A review by missprint_
Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan

3.0

Piper Perish and her best friends Kit and Enzo have been dreaming of moving to NYC for art school since they started high school. After years of feeling like she's been living in the wrong place, in the wrong decade, senior year is finally here and Piper's days in Houston are numbered. But after a disastrous New Year's Eve dance and a painful breakup, Piper's senior year isn't exactly going how she planned. As new challenges and obstacles threaten her hopes of following in Andy Warhol's steps in NYC, Piper has to find strength in her art and herself as she chases her dreams.

Piper Perish is one of Chronicle's biggest YA releases this year (and Cagan is one of the nicest authors if you see her at a signing). There's a lot to recommend here and this will most appeal to artsy kids or teens who like diary format novels. That said, the main thread between Piper and Enzo gave me a lot of pause.

Spoiler

Piper refuses to accept initially that her boyfriend Enzo is actually gay despite what everyone else sees as obvious red flags. Piper also wonders if her being rail thing and looking like (male) Andy Warhol contributed.

Piper sees the light eventually but it felt incongruous and problematic to put out that kind of stereotype/trope in any capacity. Everything to do with Piper's sister was also very strange and under-developed/explained.