Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours for the early review copy of the book! Check out the whole tour here!
About the Book
Jessa has been raised to be the “perfect girl.” She is unfailingly polite, never rocks the boat, and always follows the rules―no matter what. Her friends love to give her a hard time for being such a goody two-shoes, but Jessa likes it this way. She knows what’s expected of her, and she’s
sleepover at Jessa’s creepy, old house, things go south before the pizza gets cold.
Her friends are at each other’s throats, unexpected guests keep showing up (some more welcome than others), and it’s not just her brother serving up jump scares. A killer looking for the perfect girl has targeted Jessa, and she’ll have to reject everything she’s been taught if she wants to keep herself―and her friends―alive until sunrise.
My Review:
This is a fun, quirky, and fast read that is spooky without ever being super scary. It got my heart racing a little, but safely cut to black before anything too terrible happened. When I signed up to do this review, I signed up to include my favorite quotes. It turns out all of my favorite quotes either make zero sense out of context or are spoilers, but here are some that seem to not give too much away:
Like it could possibly be worse than a dungeon. “No,” she says again. “It’s a dollhouse.”
Want to know why Tiny says that and where they are when she does? You have to read the book! But, suffice it to say, it’s definitely creepy and definitely not where anyone, especially a group of high school girls, wants to end up.
“Fine by me. I’d rather be a b**** than your perfect girl.”
I always love when the title of a book comes back to bite the author and the characters.
“Sounds like Betty does her own haunting.”
The main character is pretty sure her house is haunted, and she wants to keep the ghost, Betty, happy. Betty is a character and a trope and she’s wonderful. I’m so glad she was included in this story.
My gaze catches on a white blur rising from the mud. I pull myself forward and grab it, sharp and cold, like a tooth tearing up through the soil.
Yes, it’s exactly as creepy as it sounds.
Perfect Girl is a creepy locked room mystery/ghost story/high school romance/escaped kidnapper/mentally ill antagonist story that pulls together some of the best tropes in the genre in a tight, fast book.
4/5 Stars.
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200982280
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Girl-Tracy-Banghart/dp/125090286X
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-girl-tracy-banghart/1144294397
- IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/perfect-girl-tracy-banghart/20776344
Tracy Banghart grew up in rural Maryland and spent her summers on a remote island in northern Ontario. All of that isolation and lovely scenery gave her the time to read voraciously and the inspiration to write her own stories. Always a bit of a nomad, Tracy now travels the world Army-wife style with her husband, children, and rescue pups. She wrote Grace and Fury while living in Hawaii.
Website: https://www.tracybanghart.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/tracythewriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracythewriter/