Book Review: Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart

Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A haunted house, a huge storm, no cell service, wifi, or electricity: the perfect setting for a sleepover!

Perfect Girl is a new young adult horror novel by author Tracy Banghart, who pulls out all the stops to create the perfect backdrop for an innocent sleepover gone wrong. Realistic teen characters dealing with authentic, real-world problems are inadvertently caught up in someone’s deadly obsession with finding the perfect girl.

As if high school isn’t hard enough already?

The main character, Jessa Morgan, exudes cheer, charm, and kindness, but underneath, her joy is just a façade. She’s an extreme people pleaser, and her carefully curated, perfect persona is approaching its breaking point. While facing the fears the night brings, Jessa also confronts her overwhelming need to be all things to all people, which has been fueled from childhood by her mother’s hopes and high expectations. However, she’s not the only one in her circle who’s struggling. Alexis is bi, and it’s killing her that she hasn’t been able to reveal this to her parents. Another friend, Tiny, who has drifted away from their close-knit group, is secretly trapped in an abusive relationship with an older guy. Even Jessa’s brother, Josh, is dealing with issues. Long ago, he abdicated his role as the responsible firstborn to his younger sister, and he is also struggling with living up to his parents’ impossibly high expectations. With Jessa doing all the heavy lifting, he may have just given up even trying to match her successes at home and school.

There’s a sweet mutual crush developing between Jessa and Ryan, Josh’s best friend, but she’s too embedded in adhering to the standards of behavior from a more conservative time. She won’t make the first move, and he’s being held back by something that won’t let him clearly indicate his interest in her. But eventually, the courage is mustered to speak up.

In a concurrent storyline, six high school girls in nearby York have gone missing in as many months. The ongoing events of one such disappearance unfold through the eyes of the sixth missing girl. The storylines eventually converge, and the horrific truth is shocking.

The author establishes a tense, suspenseful setting with Jessa’s secluded house, which is mostly jokingly said to be home to a female teenage spirit, and her parents’ overnight absence. Situated on the edge of a woods with spotty cell service, at the best of times, Jessa and her sleepover guests, her brother, and his friend, Ryan, are further isolated when major storms roll in and take out the electricity. I was quickly caught up in the story, surprised by the plot twists, and entertained from start to finish.

I recommend PERFECT GIRL to readers of young adult horror stories and thrillers.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.

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