Perfect-ish

Prue’s life is far from perfect. She’s about to turn 30 and feels like an absolute failure. All around her, she sees people living their best lives while she’s having to crash at her brother’s after her fiancé breaks off their engagement. She’s also dropped out of her veterinary degree and is working a job counselling lonely people – which she finds incredibly embarrassing. Then, of course, there’s her mother who seems to pick at every single thing about her, while simultaneously ignoring her. So with the help of her best friend Delia, Prue makes a list of all the things she wants to accomplish before she hits the big three-oh: find a job she’s passionate about, get her own place, and find the love of her life.

Prue is often an unlikeable main character and at times her actions prevented me from rooting for her. But at other times, I found her incredibly relatable. Prue is the embodiment of how we all often feel after scrolling through Instagram, seeing everyone living seemingly perfect lives. Whether it’s trying to prove we are doing well by posting selfies with the perfect caption, taking photos at fancy restaurants, or renting designer clothes to make ourselves look more successful, we are all putting on some sort of show to the outside world. But what I found most relatable was Prue’s relationship with her mother. Jessica Seaborn manages to perfectly capture the feeling of always losing your place in the spotlight to a sibling, and the constant yearning for a parent’s approval.

Fans of Emily Henry and Genevieve Novak will enjoy this fast-paced and funny Australian debut about ignoring society’s expectations and finding your own kind of perfect.