Great YA thriller. It had a Pretty Little Liars feel to it and really had me on the edge of my seat as I listened to it. There were tons of jump scares and creepiness. Let's just say, it wasn't what I was expecting, but that was a good thing, it was better. I also was glad to be listening to it in a crowded office and not home alone in the dark haha.
The book was well read and the Narrator did a great job!

Perfect Girl" by Tracy Banghart is a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing premise, but the predictable plot and underdeveloped characters make it fall short of its full potential. While the story keeps a steady momentum, it lacks the depth needed to make the protagonist’s journey truly compelling. Angie Kane’s narration is solid, capturing the tension well, though at times her delivery feels a bit flat, making it harder to fully engage with the emotional stakes.

Thank you Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and Tracy Banghart for the audio Arc of Perfect Girl
Narrated by Angie Kane

When your a people pleaser and converts into the final girl? This is exactly how I felt for this book .Jessa is who everyone else wants her to be. Doesn't rock the boat but after a power outage at a friends sleep over, could she be a changed teen?

This is the first book Ive rad by Tracy Banghart and really engaged with the characters even though it is marketed at being directed at a YA audience. The characters were well developed and felt human with lots of flaws, lots of young adult angst and tension. With the pacing and the direction the narrative took, made fir an engaging read.

Angie Kane added another layer of engagement by narrating this book and her voice matched perfectly with the narrative

4 stars.

Okay. Storm. Sleepover. Bad (EX?)Boyfriends. No communication. Killer.

It's all here. This book was good but a bit far fetched for me. I mean Jessa was too much. One dirty dress and you never do anything bad again? Like it seemed a lot. Josh had so little concern when his sister and friends are missing he makes out with her best friend? And Josh can date her friends but his, actually a great guy, friend can't date his sister? No. And just the fact that all these freak accidents had to occur just so (storm, no power, friends getting to say over when there is a strict no friends over policy, small car, abusive boyfriends showing up, serial killer on the loose, etc) in order for it all to come together? No.

I was also so confused! The back and forth confused me so much and I get where it went but it didn't flow for me. No way the guy driving the girl home and the neighbor kid were the same.

Anyway all that said, I think HS kids will like it and it will be on the shelf. I just have so many questions for the kids in this story 😂😂😂

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

This book was amazing! I loved how real-life problems were seamlessly intertwined with the plot. The characters were fantastic (except for the ones who were clearly meant to be the antagonists!). And the romance—oh my gosh, it was so cute! Even though it was more of a subplot, I enjoyed every moment of it. I honestly couldn’t put this book down. I read it in a single evening because I just had to know what was going to happen next. Sure, parts were a bit predictable, but it was still packed with excitement and fun. Since it’s a thriller, I don’t want to give too much away, but just know that I was completely hooked from start to finish. The characters were so well done, and the story was compulsively readable. If you’re looking for an exciting, fast-paced read, I highly recommend this one!

3.5 stars.

Jessa has been raised to be the “perfect girl.” She knows what's expected of her, and she's happy to be the person her parents (and society) want. When a freak storm takes out the power during a sleepover at Jessa’s creepy, old house, things go south real fast. A killer looking for the perfect girl has targeted Jessa, and she’ll have to reject everything she’s been taught if she wants to keep herself—and her friends—alive until sunrise.

This was your standard, fast-paced popcorn YA slasher story, which I was just in the mood for. Jessa was your typical naive, good-girl heroine, with a lot of luck!

Yes, we had some teenage angst, young love, crushes, truth-or-dare game, and drama. We also had jump scares, creepy moments, and a serial killer on the loose. The audiobook was a real audiodrama. I loved the narrator’s full performance, with dynamic pacing and tone which made the scenes played in my head like a movie.

I’d recommend you to grab some snacks, get cosy (put your headset on if listening to the audiobook), don’t overthink things, and just enjoy this pure entertainment!

DNF at 5%. This was not for me, the narrator was unlikeable from the start. The narrator was a bit whiny for me and younger than what I anticipated

if i'm being completely honest, i didn't get past the halfway mark for "perfect girl". the main character is unlikable, and not in an enjoyable way. the "i'm not like other girls" trope is very tired. additionally, the plot and writing did not keep me engaged, so it was hard to connect with the characters and/or the storyline.

3.5 Stars

This is a fun, quick, YA Thriller. We have two POVs in this one the primary POV is Jessa a 16/17 year old who does her best to keep everything neat and tidy. Everyone feels like she has her life together but inside she has no idea what she's doing with her life. As Jessa's parents are out of town she invites her 3 best friends over to keep her company in her "haunted house". As a whirlwind storm rolls through the area antics ensue. Our secondary POV is from the "past" and doesn't add much of anything to the story except maybe give a different perspective.

