Girl Perfect: An Imperfect Girl's Journey to True Perfection

by Jennifer Strickland, Stephen F. Arterburn (Foreword)

Discover the Freedom to be the Girl God MadeAt the age of eight, Jennifer Strickland entered the world of modeling, beginning a journey that took her to the runways of Milan. On the outside, she seemed to have it all: walking the runway for Giorgio Armani, commercials for companies from Oil of Olay to Mercedes Benz, worldwide attention, and all the glamour that comes with the fashion industry. But she quickly discovered that this world is not all glitter and gold...Girl Perfect is the haunting story of Jennifer’s journey from fashion to faith. Within these pages, you will get an inside look at the industry and you will find a girl who struggled just as you do. The principles of true beauty she shares will shatter the illusion that beauty and success satisfy, leading you to the powerful, lasting knowledge of who you are in God’s sight: his beloved daughter, handcrafted to reflect His glory to the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Religion, Memoir

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2021

About the author

Jennifer Strickland is a blessed wife, grateful mother of three, gifted speaker, and former professional model. She once appeared in Glamour and Vogue and walked the runways of Europe, but since leaving the modeling industry she has devoted her life to restoring the beauty and value of women.

Reviews

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jennifer Strickland turned eight years old, she began her modeling career. Coming from someone who has looked into the career of modeling, there are many sleezy situations that can happen. Jennifer had some very scary situations including being grabbed by a man, getting lost in the metro station at night in a completely different country, getting drugged and bribed to pose nude, stalked by a homeless man, had her personal belongings stolen, and contemplated suicide before meeting her future husband at a park. Throughout Jennifer’s modeling career she has had some really cool opportunities including being on the runway in Milan, being a Ford Model in New York, on comericals for companies from Oil of Olay to Mercedes Benz, and many more. This book tells when Jennifer started her career in modeling she thought it was all glitter and gold but soon found out it was not. I found this book to be really good because at so many times in Jennifer’s life she had something happen to her that could’ve ended her life but this book tells how Jennifer comes to know God through meeting her future husband in a park. Jennifer eventually ends her career in the modeling field. I would recommend this book to girls of any age who are looking to be models at some time in their life, because this book gives the true story of how a life in the modeling field can really be.

[cloudyskye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully honest book by a lady who is truly beautiful inside and out. I love how she makes Scripture come alive in her story. And I really wish all girls who live in our culture would read this - and their parents, too!

[Liebes Buch · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Bekenntnisse" eines Topmodels schildert Jennifer Strickland ihre Erlebnisse in der Modewelt. Da sie schon als Mädchen sehr gross und dünn ist, schickt ihre Mutter sie zu einem Mannequin-Kurs. Fortan arbeitet sie neben der Schule und dem College als Model und war bei Nina Blanchard unter Vertrag. Als sie für Armani laufen darf, scheint sie den Weg in die Liga der Super-Models geschafft zu haben. Jeder will sie buchen und sie verdient unwahrscheinlich viel Geld. Niemand ahnt, dass sie innerlich am Modezirkus zerbricht. Das Leben in Model-Apartments macht sie einsam und die Übergriffe von Männern verstören sie. Mal wird sie unter Drogen gesetzt, einmal sogar vergewaltigt. Zudem bahnen sich durch das massive Hungern Gesundheitsschäden an. Als sie es nicht mehr erträgt, fliegt sie Weihnachten nach Hause zu ihren Eltern. Da sie dort isst, nimmt sie 2 kg zu. Als sie nach Italien zurückfliegt, wird ihr von Armani gekündigt. Als Folge davon verliert sie auch alle anderen Jobs. Ihre Agentur schickt sie wieder nach Deutschland, wo man am meisten Geld verdienen kann. Obwohl Strickland schon so viel Geld gemacht hat und die Arbeit nicht mehr aushalten kann und obwohl sie ja eine Ausbildung hat, schafft sie den Absprung nicht. Zu gross ist die Angst, wertlos zu sein. Das ständige Casting hat ihr Selbstvertrauen zerstört. Sie hat keine Vorstellung davon, wie sie aussteigen könnte. Der Ruhm ist ihre Droge. Schliesslich versucht sie, sich das Leben zu nehmen. Erst als sie in einem Park in München eine Bibel geschenkt bekommt, findet sie die Kraft, ihr Leben als Topmodel hinter sich zu lassen.
Strickland schildert erschütternd die nackte Realität hinter dem schönen Schein und gibt Einblick in ihr Seelenleben. Das Buch fasziniert durch den Kontrast der schönen Schauplätze und des äusseren Erfolges gegenüber dem inneren Schmerz. Diesen kann man durch Stricklands Schilderungen auch tatsächlich gut verstehen und nachempfinden. Da das Buch eine Seelenreise ist, in der Strickland die Faszination der Schönheit zu entschlüsseln versucht, gibt es zu jedem Kapitel eine kleine Andacht. In der englischen Ausgabe ist diese am Ende des Kapitels. In dieser Ausgabe findet man sie ganz am Ende des Buches. Das finde ich etwas unpraktisch. Wahrscheinlich ist es für die Leser so angeordnet, die sich nicht für philosophische/ religiöse Fragen interessieren, sondern nur die Geschichten aus der Glamourwelt lesen möchten. Strickland hat Kreatives Schreiben und Journalismus studiert und hält in den USA Vorträge, um das Selbsbewusstsein von Mädchen und Frauen zu stärken. Dieses Buch hat mich sehr berührt, da es so eindrucksvoll schildert, dass es einen Menschen vernichtet, wenn er nur auf sein Äusseres reduziert wird.

