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The Worst Perfect Moment
Equal parts tender and edgy, this inventive queer romance imagines what it might feel like to come of age in the afterlife.
Tegan Masters is dead.
She’s sixteen and she’s dead and she’s standing in the parking lot of the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the single most depressing motel in all of New Jersey and the place where Tegan spent what she remembers as the worst weekend of her life.
In the front office, she meets Zelda, a cute and sarcastic girl Tegan’s age who is, in fact, an angel (wings and all). According to Zelda, Tegan is officially in heaven, where every person inhabits an exact replica of their happiest memory. For Tegan, Zelda insists, that place is the Marybelle—creepy minigolf course, revolting breakfast buffet, broken TV, and all.
Tegan has a few complaints about this.
As Zelda takes Tegan on a whirlwind tour through Tegan’s past to help her understand what mattered most to her in life, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan that the Marybelle was the site of Tegan's perfect moment, both girls face eternal consequences too dire to consider. But if she succeeds…they just might get their happily-ever-afterlife.
Full of humor and heartbreak, The Worst Perfect Moment asks what it means to be truly happy.
Tegan Masters is dead.
She’s sixteen and she’s dead and she’s standing in the parking lot of the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the single most depressing motel in all of New Jersey and the place where Tegan spent what she remembers as the worst weekend of her life.
In the front office, she meets Zelda, a cute and sarcastic girl Tegan’s age who is, in fact, an angel (wings and all). According to Zelda, Tegan is officially in heaven, where every person inhabits an exact replica of their happiest memory. For Tegan, Zelda insists, that place is the Marybelle—creepy minigolf course, revolting breakfast buffet, broken TV, and all.
Tegan has a few complaints about this.
As Zelda takes Tegan on a whirlwind tour through Tegan’s past to help her understand what mattered most to her in life, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan that the Marybelle was the site of Tegan's perfect moment, both girls face eternal consequences too dire to consider. But if she succeeds…they just might get their happily-ever-afterlife.
Full of humor and heartbreak, The Worst Perfect Moment asks what it means to be truly happy.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2024
21 people are currently reading
3570 people want to read
About the author
Shivaun Plozza
9 books137 followersShivaun Plozza is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her debut novel, Frankie, was a CBCA Notable Book and won a number of awards, including the Davitt Awards and a commendation from the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her second novel, Tin Heart, sold in three foreign territories, received two starred reviews, and was nominated to ALA’S Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars, is forthcoming in 2020 from HMH Books for Young Readers and Penguin Random House Australia. She is a frequent contributor to anthologies, and when she is not writing she works as an editor and manuscript assessor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
November 20, 2025
I love this book! I am not even sure how to express it well enough to do it justice. The pacing is perfect, the writing style works so well for the story and characters. The characters are so well written, deep, and complex, they struggle, they grow, they ache, they love. They are immature, stubborn, beautiful. This novel is therapy. Self-acceptance, grief, eye-opening...It is an interesting take on the afterlife and there is some sadness, but it is ultimately a story of hope.
Heavy subjects are examined thoughtfully, such as Teagan's family dynamics.
I enjoyed the banter between MCs, it portrays their age and personalities so well. They are absolutely delightful. The Worst Perfect Moment is a sweet, enlightening journey. My heart grew three sizes :) I highly recommend it!
I received this ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.
#enemiestolovers #death #grief #divorce #family #hope #YA #HEA
Heavy subjects are examined thoughtfully, such as Teagan's family dynamics.
I enjoyed the banter between MCs, it portrays their age and personalities so well. They are absolutely delightful. The Worst Perfect Moment is a sweet, enlightening journey. My heart grew three sizes :) I highly recommend it!
I received this ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.
#enemiestolovers #death #grief #divorce #family #hope #YA #HEA
December 6, 2025
(rounded up from 4.75)
Perfect YA. The premise is inherently kind of heartbreaking: a 16-year-old who is dead and stuck in an afterlife that is supposedly her happiest memory, but was actually a shitty local motel where her dad was having a minor breakdown and her sister was oblivious. The only other person around: an angel named Zelda, who is very goofy and loves the idea of things that taste horrendous and other random human experiences.
Tegan's story will strike a chord with anyone who was an eldest daughter and watched their parents slipping away from each other, and always felt like they had to be smaller and more fun to be loved instead of themselves. I teared up a bit, I laughed, I enjoyed Zelda's goofiness, and Tegan's raging against the unfairness of the system.
Perfect YA. The premise is inherently kind of heartbreaking: a 16-year-old who is dead and stuck in an afterlife that is supposedly her happiest memory, but was actually a shitty local motel where her dad was having a minor breakdown and her sister was oblivious. The only other person around: an angel named Zelda, who is very goofy and loves the idea of things that taste horrendous and other random human experiences.
Tegan's story will strike a chord with anyone who was an eldest daughter and watched their parents slipping away from each other, and always felt like they had to be smaller and more fun to be loved instead of themselves. I teared up a bit, I laughed, I enjoyed Zelda's goofiness, and Tegan's raging against the unfairness of the system.
April 26, 2024
4.5 Stars
This book is hard to read, in a good way. It's hard, because it isn't fair. It isn't fair that a teenage character should be in the afterlife at all, and it especially isn't fair that the afterlife given to her is so... mediocre. It's a book of complicated and messy feelings, not sweeping plots and bold decisions, and I appreciate that--how soft and quiet this book is. I think this book is really excellent. My only real qualm with it was that the ending didn't feel quite as climactic as I think the author intended. It wasn't bad. It just didn't quite hit in the way I had hoped.
Anyway, I loved it, and I've got more to say in my full review, featured at Gateway Reviews on May 17, 2024. Stop by if you get the chance!
Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.
This book is hard to read, in a good way. It's hard, because it isn't fair. It isn't fair that a teenage character should be in the afterlife at all, and it especially isn't fair that the afterlife given to her is so... mediocre. It's a book of complicated and messy feelings, not sweeping plots and bold decisions, and I appreciate that--how soft and quiet this book is. I think this book is really excellent. My only real qualm with it was that the ending didn't feel quite as climactic as I think the author intended. It wasn't bad. It just didn't quite hit in the way I had hoped.
Anyway, I loved it, and I've got more to say in my full review, featured at Gateway Reviews on May 17, 2024. Stop by if you get the chance!
Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.
