light and funny for such a dark topic.
*I related deeply to Tegan's relationship with an absent parent and how complicated that hurt/wound is.

The less good:
*While I loved Zelda's character, hanging your eternal happiness on a teenage romance (or even one person) doesn't seem believable--I would have loved to see Tegan meet a friend/relative/someone who meant someone to her that had already passed on.
*Some specific phrases were overused IMO (dickcheese, butt-face). They're great insults, but there are others.
*The pacing lagged at times.

Much thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC. My opinions are my own.

"The Worst Perfect Moment" is a novel that grabbed my attention from the beginning.

I’d like to highlight the writing style. Even though English is not my first language, I found the prose easy to understand, which made my immersion in the story easier. The author manages to capture the essence of the characters and their emotions vividly, which contributed to me reading without checking the time, just wanting to get to the climax of the story.

The love between the protagonists is very sweet, full of interactions that convey the warmth that I like in romance. I found myself enjoying most of the moments shared between the protagonists, and their connection resonated deeply with me. Additionally, I appreciate how the author addresses relevant themes of adolescence, such as the need to belong and the complex world of family relationships. These elements added depth to the plot, something I quite didn’t expect when I first read it.

However, I must point out that one of the aspects I found least satisfying was the way the protagonists spoke at time. Many reviewers said it already, but some of the insults were cringeworthy, and definitely, not a teenager’s way to speak. At times, I found the dialogue forced and inauthentic, which affected my immersion in the story. Despite this, it didn't stop me from enjoying the work overall.

{2,5}

I really wanted to like this - but it didn't really do it for me.

Tegan died at the age of 16, and now she’s back at the Marybelle Motor Lodge in New Jersey — a motel that she absolutely hates and was apparently associated with the worst weekend of her life.
But an angel named Zelda says otherwise, and now has 30 days to prove to Tegan why she chose the motel, after Tegan complained to the head management.

The plot idea, of course, sounds great. However, I just wasn't a big fan of the characters or their interactions. The romance bit was very sweet, but not always.

The writing was ok. Just okay. There were some great quotes here and there but the amount of middle-school swearing insults were overshadowing it.

I do however want to re-read it in the future, which may change my opinion.

A big thank you to NetGalley for providing me this ARC!

i don’t think i’ve ever had a book make me cry this much??? this was absolute perfection and i’m super excited to own my own copy when it releases!

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Worst Perfect Moment releases May 14, 2024

What if heaven was an exact replica of your happiest moment on earth?

Tegan died at the age of 16, and now she’s back at the Marybelle Motor Lodge in New Jersey — a motel that she absolutely hates and was apparently associated with the worst weekend of her life.
But an angel named Zelda says otherwise, and now has 30 days to prove to Tegan why she chose the motel, after Tegan complained to the head management.

I thought this was going to be a sweet story between Tegan and Zelda, but it was quite depressing actually. Tegan was in a constant state of denial throughout the entire book and came off as a pick-me girl.
Reliving a lot of her past memories made it clear that a lot of her unresolved emotions stemmed from jealousy and not being okay with not being the chosen one in a friend group or with her mother. I get not liking the feeling of being left behind, but my god, you can’t always be the pick-me girl in every situation. It’s such an insufferable trait.

The writing also wasn’t my cup of tea. It read very YA, borderline middle grade, with dialogue like:
- “turd waffle”
- “dickcheese”
- “butt-face”
- “feelings are <I>ugh</I>, though”
- “you are being the Queen of Assholia right now”

Another thing that really bothered me was the fact that anytime Tegan asked Zelda a question or wanted her to further explain something, Zelda would say “spoiler” which to me felt like too easy of a cop-out to avoid dealing with any of the more complex logistics surrounding this supernatural world.

This was a weird book, but in a good way. It follows Tegan, who is sixteen and dead and finds herself in heaven. Unfortunately for her, heaven is a replication of her "best memory" which supposedly is a really gross motel she once stayed at with her father and younger sister. Tegan is convinced this is far from her best memory and this heaven is awful, so she makes a complaint. This means her assigned angel Zelda will have a month to prove this is her best memory, which means she has to make Tegan believe it, while Tegan has to prove she is emotionally stable enough to accept happiness and doesn't need to go into purgatory. To do this, Zelda takes Tegan on a tour through her memories, leaving Tegan to figure out the clues.

This was an easy read, not very long, and the characters were delightful. I especially loved Zelda, she's so weird and loveable. It took some time before I could figure out why the motel was supposed to be the best memory, but Tegan slowly figures things out about herself. It is also very raw in that sense, delving deep into Tegans' feelings of being too weird and awkward, of being jealous when her bff hangs out with other people and similar emotional teenage experiences. Tegan was very relatable in that sense. The questions behind why this motel left me in enough suspense that I wanted to keep reading and find out.

