Past Perfect Life

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Genre: Young Adult
Source:  Book Expo 2019

Goodreads:  Small-town Wisconsin high school senior Allison Smith loves her life the way it is-spending quality time with her widowed father and her tight-knit circle of friends, including best friend Marian and maybe-more-than-friends Neil. Sure she is stressed out about college applications . . . who wouldn’t be? In a few short months, everything’s going to change, big time.
But when Ally files her applications, they send up a red flag . . . because she’s not Allison Smith. And Ally’s-make that Amanda’s-ordinary life is suddenly blown apart. Was everything before a lie? Who will she be after? And what will she do as now comes crashing down around her?

Ope’s Opinion: This book had perfect pace.  It started out sort of slow with no drama.  So you might think, why keep reading??  Well, it was how Ally’s life started out.  She was happily living with her dad, thinking all was normal until she started applying for college.  Then the pace of the book picked up and secrets were revealed…

I highly recommend this to a YA or adult reader.  It will keep their attention, the characters are realistic, the emotions are real and friendships are positive.  The only negative was the “f” word was used a couple of times – both in high stressed situations.

The ending made me see how strong Ally was ( a good example ).  She handled her situation better then some adults would.  I felt it was very positive and uplifting.