July 11, 2024
The structure of this book was really strange. The best word I can use to describe it is "static;" there's really no momentum or change of pace or anything until you're about 200 pages in. Even when Zelda and Tegan are exploring Tegan's most formative memories, there's really no shift in energy in the narration, and the whole thing feels very distant. There's no opportunity to feel attached to any of the characters except Tegan and Zelda, which negates any potential emotional power in most scenes. The conclusion is a big departure from the structure of the rest of the book, but it's pretty muddled and resolves quickly and neatly, and it doesn't really demonstrate a real connection to the rest of the book. I hesitate to say "the entire structure and premise is flawed," but I do think we spend a lot of time focusing on the wrong things so that nothing that happens in the first half justifies the second half. It's just really weird storytelling.
April 3, 2024
[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Worst Perfect Moment releases May 14, 2024
What if heaven was an exact replica of your happiest moment on earth?
Tegan died at the age of 16, and now she’s back at the Marybelle Motor Lodge in New Jersey — a motel that she absolutely hates and was apparently associated with the worst weekend of her life.
But an angel named Zelda says otherwise, and now has 30 days to prove to Tegan why she chose the motel, after Tegan complained to the head management.
I thought this was going to be a sweet story between Tegan and Zelda, but it was quite depressing actually. Tegan was in a constant state of denial throughout the entire book and came off as a pick-me girl.
Reliving a lot of her past memories made it clear that a lot of her unresolved emotions stemmed from jealousy and not being okay with not being the chosen one in a friend group or with her mother. I get not liking the feeling of being left behind, but my god, you can’t always be the pick-me girl in every situation. It’s such an insufferable trait.
The writing also wasn’t my cup of tea. It read very YA, borderline middle grade, with dialogue like:
- “turd waffle”
- “dickcheese”
- “butt-face”
- “feelings are ugh, though”
- “you are being the Queen of Assholia right now”
Another thing that really bothered me was the fact that anytime Tegan asked Zelda a question or wanted her to further explain something, Zelda would say “spoiler” which to me felt like too easy of a cop-out to avoid dealing with any of the more complex logistics surrounding this supernatural world.
Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Worst Perfect Moment releases May 14, 2024
What if heaven was an exact replica of your happiest moment on earth?
Tegan died at the age of 16, and now she’s back at the Marybelle Motor Lodge in New Jersey — a motel that she absolutely hates and was apparently associated with the worst weekend of her life.
But an angel named Zelda says otherwise, and now has 30 days to prove to Tegan why she chose the motel, after Tegan complained to the head management.
I thought this was going to be a sweet story between Tegan and Zelda, but it was quite depressing actually. Tegan was in a constant state of denial throughout the entire book and came off as a pick-me girl.
Reliving a lot of her past memories made it clear that a lot of her unresolved emotions stemmed from jealousy and not being okay with not being the chosen one in a friend group or with her mother. I get not liking the feeling of being left behind, but my god, you can’t always be the pick-me girl in every situation. It’s such an insufferable trait.
The writing also wasn’t my cup of tea. It read very YA, borderline middle grade, with dialogue like:
- “turd waffle”
- “dickcheese”
- “butt-face”
- “feelings are ugh, though”
- “you are being the Queen of Assholia right now”
Another thing that really bothered me was the fact that anytime Tegan asked Zelda a question or wanted her to further explain something, Zelda would say “spoiler” which to me felt like too easy of a cop-out to avoid dealing with any of the more complex logistics surrounding this supernatural world.
March 10, 2024
This novel was excellent. Simply fantastic. It grabbed me right at the start and kept me turning pages until it was done (literally one sitting). It was clever and original, but most of all it was fun. This novel made me happy, sad, and happy-sad at different points throughout. It reads like a YA novel but I think anyone would enjoy reading it.
Highlights:
-The overall premise was original and a neat take on what heaven/afterlife could be like. Personally, it was somewhat of a psychological horror novel at times (I mean that is a good way), but results may vary.
-The writing was very well done, clever, and delightful. There were some great narrative devices used throughout and the story was well constructed. At times while reading I was frustrated (not usually good!), but so was the MC so it was like we were experiencing the story together.
-I liked the banter (and chemistry) between the characters. It wasn’t the most mature, but neither was the MC so it made sense and worked well.
-Characters, and character development! This was essentially the point of the novel so it makes sense, but it was still satisfying! The reader gets to follow the main character closely and experience every step of their journey.
-This novel made me stop and think, which isn’t that common. This book had a great underlying message that was cleverly executed.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Highlights:
-The overall premise was original and a neat take on what heaven/afterlife could be like. Personally, it was somewhat of a psychological horror novel at times (I mean that is a good way), but results may vary.
-The writing was very well done, clever, and delightful. There were some great narrative devices used throughout and the story was well constructed. At times while reading I was frustrated (not usually good!), but so was the MC so it was like we were experiencing the story together.
-I liked the banter (and chemistry) between the characters. It wasn’t the most mature, but neither was the MC so it made sense and worked well.
-Characters, and character development! This was essentially the point of the novel so it makes sense, but it was still satisfying! The reader gets to follow the main character closely and experience every step of their journey.
-This novel made me stop and think, which isn’t that common. This book had a great underlying message that was cleverly executed.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 7, 2024
I liked the premise of this book, especially as I haven’t read something like this in some time. Whilst this is a YA and I did expect immaturity from the characters, the characters were too immature (just when it came to dialogue).
I would definitely recommend this to my younger students, but not to students who would be the same age as the main character.
I would definitely recommend this to my younger students, but not to students who would be the same age as the main character.
July 13, 2024
I thought this would be a really fun read, and it was, but it was also a lot more touching than I expected. It struck a great balance between funny moments and heartfelt ones. I could easily picture this as a TV show.
March 24, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publish for providing me with an eARC!
This book was so incredibly emotionally. I don't have a lot of expectations of what I would like out of YA books when I pick them up, but if I did, this one would have blown everything else out of the water. It's hard to explain what exactly about this book made it so great. There are a ton of small aspects that come together to make one great experience that left being bawling my eyes out for the entirety of the final one hundred pages.
Tegan Masters is such a relatable character even for someone who is no longer sixteen. She is going through this emotional journey to learn what is important to her all while being dead and in heaven. She's a messy human in a place where she's expected to be perfect and she's learning what happiness means for her now that she's dead. Zelda is an amazing foil/love-interest for Tegan as well. Zelda is remarkably human in a world where everyone else that Tegan encounters isn't. Zelda, while not human, manages to capture all the parts of being human that will Heaven wants to erase from the world.
