Review: Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Title: Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Published: October 4^th, 2011 by Simon Pulse

Source: Library

Challenge(s): Support your Local Library and ABC Reading Challenge

Grade rate: B

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.
Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

My Review

Past Perfect is a book by the author of Mostly Good Girls (see my review here), which I enjoyed, therefore I was eager to read this book because it sounded like fun and I loved the cover.

Chelsea was a fun character to read.  She is very opinionated, pretty, a great friend, but full of insecurities.  She was easily persuaded by others into doing something she didn’t want to do, and sadly that is true for a lot of people.  I liked her frankness and several parts of the book were laugh-out-loud funny.  I loved Dan, he was fun, considerate, and handsome and it pained me to see what happened between him and Chelsea.  I also liked Fiona, Chelsea’s best friend, she was a drama queen and so loyal that she deserved an award for sticking to Chelsea and for opening her eyes.  There is a good word to describe Ezra, but I won’t use it since I don’t like to write curse words (you get the drift, right?).  Other members of the Essex Colonial Village were so “high school”, there were popular girls and guys, and just the opposite, but they were all united by the “War”.

The plot was very original and I love the concept of the "War", even when it got a little out of hand.  the only thing that bummed me out is how Chelsea caved in so easily to betray Dan.  It just seemed our of character for her.  Just as her previous novel, Ms. Sales left a lot unsaid and I feel like the end was inconclusive.  I hope that Dan gave Chelsea a chance (it seems like he did.)  The writing was insightful, funny and easy to read. 

It's funny how sometimes we look at something from our past, maybe a childhood memory or that of your first crush through "pink" glasses instead of the way things really happened.  Past Perfect was an entertaining and short contemporary read that I hope you enjoy as I did.

About the cover: I like that the cover is unusual and pretty, although it has nothing to do with the story!

Have you read Past Perfect?  What did you think?