Author: Kayla Cagan
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Source: NetGalley
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Piper Perish inhales air and exhales art. The sooner she and her best friends can get out of Houston and into art school in New York City, the better. It's been Piper's dream her whole life, and now that senior year is halfway over, she's never felt more ready. But in the final months before graduation, things are weird with her friends and stressful with three different guys, and Piper's sister's tyrannical mental state seems to thwart every attempt at happiness for the close-knit Perish family. Piper's art just might be enough to get her out. But is she brave enough to seize that power, even if it means giving up what she's always known? Debut author Kayla Cagan breathes new life into fiction in this ridiculously compelling, utterly authentic work featuring interior art from Rookie magazine illustrator Maria Ines Gul. Piper will have readers asking big questions along with her. What is love? What is friendship? What is family? What is home? And who is a person when she's missing any one of these things?
What I thought
Piper Perish is a about Piper Perish (duh!) and her artsy shenanigans. I love art, although I'm more of a Renaissance fan myself (I'm fully convinced that if past lives are a thing I was so alive during the Renaissance) while Piper is a hardcore Andy Warhol fan herself. To each their own. I was expecting a cutesy contemporary that was also about family and the story had those elements, but not in the way I was expecting them. To be honest, I don't know if I liked or didn't like this book.I can certainly tell that the first half was a struggle and I wasn't so on board with Piper. She has a friend and boyfriend, Enzo, and he breaks up with her because he fell in love with this dude and her first reaction is to think that she turned him gay and I went "Um... honey bisexuality is a thing and you can't turn someone gay." Okay, thanks. I didn't particularily like any of the other characters for the first half either. Except Adams (their art teacher), she was rad.
As the story moved along, though, I started to grow fond of them. I was intrigued enough to want to know if Piper would be able to go off to New York and follow her dreams. I did feel identified with Piper, because I am also afraid to follow my dreams and put things off until I absolutely have to do them. It comes with the fear of being rejected, I guess.
As for the character relationships, I wasn't invested in any of them. The one I liked most, though, was Piper's relationship with her Dad. It was heartwarming. I wish the family aspect had been explored more. Also, someone get Marli some formal psychological help because her behaviors throughout the book were concerning and she should see someone. That's all I' saying about that.
However, I didn't find the story incredibly inspiring or satisfying or even that unique. I felt meh about the book and the characters in general. Definitely a solid three star book.
No comments:
Post a Comment