Again, I sobbed the last hundred or so pages of this book, because everything is so relatable, such an emotional journey, and the book is so well written.
This book was so incredibly emotionally. I don't have a lot of expectations of what I would like out of YA books when I pick them up, but if I did, this one would have blown everything else out of the water. It's hard to explain what exactly about this book made it so great. There are a ton of small aspects that come together to make one great experience that left being bawling my eyes out for the entirety of the final one hundred pages.
Tegan Masters is such a relatable character even for someone who is no longer sixteen. She is going through this emotional journey to learn what is important to her all while being dead and in heaven. She's a messy human in a place where she's expected to be perfect and she's learning what happiness means for her now that she's dead. Zelda is an amazing foil/love-interest for Tegan as well. Zelda is remarkably human in a world where everyone else that Tegan encounters isn't. Zelda, while not human, manages to capture all the parts of being human that will Heaven wants to erase from the world.
Again, I sobbed the last hundred or so pages of this book, because everything is so relatable, such an emotional journey, and the book is so well written.
June 18, 2024
Intriguing concept and character revelations, but I really didn't care for the writing style in terms of dialogue. Both Tegan and Zelda were so jarring, mostly with their insults and name-calling that it just became increasingly grating each time a new, or repeated, insulting nickname came up. It felt a little repetitive as well, but that's a given, as this was the book's heaven concept.
April 9, 2024
An ode to what it means to find happiness. I loved Tegan, loved Zelda, loved how the story manages to tackle serious topics with poignancy, warmth, and a generous sprinkling of humor.
July 20, 2024
All the stars.
Told from the perspective of a 16-year old who finds herself in the afterlife in the cheesy New Jersey motel, The Worst Perfect Moment is a heartfelt, poignant and above all, funny coming-of-age story about discovering true happiness and love in everyday moments. It's such a well-written book with lovable main characters, a sweet sapphic romance and so many raw and tender moments that will make you laugh, cry, and fly through the pages.
*Thank you to Holiday House for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Told from the perspective of a 16-year old who finds herself in the afterlife in the cheesy New Jersey motel, The Worst Perfect Moment is a heartfelt, poignant and above all, funny coming-of-age story about discovering true happiness and love in everyday moments. It's such a well-written book with lovable main characters, a sweet sapphic romance and so many raw and tender moments that will make you laugh, cry, and fly through the pages.
*Thank you to Holiday House for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 18, 2024
"how can i look for happiness in this memory when the happiest thing is happening to me right now and i'm already dead?"
what a rollercoaster of emotions.
i didn't have any expectations going into this book and yet, i ended up tearing up and aching multiple times at tegan's story.
she had to deal with the grief of her own death (spoilers!), leave her loved ones behind and be faced with memories of her life she'd rather would stay burried, all of this while being accused of maybe not being ''pure enough" for heaven.
i'd be an emotional mess in denial too.
i also found zelda's character very endearing and both souls (so to speak) finding each other and healing through this challenge warmed my heart.
it's a surprisingly lighthearted story dealing with important topics in a teenager's life such as how complicated friendship can be, what it's like to have an absent parent and how to live on beyond hardships.
and, overall, a pretty wholesome queer love story.
i'd like to thank netgalley for providing me an early copy of the book. all opinions expressed here are my own.
what a rollercoaster of emotions.
i didn't have any expectations going into this book and yet, i ended up tearing up and aching multiple times at tegan's story.
she had to deal with the grief of her own death (spoilers!), leave her loved ones behind and be faced with memories of her life she'd rather would stay burried, all of this while being accused of maybe not being ''pure enough" for heaven.
i'd be an emotional mess in denial too.
i also found zelda's character very endearing and both souls (so to speak) finding each other and healing through this challenge warmed my heart.
it's a surprisingly lighthearted story dealing with important topics in a teenager's life such as how complicated friendship can be, what it's like to have an absent parent and how to live on beyond hardships.
and, overall, a pretty wholesome queer love story.
i'd like to thank netgalley for providing me an early copy of the book. all opinions expressed here are my own.
March 26, 2024
First of all, I would like to thank Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me with a free e-ARC of The Worst Perfect Moment.
Okay, so… let’s start this by requesting an ARC right after I watched Hazbin Hotel. So, I was already familiar with the whole concept of ‘bad people in heaven and good people in hell’ or something like that. Obviously, for this book, it’s different. Tegan isn’t necessarily bad… she just goes through an angsty teenage phase…in heaven!
I love YA. It’s one of my favorite genres. Usually, I don’t mind if the book gets too childish. However, this book just straight-up pissed me off. And it’s not just because it was YA. Tegan and Zelda— they were both frustrating. And their banters were so annoying. High schoolers don’t banter like that. What even is a ‘dickcheese’???
It’s safe to say that I didn’t really like this book, and that’s just because of my preference. I did enjoy the atmosphere and the world-building, but that’s about it. There were more religious references than I thought as well. Which kind of shocked me, but I didn’t really mind. Overall, I think it’s just a book that has a superb plot but just lacks in the execution.
Okay, so… let’s start this by requesting an ARC right after I watched Hazbin Hotel. So, I was already familiar with the whole concept of ‘bad people in heaven and good people in hell’ or something like that. Obviously, for this book, it’s different. Tegan isn’t necessarily bad… she just goes through an angsty teenage phase…in heaven!
I love YA. It’s one of my favorite genres. Usually, I don’t mind if the book gets too childish. However, this book just straight-up pissed me off. And it’s not just because it was YA. Tegan and Zelda— they were both frustrating. And their banters were so annoying. High schoolers don’t banter like that. What even is a ‘dickcheese’???
It’s safe to say that I didn’t really like this book, and that’s just because of my preference. I did enjoy the atmosphere and the world-building, but that’s about it. There were more religious references than I thought as well. Which kind of shocked me, but I didn’t really mind. Overall, I think it’s just a book that has a superb plot but just lacks in the execution.
January 7, 2025
The Worst Perfect Moment is YA novel by Shivaun Plozza. This story was actually a pleasant surprise since it involves themes such as death, grief, family dynamics and friendship. At sixteen, Tegan Masters dies and goes to heaven, however heaven is definitely not what she expected. The Worst Perfect Moment is heartfelt and very sweet, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Better Reading for my ARC.
