Rating: 4.5 Stars

Rep: bisexual Jewish MC; gay Pakistani Muslim MC; plus size lesbian Korean SC; Muslim SC; anxiety

CW: drug use (pot); underage drinking, both as part of religious practices and not.

Where is the line between what we ask of ourselves and what is enough, what others ask of us and what we can give? These are questions that blur for Ariel in Laura Silverman's You Asked for Perfect. 

There's so much going on in high school, none more so for Ariel than getting into a good school, the right school, and it's of the utmost importance to get the best grades, be the best person, so that Harvard will choose him. Because if he isn't selected, what else is there?

I was not the kind of student that Ariel and his contemporaries were, but I do remember school being difficult for me. Reading this book reminded me of the pressure that, nonetheless, was still there. Remembering that was its own kind of horror because it could be all encompassing. 

You Asked For Perfect is told from the first person perspective of Ariel. Multiple times throughout, he mentions how he's concerned that any show of weakness and a fellow student, Pari, a girl whose grades, violin skills, etc., are all comparable to his, will take everything from him: first chair, valedictorian, everything. He does say, though, that she's also a good friend. It's was heart wrenching to imagine the setting in which these kids could be both good friends & sworn enemies. The toxicity that academia leached into their lives was frightening.

As the story unfolded, levels of Ariel's image of perfection unfolded, how he came to this stage in his life where there was such a precarious balance of GPA points and extracurriculars. School (his teachers, fellow students) was one thing, which I'll touch on later, but there are also something about his family. Even if it was an unintentional act by his parents, there is a scene that I think may have imprinted on him:

<blockquote>Some Friday nights we have matzo ball soup with dinner because my parents are superhuman, working hard all week and still providing home-cooked meals.</blockquote>

It was great to see Ariel's family come together, having a meal and talking about their day, sharing highlights and bloopers and so on. However, the point here is that Ariel sees his parents having these high powered jobs and still having the "perfect" homelife with home cooked meals. That image of perfection makes it seem, to him, like it is easy to have it all which I'm sure it's not. As lovely a family picture as that is, it speaks to an ideal that Ariel may have in his head, standards that he feels he needs to meet.

There are a lot of angles coming to Ariel: family, school, self, all of which converge to create pressure and anxiety. These end up coming together to show how one thought can spiral into an almost anxiety attack. This quite felt particularly familiar to me and highlighted the intensity of Ariel's situation:

<blockquote>The calculus test is Friday. If I fail, it will literally be impossible to get an A in the class. If I don’t get an A in the class, I won’t have a perfect record. If I don’t have a perfect record, I’ll be a less appealing applicant for Harvard. If I’m a less appealing applicant for Harvard, I won’t get in. If I don’t get in—</blockquote>

This continues to escalate in demonstrations from two educational figures in Ariel's life, a guidance counselor (Hayes) and a calculus teacher (Eller):

<blockquote>Ms. Hayes lowers her voice. “Look, I’m not supposed to share this, but I know Pari Shah is also applying early action to Harvard. If they only accept one student from here like last year, well, it’s tight competition . You can’t slip up.”</blockquote>



<blockquote>“Wait here, Ariel.” I shift on my feet, feeling the eyes of my classmates. Mr. Eller pulls out a red pen, and I take a sharp breath. Is he torturing me on purpose ? Grading mine right here?</blockquote>

Ms. Hayes and Mr. Eller add to the hyper intense level of pressure that not only Ariel, but even the reader might be feeling at this point. Ms. Hayes: why, WHY would she say this to a student? There's wanting your student to do well and then there's imparting a piece of information that could cause real harm, especially if he's already on the edge. And Mr. Eller, singling a student out who he knows is stressed out about a grade to stand at the front of the class and grading his important quiz. These two moments really stood out at straws that piled up on Ariel's back in anticipation of the climax.

Ariel, of course, is not the only one susceptible to pressure or potential anxiety spirals. His friend, Sook, is a member of a band called the Dizzy Daisies. 

