Perfect Trying to achieve the unattainable

And that is exactly what the whole novel is about.  We live in a world with so many standards to live up to, so many expectations to fulfill and when we do get there the bar is set up even higher. Either we raise that bar ourselves, thinking that what our body needs is just a slight push and we will have it all, or it is being raised for us, intentionally or not, by our parents, siblings, peers.
The plot follows and intertwines the lives of four teenagers stepping into adulthood -- tumbling, slipping and hopelessly crawling back up to reach their definitions of perfection. Cara explores a different kind of love to break free of her parents' grasp -- to make her life what they think is perfect. Kendra takes all measures needed for the flawless body, face, poise and image. Sean and his steroids race up for perfect home-runs. Andre decides to achieve his dreams, completely different from what his ancestors have worked tooth and nail for, because to him, that's the ideal life.
Sex. Sexuality. Deprivation. Desperation. Abuse. Abandonment. The way to complete perfection is indeed a messy one with compromise and sacrifice. Although these stories sound too stereotypical and heard of, they have a true ring to them nevertheless. The different situations in the book happen so often in everyday life that it can be absorbed as a whole without complaints.
Ellen Hopkins writes in poetic verses and changes from one character to another. The way she writes is entertaining and as the plot jumps to the next character, the verse gives way to an inner feeling unexpressed by the characters on the surface. The heavy book was an easy read, and I would not mind reading it again. It guarantees a ray of hope for those suffering to get to their goals, and makes you feel that you aren't alone on this exhausting path.
Then again, “Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?”

"Perfect?

How
do you define a word without
concrete meaning? To each
his own, the saying goes, so

why
push to attain an ideal
state of being that no two
random people will agree is

where
you want to be? Faultless.
Finished. Incomparable. People
can never be these, and anyway,

when
did creating a flawless facade
become a more vital goal
than learning to love the person

who
lives inside your skin?
The outside belongs to others.
Only you should decide for you

what
is perfect."