April 11, 2024
The worst perfect moment by Shivaun Plozza - review
First of all thank you so much @netgalley and @holidayhouse for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc before the publication date. The book will be released May 14th.
4⭐️
🫑
I will start by saying I went into this without any expectations and the only thing I did know about it is that it would be a sapphic ya romance.
And boy was I surprised getting into the story 😅. It starts off with the FMC Tegan, who is sixteen and she has just died in a car accident. She has woken up in heaven, but everything is wrong, the moment is just not as perfect as she imagined heaven would be like. The angel, Zelda, who is in charge of her heaven recreated a memory of a motel in Jersey where she spend an awful weekend with her sister Quinn and her dad. Because of this fault in her heaven she decides to make a complaint at the manager of Zelda, and suddenly they have a month to prove that Tegan is ready for eternal happiness in heaven and that Zelda didn’t make a mistake. Otherwise there will be unthinkable consequences.
I really need some time to get my thoughts in order because this book made me laugh and cry and it made me just feel all the feels. It was just absolutely amazing and not what I expected but in a good way.
The only critique I have on the story is that the vocabulary and behaviour sometimes seemed a bit immature. For example, every time Tegan asked Zelda a question she would answer with “spoilers” and she wouldn’t actually answer the questions.
Therefore I would say that the book may be for a bit of a younger audience.
However, it does deal with some heavy topics, such as death and the afterlife and being redeemed. I do think that it is heaven is depicted in such a unique way. It also shows the bureaucracy of heaven and that it isn’t necessarily better than earth. That there are faults and mistakes that happen, and that it is not so easy to just decide on the perfect moment. The angels don’t really understand what it is like to be human and therefore do have some preconceived ideas on what a perfect moment should be. Which I found such an interesting take.
Further I really enjoyed the characters, the relationships and the complexity. I just loved the relationship between the main characters. They are just soo cute, “normal”, and relatable, even though I haven’t been sixteen for a while. Both seem like just teenage girls with their teen troubles and insecurities but also their weirdness.
I also really love the depiction of the relationship of Tegan with her family, her dad and her sister, Quinn. They just have each other but have sticked together through it all. The flashbacks are just the best and I loved seeing their interactions. And I would just love to give Quinn a hug as she has lost her big sister who is everything for her.
Further the deeper meaning of finding the “problem” and happiness is soo beautiful. And I would definitely recommend you to read this.
First of all thank you so much @netgalley and @holidayhouse for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc before the publication date. The book will be released May 14th.
4⭐️
🫑
I will start by saying I went into this without any expectations and the only thing I did know about it is that it would be a sapphic ya romance.
And boy was I surprised getting into the story 😅. It starts off with the FMC Tegan, who is sixteen and she has just died in a car accident. She has woken up in heaven, but everything is wrong, the moment is just not as perfect as she imagined heaven would be like. The angel, Zelda, who is in charge of her heaven recreated a memory of a motel in Jersey where she spend an awful weekend with her sister Quinn and her dad. Because of this fault in her heaven she decides to make a complaint at the manager of Zelda, and suddenly they have a month to prove that Tegan is ready for eternal happiness in heaven and that Zelda didn’t make a mistake. Otherwise there will be unthinkable consequences.
I really need some time to get my thoughts in order because this book made me laugh and cry and it made me just feel all the feels. It was just absolutely amazing and not what I expected but in a good way.
The only critique I have on the story is that the vocabulary and behaviour sometimes seemed a bit immature. For example, every time Tegan asked Zelda a question she would answer with “spoilers” and she wouldn’t actually answer the questions.
Therefore I would say that the book may be for a bit of a younger audience.
However, it does deal with some heavy topics, such as death and the afterlife and being redeemed. I do think that it is heaven is depicted in such a unique way. It also shows the bureaucracy of heaven and that it isn’t necessarily better than earth. That there are faults and mistakes that happen, and that it is not so easy to just decide on the perfect moment. The angels don’t really understand what it is like to be human and therefore do have some preconceived ideas on what a perfect moment should be. Which I found such an interesting take.
Further I really enjoyed the characters, the relationships and the complexity. I just loved the relationship between the main characters. They are just soo cute, “normal”, and relatable, even though I haven’t been sixteen for a while. Both seem like just teenage girls with their teen troubles and insecurities but also their weirdness.
I also really love the depiction of the relationship of Tegan with her family, her dad and her sister, Quinn. They just have each other but have sticked together through it all. The flashbacks are just the best and I loved seeing their interactions. And I would just love to give Quinn a hug as she has lost her big sister who is everything for her.
Further the deeper meaning of finding the “problem” and happiness is soo beautiful. And I would definitely recommend you to read this.
May 13, 2024
I'm surprised that I haven't seen anybody compares this one to The Good Place. Tegan is dead and fast tracked to heaven. Her heaven as it turned out is a cheap shitty motel where she is supposed to spend eternity because calculations seem to indicate that this is the place of her best memory. Fundamentally the premise is flawed because as a reader you immediatly suspect à twist à la "it was the people there that made it a happy memory" but you are telling me that nobody in the thousand years of heaven has had this problem before? I know, I know it's a story meant to explore the emotional state of Tegan wrapped in a funny setting where you depict heaven as an administration. But still the entire thing bothered me. If you say "this place sucks and spending the eternity there is going to be hell." in your supposedly "heaven" to supposedly "angels" I'd say there should be some reaction, other than Zelda's annoyingness. Zelda, the angel who is in charge of Tegan, is forced to prove her happy memory calculations after Tegan complained.
Scientifically, I disliked the approach Zelda took: you're not supposed to prove a memory is the best by proving a select few are worse. That is not how mathematical demonstrations work. Yes, again, I know this entire thing is about the exploration of a character with a messy past and teenage friendships. However, it didn't work for me. Other reviewers say that Tegan refuse to see it but she does it she just hates the whole process because she refuses to spend her eternity in a shitty motel as she should. But then she has to backtrack to save Zelda who barely deserves to be saved (listen she is an angel and without proper angel worldbuilding it doesn't tell us anything about the ins and outs of angel life and death)
In the end, The Worst Perfect Moment left me more frustrated than anything. I knew what it was going for the themes it wanted to deliver on, the attempts at humor (like the other said, cringy vocabulary) but it left me unfulfilled.