<blockquote>“If I don’t pursue my dream now, I’ll lose it. I’ll go off to Dartmouth, and I’ll study and get a real job and pay bills and get married, and I’ll never prioritize my music again. I know I’m only in high school, but it’s like I’m already running out of time.”</blockquote>

Her parents, Dartmouth legacies if I remember correctly, want her to attend school while she wants to pursue a musical career. This passage highlighted a truly terrifying thought that felt incredibly true, like there could be no new possibilities once you're an adult. The future is a frightening thing, plus the assumption that you're supposed to have everything figured out for that future by the time you graduate (a ridiculously broad thought to have - could be fine for some but certainly not all).

Speaking of the future, Ariel's present and the future of his sister, Rachel, is haunting similar in many instances: 

<blockquote>When the food is ready, I call Rachel to the table. “Can we eat in here?” Rachel asks. “I want to keep working.”</blockquote>


Ariel knows what his habits are doing to him, what the studying is forcing him to sacrifice, but doesn't see the same habits forming in Rachel, that she's becoming just like him if not worse. I'm not saying that it is his responsibility to care for her, or for his contemporaries who would understand better than anyone what he's going through (Pari, for example, being on his level and what not), but it was incredibly sad to notice throughout the book the hints that Rachel was developing similar patterns that would lead her into a way of life very much like Ariel's.

I loved picking this book up because while it was rough seeing Ariel go through such intense, trying times, You Asked For Perfect was also an intensely enjoyable book. There were key moments that felt truly special, like when he was with his family, especially bonding with his little sister Rachel volunteering at the local animal shelter, or when he was spending time with his friends Sook and Masha, discussing their band the Dizzy Daisies.

The stress of studying, of trying to be perfect, of trying to be better and better and better until there's nothing left to attain and even then trying to be better still...all of it ached. It's such a relatable topic and being seen like that was one thing, but also having the balm of the interpersonal relationships was a perfect complement to the harshness that faced not just Ariel, but Pari and Isaac and every student that sees themselves in the students of Etta Fields High School.

<blockquote>At Etta Fields High School, becoming valedictorian is more complicated than perfect grades. We have weighted GPAs. We earn extra points for AP courses, a 5.0 instead of a 4.0 for an A . So the path to the top depends not only on the grades but also on signing up for the right classes.</blockquote>

There are some things I would have liked to see more of, such as time with Amir, his side of the story and such. I can admit, though, that considering this was Ariel's story and how insular his world became because of the pressure that was upon him why this might have been a choice made from the author's perspective.

DNF at 20%. Really tried to get into this book but I found it really boring and didn't like Ariel. Thank you for the review opportunity though!

While I was not nearly the level of ambitious that Ariel is, I put a lot of pressure on myself in high school. For me, it wasn't about perfection, it was about being better than people thought I was.

Ariel's school anxiety and the effect it had on his relationships rang painfully true for me. When Ariel gets one grade that's lower than what he wants, his academic life begins to fall apart. This book is a very well-written look at what it is to be a high-achieving high school student and the strain that the pressures of school can put on students' mental health.

I really enjoyed this one! Silverman perfectly captures how stressful it can be to be an over-achieving high school student. The narrative is anxiety-driven, which elicited my own anxiety while reading (but in a good way, which is exactly what I believe Silverman intended to do). Besides Ariel and Amir, the side characters, such as Sook, are characterized very well with what little time we spend with them. They don't blend together, and Silverman paints a vivid image of each of them in the most clever and indirect ways.

Some issues that I had with this was that the romance between Ariel and Amir was rather dry. It happens pretty quickly, but we aren't given many scenes with them together to evoke a strong emotional response to their relationship. It fell slightly flat, but of course, this was not the central focus of the story. It would have been nice, though, to focus a little more on their relationship. It may have made the ending a little more resonant.

YOU ASKED FOR PERFECT follows Ariel Stone, an overachiever in his last year of high school He's determined to get into Harvard (though he has no idea what he wants to major in while there), but the academic pressure (and the appearance of a new romance with his tutor, Amir) may prove to be too much.

