Saturday, April 13, 2013

Book Review: PICTURE PERFECT by Alessandra Thomas

WHY I PICKED IT UP: A few reasons: there was a lot of buzz about it on Twitter, I'm trying to become more familiar with New Adult titles out there, I'd love to support more indie authors, and hey, it was 99 cents!


WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Cat used to model and have no problem with the boys. But while recovering from an accident, she gains 60 pounds. When she returns to school, where she's studying fashion, her boyfriend drops her like a hot potato, and she becomes obsessed with feeling fat. Cat seeks counseling and receives unusual advice: to be comfortable in your body again, model nude for a drawing class.

Through the class, she meets Nate, a boy who claims she is perfect the way she is. Though Cat starts loving her own skin, she isn't sure if it's just Nate's love for her or her own self-image adjustment. Although she doesn't care either way at first, the question resurfaces when she stumbles on a troubling secret from Nate's past.

THE POSITIVE: 

*Totally relevant subject material. I'm personally a huge supporter of the New Adult genre, and body image issues really do permeate one's identity throughout college -- not just in high school. Cat's struggle is believable.
*Even though Nate is a crutch for Cat for a while, the novel does stress the importance of finding it within yourself to be comfortable with your body, not just relying on the words of others.
*Because Cat is a design student and Nate is an architecture student, Thomas weaves those two fields together into the story in an interesting and fresh manner.
*It flowed well throughout, making it a fast and light read.

THE NOT-SO-POSITIVE:

*I was not prepared for the three and a half instances of, uh, erotica in the novel. And though not everyone would consider that a negative aspect, those sections did make me wonder when we'd get back to the plot, and why the rest of the novel did not have the careful crafting and attention to detail that those spots did. Disclaimer, though: I have yet to not be bored by a sex scene in a book. Unless it includes murder somehow? This did not include murder. (Um spoiler? Haha.) *shrugs*
*For a New Adult novel, it felt more like YA writing + Adult content, instead of a blend.
*Many of the metaphors played off of old cliches (i.e, instances where something felt like "a knife in the stomach").
*Most of the novel, I felt like I was waiting for the bass to drop, and when it finally did, the conflict/resolution was predictable in general, but parts of it tested my suspension of disbelief.

OVERALL RATING: Not really my type of novel and I felt unimpressed. I can see a market for it, though; perhaps I'm just not in the proper demographic. And it is definitely important that novels address this kind of subject matter, so I'm glad Thomas did so.

Review Haiku:
Relevant subject.
The writing did not wow me.
Detailed sex scenes though.

~Tome~

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