Reviews

No Perfect Places by Steven Salvatore

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thebookishnarwhal's review

5.0

Beautiful and thought-provoking, I was not prepared for this hard-hitting story. No Perfect Places by Steven Salvatore is a poetic telling of grief, family, love, and loss. This is NOT a romance novel: it is a hard read, but a good one.

Meet Alex. She does everything to escape her grief (and feelings in general) since her father was imprisoned, and then passed away, becoming a ghost. Meet Olly. He is trying to fight the rage welling up inside of him, as he lives with immense guilt for hiding his father’s secret. Meet Tyler. He never met his real dad but he is getting to know his siblings, twins named Alex and Olly. Will one of these siblings self-destruct before they’re able to see the light in the darkness?

As a reader, you need to open your heart while reading this story. The three siblings beg for you to care for them and see them to the end of their journey. As someone who lost their father last year, the premise of how when someone is alive, there are infinite opportunities to fix what broke, but once they're gone, so is their potential to make things right.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

bethany6788's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my last book in @stevensalvatorebooks’s backlist and I’m already sad! I always love reading the author’s notes and acknowledgments in books. Steven always bares their heart and soul and provides context and insight into why and how they came up with their book.

This book was a beautiful exploration of the messy circumstances that can surround your family. The prison system. Secrets. Trying to control the narrative around you and becoming victim to it. Understanding privilege. Bonds and how they can be broken, shaped, mended, and stronger. It’s about the certainty of the people in your life that you can count on. The breathlessness of your first love. How quickly things can escalate. Romanticizing your life. Taking each day as they come.

It really was a beautiful book and a perfect read to end the weekend with. Hope is out there. We aren’t perfect. We can make mistakes and fail forward. Thanks @stevensalvatorebooks for another gem. 🥹

takingoverthesun's review

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4.25

Perfect title as this was really heavy and complex but that’s what I liked about it even though it was really hard at times. I loved the alternating perspectives between twins Olly and Alex each chapter, and there never was one pov that I preferred over another. I also really liked the

”secret sibling” aspect and what he added to the story both for Olly and Alex

I liked the small, close-knit setting this took place in. I also liked the cover

1cornsread's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Loved this book so much. It wasn't exactly wholesome, but at the extraordinary tipping point where you get the feeling things will turn out after tons and tons of struggle.

orangeredacted's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

jsncnrd's review against another edition

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5.0

This might be in my top 10 of the year (currently book 56 of 2023 for me). It had me crying at 3:00 AM on a Saturday night – it was emotionally raw, heavy, and candid. But it was also filled with hope, levity, and second chances.

I loved both Olly and Alex. But I was also repeatedly frustrated with Olly and Alex. And you know that’s when an author has done their job – when you form a bond with the characters and want the best for them. And when you get upset when they self-sabotage their lives.

Olly – I loved him for doing his best with what little he had. He was a great brother who had a huge heart, and he was filled with good intentions. But I was so frustrated with him for trying so hard to control the narrative around him. In doing so, I was mad at him for repeatedly hurting Tyler by keeping him a secret, and for his selective honesty. I wish he’d have taken a step back and realized that Alex didn’t need to be protected – just supported.

Alex – I loved her for her emotional depth and her strength. For eventually letting people back in. For being able to overcome her past. But I was so frustrated with her for running from her support. I was somewhat mad with her for how mad she was at Olly for keeping Tyler a secret, despite him trying multiple times to tell her. I was frustrated every time she went back to Hunter.

Don’t even get me started on how much I loved Tyler – a true golden retriever of a human. He was a wonderful character (and plot device) who brought so much sunshine to the story.

When all was said and done, I realized how important it was that I was frustrated with both Olly and Alex because we learned a lot from their mistakes. Seeing their character arcs was so satisfying, and I loved the ending that we got.

Olly and Alex are twins, but their POV’s were written so distinctly. Dual POV can be exhausting sometimes. This book, however, wouldn’t have had the depth it had if it would have been told from just one person’s perspective. [ Oh, how I would’ve loved getting a chapter from Tyler’s POV. ]

I loved that Steven Salvatore wasn’t afraid to dive into difficult topics. The broken justice system, adolescent behavioral issues, grief, addiction, abusive relationships, to name a few. These are all such important things that need to be talked about, and the book did so well handling them.

The title being a reference to one of my favorite songs of all time? That’s just a bonus on top of all the other amazing things that this book brought with it. I read And They Lived… earlier this year and gave it a solid 4 stars. No Perfect Places is an enormous 5-star rating from me. Absolutely incredible.

[ "All of the things we're taking, because we are young and we're ashamed. / All of our heroes fading, now I can't stand to be alone. / All the nights spent off our faces, trying to find these perfect places. / What the fuck are perfect places, anyway?" - Lorde ]