I loved this. I loved how perfectly (no pun intended) Laura Silverman captured the anxieties of high school and wanting to do your best. I loved the relationship between Ariel and Amir. And I loved how beautifully Judaism was woven throughout this story. I loved Laura Silverman's debut, GIRL OUT OF WATER, and I loved YOU ASKED FOR PERFECT. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next!

(Thank you, NetGalley, for an eARC in exchange for a honest review.)

Ariel is a senior in High school is working hard to make sure he's the perfect candidate for college. Between studying, volunteering and school band practice he doesn't have much time for himself but then he fails a calculus quiz and everything starts to feel like it's falling apart. He starts to miss plans with friends so he can study. He also enlists the help of Amir who isn't Ari's favorite person but he excels at calculus. As Ari's feelings for Amir grow something's got to give.

I've had Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman on my list for a while as I have a few mutuals who love that book but I just haven't been able to pick it up yet. Then I saw this on netgalley and jumped at it!

Never have I read a book that summed up what academic pressure can do to a teenager so well. I related so much to it. I basically took exams every May from the age of 15 up to 22 and my mental health was so poor due to this pressure so to see that in a book and see the effects and how it can really mess up your life was super cathartic. There is so much pressure to be absolutely 100% perfect in education and I think this book could open a lot of discussion about this if enough people read it. Personally, I was never good at exams, I would put in so much work beforehand to come out with barely passing marks.  I left university with a third class honours, and it's very hard not to feel completely down on yourself in a world where most jobs are looking for a 2:1. But I try to remind myself that I have an honours degree from a very well distinguished university. So reading this book reminded me a bit of that; in the sense that I maybe have struggled mentally but at least I made it through.

The main character is not only Jewish but also bi and I really just loved him. I feel like we have great representation of gay male characters in YA, but not a whole lot of bi male character (I mean bi characters in general), so it was great to read. His relationship with his family was so front and center and made me really happy because so often in YA parents are abusive or barely around and given that the MC is bi the author could have chosen to have angst surrounding his sexuality and his parents with his religion but she didn't and I really appreciate that. I feel like it's important to have stories about LGBTQIA+ teens who don't have a lot of familial drama because more often that not this is what the plot of queer books focusses on.  And I loved Amir, he was such a little cinnamon bun.

I think one of the best messages this book conveys as well is to be open in communication with people. If you tell your family and friends that you're struggling, they would hopefully be there for you, teachers as well. Too often people, and teens, in particular, don't talk about their anxiety and stress and it leads down a long and winding road that takes a lot to get back from.

When this book comes out in March please pick it up because I think it's such a great step for the direction of contemporary YA.

It was really, really, weird reading a book about the stress of applying to college your senior year only a month after getting into college... my senior year.
"I think of all my classmates, bent over textbooks, shoulders strained under heavy backpacks, eyes hooded from lack of sleep. We’re all in it together, whether we want to be or not."

You Asked For Perfect follows Ariel, a bisexual Jewish boy trying to become class valedictorian and later get into Harvard. BUT: his best friend Sook wants him in her band, he has fierce competition from fellow amazing student Pari, a failed quiz grade has other plans for him, and to top it all off, his math tutor Amir is just really crushworthy.

This book did feel a little too slice-of-life for my personal tastes. The character arc is absolutely there, but it takes place over the course of a month, and it's honestly a fairly simple story in actual plot concept: boy can't be perfect, boy fails to be perfect and beats himself up over it, boy realizes he doesn't have to be perfect. What makes this stand out is the subject material, but I definitely wanted... a little bit more.

I think the reason this will work for so many people is because it's just so entirely relatable. And if you'll forgive me, I had a lot of thoughts about academic pressure and high school.

Ariel, the lead, is — I swear to god — so similar to many of my friends it kills me. But that's not to say I don't understand the academic pressure, because I completely do and I've been there in a lot of these situations. I've never been the friend who doesn't show up, but I've absolutely been the friend who doesn't make the effort, and who thinks too much about getting everything done.

And I've also been the inferiority.