I think this book is great for teens, but it might also hit very close to home for some people so keep that in mind.

I loved how it ended and how it criticizes many ideas about happiness, but I won't go too deeply into how it resolves because of spoilers.

Overall the idea of this was pretty cool. Where I struggled was the pacing and chemistry/banter between Tegan and Zelda.
There were also a lot of moments that made this feel like Christian propaganda which I personally disliked. It felt like a book that would have worked better as MG instead of YA.

This is not another book about a dead girl.
Well, it is, but it's way beyond the cliche of learning valuable life lessons in the afterlife. What takes this to the next level is the irreverent humour. Think a cross between Dead Like Me and the gut-wrenching emotion of John Green. Teagan's character is relatable and has a great voice. There were a few slow or repetitive sections in the middle, but it was well worth reading on for a truly wonderful finale.

Ms. Chiu, I love this book.

From the first chapter, I somehow felt at home. I didn't care that the place I was taken to was a gross, green motel — I wanted to stay because I loved Tegan and how she narrated the story. The tone of the story feels juvenile, given it's a YA, but I got sucked right into the story. It has its own style, from the jokes to the insults to Tegan talking to Ms. Chiu to show her feelings.

As I continued reading, I felt seen. Making friends and maintaining relationships and being fifteen is hard and this book captured that perfectly. I wish I had this when I was younger — my angsty teenage self would have turned this book into their entire personality and honestly, I think I deserved to do that.

Enemies to Lovers can be very clicé in my opinion, but in this book, it has been given a fresh little spin. Tegan doesn't immediately hate Zelda, only when Tegan finds out that Zelda is the reason that she's stuck in a gross motel for eternity, she gets upset. They never hated each other because of some prejudice and it was clear that they had matching personalities, only a little disagreement standing in the way. I loved the banter and when they started to call each other butt-face affectionally.

This book isn't perfect. The world-building isn't the most unique and the plot gets predictable sometimes, but the book left a mark on my soul, so it's getting five stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

An interesting premise, well executed. The insight into Teagan’s mind effortlessly takes the reader on her rollercoaster of emotions, from frustration and anger, to grief, and to love. With the aid of another quite interesting character, Zelda, a cute and bubbly angel, she evolves and grows. The entire book explores how difficult it can be to deal with being seen as a teen, but even more so as a queer teen.

Without revealing too much, this book has laugh out loud moments, tearful moments and just enough fuzzy feelings to leave a feel-good impression. I also thought the world-building was very interesting. 4,5*

Thank you for the ARC via NetGalley!

Thanks to Netgalley and Holiday House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has such a cool premise, and I was excited to get a chance to read it!

I think the fact that I was struggling a bit to get through this is a more me problem, than an issue with the book. I found that the situations Tegan was going through (reflecting on struggles with abandonment, friendship and bullying), hit a little too close to home and was mentally not a great experience for me.

I might try to read this again in the future when I am in a better space to handle these topics.

This book wasn't my cup of tea, but I think it is worth giving it a shot, so if you are intrigued by the description I recommend checking this out when it is released!

DNF at 51%

The Worst Perfect Moment
by Shivaun Plozza

Rating: 2/5
Genre: LGBTQIAP+ | Teens & YA

This book opens beautifully, with Tegan, very dead, trying to figure out why her “heaven” is looking more like a hell. Zelda, the angel who was assigned to making sure Tegan is having the best afterlife, is actually super annoying. Tegan is sure that Zelda has make a calculation error, and this should not be her heaven, so makes an official complaint against her heaven and Zelda…

I enjoyed the first 1/5 of the book… the opening was great, and then it was too long for no reason. The ending was kinda obvious, and I did not see why Zelda needed to show her all those memories to prove to Tegan the point of her heaven. I am not sure if all the descriptions added to the plot.

Editing note: There are so many spaces missing ( examples: threemushrooms) and there were wo many random - in middle of sentence…

2.5 stars

Okay, so… let’s start this by requesting an ARC right after I watched Hazbin Hotel. So, I was already familiar with the whole concept of ‘bad people in heaven and good people in hell’ or something like that. Obviously, for this book, it’s different. Tegan isn’t necessarily bad… she just goes through an angsty teenage phase…in heaven!

I love YA. It’s one of my favorite genres. Usually, I don’t mind if the book gets too childish. However, this book just straight-up pissed me off. And it’s not just because it was YA. Tegan and Zelda— they were both frustrating. And their banters were so annoying. High schoolers don’t banter like that. What even is a ‘dickcheese’???

