Things I look for in a YA thriller:

Fast paced
Not-super-cringey characters (let’s face it, teenagers can be cringe)

That’s it.

This book mostly delivered on that front. Some of the characters were annoying but that’s to be expected. The story moved along quickly and was entertaining enough. It was predictable and the author really needs to lay off the Covid references, please. We were all there. We don’t want to keep reliving it. But all in all, would I recommend this? Yes. If you need a popcorn thriller that you don’t want to think much about.

Our main character Jessa finds herself creeped out at the idea of being home alone for an entire night, so her parents allow her to have a sleepover. Throw together a group of friends that have trouble getting along and a storm that knocks the power out, you get a book that was difficult for me to put down.

Perfect Girl is the perfect mix of YA thriller and horror, with a little bit of mystery and nostalgia added in. It's a well-written book, with good pacing. I just wish it was a bit longer because I certainly couldn't get enough.

3.75 stars.

Perfect Girl is written by Tracy Banghart and comes out on November 19th.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the arc.

This book started with such a tense, grabbing prologue that I knew I was going to fly through this. The characters all felt realistic to how teenagers really think and behave, which I always really appreciate in YA. It was also super interesting to see the effects of the pandemic acknowledged/worked into a mystery thriller. Perfect Girl was high stakes with fascinating characters and plenty of twists, keeping it fast paced and one I genuinely struggled to put down.

Thank you to Tracy for allowing me to read this book before publication. I love Tracy Banghart! I first found her writing through one of her books that was originally written for e-book only and was a free book on a book app for sometime. I was traveling somewhere and I wanted to read something but I forgot my book. So, I I went searching and her book sounded amazing so I started reading it. I got really into it too, however, by the time I did my trip, flew home, read some more of it, I forgot about the book. Every once in a while I would think about it and search for it, but the problem was I didn't know the title or the author! I just knew the premise of what I read. I did everything search I could and found it once, and it was a ridiculous amount of money because it was technically not published yet only as an eBook. But then!! I was on Kickstarter to support one of my ARC authors and I went searching through books (especially when I noticed all the sprayed edges!) and I saw one book that stood out to me. I clicked on it and wouldn't you know it, it was THE book! I quickly supported that Kickstarted and ordered the Special Edition because I have been looking for this book for 10 years on and off. And then I went and found Tracy and Instagram and told her the story. A little while and a few chats later, she messaged me and asked me I wanted to ARC her new thriller novel and I jumped at the chance. I would never say no to Tracy when it comes to working with her.

This book is just as amazing. I already pre-ordered it (I pre-ordered it before I read it...) but it is so good. It is sit on the edge of your seat intense. There are so questionable people that you are not sure who the "bad guy" is and even when you possibly figure out who the bad guy is, she still has a way of making you question everything you know.. It was a great YA thriller book. I really can't wait to read more from Tracy. She keeps writing and she will have a fan for life. What was so great is that she wrote about herself in this book. If you actually read the acknowledgments she talks about her friends and how her house was like the house in the book and how the MFC was like her in ways. I love it.

I encourage everyone who loves thrillers, suspense books to read this book! Tracy is a great writer.

First I want to say that the cover of this book is super cute. The book reads extremely fast, I basically read it in one sitting. The chapters leave off on cliff hangers so I constantly wanted to keep reading to see what was coming next. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it and thought everything was pretty obvious, cheesy, or too on the nose. I do think that YA readers and students would/will enjoy this story though. It's a good read for spooky season as well.

Perfect Girl, by Traci Banghart
🌟🌟🌟
This is a fun and pretty exciting thriller story.
The story is based on a group of friends who are having a get together and because of a bad storm, the power goes out. The main character, Jessa, must abandon her perfect image in order to help herself and her friends.
There are a lot of thrills and suspense in the story. It wasn’t my favorite of stories, because I wanted a bit more character development and I wasn’t a big fan of the flashbacks. But overall, a decent thriller and it was enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc copy of this book. *It comes out November 19th!*

Fast-paced and short, this book is sure to be a hit with students. I loved the idea of a perfect girl having to rely on her imperfections to save herself. Lots of fun to read and very, very quick.