Scientifically, I disliked the approach Zelda took: you're not supposed to prove a memory is the best by proving a select few are worse. That is not how mathematical demonstrations work. Yes, again, I know this entire thing is about the exploration of a character with a messy past and teenage friendships. However, it didn't work for me. Other reviewers say that Tegan refuse to see it but she does it she just hates the whole process because she refuses to spend her eternity in a shitty motel as she should. But then she has to backtrack to save Zelda who barely deserves to be saved (listen she is an angel and without proper angel worldbuilding it doesn't tell us anything about the ins and outs of angel life and death)
In the end, The Worst Perfect Moment left me more frustrated than anything. I knew what it was going for the themes it wanted to deliver on, the attempts at humor (like the other said, cringy vocabulary) but it left me unfulfilled.
May 13, 2024
You’re dead, you’re 16 and your angel picked the wrong heaven. An intricate, beautiful YA tale of finding out what truly matters.
I received an advance copy from Netgalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Tegan Masters is dead. Ripped from life by a texting driver and dumped into her worst memory. Here she is, at a god awful two star motel in New Jersey. The place where she spent the most painful few days of her short life. And she is supposed to be spending eternity here? No. No. No. This can NOT be happening. Suddenly a cute angel named Zelda appears. She is the one that rummaged through Tegan’s memories and picked this one to be her heaven. Zelda must have made a huge mistake, right?
Shivaun Plozza spon an excellent YA tale with this one! It dives deep into teenage angst, family trauma and what it means to love and be loved. I loved the intimate look into Tegan’s psyche. Her journey through her memories is both haunting and spellbinding. She works so hard to keep her bad experiences at bay, but her angel Zelda makes her relive all the worst of them. It’s painful and exciting to watch her wade through her history and learn what true happiness is made of. And the conclusion she comes to is one that not only young adults should hear. It’s truly a universal epiphany.
This might be a YA book, but I, as a woman in her forties, enjoyed it very much as well! To see the world through Tegan’s eyes is captivating (and green 😉). To get a glimpse into what could happen once you’re dead is very interesting. Plozza wrote an option of what might occur that is somehow very believable.
I love that Tegan stands her ground but also slowly opens up to the possibility of actually being at the right heaven after all. The way she challenges the work of the angels is what makes her a very strong young woman that you just have to root for.
The Worst Perfect Moment is a great example of what a YA novel could be. Don’t let that fool you though, because this is a story for every and all ages.
I received an advance copy from Netgalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Tegan Masters is dead. Ripped from life by a texting driver and dumped into her worst memory. Here she is, at a god awful two star motel in New Jersey. The place where she spent the most painful few days of her short life. And she is supposed to be spending eternity here? No. No. No. This can NOT be happening. Suddenly a cute angel named Zelda appears. She is the one that rummaged through Tegan’s memories and picked this one to be her heaven. Zelda must have made a huge mistake, right?
Shivaun Plozza spon an excellent YA tale with this one! It dives deep into teenage angst, family trauma and what it means to love and be loved. I loved the intimate look into Tegan’s psyche. Her journey through her memories is both haunting and spellbinding. She works so hard to keep her bad experiences at bay, but her angel Zelda makes her relive all the worst of them. It’s painful and exciting to watch her wade through her history and learn what true happiness is made of. And the conclusion she comes to is one that not only young adults should hear. It’s truly a universal epiphany.
This might be a YA book, but I, as a woman in her forties, enjoyed it very much as well! To see the world through Tegan’s eyes is captivating (and green 😉). To get a glimpse into what could happen once you’re dead is very interesting. Plozza wrote an option of what might occur that is somehow very believable.
I love that Tegan stands her ground but also slowly opens up to the possibility of actually being at the right heaven after all. The way she challenges the work of the angels is what makes her a very strong young woman that you just have to root for.
The Worst Perfect Moment is a great example of what a YA novel could be. Don’t let that fool you though, because this is a story for every and all ages.
May 26, 2024
[I received a copy from Pride Book Tours for an honest review ]
The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is a heartfelt Queer YA contemporary.
"So I'm dead, alone, not a zombie, not a ghost, and I'm in New Jersey.
I can work with that."
The book begins with our main character Tegan waking up in run down New Jersey Hotel and discovering she's died. She assumed heaven would be a perfect place but the scene of a time she can only remember as horrible, depressing and the end of her parents marriage is the last place she would choice. However the angel assigned to create her heaven is determined she got it right. When the powers in charge are made aware of the issue. Her angel , Zelda, will have to convince her she chose correctly but it won't be easy. Tegan is carrying around a lot of pain and remains stubborn no matter how charming and cute her angel may be.
My favorite part of this book was the banter between Tegan and her angel Zelda. Their both snarky and stubborn so it was quite entertaining. While the emotions and past memories Tegan has to relive are heavy , Zelda lightens up each scenario in her own special way.
She's right. She said the happiest things aren't the biggest, loudest, or brightest things. They're small and easy to miss because they're so fundamental to everything you are. Like a lonely girl holding hands for the first time."
Overall, The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is the story of a young girl who works through her grief and anger in the afterlife, finding love with assigned angel along the way . A story about facing the past, healing , and family , with a run down motel, holding hands, freckles, banter, a satisfying ending.
The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is a heartfelt Queer YA contemporary.
"So I'm dead, alone, not a zombie, not a ghost, and I'm in New Jersey.
I can work with that."
The book begins with our main character Tegan waking up in run down New Jersey Hotel and discovering she's died. She assumed heaven would be a perfect place but the scene of a time she can only remember as horrible, depressing and the end of her parents marriage is the last place she would choice. However the angel assigned to create her heaven is determined she got it right. When the powers in charge are made aware of the issue. Her angel , Zelda, will have to convince her she chose correctly but it won't be easy. Tegan is carrying around a lot of pain and remains stubborn no matter how charming and cute her angel may be.
My favorite part of this book was the banter between Tegan and her angel Zelda. Their both snarky and stubborn so it was quite entertaining. While the emotions and past memories Tegan has to relive are heavy , Zelda lightens up each scenario in her own special way.
She's right. She said the happiest things aren't the biggest, loudest, or brightest things. They're small and easy to miss because they're so fundamental to everything you are. Like a lonely girl holding hands for the first time."