[Faelyn]

Girl Perfect by Jennifer Strickland is an auto biography that focuses on the life of a formal model. She takes you through all of her successes,trials, and leads the reader down the path that she took to discovering the Lord. Jennifer shares the real meaning of beauty with the readers and leads them to the conclusion that we are God’s beloved daughter, made to reflect his glory.
By writing this book, the author tries to persuade the reader of their true beauty. Having gone through many self image issues and struggles in the modeling industry, she hopes for other to learn from her mistakes. Having experienced a life of drugs, alcohol, and sex as an emotional release, she finally realizes that she has hit rock bottom. As she slowly makes her way to recovery, she documents her every step along the way. It is when she finds God that she turns back from the awful life she had been living and begins to feel that she is valuable to someone, and that ‘someone’ is Jesus Christ. She shows the reader that no matter what we have gone through, God is always ready for us to come to him. He longs to have a relationship with us, but we have to accept him first.
There are many themes that can be interpreted in this book. Self-image, faith, and recovery are just a few themes that stuck out to me. Having been adored by some and despised by other, Jennifer finds herself constantly trying to please everyone she meets. Day by day she puts on her different masks in the hopes of being worthy enough for her clients. She eventually loses herself and has no where to turn but to God. Finally accepting Him as her Savior, Jennifer’s life drastically changes. She gives up her career of modeling to live how she believes that God wants her to live. Simply by writing this book, she has blessed many people.
This book was written in chronological order of events from the journal that Jennifer kept throughout her life. Starting at age eight, she was given the impression that she had to be perfect and look perfect to get any modeling jobs. Throughout the narration of her life, she gives the reader great advice on accepting themselves as they were made.
I thought that this book was amazing. The fact that she was willing to be so open about her experiences was very inspiring to me. It was such an admirable thing to do, and because she had done so, she has helped many young girls, including me, realize that we are precious in the eyes of God. Jennifer is such an inspirational writer and this book shows it. Although this book is geared towards teenage girls, it can be life changing to anyone who reads it. I would highly recommend it and give it four stars out of five.

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it's safe to say that I'm not the target audience for this. Girl Perfect is, on the face of it, Strickland's memoir of working as a (successful) model, and how unhappy she was doing so (not to mention how damaging the industry can be). At its core, though, the goal of the book is to convince readers that they'll never be satisfied until they've turned to Jesus. I knew this from the description, but it's still...more testimony than I have any real interest in, I guess. Will work better for readers who are more into 'how I hit rock bottom and found Jesus' stories.

A side note: It's interesting to me that the photo insert is exclusively modelling photos—I'm not sure what to make of that. That is, it's fairly standard fare for a memoir about modelling (or otherwise about being in show business, fashion, etc.), but it's curious that, in a book that describes the modelling industry as uniformly miserable and unhealthy, every single picture is a pretty/glamorous/dramatic/whatever shot from her portfolio, without so much as a note in the captions to remind readers that she was not enjoying the life. Not sure what might feel like a better fit to me, but as it is there's something of a disconnect.

[ME · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so lucky that I discovered this gem in booksale last month. The pink and black spine stood out to me and I immediately grabbed it from the shelves. I was even happier when I read that it was a book about a model and her journey towards a "perfect" life.

In this book, the author defined what perfect means in a biblical sense. There are ten chapters in this book, some of which are the perfect look, the perfect body, etc. She goes into detail by sharing her personal story and relating it to the chapters' topics. I especially loved the bible verses and the structure of the content.

There are countless valuable words of wisdom and love in within the pages of the book, but some of my favorites include the following:

"Letting go of the perfect is letting go of the temporary. It is getting my eyes off the demands of the world and fixing them on God, the only PERFECT that lasts." - The Perfect Freedom

"The differences among us are purposeful - they do not make some of "more than" and some of us "less than." - The Perfect Acceptance

"The world says real is not beautiful. The world says beautiful is covering flaws, not revealing them. But real is beautiful to God." - The Perfect Image

These words left a lasting impression on me. They are forever embedded in my mind and I am thankful to Jennifer Strickland for writing this life-changing and eye-opening book. I HIGHLY recommend everyone, especially ever girl out there, to give it a chance. It made me cry. It made me smile. It made me realize that there is no such thing as perfect and that I have to stop chasing it. We are made to be imperfect, and that's okay.

[Lauren Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using her own experiences, Jennifer Strickland, former runway model, helps girls see where perfection lies. And she does it in a way that works. It's a powerful, very constructive read that any girl needs since they're constantly bombarded with images that are fake and call it perfection. The models aren't happy (she proves it), so the magazines seriously sell us fake images.
I am so glad I read this--every teenage girl you know (maybe a little more mature teenage girls, i.e. 15+) needs this book.

Caveats: While traveling abroad, Jennifer recalls stories of being assaulted, using drugs, etc. But they are dealt with in a discreet and mature way.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!! She had a really tough life but she's a great writer and she's really honest. Jennifer Strickland is a mother, wife, and pastor now. She preaches to young girls all over the world about the beauty of Christ and the beauty Christ sees in us. She's great :)

[Holly Kartchner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every lady should read this!

[Inger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it! :-)