I liked how quick paced it was, and I always enjoy a calm character going crazy…but Perfect Girl is done a complete disservice by the constant callbacks to Covid and ‘the covid year’. And then the random school shooting references, I think it was done because the author wanted to connect to the present day teen/young adult, but a lot of people read to escape reality, and it really just came off as an out of touch author trying to make some kind of statement that continuously fell flat. It took me out of the book everytime, and it happened very consistently.
Also, the fact that (spoilers for the rest of the sentence!) at the end after she’d been missing for hours her best friend and brother were just hooking up not even worried about any of the others??? It was weird.
On a more positive note, I did think Jessa and Ryan were cute, and when Jessa was escaping I was genuinely stressed out—which is always good for a thriller—and, again, I love to see the goodie-goodie go a bit off the rails in a good way. I really do wish I could rate this higher, but due to what I mentioned and some other little things I decided to settle at a three:)

Jessa has always been the perfect, rule-following girl, but during a stormy sleepover at her old house, things take a dark turn. With her friends fighting, unexpected visitors, and a killer targeting her for being the "perfect girl," Jessa must break all the rules to survive the night

This book reminded me of when I was in high school with my friends and how we would get so easily creeped out during sleepovers. This was a fun YA thriller! Definitely was not expecting it to be as suspenseful.

What I think could have been better was Tiny’s character, I understand the role she needed to play to push the plot but she could’ve been more fleshed out. I also felt that the dialogue between the characters didn’t seem believable at times.

Readers who enjoy YA thrillers would like this as an introduction to the genre. As someone who’s read many adult and YA thrillers, I still had fun reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillans Children’s Publishing Group for this ARC.

omg i read this within 24 hours because i needed to know what was going to happen. i did predict a good amount which is why i gave it 3 stars but it was still a fast paced thriller i think a lot will enjoy.

Perfect Girl is a very bingeable and fast-paced YA thriller/horror book! The story follows good girl, Jessa. One night, while her parents are away, Jessa has a sleepover with her friends that turns into a very scary situation. There are some unknown visitors, a massive storm cuts out the power, and her friends start going missing…
As an adult that often reads YA, this is definitely a YA book for young YA readers. But, it kept me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed the flashback aspect that the author incorporated. The characters were well written and I could definitely relate to Jessa in a lot of ways!

This is another edge-of-your-seat thriller that gives you plenty of jump scares, making you shiver with goosebumps and taking your breath away with its claustrophobic, eerie atmosphere and increasing tension!

Jessa: the perfect girl with straight As, teacher's pet, rule follower, parents' favorite, goody-two-shoes, always pleasing people, a peacemaker, never making mistakes, and the opposite of her troublemaker one-year-older brother Josh.

When she decides to invite her friends, including Tiny who lately has become estranged from them after starting to date an older, mysterious man, her parents make an exception to their usual rule against sleepovers when they're not home. A mysterious serial killer has been lurking around and has taken six girls in the neighborhood lately. Her parents are convinced that she'd be better off having people with her, not alone in the house, especially when her brother Josh also has plans to stay at Ryan's place.

Their gang of four musketeers, including Kellen and Alexis, finally gathers in her basement for a Buffy marathon. It starts with a fight between the girls because Tiny seems nervous, trying to push each girl's buttons to get a reaction. Suddenly, the power goes out with striking lightning, a tree collapses near their house, and on top of that, Josh and Ryan decide to join them after their parents have a verbal fight at home.

Jessa tries to keep the peace, still harboring a crush on Ryan, reluctantly playing truth or dare in the dark, controlling the fire on the stove, and preventing her brother from doing something reckless like burning the house again. But this is just the beginning of the eventful night. When they separate to reach the power company, they realize there's someone very dangerous lurking around the neighborhood—not only an abusive boyfriend or a ghost walking up the stairs of the house, but something more lethal targeting young girls, like he hunted young Bella who was introduced at the beginning of the book. And now, as a pretty girl, Jessa is in the spotlight! She has to prove she is not the flawless, perfect girl she seems to be to save her loved ones' lives. The clock is ticking. In the middle of the night, with a rising storm and bleak darkness, she has to learn to fight monsters, get messy, skip the nice girl rules, sharpen her nails, and play dirty to survive!

Overall: I'm rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 gripping, heart-pounding stars. The mystery was a little bit predictable, but the tempo was high and captivating, and the pressure-building left you breathless! It was definitely an enjoyable popcorn thriller you can consume in one sitting, enjoying a thrilling night! But I advise not reading it when you're alone, especially in the middle of the night, so you don't get rattled by unknown voices in the house or sleep with all the lights on!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends for sharing this heart-pounding thriller's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is a completely bingeable YA thriller/horror. It was a wild ride and so much fun. As I was reading along, I didn’t realize what was happening and who the antagonist was until it hit me right in the face. I love it when this happens. I like to think that I get so into my books I turn off all other parts of my brain besides the reading portion because sometimes I never guess the twists. I think I just like surprises in my books though, which is the only place I like them! Once I did get to the twist in this book, my mind was just blown, and I was in utter shock. This book was just so twisted, in so many ways and I ate it up. I loved the 90’s nostalgia that was mixed in this book as well. I think that it really helped me feel connected to the story. Jessa was such a well-written character, and I enjoyed that she was such a perfectionist. I tend to be the same way, so this helped me feel connected to her.