Overall, The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is the story of a young girl who works through her grief and anger in the afterlife, finding love with assigned angel along the way . A story about facing the past, healing , and family , with a run down motel, holding hands, freckles, banter, a satisfying ending.
September 30, 2024
I have mixed feelings
I don't know why I expected so much yet got so little, also is it just me or I didn’t really see any build up between Zelda and Tegan asides Zelda mostly traumatising Tegan with sad memories throughout the investigation progress..The idea of heaven was quite interesting and actually a tit tat depressing in a way, it was like hell but without the fire, I liked that.. Also Zelda all of a sudden discovering why Maribelle was her happy memory didn’t connect with everything Zelda showed her.
I loved the book but it's a 3 star for me, it was so frustrating in a way, from the synopsis, I had high expectations but got so little, regardless, it was a good read, always wanted to know what happened next.
Oh the little hint of Ms Chiu being God was actually so nice, never saw that comingg..
Meaning God takes the form of who you have felt safe the most with..
Ms Chiu, thank you for the journey.
I don't know why I expected so much yet got so little, also is it just me or I didn’t really see any build up between Zelda and Tegan asides Zelda mostly traumatising Tegan with sad memories throughout the investigation progress..The idea of heaven was quite interesting and actually a tit tat depressing in a way, it was like hell but without the fire, I liked that.. Also Zelda all of a sudden discovering why Maribelle was her happy memory didn’t connect with everything Zelda showed her.
I loved the book but it's a 3 star for me, it was so frustrating in a way, from the synopsis, I had high expectations but got so little, regardless, it was a good read, always wanted to know what happened next.
Oh the little hint of Ms Chiu being God was actually so nice, never saw that comingg..
Meaning God takes the form of who you have felt safe the most with..
Ms Chiu, thank you for the journey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this eARC.
I just want to preface this review by saying I'm not religious at all and this is my point of view. I didn't expect it to have as much religious themes as it did. And that's a me thing. I have nothing against this book for including all of it but it is just something I am not into. Otherwise I did enjoy this book a lot. I found it to be really heartwarming in the end. But damn were there some deep moments in there. Towards the end I felt very targeted during the conversation between Tegan and Ms.Chiu! That part really hit home. I genuinely did enjoy this book and found it t0 be inspiring.
I just want to preface this review by saying I'm not religious at all and this is my point of view. I didn't expect it to have as much religious themes as it did. And that's a me thing. I have nothing against this book for including all of it but it is just something I am not into. Otherwise I did enjoy this book a lot. I found it to be really heartwarming in the end. But damn were there some deep moments in there. Towards the end I felt very targeted during the conversation between Tegan and Ms.Chiu! That part really hit home. I genuinely did enjoy this book and found it t0 be inspiring.
May 14, 2024
Thank you Netgalley for the review copy!
This book was a refreshing concept to read, but the execution wasn’t really what I expected from it.
Basically, we follow our main character Tegan who recently died and is now in her ‘perfect heaven’, but Zelda, the angel who created her heaven, seems to have gotten it all wrong and brought Tegan to one of her worst memories.
Tegan tries to find a way to undo this and when she goes higher up to get this all sorted, they give her and Zelda a month to either make Tegan accept her heaven or for Tegan to prove there was a mistake.
We follow Tegan on this journey, but I feel like there weren’t a lot of twists or things that surprised me? Okay, she had had a difficult life and had her insecurities, but at most times she really felt like a crybaby. I could see the ending coming from a mile away and nothing really stood out to me.
Zelda was funny, but wasn’t present enough in the book for me, so that was a bummer.
This book is actually a lot like the Midnight Library, but for teens and it really just was an okay book for me.
This book was a refreshing concept to read, but the execution wasn’t really what I expected from it.
Basically, we follow our main character Tegan who recently died and is now in her ‘perfect heaven’, but Zelda, the angel who created her heaven, seems to have gotten it all wrong and brought Tegan to one of her worst memories.
Tegan tries to find a way to undo this and when she goes higher up to get this all sorted, they give her and Zelda a month to either make Tegan accept her heaven or for Tegan to prove there was a mistake.
We follow Tegan on this journey, but I feel like there weren’t a lot of twists or things that surprised me? Okay, she had had a difficult life and had her insecurities, but at most times she really felt like a crybaby. I could see the ending coming from a mile away and nothing really stood out to me.
Zelda was funny, but wasn’t present enough in the book for me, so that was a bummer.
This book is actually a lot like the Midnight Library, but for teens and it really just was an okay book for me.
November 19, 2025
So annoying. Like at the start, I only really liked Teagan. But as the story went on, she started more and more childish, and overall just a really dumbed character- supposed to be 15, she was treated like a 9 year old, couldn’t do basic English- which was brought to be a really part of the book. She acted selfishly, but didn’t have many redeeming qualities- as well as feeling blank and almost like cardboard. Zelda was shallow, self-obsessed and overall annoying, portrayed as a teenager, she was referenced to have been around for long periods of time, and yet was still matched with a literal child. They both used gross language like ‘dickcheese, buttface’ and literally never got anywhere.
Book was boring and felt seriously degrading.
She hates the heaven, and everyone makes her feel so stupid for it- and the ROMANCE OH MY GOD- It was so forced- they felt so gross. Like she’s literally only 15!! And Zelda’s what? Older than time?? And Zelda is literally the only person she’ll ever be able to see, probably.
Book was boring and felt seriously degrading.
She hates the heaven, and everyone makes her feel so stupid for it- and the ROMANCE OH MY GOD- It was so forced- they felt so gross. Like she’s literally only 15!! And Zelda’s what? Older than time?? And Zelda is literally the only person she’ll ever be able to see, probably.
April 7, 2024
4,5* for some cringy vocabulary
August 18, 2024
DNF 54%
Just not for me
Just not for me
April 5, 2025
I'm cryingg ♡
May 1, 2025
This was oddly healing? There were plenty of things that annoyed me about this book. I couldn’t get around the banter between the main characters, a lot of the side characters felt really inconsequential so I was confusing them constantly, and “spoilers” is now a trigger for me because it was a cop out for just about anything the main character asked (which was a lot). But what this book did really well was capture really specific emotions that I have about growing up. And it felt personal. I think this author did a really good job in achieving what fiction books are supposed to do, which is to feel a little less lonely in the world.