I'm a really good student — I don't want to downplay that — but I've genuinely never been at valedictorian level grades. I go to an intense private school where being a good student makes you just sort of average and by those standards I'm not good at science and just okay at math, and reading this was so strange because a part of me almost felt jealous; not of the stress, because I've had that level of stress, but of the fact that valedictorian was a payoff in sight. And there is no part of me that wants to go to Harvard, and I'm actually ecstatic about the school that I'm going to, I think it would have been my favorite school whether it was an Ivy or not, and I am so glad that it wanted me in all of my humanities-student glory (I am, truly, a very good writer). But there's a part of me that was almost angry reading this book, that everyone is working so so hard and perfect is just what we expect from our students now.

It's not just Ariel's parents, who are fine, or his teachers, who are putting pressure on him but not malicious. It's the pressure we all put on ourselves.

And I know me ranting about this does absolutely nothing to solve the actual problem. But I think it might be worth considering, to the high school students that follow me — you don't have to go to Harvard to be the smartest person in any room. And it is amazing to ace classes, I completely understand just how important it feels, but no amount of acing your classes will make you the most interesting person in any room. And this sounds dumb, because you've heard it, but you really, really can get into college without being the valedictorian, and you really, really don't need to be at Harvard, or even be Harvard material, to be an incredibly brilliant, interesting person.

Can I tell you a secret? I never would have gotten into Harvard. And you know what, I could have tried, maybe. I could have dropped this blog and stopped reading and stopped doing the school shows and stopped talking to my friends and stuck with Mock Trial and done math homework in my English classes and gritted my teeth through that godawful biology class just to get an A. But instead, I took my SAT one time and wrote my common app on this blog and my essay on the legacy of being a very-out and super-friendly lesbian at the school, and I'm going to the right school for me. So maybe the real secret is that we all need to work on drawing our self-worth from school.

And maybe get a cute significant other, spend some time with our siblings, talk to our Rabbis, go to all our friend's band performances, and get some sleep.

**review is up on my goodreads; will go up on my blog on February 18th.

While this was a book that addressed some very relevant issues for teens, it wasn’t my favorite because it stressed me out to read. It wasn’t really a fun read, but the prose were well crafted. I thought this one would be more of a romance novel, but the romance was really only one small sliver of the plot. The Harry Potter bonding between the boys got old pretty quickly, and that trope in general is getting kind of old in YA. The Jewish and LGBT rep was great though, and I think this book will hit home for a lot of people. Personally, it’s not one of my favorites and I’ll probably forget most of the details in a couple months, but it was worth checking out. 3.75/5 stars.

This book took me back to high school! Great fast paced story that will hit home! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book! Ariel and Amir are perfect and I love just how much this book mirrored my own high school experiences. Everything from the stress of trying to be the best while juggling friendships, sports, relationships brought back so many memories. Laura is an amazing author and I will definitely check out her other book!

Silverman’s sophomore beautifully captures the struggles of academic pressure and trying to do it all, which, for bisexual Ariel Stone, means maintaining the GPA that’ll keep him valedictorian (even while he’s struggling in AP Calc BC), being violin first chair (even if that requires learning a brand-new, difficult piece out of nowhere), being there for his best friend (who suddenly needs his violin skills as well for her own dreams of the future) (and yes, by the way, she is a lesbian), and observing Jewish traditions of Shabbat dinner and holidays with his family (including his similarly overachieving little sister). But it’s while struggling to get his math grade up that he finds the most desirable distraction of all: Amir, a classmate who’s never quite seemed to warm up to him but suddenly makes Ariel feel, uh, quite warm all over. Amir turns out to be the best thing Ariel never knew he needed, but he might be the one commitment that takes Ariel’s stress level over the top.

"There's this thing AP kids do. We act like we don't care, like those perfect grades appear without effort. We pretend to study only in the five minutes before class, and we shrug our shoulders when teachers hand back tests with As scrawled across the top. But we also make sure to keep those tests flipped up on our desks, so everyone can see how smart we are and just how naturally it comes."

