Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

Goodbye, Perfect

by Sara Barnard

Goodbye, Perfect is a beautiful and emotional contemporary YA novel, with a powerful friendship at its heart, by bestselling author Sara Barnard. Now with a bold updated cover look.

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 a guy Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. And it's the last person she would have expected.

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.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

4 of 5 stars

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Initial thoughts: After three books from Sara Barnard, it's evident that she doesn't shy away from difficult relationships. Goodbye, Perfect is probably the toughest so far because it deals with a relationship that leaves a bad taste in your mouth: a teacher-student relationship. Written from the perspective of the best friend, who's left out and trying to understand and come to terms with the situation and consequences, Goodbye, Perfect is in many ways an important book. It grapples with the dangers of overstepping boundaries and the importance of keeping safe.

Precisely because of the disturbing topic, this book was a page-turner. I just wish that beyond asking all the pertinent questions, it would've offered more answers and insight. That aside, I also enjoyed reading about the main characters' relationships with her adoptive parents, her adoptive elder sister and her younger sister.

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Note: I received an advanced reading copy from a local distributor in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 January, 2018: Finished reading
  • 14 January, 2018: Reviewed