August 27, 2024
i need to stop reading YA. this book was ok though
May 13, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley for approving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was immediately sold. I naturally gravitate toward stories that center around the afterlife, especially ones that put their own unique spin on it or weave their own interpretations of what that could look like. It’s always so fascinating and there are so many places you can go with that kind of story. With this, I thought it would be much the same, so I was really intrigued to read it for myself. Instantly this book seemed perfect for fans of The Afterlife of Holly Chase and Afterlove.
Unfortunately, this one ended up being a major letdown for me. I think first of all, I expected and wanted this to be more emotional in the same vain as maybe a Nina LaCour novel, having this mix of dreamlike quality and true-to-life emotions, with a writing style that maybe leans more lyrical and melancholy. But for me, this ended up being spun more on the comedic side. You know what it’s like? It’s like one of those movies where there’s a wacky sidekick and the main character has seven days to complete a task or prove some grand thesis like that true love exists, all while the wacky magical sidekick is along for the ride and poofs in every now and then with their antics. Like, it’s very much giving those vibes, which were unfortunately not exactly the vibe that I wanted.
All of that aside, I was actually enjoying the ride. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it was still entertaining enough. But the longer it went on, the more frustrated I ended up getting on Teagan‘s behalf. And here’s where I really have a bone to pick with this plot: I mean, I’m just gonna say it… understand why Teagan is so upset and confused as to why this shitty hotel is supposed to be her eternal heaven. I would be too! Literally no one explains anything to her and just drops her here for her to feel lost and confused as to what’s going on. And then when she understandably questions why this is supposed to be her “happiest” memory and clearly expresses that she doesn’t want to stay here, everyone acts like she’s being so difficult and unreasonable. They’re like “What are you talking about, this is your happiest memory,” again, without giving ANY follow-up as to why. And quite frankly, I agree with Tegan: I’d give Heaven a one-star review too, judging by the way they run things and don’t communicate at all with the recently departed souls who have no idea what’s going on and are given next to no guidance unless it turns into a full-blown bureaucratic investigation. Like, damn, this Heaven is legit run like a DMV, or worse, Spirit Airlines where the customer service sucks and no one actually takes the time to answer your questions but rather makes you feel like you’re the difficult one who’s wasting their time.
It would honestly save so much confusion if this whole “investigation” Zelda takes Tegan on, showing her snapshots throughout her life leading up to where she is in the afterlife, could just be, I dunno…the standard? Like, yeah, why wouldn’t this be considered just a general orientation for each soul, if they so needed it? And they act like Tegan is such a special, difficult case who needs to spend thousands of years in purgatory which…I can’t believe that their biggest challenge is a fifteen-year-old girl with very real struggles she’s been through in life and is expressing pretty reasonable emotions given everything. Like, damn, if you consider her a difficult case…what do you do with everyone else? I just don’t buy this. Like, there’s nothing Teagan is going through that countless other people haven’t also gone through, if not worse. And I also don’t think the answer is being in purgatory thousands of years just for being human and going through our own personal struggles. Because if that’s the case, then almost every departed soul should allegedly be held in purgatory. I just don’t vibe with this belief system. And in Teagan‘s case, why? What has she done to deserve this, to deserve thousands of years of agony, other than…going through ordinary life shit? It seems very extreme and unnecessary
Tegan touches on this in the story as well, so it’s not like it isn’t ever addressed, but I’ll reiterate anyway. Why are all people just alone in their own heavens? That seems like solitary confinement and not conducive to a version of heaven for people to find eternal happiness. It’s literally proven that just having a five minute conversation with Robbie already made Teagan feel so much better and gain so much more clarity than when she was by herself. Wouldn’t that be an indication that souls in heaven should be, I don’t know, brought together to coexist and be able to heal through shared experiences as opposed to being completely isolated from everyone else? And in Robbys case, what good does it do to be separated from the love of his life, leaving him to wait in agony for her for all eternity? What good does that do to him? How is that heaven? In what universe is that eternal happiness? Because that actually sounds like punishment. Also why does it literally take until Tegan to start questioning these things? Are you really telling me that no one else has ever thought to question how corrupt and backwards this system is? How did it literally take a 15-year-old girl to make them question their business practices? I’m just not buying it.
In summary: The logistics of this version of heaven and this story pissed me off so much. It was such an unnecessary waste of time. This is why heaven gets a one star review from me. Because this is some bureaucratic, bullshit dystopian version of heaven. Besides all of that, I still didn’t think the payoff was good enough in the end. As said earlier, Zelda as a character comes across as just a wacky sidekick. I found her really annoying and cartoonish, so I just couldn’t get on board with her being a love interest. Thus, by the end I couldn’t bring myself to care about the ending.
Other Issues:
* Not gonna lie, the repetition of Tegan addressing Ms. Chiu gets old after a while. And for how often she’s referenced in here, she actually doesn’t take up a large space in the story at all to justify why Teagan keeps referencing her. Like, I get it, I understand her significance and why she means so much to Teagan. But it just isn’t explored enough in the story other than a few lines at best.
* This book is terribly guilty of constantly repeating the same words over and over and trying to get the same laugh (dickcheese, buttface.) It just comes across as particularly juvenile and lackluster writing.
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was immediately sold. I naturally gravitate toward stories that center around the afterlife, especially ones that put their own unique spin on it or weave their own interpretations of what that could look like. It’s always so fascinating and there are so many places you can go with that kind of story. With this, I thought it would be much the same, so I was really intrigued to read it for myself. Instantly this book seemed perfect for fans of The Afterlife of Holly Chase and Afterlove.
Unfortunately, this one ended up being a major letdown for me. I think first of all, I expected and wanted this to be more emotional in the same vain as maybe a Nina LaCour novel, having this mix of dreamlike quality and true-to-life emotions, with a writing style that maybe leans more lyrical and melancholy. But for me, this ended up being spun more on the comedic side. You know what it’s like? It’s like one of those movies where there’s a wacky sidekick and the main character has seven days to complete a task or prove some grand thesis like that true love exists, all while the wacky magical sidekick is along for the ride and poofs in every now and then with their antics. Like, it’s very much giving those vibes, which were unfortunately not exactly the vibe that I wanted.
