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A review by booksy_hvn
The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza
5.0
Thank you Netgalley and Holiday House for giving this arc in exchange of an honest review. This book is such a journey, a great one of course, but a very hard one too.
We meet Tegan, a 16 years old teenager who wakes up in the horrendous motel she stayed at with her father and little sister some weeks ago. She is confused as to why she is there, as they already left and she has no memory of coming back.
We find out (and this is not a spoiler as it is known from the synopsis) that Tegan died, and she now will live inside her heaven which is supposed to be her “best memory” according to Zelda, an angel she meets there. For Tegan, this makes absolutely no sense as she remembers her stay at the Marybelle motel as one of the most horrible moments in her life, however throughout the novel we will be presented with other memories and will have to judge if Tegan’s opinion is objective about this matter.
As a reader, you do not need to know more than this to understand and get completely captivated by the story.
We do not only get to know Tegan not only in the present moment, but also in different moments of the past: interacting with her friends, with her family and we observe her reactions and the reasons behind why she is so reactive and opposed to accepting the Marybelle as her heaven.
Tegan is so well constructed as a character, she is portrayed as a very angry and confused teenager, as if she were at the very edge of imploding at every given moment; which makes her such a realistic and relatable character not only to current teenagers but also to every person who was once a teenager and acted like her.
Of course, her anger and confusion are many times so combined that they leave her in an existential crisis (ironic as, she does not “exist” as such in the real world) and her responses are even more justified.
However, there are times when she is just nonsensical in her responses and actions, and that makes her even more real. I think her most used words could probably be “dickcheese”, “buttface” or “this sucks”, which is pretty accurate as we all know that, even if we could think of these as cringe for someone to use, all teenagers love to use the most ridiculously funny insults and are always complaining about everything.
Zelda most times is as teenagery as Tegan, which is accurate as if I remember correctly they were either the same age or very similar ones, and she is given another layer of characterisation by being an angel, having magic powers and having to follow some rules, which this last thing is clear that she hates to do.
The reader is new not only to the type of magic that Zelda uses, but also to the rules; therefore many times the reader is left to wonder about how these affect Zelda as a character, as she does seem affected by them in some way or another.
Tegan and her totally match each other’s energy, and they are such a sweet pair or main characters, you really have no difficulty in falling in love with both of them. I myself, have officially adopted them :)
The rhythm in which the story evolves is medium paced, so it gives you enough time to assimilate what is happening, what you are reading and how to connect each happening to the other in order to solve the “mystery” of why this horrendous place is Tegan's heaven.
I really do not want to say much more about the plot as I think its a special journey which you HAVE to make with Tegan and Zelda at the same time without knowing much beforehand. Just be well seated, prepared mentally to suffer and have some napkins at hand because you WILL cry for sure. I took the (very wrong) decision of reading this story on a bus journey and I swear I was holding on for dear LIFE because if I let myself cry I would start real sobbing like a baby.
I think this could be a very special read to absolutely everyone because you are not only reading about Tegan and her story, you could also start questioning happenings and relationships and interactions you’ve had before in your life while on this journey with her.
It treats death from a very heartbreaking point of view, for God’s sake our protagonist is dead at 16 I think that is enough to start the reading with so many questions. It is not only heartbreaking though, the story also reassures and sometimes gives you big warm hugs to make you get back on your feet after so much suffering and crying. The ending is such an experience to read, and it left me so satisfied after such a painfully beautiful experience.
I do not want to anticipate anything but this might be my favourite book of this year, and I would be completely happy about it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get a physical copy to be able to mark every page in this wonderful book.
We meet Tegan, a 16 years old teenager who wakes up in the horrendous motel she stayed at with her father and little sister some weeks ago. She is confused as to why she is there, as they already left and she has no memory of coming back.
We find out (and this is not a spoiler as it is known from the synopsis) that Tegan died, and she now will live inside her heaven which is supposed to be her “best memory” according to Zelda, an angel she meets there. For Tegan, this makes absolutely no sense as she remembers her stay at the Marybelle motel as one of the most horrible moments in her life, however throughout the novel we will be presented with other memories and will have to judge if Tegan’s opinion is objective about this matter.
As a reader, you do not need to know more than this to understand and get completely captivated by the story.
We do not only get to know Tegan not only in the present moment, but also in different moments of the past: interacting with her friends, with her family and we observe her reactions and the reasons behind why she is so reactive and opposed to accepting the Marybelle as her heaven.
Tegan is so well constructed as a character, she is portrayed as a very angry and confused teenager, as if she were at the very edge of imploding at every given moment; which makes her such a realistic and relatable character not only to current teenagers but also to every person who was once a teenager and acted like her.
Of course, her anger and confusion are many times so combined that they leave her in an existential crisis (ironic as, she does not “exist” as such in the real world) and her responses are even more justified.
However, there are times when she is just nonsensical in her responses and actions, and that makes her even more real. I think her most used words could probably be “dickcheese”, “buttface” or “this sucks”, which is pretty accurate as we all know that, even if we could think of these as cringe for someone to use, all teenagers love to use the most ridiculously funny insults and are always complaining about everything.
Zelda most times is as teenagery as Tegan, which is accurate as if I remember correctly they were either the same age or very similar ones, and she is given another layer of characterisation by being an angel, having magic powers and having to follow some rules, which this last thing is clear that she hates to do.
The reader is new not only to the type of magic that Zelda uses, but also to the rules; therefore many times the reader is left to wonder about how these affect Zelda as a character, as she does seem affected by them in some way or another.
Tegan and her totally match each other’s energy, and they are such a sweet pair or main characters, you really have no difficulty in falling in love with both of them. I myself, have officially adopted them :)
The rhythm in which the story evolves is medium paced, so it gives you enough time to assimilate what is happening, what you are reading and how to connect each happening to the other in order to solve the “mystery” of why this horrendous place is Tegan's heaven.
I really do not want to say much more about the plot as I think its a special journey which you HAVE to make with Tegan and Zelda at the same time without knowing much beforehand. Just be well seated, prepared mentally to suffer and have some napkins at hand because you WILL cry for sure. I took the (very wrong) decision of reading this story on a bus journey and I swear I was holding on for dear LIFE because if I let myself cry I would start real sobbing like a baby.
I think this could be a very special read to absolutely everyone because you are not only reading about Tegan and her story, you could also start questioning happenings and relationships and interactions you’ve had before in your life while on this journey with her.
It treats death from a very heartbreaking point of view, for God’s sake our protagonist is dead at 16 I think that is enough to start the reading with so many questions. It is not only heartbreaking though, the story also reassures and sometimes gives you big warm hugs to make you get back on your feet after so much suffering and crying. The ending is such an experience to read, and it left me so satisfied after such a painfully beautiful experience.
I do not want to anticipate anything but this might be my favourite book of this year, and I would be completely happy about it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get a physical copy to be able to mark every page in this wonderful book.