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Sourcebooks Fire, who can pretty much always be counted on to publish lovely and diverse YA novels. Trigger warnings: anxiety.

Ariel is a high school student poised to be valedictorian, first chair in violin, and accepted to an Ivy League university, but it all hinges on him maintaining a perfect GPA for his senior year. When a failed calculus quiz threatens to ruin his plans, he throws himself even harder into studying. The more the sleepless nights and canceled plans pile up, the further his grades start to slip until he’s forced to find a tutor. Amir is great at calculus, and his family has been friends with Ariel's for years. Ariel doesn't have time to add a relationship to his list of things to do, but the more he gets to know him, the more he realizes that Amir is nothing like he thought.

This is a solid contemporary novel with a strong theme and a diverse cast. It expertly handles the pressure and anxiety students face, in ever-increasing amounts, to do well in school and get into a great college. I found it easy to relate to Ariel, since I was also a wreck at seventeen, and I had a fraction of his commitments. School shouldn't be that taxing until graduate school, and maybe not even then. There's a damaging culture in academia where everyone pretends they have their shit together, even when they're maximum-level stressed, and it's well-represented in the book. Silverman offers no easy solutions for these problems, and I like that about the novel. Ariel's healing process is slow, with an emphasis on family, religion, and strong relationships. While the tension in the book is never that high, it shows realistic problems with realistic solutions.

The characters are wonderfully diverse. Ariel and his family are Jewish, and there’s attention to the language, food, and holidays in the story. Amir and his family are Muslim and Pakistani, and Ariel's best friend Sook is a chubby Korean bisexual. Ariel is a flawed and three-dimensional main character; he makes mistakes, but his heart is usually in the right place. Ariel and Amir's relationship is one of the major threads of the novel, and it's really cute. It's a slow enough burn that we see them getting to know each other, and like the rest of the book, they work realistically through their problems. Their families are important aspects of both their lives, which is necessary (but surprisingly rare) for fiction about high school kids. Ariel's family relationships are some of the most important in the novel, and they're overwhelmingly positive. While I didn't fall in love with this book, it's very well done and I'd absolutely recommend it for fans of contemporary YA without the excessive drama.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

While I did enjoy reading this, I feel like feel like a lot of things fell short for me.
The biggest disappointment ended up being the fallout of Ariel working himself so hard. This whole book is centered around how he is stretching himself thin with all of the classes and extra work he does outside of school and I was expecting it to lead to some big event at the end when it all comes crashing down, and it didn't. There is definitely a point where it becomes too much and Ariel realizes that, but it wasn't nearly big enough to make it feel like there was a point to this whole story.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance. I didn't hate it, I just felt like it was underdeveloped, which is really sad because I though it had such. good. potential.
While I wanted to like this book a lot more tan I did, it was no where near being a book I dislike, and I the first half of the book made me so grateful that I am not in school anymore.

This book was very relatable. To anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by school or college, this book is for you. It’s the story of Ariel, a senior in high school, who is so focused on getting good grades and getting in the best college, that he forgets to relax. I felt his struggle when the author described how he stayed up all night finishing homework, how a bad grade made him panic in the middle of class, and finished books at the last minute.

Aside from finding the book relatable, there are other aspects that I enjoyed. It was a very diverse book, featuring characters with different ethnicities, religions, and sexualities. I also learned a lot about Jewish traditions throughout the main character’s experiences. Some characters were very close with their families and it something very nice to read about.

Overall, I give it 5/5 stars.

Many teenagers and perhaps college students will relate to this book. The pressures of high school and the college admission process can be extreme and it's easy to take on too much. Ariel is a high-achieving senior, hoping to be admitted to Harvard. When his senior year classes are a bit more difficult than expected, things start to get out of control for him. However, he finds tutoring in a family friend, who quickly becomes more than a friend. This story is not terribly original, as I've seen similar plots in countless TV shows, movies and books. Nonetheless, it was a short, enjoyable read, with engaging characters and fun subplots

I am definitely going to re-read this when it comes out so that I can discuss it with all my friends and followers.

