Excellent read-- very well thought out and interesting!

Prepare for the creative genius that is PIPER PERISH (both book one AND the girl)...and friends! Once upon a time, every artist had to start SOMEWHERE. Whether their preferred outlet is paint, sculpture, video, music, fashion, jewelry, or any of the many other forms of artistic expression out there, they all started with a dream, a desire, a talent that needed molding, cultivating, and exposure. Don't tell that to Piper, Kit, and Enzo because honey, they already know! High schoolers or not, they have the talent, know what they want, and (mostly) how to get it...if only the world would cooperate and stop with the proverbial monkey wrenches. Those wrenches present themselves in numerous ways from college acceptance gauntlets to relationship drama, friendships turned competitions to familial battles, and everything in between. The work-throughs are colorful, vibrant, and powerful with long lasting repercussions carried forward for better or worse. Piper's all so certain future turns into a big fat question mark as her friends and family fall into various shards of sharp beauty around her. With her artistic inspiration firmly in grasp, and a twist of her creative mind in a new direction, it doesn't mean that her journey is at an end...just perhaps an unexpected beginning...


**copy received for review ( )

With the exceptions of Kit and Phillip (and maybe Silas, though he was just an e-mail presence), I pretty much hated all of the characters. I should have stopped reading as soon as I realized this, but kept hoping something would happen that would redeem someone, even if it wasn't Piper herself. And, while I appreciate Andy Warhol, Piper's obsession with him was really, really annoying and pretentious and the whole book was pretty much just...ugh.

ETA: I got to thinking more about this book and I don't like it any better with some distance, but in retrospect, I realized that this book just felt more 1986 than 2016. There were occasional uses of modern technology that were sorta-kinda crucial to the plot, but the Warhol, the thrift shopping, the gay boyfriend—all felt like elements from the high school life of an 80s teen. If the author could find a way to set the novel in 1986, it would, oddly enough, feel fresher. (It still wouldn't make the characters likable, but it would make the whole Warhol obsession less annoying.)

Or, oh gods, is this some kind of 80s retro thing? Am I now old enough that my teen years are the latest retro trend? (Please say "no", even if you have to lie to do so.) ( )

ARC for consideration and review.

I love this book!!

The family dysfunction, the friendships, the bf/gf relationships, THE ART, the terror of not knowing what's next...totally relatable, but at the same time unique.

Well done, Kayla! ( )

First part of the book was very addicting but unfortunately, the ending got a bit crazy. Still, not bad for a debut. ( )