Review: Perfect Mistake by Kate Brian

CONTEMPORARY TEEN FICTION

Make new friends and kill the old...

Ariana Osgood has everything she's ever wanted. A place at elite Atherton-Pryce boarding school. Fabulous friends. A new crush. And most important, a new identity. Now that she's officially become Briana Leigh Covington, Ariana's troubled past is dead and buried.

Or is it?

When the one person who knows her secret arrives on campus, Ariana decides it's time to say goodbye to her ex-best friend--forever.

Hmm...a so-so book after Beautiful Disaster. I mean, it was still great. And the drama at the end was fantastic--in fact, it was heartwrenchingly sad. Anyhow, let's start off with the positive comments I have about Perfect Mistake.

I have to say, Ariana's character, just like in Beautiful Disaster, really grew on me in this one. She's got pressure building on her because of a few bad choices she made (like murder--ha!), and I feel the urge for her to come out victorious in the end. In no way am I saying that her choice to murder several people was justified. But I am solidifying my belief in the fact that she's a much better, well-crafted character. If someone hadn't read the previous books, they'd almost think Ariana wasn't a psychotic bitch who'd just escaped from prison. Note, I said almost. Because, as all bad things go, there are consequences. And boy, is Ariana facing some of those big time.

Now, the plot was excellent as well. Like in the other Privilege books, Ariana's got a long string of conflicts she has to solve, or there will be serious repercussions. One of these things is her major crush on her best friend, Lexa's, boyfriend, Palmer. He's obviously in love with her, and they're going to the NoBash, a huge festival thrown by the school, together. But how can Ariana blatantly come out and say that she's hookin' up with Palmer now that Lexa just got dumped by him? Her other, way bigger problem is Kaitlynn Nottingham, the girl who Ariana thought was her best friend but really turned out to be a sniveling, conniving, lying, murderous bitch. (Not so different from Ariana herself, actually. Except for the fact that she'll go around murdering people to get into a secret society. Ariana won't sink that low.) Kaitlynn, Ariana, and a few other girls, including some of Ariana's friends, are being initiated into Stone and Grave, one of the secret societies at Atherton-Pryce. But only four spots are open, and five girls are being considered. Kaitlynn has told Ariana that the clock is ticking, and she better eliminate some competition--no matter how she does it. Normally, Ariana wouldn't take shit from anyone--but unfortunately, Kaitlynn knows about Ariana faking to be Briana Leigh Covington. Kaitlynn knows all about how Ariana murdered the real Briana Leigh. And if Kaitlynn speaks up, she'll be back in her mental facility before she can land Lexa's boyfriend in bed.

So yeah, that was kind of a long paragraph. But my point is, she's got a lot of pressure. She has several things to get done, one of which is life-threatening, the other which is so confusing she doesn't even know what to make of it. All that Ariana knows is that she has to get into Stone and Grave, Kaitlynn has to keep her mouth shut, and Palmer has to be her boyfriend. Because if she doesn't get what she wanted--a life of Privilege--there was no point escaping from the facility. Ariana's gone to enough trouble to hide her tracks--she doesn't  need a crappy life after that to screw it all up. Because of all this, I think I'm starting to like Ariana a lot more. She's not so casual about murder anymore and actually revolts when Kaitlynn suggests offing one of her friends to get into the secret society. Ariana has gotten more independent, even stronger and more resilient, as a character.

Now, onto the problems I had with this book! I wasn't a huge fan of the slow pace throughout the whole book and then the major drama at the end. Even though the ending was great, and the suspense had been planted, I wasn't feeling the scary vibe throughout the whole book. That could definitely be worked on, Ms. Brian.

But other than that, Perfect Mistake is fantastic! It's got a well-sculpted main character, an intense plot, lots of conflict, and a whole new glamorous setting that is so different from Private yet just as entertaining. Congratulations to Perfect Mistake on receiving a decent four stars!