YOU ASKED FOR PERFECT follow the story of Ariel Stone, a boy who is being negatively influenced by academic pressure. I can relate. My first year of college I was a top student, but there are always hundreds of obstacles in life and now as a second year student, all my grades are going down due to the problems I have at home.

Unfortunately in my case I did not meet someone who would take my mind off school. but at least I got to imagine myself as Ariel Stone in an alternative universe. Academic pressure can hurt our mental & physical well-being and Silverman captures that incredibly well. It was realistic in the sense that this book did not go into the teenage romance drama path and instead focused on the actual problem that Ariel was trying to solve, his grades going down.

At the end of the day this book taught me that life has ups and downs in every aspect of it & you can strive for perfection but I genuinely believe that it is impossible to be perfect and that is completely fine. 2019 will be the most diverse year in publishing and I really cannot wait. Our main character, Ariel, is bisexual and Jewish (Laura is Jewish too) and the love interest is Arabian and queer I am queer too).

3.75 STARS. How disturbing this book was to read as a parent of two teen boys, I felt it The book did a fantastic job of portraying the stress that kids can be under due to college admissions. Being smart getting straight A’s isn’t going to cut it anymore, you need to be a standout, special. Although it was forever ago I remember how hard high school was to navigate without all of this on top of it, I couldn’t imagine being a teenager today. This hit home, I I see the stress my boys deal with, on top of the competitive nature of schools today. Very interesting

4.25 stars

I loved this book so much. The story it tells is one that I think many students can relate to. This book deals with the pressure people feel to always do a good job in school and to always be the best. Ariel, the main character, is trying to juggle his life and the huge amount of workload the school is putting on him. Having lots of extracurricular activities and being in AP classes seem to be the only ways to get a place in the best college possible. That's not what education and school should demand from students and young people in general. School should be a place where people go to learn with their peers, not one where they stress themselves. I think it's unfair and absurd how schools and also colleges during the application process demand so much from their students. I was really stressed for poor Ariel and I was so happy when everything turned out okay in the end.
I really enjoyed the relationship he had with his family and other loved ones. I cannot recommend this book enough, go read it!

3.75

I think that this is a book for everyone no matter what grade you’re in should read this because the pressure of school that’s weighing on them, they will find this relatable.
Ariel is a high school senior who has worked hard since his freshman year because he wants to get into Harvard. He has been under a lot of pressure to be perfect because of his parents. This story is truly heart breaking at times.
This book also does have religion in it and an it was done beautifully. Usually when I have read a book that has religion its over done and drawn out. Its like they are trying to cram it down your throat which I’m not a fan of. This book deals with Ariel being Jewish and his boyfriend Amir being Muslim.
I loved how REAL this book made the pressure of what its like to be in school but also how to deal with the pressure of everyday life.
After reading this book I would love to see this come into a tv show or a Netflix movie.

Thank you to Netgalley and Laura Silverman for an e-galley of this book. I immediately was attracted to the cover and premise and it exceeded my expectations.

Ariel is a high school senior set on graduating as class valedictorian and getting into Harvard. But then Ariel starts to struggle in Calculus. Eventually he decides he needs a tutor. That's when he hires classmate, Amir. Soon they discover an interest in each other besides studying.

All that said this isn't a LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story, although Ariel is bi sexual and there is a relationship between he and Amir . This is not the main story in the book- that is just the part of who the characters are. They are simply teens getting to like each other. I love this! The heart of the story is about teen academic stress. I felt Ariel's pressure along side him. When he couldn't breathe and felt dizzy my heart swelled. I really liked that although he was in a relationship that wasn't the answer. In fact, a relationship just became something else for him to manage. Ariel didnt get his answers in another teen . Much more realistically, he found help through his Rabbi (yes, great Jewish representation!) I appreciated the role the Rabbi played in the story. Her help wasn't necessarily in the form of religious guidance instead she was an adult that helped him look at what he was doing to himself and what he wanted from life. I could go on and on.

I will definitely be buying this book for my library and recommending it to many teens. My teen population can really relate to the achievement pressures of the characters. Thank you.