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Future Perfect eBook Jen Larsen

Download As PDF : Future Perfect eBook Jen Larsen

Future Perfect eBook Jen Larsen

i loved this book read it in to days


Tags : Amazon.com: Future Perfect eBook: Jen Larsen: Kindle Store,ebook,Jen Larsen,Future Perfect,HarperTeen,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Family - General,Grandmothers,Grandmothers;Fiction.,Health & Daily Living - General,JUVENILE FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Issues),JUVENILE FICTION Health & Daily Living General,JUVENILE FICTION Social Issues Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Overweight persons,Overweight persons;Fiction.,Overweight teenagers,Personal & social issues: self-awareness & self-esteem (Children's Teenage),Self-esteem,Self-esteem in adolescence,Self-esteem;Fiction.,Single-parent families,Social Themes - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Weight loss,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Health & Daily Living General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Young Adult FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),Young Adult FictionHealth & Daily Living - General,Young adult fiction,Family - General,Health & Daily Living - General,Social Themes - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Health & Daily Living General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Young Adult FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),Young Adult FictionHealth & Daily Living - General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Family General (see also headings under Social Themes) *,YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Health & Daily Living General *,YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Social Themes Peer Pressure *,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Personal & social issues: self-awareness & self-esteem (Children's Teenage)

Future Perfect eBook Jen Larsen Reviews

3.5/5 stars

Future Perfect is a Young Adult contemporary novel that I would also classify as realistic fiction.

The narrator is overweight high school senior Ashley. She is very smart (class valedictorian) and her dream is to go to Harvard Medical school.

The premise of the book is that every year on her birthday Ashley's grandmother gives her a card offering her something substantial in exchange for losing weight. She has always refused. However, this birthday her grandmother offers her something she desperately wants 4 years of tuition to Harvard in exchange for weight loss surgery.

I was a bit surprised that at 30% of the way through the book this event had still not happened. I am a big proponent of not spoiling too much of the book in the book blurb. And also of what is mentioned happening at the beginning of the book. So I definitely wished that this had happened right away in the story.

Ashley was an interesting character. She was very smart. Yet there was something that drove me crazy about her. She had to write her college essay to get into Harvard. Yet she kept putting it off. It didn't make sense to me. She is supposed to be so bright. Yet her actions made her seem completely unmotivated.

I really loved the idea of her grandma giving her a note every birthday. It was really original and intriguing and it is what made me want to read this book. I was also very curious to see if she would take her grandmother up on her offer.

Most of Ashley's friends and family think that she is beautiful as she is. And she herself seems happy being fat. The author doesn't say how much Ashley weighs. But I think at one point she is trying on clothes in size 18. I am all for saying that she is beautiful at any size. But I feel like there is little mention of whether or not she is healthy. There is mention of her playing volleyball. But it would have been nice to see more mention about the health aspects.

Ashley's family was very unusual. Her grandmother is a controlling brilliant former surgeon. Her mom is gone. Her brothers are annoying. And her dad is basically useless (he did so little to help around the house or provide income).

This book was up and down for me. I really liked the premise. Some parts were really interesting. But other parts fell flat for me. There was one part where some friends drove to San Francisco that I didn't really enjoy. Also the romance aspect was underdeveloped.

The book had an interesting ending but it felt a bit incomplete. Overall, it was nice to see such a significant topic discussed. And the book will make you think. However, I just wanted more. I wasn't really satisfied with the outcome of the story. And it left me a bit frustrated.

Thanks to edelweiss and HarperTeen for allowing me to read this book.
In her first young adult novel FUTURE PERFECT, STRANGER HERE author Jen Larsen (she also wrote the memoir STRANGER HERE) details the senior year of Ashley Perkins, a straight-A student, captain of the volleyball team and ex-class president who also happens to be fat. Although Ashley is happy with both her life and her body, Ashley’s grandmother refuses to accept her the way she is, offering Ashley a card every year on her birthday stating the amount of weight she needs to lose in order to receive a gift. Up until Ashley’s latest birthday, Ashley has been able to resist the temptation of her grandmother’s promises of shopping trips, cars and vacations to Paris, refusing to change herself just to make her grandmother happy. During Ashley’s latest birthday, her grandmother offers her a way to make her dreams of being a doctor come true tuition to Harvard University, only provided if Ashley agrees to weight loss surgery. As Ashley faces this tough decision, she receives advice from friends, family and even school administrators, all of whom believe they know the key to Ashley’s happiness.

The message of FUTURE PERFECT is both uplifting and lovable, as Ashley learns that taking care of herself both mentally and physically is more important than what anyone else thinks. The transition of Ashley’s mental state, however, can be confusing at times. Ashley is very confident in herself at the beginning of the novel, accepting her body the way it is, but her seemingly unwavering confidence is shattered by her grandmother’s offer to pay for Harvard. In addition, Ashley’s only issue appears to be her weight, which sometimes makes it difficult for the reader to relate.
Ashley’s friends --- an aspiring artist named Laura and a transgender girl named Jolene --- are both likeable characters who support Ashley, but they too feel unrealistic at times. It seemed unfeasible that Laura could take off to visit her older boyfriend in San Francisco on a whim, and Larson struggles to write Jolene as more than just her gender identity; almost every conversation Ashley and Jolene have revolves around Jolene’s transsexuality. Sometimes the plot struggles to push forward, as Ashley considers the idea of weight loss surgery over and over again. Larson’s writing also feels inconsistent, as there are times when the descriptions of Ashley’s joyrides around the coast create beautiful imagery, and there are other times when the abruptness of Ashley’s thoughts do not match her seemingly gifted intelligence.

Even with some frustrating aspects, FUTURE PERFECT provides a refreshing take on something often discussed self-acceptance. Ashley’s journey towards loving herself makes the novel an inspiring read for anyone struggling to figure out who they are, or for any high school seniors who can relate to Ashley’s hesitance to turn in her college essays. Ashley’s inner dialogue is often hilarious, if not always relatable, and the situations she is placed in are entertaining to watch unfold. The warm, peaceful, feeling left after the end of FUTURE PERFECT makes the novel worth the read.

Reviewed by Janine C
This book is all over the place which makes it difficult to read. The author clearly didn't have a firm grasp on how she wanted to tell the story. The characters aren't relatable or realistic. The whole thing is just a mess. I wish I could get my $10 back.
I had high hopes but I was let down tremendously.
Definitely did not keep me intrigued the entire time. Abrupt and disappointing ending. Definitely expected much more from this story, it had great potential.
Future Perfect is the story of Ashley Maria Perkins, whose grandmother bribes her every year on her birthday to lose weight in exchange for a car, or a shopping trip to Paris, or something else extravagant. This is the year she offers Ashley four years of Harvard tuition in exchange for having weight-loss surgery. The grandmother is such a wonderful character, and Ashley's conflicted feelings of love and guilt and anger and obligation toward her truly resonate.

Speaking of wonderful characters Ashley is strong, she's smart, she isn't ashamed of herself for being fat, and that makes her a rarity in YA lit. She is confident in herself, and we see that confidence erode with her grandmother's every attempt to chip away at it, and we root for Ashley to hang onto it. Her friends Laura and Jolene have their own inner lives and are extremely well-drawn. The parallels between Jolene's decisions about gender confirmation surgery and Ashley's around weight-loss surgery are subtle and thought-provoking.

There are gorgeous sentences on almost every page, in Larsen's inimitable prose style. It's the book I wish to go back in time and present to my teenage self. It absolutely feels like a gift. A wonderful, five-star YA.
i loved this book read it in to days