All of that aside, I was actually enjoying the ride. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it was still entertaining enough. But the longer it went on, the more frustrated I ended up getting on Teagan‘s behalf. And here’s where I really have a bone to pick with this plot: I mean, I’m just gonna say it… understand why Teagan is so upset and confused as to why this shitty hotel is supposed to be her eternal heaven. I would be too! Literally no one explains anything to her and just drops her here for her to feel lost and confused as to what’s going on. And then when she understandably questions why this is supposed to be her “happiest” memory and clearly expresses that she doesn’t want to stay here, everyone acts like she’s being so difficult and unreasonable. They’re like “What are you talking about, this is your happiest memory,” again, without giving ANY follow-up as to why. And quite frankly, I agree with Tegan: I’d give Heaven a one-star review too, judging by the way they run things and don’t communicate at all with the recently departed souls who have no idea what’s going on and are given next to no guidance unless it turns into a full-blown bureaucratic investigation. Like, damn, this Heaven is legit run like a DMV, or worse, Spirit Airlines where the customer service sucks and no one actually takes the time to answer your questions but rather makes you feel like you’re the difficult one who’s wasting their time.
It would honestly save so much confusion if this whole “investigation” Zelda takes Tegan on, showing her snapshots throughout her life leading up to where she is in the afterlife, could just be, I dunno…the standard? Like, yeah, why wouldn’t this be considered just a general orientation for each soul, if they so needed it? And they act like Tegan is such a special, difficult case who needs to spend thousands of years in purgatory which…I can’t believe that their biggest challenge is a fifteen-year-old girl with very real struggles she’s been through in life and is expressing pretty reasonable emotions given everything. Like, damn, if you consider her a difficult case…what do you do with everyone else? I just don’t buy this. Like, there’s nothing Teagan is going through that countless other people haven’t also gone through, if not worse. And I also don’t think the answer is being in purgatory thousands of years just for being human and going through our own personal struggles. Because if that’s the case, then almost every departed soul should allegedly be held in purgatory. I just don’t vibe with this belief system. And in Teagan‘s case, why? What has she done to deserve this, to deserve thousands of years of agony, other than…going through ordinary life shit? It seems very extreme and unnecessary
Tegan touches on this in the story as well, so it’s not like it isn’t ever addressed, but I’ll reiterate anyway. Why are all people just alone in their own heavens? That seems like solitary confinement and not conducive to a version of heaven for people to find eternal happiness. It’s literally proven that just having a five minute conversation with Robbie already made Teagan feel so much better and gain so much more clarity than when she was by herself. Wouldn’t that be an indication that souls in heaven should be, I don’t know, brought together to coexist and be able to heal through shared experiences as opposed to being completely isolated from everyone else? And in Robbys case, what good does it do to be separated from the love of his life, leaving him to wait in agony for her for all eternity? What good does that do to him? How is that heaven? In what universe is that eternal happiness? Because that actually sounds like punishment. Also why does it literally take until Tegan to start questioning these things? Are you really telling me that no one else has ever thought to question how corrupt and backwards this system is? How did it literally take a 15-year-old girl to make them question their business practices? I’m just not buying it.
In summary: The logistics of this version of heaven and this story pissed me off so much. It was such an unnecessary waste of time. This is why heaven gets a one star review from me. Because this is some bureaucratic, bullshit dystopian version of heaven. Besides all of that, I still didn’t think the payoff was good enough in the end. As said earlier, Zelda as a character comes across as just a wacky sidekick. I found her really annoying and cartoonish, so I just couldn’t get on board with her being a love interest. Thus, by the end I couldn’t bring myself to care about the ending.
Other Issues:
* Not gonna lie, the repetition of Tegan addressing Ms. Chiu gets old after a while. And for how often she’s referenced in here, she actually doesn’t take up a large space in the story at all to justify why Teagan keeps referencing her. Like, I get it, I understand her significance and why she means so much to Teagan. But it just isn’t explored enough in the story other than a few lines at best.
* This book is terribly guilty of constantly repeating the same words over and over and trying to get the same laugh (dickcheese, buttface.) It just comes across as particularly juvenile and lackluster writing.
May 5, 2024
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I have conflicting thoughts about this book. We follow a main character who has died at age 16 and when she arrives to heaven, it is a ratty motel where she spent a long weekend with her dad and sister while her dad kind of falls apart. There is an angel, Zelda, in heaven who is excited and pleased that she made such a perfect replica of the hotel, and quickly becomes devastated when our main character files a complaint that her heaven is wrong. Heaven is supposed to be a replica of your happiest moment while alive. Zelda and the MC have 30 days for an investigation to occur to see if either Zelda's calculations were wrong or if the MC needs to go to purgatory instead of the fast track to heaven.
This was a unique story for sure. But the writing was inconsistent. Sometimes I felt it was snappy, but other times it felt very repetitive and overly young. So many "maybe breaths" and so much calling each other "butt face" and "dickcheese". There's also some teenage "trauma" with friends using each other to get closer to other people, and the MCs mom abandons them (which is definitely rough). I think this overall fell flat for me. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it? Maybe I'm too old of a reader for it? The MC and Zelda felt more like 13 to me than 16, and maybe it would have worked better as a middle grade book than a YA book? I dunno. I could see teen readers enjoying it but the themes might not resonate with them. Interesting idea, mediocre execution.
I have conflicting thoughts about this book. We follow a main character who has died at age 16 and when she arrives to heaven, it is a ratty motel where she spent a long weekend with her dad and sister while her dad kind of falls apart. There is an angel, Zelda, in heaven who is excited and pleased that she made such a perfect replica of the hotel, and quickly becomes devastated when our main character files a complaint that her heaven is wrong. Heaven is supposed to be a replica of your happiest moment while alive. Zelda and the MC have 30 days for an investigation to occur to see if either Zelda's calculations were wrong or if the MC needs to go to purgatory instead of the fast track to heaven.
This was a unique story for sure. But the writing was inconsistent. Sometimes I felt it was snappy, but other times it felt very repetitive and overly young. So many "maybe breaths" and so much calling each other "butt face" and "dickcheese". There's also some teenage "trauma" with friends using each other to get closer to other people, and the MCs mom abandons them (which is definitely rough). I think this overall fell flat for me. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it? Maybe I'm too old of a reader for it? The MC and Zelda felt more like 13 to me than 16, and maybe it would have worked better as a middle grade book than a YA book? I dunno. I could see teen readers enjoying it but the themes might not resonate with them. Interesting idea, mediocre execution.
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