Finding Perfect: a novella (Hopeless series, 4)

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When I talked about All Your Perfects in my tier-ranking of CoHo’s novels, I said that it was just too much doom and gloom. Hopeless was a lot like that, except maybe a little less because you still got a little comic relief. For Finding Perfect, I was not expecting the plot I was given, but it was so so freaking beautiful. Daniel’s dedication to Six? Made my heart melt. Finally getting some closure for Graham and Quinn? Definitely worth the hour or so read. Hannah tosses her covers aside and then walks to her bedroom door and shuts it. She turns around and faces me, her eyebrows narrowed, the excitement in her expression gone. “You haven’t made me laugh since I got home. Something is changing you, and as your big sister, I want to know what it is. And if you don’t tell me, I’ll call a Wesley family meeting.” With intense and insightful depictions of Molly’s thoughts and subsequent actions, Swartz renders Molly’s decline into full-blown OCD visceral and sympathetic; readers with similar tendencies will relate while others, like her friends, will recognize the pain of seeing someone in need but not being able to help. This is a powerful but not overpowering novel, informing audiences about OCD with tact and acceptance through an accessible and relateable cast of characters, from Molly’s distracted but well-meaning father to her angry older sister to her supportive but helpless-feeling friends. It’s a difficult but manageable journey for readers to take, and many may find themselves using Swartz’s list of consulted resources for further information."— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books By linking that “illusion of perfection” theme with Molly’s OCD, author Elly Swartz manages the brilliant feat of finding the universal in the specific. Readers who haven’t experienced the feelings of uncertainty from separated or absent parents or the exhausting tension of daily life with OCD will certainly feel it here. From the very start, Molly is a vivid and incredibly relatable main character because we’re eased into her head with logical thought patterns and we’re shown the comfort that comes from planning, organization and stability. As we follow her journey and her problems grow, we feel every subtle change in her voice. The anxious places her mind goes during conversations with her friends. Her frequent tangents to wash her hands again and again. The impulse to count that slips into her thoughts (and narration), making us read faster with a rising panic in our gut as she tries to keep her problems a secret. I really liked the writing, and I loved the double POV. I’m a fan of multiple POVs, because it allows you to actually know what’s going on in the character’s minds, and here it worked perfectly, especially during the “get to know you” phase.

My bedroom door opens and Chunk leans against the doorframe, arms folded. Why are you on the floor? Hannah motions toward the beanbag chair across the bedroom. I walk over to it and plop down. I don’t know why I’m allowing her to summon me into her room, because she’s just going to ask questions I’m not going to answer. But it makes me a little less bored than I’ve been all day. And also, it beats doing the dishes.I wasn’t exactly expecting this book to turn out as deep as it did. I thought it was just about the romance, and I was so happy to see that it was not the case. This book is mainly about being true to oneself, and dealing with the pressure and expectations that others will bestow on you. Peer and parental pressure can be a suffocating thing… Maybe she does want to break up with me, but she knows it would hurt the awesome foursome we’ve got going on. We do everything with Sky and Holder now that we’re all in college together. Breaking up with me would make it awkward for all three of them. The storyline in this was quite predictable. From the moment Ben asked Paige to set him up with her best friend Zoey it seemed obvious that it would be Paige and Ben who ended up together, and that he would tutor her in calculus as she was failing. This pair were quite cute together though, and there was some really sweet moments between them.

The story is told from two POV’s, I was able to instantly connect to the characters, become obsessed with the slow burn romance and still beg for more. Epic romance aside, I loved all the secondary characters, even Ben’s mum she was such a sweet heart and I feel it’s best to mention that this is set in high school but without the slut shaming and thank god! Another great thing about this book was the absence of a completely unnecessary love triangle. I chew on that suggestion. It’s good advice. I don’t know why I haven’t just straight-up asked her how I can help make it better for her. “I don’t know why I haven’t done that yet,” I admit.

The room is silent. Hannah shakes her head in disbelief. She opens her mouth a couple of times to speak, but then shuts it. I shake my head in disagreement. “But I do love Six and she does love me and it’s still very, very complicated.” Hannah might actually be right. Maybe the only problem between Six and me right now is that I’m a guy and guys are dumb. I push myself out of the beanbag. “I’m gonna go over there.”