honestly i flew through this. this is definitely a book for a good girls guide to murder lovers, or any maureen johnson lovers. *i definitely enjoyed it and i adore those series/authors* i definitely cannot wait fro this to come out in paperback. I will leave a more indepth review on a social media platform in a few days, so i can fully acknowledge all thoughts. i will update after that. thank you to the publisher for the e-arc.

"Perfect Girl" by Tracy Banghart is a fast-paced YA thriller that combines high school drama with the fear of perfectionism gone awry. Jessa Morgan has always been the “perfect girl,” the embodiment of everything her parents, friends, and society expect from her. But when a storm knocks out the power during a sleepover at her eerie house, Jessa’s carefully controlled world begins to unravel as a killer targets her. To survive, she must defy everything she’s been taught and embrace the chaos she’s always avoided.

While Jessa’s internal struggle with perfectionism is relatable and well-executed, the novel falters in its inconsistent character development. The tension between Jessa and her brother Josh, for instance, is set up as a golden child versus scapegoat dynamic, yet it never reaches a satisfying conclusion. Other characters, like Tiny and Alexis, feel underdeveloped or frustratingly inconsistent, leaving much of their potential unrealized. Despite these flaws, Jessa and Ryan stand out as the most fully realized characters, driving the emotional core of the story.

The book’s 90s nostalgia, with references to "Buffy," adds a fun touch, and the suspense keeps readers engaged, even if the plot leans heavily on typical horror tropes. The novel does touch on real fears of being attacked or abducted, making it a relatable read for anyone who has ever worried about the fragility of safety. While the story may leave some readers wanting more resolution, particularly around the characters' emotional aftermath, it remains a solid, blood-pounding read for fans of YA thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, and Tracy Banghart for the advanced reader copy.

Thrilling, fast-paced, with a protagonist whose thoughts so perfectly aligned with my own that it often felt like we were both putting our heads together during the heart pounding danger scenes. For fans of classic teen horror and perfect girls getting to show their scary, messy sides.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, but it ended up being a bit predictable.
I would recommend someone to read it though, considering it was interesting and I enjoyed it!

Personally, I had trouble getting into this book. I felt the beginning started kinda slow and it never really gained my interest. Unfortunately, I had to "dnf" this book because I was unable to finish it. I liked the writing style, but had trouble finishing it. I think that it could sell well and that there will definitely be people who will love this book. Unfortunately I wasn't one of those people.

WOW! This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. As someone new to reading a YA horror I can say I truly enjoyed reading this. I was initially drawn in to the book by the cover but no idea what to expect. It was thrilling, fast paced, and I just couldn't put the book down. This should be read by younger audiences and be a cautionary tale for anyone too scared to stand up for themselves. I'm not the main target audience for this book but my fears of being abducted or not knowing what's lurking in the dark had me silently screaming while reading this. I can compare it to watching a 2000's teen thriller when you don't know where the scare is coming next. Jessa and her friends made all the decisions I expected a typical teen to make given the circumstances and I loved how we were aware of Jessa's emotions through the inner dialogue in the story "my party, my responsibility".

Overall, I was hooked from the beginning and it kept me there throughout the whole time. Although I may have wanted a bit more feminine rage from Jessa. This is a great thriller read for late nights during spooky season. For only about 300 pages PERFECT GIRL told a complete story with very heavy themes and all the chaos I want in a horror novel. It was "perfect".

Thank you Netgalley, MacMillan Children's Publishing Group, and Tracy Banghart for providing me this copy in exchange for a honest review.

Jessa is the “perfect girl.” She always follows the rules and has a life plan. However, one night tests everything Jessa thinks she knows about herself. During a sleepover with her four best friends, a crazy storm hits and the power goes out. A killer looking for a perfect girl targets Jessa and Jessa has to figure out how to keep herself and her friends alive until morning.

Wow! You’ll definitely need to clear your schedule for this one. This was my first book by Tracy Banghart and it definitely won’t be my last. The tension and build-up throughout the story was perfect. I enjoyed the twists throughout the story. The writing was often so descriptive that I felt like I was right there with the characters. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys thrillers or suspense! I give it 4/5 stars.