Past Perfect
Author: Leila Sales
Release Date: October 4, 2011
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The wounds still fresh from her breakup with Ezra, Chelsea prepares herself for distraction: another summer at Essex Historical Colonial Village, where she has worked all her life with her parents. Every day, Chelsea dresses in her historical garb and teaches moderners about life in the Colonial era. But behind the scenes a war is brewing.

Right across the street from Essex is Reenactmentland, a Civil War historical attraction. Every summer, the teenagers who work at Essex engage in war with Reenactmentland.  Not only is being at war bad enough, Chelsea learns that Ezra has also gotten a job at Essex. Not exactly the summer distraction Chelsea had hoped for.

When Chelsea is kidnapped by the Civil War reenactors, she meets Dan, a civil warrior…who is also pretty cute. Chelsea struggles with the choice between finding love again and remaining loyal to her friends and her job.

After loving Leila Sale’s first novel MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS, I was pumped to get my hands on PAST PERFECT. And needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. This book was filled with the same humor that MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS was full of.

I was a little nervous about the plot when I began reading. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the whole historical village/reenactment storyline. However, I LOVED it! Leila Sales has written a truly unique young adult novel. I can honestly say I’ve never read a book with a plot like this before. I became captivated in Chelsea’s world, and was even kind of jealous of her summer job. The way Sales describes Essex and Chelsea’s costume and job at the graveyard, I definitely found myself wishing my summer job could have been this cool. I also loved that because of the historical village plot, Sales was able to throw in a lot of random and interesting historical trivia. The geek inside me loved it.

The war storyline definitely kept my attention too. I loved the idea of two rival groups of history geeks and drama queens fighting each other with pranks all throughout the summer. If I thought Chelsea’s summer job was cool before, the war definitely upped the ante. And when Chelsea met Dan? Oh man. Love.

The thing I love about Leila Sales and the way she writes her main characters is how realistic and relatable they are. In my review of MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS, I rave about how normal the main character Violet is. PAST PERFECT is no different. Chelsea could be me; she could be you; she could be anyone. The issues she faces (although she gets to face them in much cooler circumstances than most teens) are the same that every teenager faces. Still fresh from her breakup with Ezra, we see her heart break for the first time. Then we see her meet someone new and exciting. In the meantime, she struggles with her friendships. I can personally say that I’ve been touched by each of these situations, as I’m sure most of you will be able to, as well.

As far as the men in this book go, Sales also does an excellent job writing fresh male characters. I quickly fell in love with Dan, much like Chelsea did. I rooted for them throughout the book, even though Chelsea struggled with betraying her friends. Ezra seems like a typical guy that most girls will fall for at least once in their lives. I definitely recognized a few guys I’ve dated in Ezra. Sales captured him perfectly. And then there was Bryan, who wasn’t a love interest of Chelsea’s but was so damn funny, he needs to get a mention in this review.

One of the most beautifully written parts of this book was when Chelsea realizes that her relationship with Ezra was never perfect. She only imagined situations that way as she looked back in the past. Hence the title, Past Perfect. I was completely able to relate to this part of the book. When my ex boyfriend and I broke up, I imagined that we had the most perfect relationship and very slowly, I’d remember little moments and little fights that proved that everything wasn’t as perfect as I imagined. I loved that Sales was able to capture this raw emotion in this book.

5/5

Review copy provided by GalleyGrab.