Review: Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

Author: Sara Barnard

Age: Young Adult

Pages: 320

Publisher: Macmillan

Publication date: 08/02/18

My rating: ★★★★★

 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When I was wild, you were steady . . . 

Now you are wild – what am I? 

Eden McKinley knows she can’t count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it’s a bit of a surprise when Bonnie runs away with the boyfriend Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. Especially when the police arrive on her doorstep and Eden finds out that the boyfriend is actually their music teacher, Mr Cohn.

Sworn to secrecy and bound by loyalty, only Eden knows Bonnie’s location, and that’s the way it has to stay. There’s no way she’s betraying her best friend. Not even when she’s faced with police questioning, suspicious parents and her own growing doubts.

As the days pass and things begin to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her best friend and herself.

I received a copy from MKB in exchange for an honest review.

Goodbye, Perfect is the brilliant third novel by Sara Barnard. Who get again doesn’t any away from difficult subjects, this time in the form of student/teacher relatioǹships. This time we follow Eden in the run up to her GCSE’s, after her best friend, Bonnie runs of with her music teacher Mr Cohn. Eden is the only person who knows where Bonnie is, though she’s sworn to secrecy and continues to lie to those around her and cover for Bonnie. Even through the times when struggles to cope and reconcile recent events with the Bonnie she knows, or thought she knew. Eden decided to take matters into her own hands and bring Bonnie back herself with her boyfriend, Connor and sister Valerie.

I loved Goodbye, Perfect so much. I say this alot but it bears repeating, Sara just gets it and doesn’t shy away from tackling difficult topics. Again, this is a book I wish I had when I was a teenager. I think this might be my favourite book by Sara so far. I love her writing style, character development and how easy it is to relate to characters, I found myself laughing at random points. Eden’s relationship with her adoptive family was interesting to explore, especially with Valerie. I also really liked that it wasn’t a stereotypical “screw-up” portrayal I hate. How it highlighted the difficulties teens in care face without it defining who they are.

I can’t recommend Goodbye, Perfect enough. It’s perfect for new and old readers alike. Despite not being a huge contemporary reader, Sara is very high on my auto but authors list.

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