Sunday 12 June 2011

Past Perfect by Leila Sales - Book Review


Title: Past Perfect
Author: Leila Sales

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: 4th October 2011
Format: E-Book - PDF
Pages: 322
Genre: Young Adult
Source: ARC from Galley Grab (Simon & Schuster)
 




All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.
Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….(Goodreads Synopsis)




This is a delightful, easy read. Given all the debate over YA lately, the detractors would do well to look at this book because there is nothing in it that they could use as fuel in their attack on the genre.

This story is beautifully paced and Chelsea is an extremely likeable heroine who discovers a lot about herself during a summer working with her friends at Essex, an historical village attraction. The setting is the perfect backdrop to a story which centres on the need to accept the past but then let go and move on into the future.

The romantic elements are handled well and the budding relationship between Chelsea and Dan comes across as both realistic and very sweet. In some ways this is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, though with a much less tragic ending.

If you are looking for something weightier in your YA, then this is probably not the right book for you. But if you are looking for an enjoyable tale that is well told and makes a nice read for a quite afternoon, then you should definitely give Past Perfect a try.

2 comments:

  1. Good review!! Im adding this to my to-read list =]

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  2. I wanted to read Mostly Good Girl by Leila Sales but haven't got the chance to yet. Can't wait for this one too! :D

    Felicia @ A Novel Paradise

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