It’s safe to say that I didn’t really like this book, and that’s just because of my preference. I did enjoy the atmosphere and the world-building, but that’s about it. There were more religious references than I thought as well. Which kind of shocked me, but I didn’t really mind. Overall, I think it’s just a book that has a really good plot but just lacks in the execution.

The premise of this book was really intriguing to me--any book that takes place after a characters death always interests me because it is such a different kind of book from pretty much all the rest. Unfortunately, this book fell short for me. Looking back, what bothered me the most (and maybe what ruined the book for me) was the 'banter' between the two main characters. I always love banter between the love interests, but for this book, it just seemed too young--the nicknames seemed more like how middle schoolers (or even younger) than high schoolers would act.

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the ARC!

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

The description for this book calls it “equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking” and I’ve never seen a blurb get it more correct. The writing in this book was raw and real and had me grinning at the page and reading through tears in equal measure. I was sucked into the story from the very beginning and the information that was withheld was just the right amount of frustrating to keep me wanting more. It made sense for information to be withheld from the reader, because the narrator herself was unreliable— a sixteen year old who was grappling with her own death— and if we had been told everything right away the ending would not have been as cathartic. Teagan had to work through her trauma at her own pace, and we had to stay with her at the pace she set— which could be frustrating at times but of course it is! She’s sixteen and she’s dead and the world isn’t fair, she’s frustrated! And that frustration bleeds out of the pages into the reader in a truly masterful breadth of storytelling.

They say in writing that no detail should be extraneous, and this book felt like the epitome of that idea. It felt like everything, down to the pacing, down to each page by page reveal was carefully planned out until it became the incredible story that it is. Plozza truly encapsulated both the feelings of pure love and happiness side-by-side with ripping your still beating heart from your chest. You do not want to miss this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, and Shivaun Plozza for the eARC! This book releases May 14, 2024.

Synopsis: Following her death, Tegan Master's finds herself at a run-down New Jersey motel from your worst nightmare. For Tegan, according to the stunning (but snarky) angel Zelda, this is Tegan's heaven and is the site of her happiest memory. If dying wasn't traumatic enough, staying in dingy motel for the rest of eternity is. Tegan, convinced Zelda's mathematical equations are wrong, raises some complaints to Management and implicates herself and Zelda in a deadline to understand how this is her eternity. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan this is her eternity, and if Tegan fails to understand how the Marybelle is the place of her happiest memory, they both face dire consequences.

Brief Review Summary:
- Overall Rating: 5/5
- Will I cry?: 100% (Keep the tissues close for this one!)

Review: I'll be honest, the book broke me. I cried several times and was moved to tears more times than I care to admit. This was the first book in almost a month I was able to complete in one sitting. I was not able to put this book down. "The Worst Perfect Moment" by Shivaun Plozza is masterfully crafted and offers a unique insight to growing up, even in death. With the topic matter, I do believe that this is meant for a bit of an older Young Adult reader audience. The topics in this novel are heavy and heart-wrenching, particularly when reading this as a 23-year-old thinking back to my own youth. There are many lessons to be gleamed from this book, even for younger and older YA readers.

Plozza does an excellent job of playing with the concept of Heaven. This seems to be a trend within recent media, but each take is very refreshing. By portraying heaven and death as a place where flaws and emotions beyond happiness and bliss are present, makes death more familiar. Heaven and death is something characterized like our mortal world and it is refreshing. There is space for growth after death and Plozza does a stellar job representing that, particularly capturing the youth that both Tegan and Zelda possess.

This book is heart wrenching as Tegan is forced to explore moments in her life to discover why the Marybelle Motel is considered her happiest moment. This exploration into Tegan's memories and Zelda's urging for her to think about what the lesson or message could be is fascinating. Plozza excellently keeps the reader within Tegan's own frustrations through intrusive and angry exposition. While this angry exposition is bubbling over, you have Zelda's quirky fascination with all thing Earth, even the gross and morbid. Watching this two grow together throughout the book was a treat. I wish there was a bit more time together without the deadline of understanding looming over them.

I think the biggest critique I have with the book is the dialogue and somewhat cringey phrasing, The conversations between Zelda and Tegan, in particular, felt very young even for a permanently 16-year-old. As someone who often spends time in high school classrooms as an educator, I've never heard a teenager use "dickcheese" or "butt-face" when they could opt for just swearing or more crass, creative options.

Overall, Shivaun Plozza does a fantastic job capturing humanity in death and the divine. There are some frustrating moments in the book, but I assure you, for every moment you get frustrated at Barb or Kelvin, or even Zelda and Tegan, the end is worth it. The realizations the characters all come to is rewarding and satisfying and, if you're like me, you will probably cry two or three separate times.