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A review by itsareaderslife
Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan
2.0
*I received an e-ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I have seen lots of people talking about Piper Perish on social media so when I saw it was available for request on Netgalley I jumped at the chance. Sadly, I was not a fan.
Protagonist Piper Perish lives in Houston and is in her senior year. She dreams of going to NY with her two best friends to study art where Andy Warhol did. The novel begins on New Years Day when we find out Piper's long term boyfriend, Enzo, has broken up with her because he has come to the realization that he is gay. Following this, we watch Piper's life unfold when she applies to university and deals with a selfish and pregnant sister, a jealous best friend and a few boys along the way. The novel is laid out like a diary and follows Piper from January until August. By the end, you feel as if you've lived a lifetime with Perish.
Here's the thing. I really struggled to like Piper. As a character, I found her very selfish which was kind of ironic because she spent most of the novel complaining about how selfish her older sister was. She failed to see why her best friend was upset in parts of the novel, putting all of it on her, and was pretty mad with her (ex) boyfriend when he came out. Don't get me wrong, there were times I felt some sympathy towards Piper, like when her parents told her they didn't think she'd get in to her chosen university or when she had to endure the first meeting with Enzo's new boyfriend, but for the most part I found her too wingey to see past this. I think the diary aspect played a role in this because you would usually rent to your diary but this novel felt slightly too pre-teen for me.
'If I was you, I wouldn't come back either.'
However, this novel and Piper are very relevant to my life right now. I am currently in my last year of sixth form (senior year) and I will be starting university in the autumn so I did feel like I could connect to Piper on that level. In a few months I'll be going through all the things she went through and making the decisions she had to make.
One part of the novel I did like was Piper's friendship group. Kit and Enzo are both aspiring artists like Piper and I've never come across a more supportive group. Although things don't go as the group planned, they were still there for each other every step of the way. Enzo was the perfect gay best friend. He designed all of Piper's outfits for her and gave her a talking to when she needed it but also consoled her for hours when she couldn't control her emotions. Kit, on the other hand, struggled at times when it appeared Piper was excelling in the art world but I thought Kit was a really funny character and she sounded super talented too. For the most part, she was just as supportive as Enzo and the group together where the magical trio.
'Being that close to him, it just felt so...us. But for the first time it didn't feel..right.'
Moving on to Piper's sister. Oh my god, what a bitch. Marli was horrible to her sister, her boyfriend and her parents. Marli falls pregnant at the beginning of the novel and has to return home but she never shows any gratitude for her parents who are trying to make ends meet. She also got mad at the slightest thing Piper did. Like when Piper looked at her the wrong way she had a huge melt down and then make out she was some great and wonderful sister. Although Piper was the nicest of the two, it was clear they both share a selfish gene.
There were three different boys in this novel, although we meet them all at very different times and situations. First up is Enzo, Piper's first boyfriend. After the pair break up, they do share some moments which shows Enzo's confusion and denial of his sexuality. In that respect, he reminded me of Patrick from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. The second was Silas, Piper's mentor, who we don't actually get to meet until the very end of the novel. They exchange emails through the course of the book and Silas appears to be a really cool guy, looking out for Piper and giving her advice before he has even met her. The third was CJ, who thought he was some hotshot journalist and put all of Piper's friends down in his articles. They were a mixed bunch but I think all of them helped Piper grow as a person in some way.
Although I liked some characters and story lines in this novel, I feel like I've been reading it for months and there was never really a pinnacle dilemma moment in the book like most novels have. I really struggled to connect with the main character and I think that is so important when reading a book because we see the rest of the word through their eyes. This novel was just not for me.
'The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even if the people in it do,'
My Rating: 2.5/5
I have seen lots of people talking about Piper Perish on social media so when I saw it was available for request on Netgalley I jumped at the chance. Sadly, I was not a fan.
Protagonist Piper Perish lives in Houston and is in her senior year. She dreams of going to NY with her two best friends to study art where Andy Warhol did. The novel begins on New Years Day when we find out Piper's long term boyfriend, Enzo, has broken up with her because he has come to the realization that he is gay. Following this, we watch Piper's life unfold when she applies to university and deals with a selfish and pregnant sister, a jealous best friend and a few boys along the way. The novel is laid out like a diary and follows Piper from January until August. By the end, you feel as if you've lived a lifetime with Perish.
Here's the thing. I really struggled to like Piper. As a character, I found her very selfish which was kind of ironic because she spent most of the novel complaining about how selfish her older sister was. She failed to see why her best friend was upset in parts of the novel, putting all of it on her, and was pretty mad with her (ex) boyfriend when he came out. Don't get me wrong, there were times I felt some sympathy towards Piper, like when her parents told her they didn't think she'd get in to her chosen university or when she had to endure the first meeting with Enzo's new boyfriend, but for the most part I found her too wingey to see past this. I think the diary aspect played a role in this because you would usually rent to your diary but this novel felt slightly too pre-teen for me.
'If I was you, I wouldn't come back either.'
However, this novel and Piper are very relevant to my life right now. I am currently in my last year of sixth form (senior year) and I will be starting university in the autumn so I did feel like I could connect to Piper on that level. In a few months I'll be going through all the things she went through and making the decisions she had to make.
One part of the novel I did like was Piper's friendship group. Kit and Enzo are both aspiring artists like Piper and I've never come across a more supportive group. Although things don't go as the group planned, they were still there for each other every step of the way. Enzo was the perfect gay best friend. He designed all of Piper's outfits for her and gave her a talking to when she needed it but also consoled her for hours when she couldn't control her emotions. Kit, on the other hand, struggled at times when it appeared Piper was excelling in the art world but I thought Kit was a really funny character and she sounded super talented too. For the most part, she was just as supportive as Enzo and the group together where the magical trio.
'Being that close to him, it just felt so...us. But for the first time it didn't feel..right.'
Moving on to Piper's sister. Oh my god, what a bitch. Marli was horrible to her sister, her boyfriend and her parents. Marli falls pregnant at the beginning of the novel and has to return home but she never shows any gratitude for her parents who are trying to make ends meet. She also got mad at the slightest thing Piper did. Like when Piper looked at her the wrong way she had a huge melt down and then make out she was some great and wonderful sister. Although Piper was the nicest of the two, it was clear they both share a selfish gene.
There were three different boys in this novel, although we meet them all at very different times and situations. First up is Enzo, Piper's first boyfriend. After the pair break up, they do share some moments which shows Enzo's confusion and denial of his sexuality. In that respect, he reminded me of Patrick from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. The second was Silas, Piper's mentor, who we don't actually get to meet until the very end of the novel. They exchange emails through the course of the book and Silas appears to be a really cool guy, looking out for Piper and giving her advice before he has even met her. The third was CJ, who thought he was some hotshot journalist and put all of Piper's friends down in his articles. They were a mixed bunch but I think all of them helped Piper grow as a person in some way.
Although I liked some characters and story lines in this novel, I feel like I've been reading it for months and there was never really a pinnacle dilemma moment in the book like most novels have. I really struggled to connect with the main character and I think that is so important when reading a book because we see the rest of the word through their eyes. This novel was just not for me.
'The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even if the people in it do,'
My Rating: 2.5/5