This is a book about teenagers making, not the best choices, as they keep putting themselves in harm's way instead of staying put which would have kept them safe. We see these kids in peril, threatened, a young girl in an abusive relationship, friends being mean to one another, and siblings being siblings. It's a fun story, it flows quickly, and the "twists" are extremely obvious, but the overall story was one you can breeze through in one sitting, definitely worth the read. The narrator did a great job, I almost thought she was two people when switching between POVs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC

Unfortunately I didn't vibe with this book. I found the FMC incredibly stupid and the plot un-enganging and boring. I didn't like what happened nor any of the characters.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I've read a few reviews that complained about the pacing being uneven, but I feel like that was intentional! It was a normal sleepover made just a little creepy by a supposedly haunted house and a big storm, then things keep compounding with power outages and angry unexpected guests, until somehow this quiet sleepover has become the worst night of their lives for everyone involved!

I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that I enjoyed the message that it's the pressure to be perfect that is trying to kill Jessa and once she gives that up and makes decisions only for her and her friend's own benefit, they manage to survive.

This was an interesting audio book. Great narration.
Jessa is the perfect child and she’s starting to feel the pressure. She’s left home alone with her friends and thus sleep over turns into a night mare.
3.5 stars

From the moment I read the blurb, I hoped this would be my kind of book! ✨ Yes, please!

This thriller keeps you on your toes, although I felt I wanted more, the different POV’s were confusing at times! I did enjoy the audiobook narration though! But nonetheless, it was your classic YA thriller.
I would recommend adding this to your TBR for something fun!

I will say, the cover is nice and vibrant, it’s the perfect contrast to all the chaos inside.

I went into this without having read the synopsis, I just assumed it was a thriller when I picked it based on the cover. Well, to sum this up, rule following teen girl's sleepover goes massively ary when a big storm takes out the power and a creeper has decided she is the "perfect girl".
So this was all over the place with tropes and angst, lots of drama and archaic gender roles used by lots of characters- I would have assumed this was set in the 1980 but they had cell phones and were streaming movies, but otherwise some of the characterizations felt very outdated. The big mystery was weird and not super surprising, but still odd, and no real reason for it and basically all the action was the last 2 chapters of the book.
Overall I could not connect with the character, the plot had holes and strangeness and the main characters actions were very frustrating. I am sure there are some others who will enjoy this almost tribute to the old sleepover slasher thing, but it was not a book for me.

Thank you Net Galley!
This story is fine. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. The main character made me think Teeny Bopper.
It read much like "it was a dark and stormy night and your home alone..." With some twisty pieces added in.
I will say there were a few times that I caught myself playing detective in trying to figure out who the true "bad guy (or girl)" was.
All of the main characters decisions felt comparable to when in a scary movie the person runs up the stairs instead of out the front door!

This felt almost like a scream tv show and I really enjoyed it. It tackled some harder subjects well and was just a fun read.

I thought this was like watching a 90’s slasher flick. I loved the haunted house aspect along with the teenage girl friendship dynamics.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story and definitely kept me entertained. Some things just irked me in this novel, like Jessa's mother who had this weird 1950s attitude of her brother "just being a boy" and then having this mega stressful, overarching opinion that Jessa did need to be a perfect little female. As much as it seems abhorrent with the neighbor and his mom's weird point of view of 'women are made to take care of their husband and children,' was it really that off of what her own mother was touting? Obviously, the neighbor was far more extreme....

The book had a good creep and mystery factor to it, however, I don't think any of the characters were really likable and Jessa just drove me crazy the entire time. Yes, her mother definitely caused a lot of her mental anxiety, but she perpetuated her OWN anxiety by choosing to act like some docile 1950s daughter. While EVERYONE around her was trying to be supportive and tell her to have a voice, yet she was putting on all of them that they were making her "be perfect." There was just a lot that drove me a bit crazy about this novel. Overall, good read but a VERY rushed ending. I do love the splash of ghost factors throughout the book and definitely leaves you wondering at the end of the novel. This also makes me remember why I never want to live in some far away in the country house that has minimal neighbors and no cell reception!

This could have been great, however it really wasn't. I had trouble connecting to the characters and the plot was predictable and just meh.
The main character was quite bland and I found her quite annoying most of the time.
I've actually read this a little over a month ago and I barely remember anything from it, the little I do remember, I'd rather not...
It was pretty short at least but I still had to make myself finish it.
So yeah, this was definitely a miss for me...

Perfect Girl by Tracey Banghart


This book gave me the epic creeps!!


Jessa has been raised to be a good girl. Polite… never argue… rule follower. Her friends are always giving her a hard time. During a sleepover at her home the storm takes out the power and when one of her friends goes outside and doesn’t come back.. Jessa knows something isn’t right and someone is there to make sure this is their last night together…
UGHHHHH I didn’t know how good this book was until the action starts. Jessa is a bit whiny but it really was a minor inconvenience for the craziness that kicks off once that power goes out. Jessa has caught the eye of the creepy kid from school who is also her neighbor and her friends boyfriend is very very dangerous… both of them are creeping around the house…
The stuff that happened had my pulse going a mile a minute. I was panicking for them and I wasn’t even there! The author built a wonderfully dark atmospheric read to an earth shattering conclusion and I was blown away. I did not expect any of the things to happen that did happen and holy heck was it well paced. Don’t let the cover and title lull you into thinking you know how dark this book gets because you have no idea.
Brilliant. Well written and expertly executed.
4 stars