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A review by ameserole
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk
5.0
Dang it! If only there was another 'a' in her name I would have finally found a book where the main character has the same name as me. Ugh. Such a dagger to the heart kind of moment guys. Maybe one day I will find this but for now, I will accept Alina.
Now The Other Side of Perfect was such a good book. I'm honestly not sure why it took me so long to dive into it but I'm so happy that I finally did. Right after meeting Alina, I honestly didn't know how I felt about here. There was no instant connection between her and I but I was hopeful that things would go a certain way. Which, yes, I definitely ended up liking the heck out of this girl.
Alina has always had the dream of being a professional ballet dancer. Whereas, I have a dream of owning my own personal library. Her dream came crashing down and mine will probably never happen either. Unless it's like a really small library pantry that could eventually turn into a library closet. Now I'm used to breaking lots of things - like my weak ass ankles, shoulder cuffs, or my skull (soccer was rough to me guys). So when she goes through her own healing situation I could feel her pain.
Well, somewhat.. because I could always go back into soccer if I wanted but details. With the pain of never reaching her ballet dreams, she turns to the school musical with like a little teeny tiny bit of excitement. Yeah drama unfolds throughout the book but we get to see what happened before her injury, how she was actually injured, and how she adapted after the shit storm unleashed on her. It was all very easy to devour and I liked see her character grow throughout.
Only because once one door closes another one will open. Just because she musicals were never on her radar doesn't mean that they were never a possibility. I liked how joining this changed her perspective on things and brought a new joy to her as well. Heck, even Jude was a nice change of pace too.
In the end, I like how this talked about the deep dark stuff and then had a lighter side on other things. It was a great balance throughout and I'm so glad that I got the chance to dive into this beautiful book. I can't wait for the next one Mariko writes!
Now The Other Side of Perfect was such a good book. I'm honestly not sure why it took me so long to dive into it but I'm so happy that I finally did. Right after meeting Alina, I honestly didn't know how I felt about here. There was no instant connection between her and I but I was hopeful that things would go a certain way. Which, yes, I definitely ended up liking the heck out of this girl.
Alina has always had the dream of being a professional ballet dancer. Whereas, I have a dream of owning my own personal library. Her dream came crashing down and mine will probably never happen either. Unless it's like a really small library pantry that could eventually turn into a library closet. Now I'm used to breaking lots of things - like my weak ass ankles, shoulder cuffs, or my skull (soccer was rough to me guys). So when she goes through her own healing situation I could feel her pain.
Well, somewhat.. because I could always go back into soccer if I wanted but details. With the pain of never reaching her ballet dreams, she turns to the school musical with like a little teeny tiny bit of excitement. Yeah drama unfolds throughout the book but we get to see what happened before her injury, how she was actually injured, and how she adapted after the shit storm unleashed on her. It was all very easy to devour and I liked see her character grow throughout.
Only because once one door closes another one will open. Just because she musicals were never on her radar doesn't mean that they were never a possibility. I liked how joining this changed her perspective on things and brought a new joy to her as well. Heck, even Jude was a nice change of pace too.
In the end, I like how this talked about the deep dark stuff and then had a lighter side on other things. It was a great balance throughout and I'm so glad that I got the chance to dive into this beautiful book. I can't wait for the next one Mariko writes!