A Place Called Perfect: 1

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A Place Called Perfect is Helena Duggan's debut novel and is the book #1 in this new series. The book is aimed at young adults, but is also suitable for adults who enjoy reading fantasy. A thoroughly enjoyable read. I do want to read about what happens next, so hopefully the wait for book #2 will not be long. I am from Kilkenny, a medieval, haunted city in the south of Ireland, which was the inspiration for the town in A Place Called Perfect. I write stories full of adventure because I get bored really easily. Imagine living in a perfect town where everything is neat and tidy, the kids are polite and well behaved and the tea tastes like the best thing you can imagine. Sounds great, right? Well, not if the tea is actually hypnotising you and the glasses you are made to wear twist reality to make everything seem perfect and hide the truth… I am still a bit emotional as this was a terrific book, so bear with me while I try to write a review. This was definitely a brilliant book, quite creepy but still amazing, with some incredible characters and an enticing yet unique plot.

Throughout all this there's a serious message to be found too. The book makes us think how we may be unwittingly made to fit a "perfect" mould, and how we may be oblivious to it all, content with following the majority without any questioning. Violet never wanted to move to Perfect. Who wants to live in a town where everyone has to wear glasses to stop them going blind? And who wants to be neat and tidy and perfectly behaved all the time? When Violet starts in her new school, something seems odd to her. A lot of things acutally. Because everything and everyone in Perfect is, well, perfect. Soon enough, mysteries start piling up and one day she meets Boy, who lives in quite a different part of town. A Place Called Perfect delivers a creepy and whimsical tale on friendship, and fighting for what you believe in.

The cover art by Karl James Mountford captures the quirkiness of Helena’s world and I was often drawn to the detailed map to remind myself where I was in Perfect. Edward and George Archer have built this perfect town, but not all the citizens conform and do not become perfect citizens. Violet is one of those citizens and very soon Mrs Moody, the school teacher diagnoses Violet as having IDDCS (Irritable Dysfunctional Disobedient Child Syndrome) and Violet is placed on medication. However, Violet only pretends to swallow the pills because she does not want to be perfect. A Place Called Perfect was my first book. It was published in August 2017 and was a Waterstones Book of the Month. It won numerous awards including Crimefest Children's Book of the Year and was nominated for the Irish Book Awards and Waterstones Children's Prize. Helena has weaved a vivid tale about Violet, a new girl in a town call Perfect. Everyone wears rose-tinted glasses to stop going blind and promptly lose themselves in being perfect – including Violet’s mum. Her father, an opthalmologist (eye surgeon) is employed by the controlling Archer brothers who run Perfect and manufacture a rather intoxicating tea that perfectionists drink like water. When Violet’s father disappears, she uncovers the truth about Perfect with Boy, who comes from No-Man’s-Land where the rejects of Perfect live. Lying on her mattress one day, Violet finds a box stuffed in her mattress. Inside the small flat box is a paid of plain spectacles made of wood. When she wears these spectacles, Violet finds that she can see a boy that she couldn't see at all when wearing the other spectacles. Boy, is his name and he tells Violet that the rose tinted spectacles do something to change reality. He tells her that he lives on the other side of the huge wall that surrounds Perfect. Boy goes on to say that the Watchers stop Boy and the other invisibles from entering Perfect. He says that his are outcasts, the unwanted, mainly called the No-Man's-Landers, because they are not perfect.

The dialogue, as mentioned earlier, contained a few sexist remarks. This unfortunately was a big turn-off for me. And then strange things begin to happen. Her mom is acting a little too weird. Her dad is just disappearing on mysterious business trips. And everyone is wearing unique tinted glasses including herself. And then she is getting in trouble in school for every little thing. And apart from all this she is hearing strange noises. Nothing just makes sense. Violet und ihre Eltern ziehen nach Perfect und hier scheint wirklich alles perfekt zu sein. Alles ist sauber, die Menschen freundlich, alle tragen rosarote Brillen und sind begeisterte Teetrinker. Doch warum darf man nachts das Haus nicht verlassen und warum patrouillieren Hüter durch die Straßen und achten darauf, dass die Regeln eingehalten werden?Violet hat das starke Gefühl, dass hier etwas nicht mit rechten Dingen zugeht. A Place Called Perfect is an impressive debut. Looking forward to sharing this with my own children and to reading more from Helena Duggan.Another theme of mine is our reliance on pills and potions to fix our problems, to make us "normal" but what is normal?...

A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan, published by Usborne, is a fabulous, inventive read. It is as if the phrase ‘rose-tinted glasses’ has been created just for this book which, if you loved Beetle Boy, you will enjoy immensely. I first starting thinking about this story when I bought a pair of old bifocal glasses in an antique shop in Australia. I loved them, and still carry them everywhere with me. I had contemplated taking out the glass and replacing it with my own prescription...That notion started me on the train of thought for this book...Until she meets a boy called Boy!! Yess, that is his name, Boy and she immediately befriends him and together they go on their journey to discover the secrets behind the magical town. Then Violet met Boy, a little lad from a place called, No-Man’s Land, whom she could only hear when she didn’t have her glasses on, and only see with a pair of gold rimmed glasses that she found. Boy agreed with Violet that something was not right in Perfect. The two set off on an adventure to locate Violet’s dad and find out just what it was that Perfect was hiding. On a better note, the writing was deliciously eerie and gripping. It definitely reads like a thriller-mystery. The book is also quite easy to read, which is a plus since the target audience is under thirteen. My only complaint is that the pacing felt off at times. It went from 0 to 100 far too many times, and the transitions weren’t very smooth. Nevertheless, Helena Duggan still delivers a great story!

Violet never wanted to move to Perfect. Who wants to live in a town where everyone has to wear glasses to stop them going blind? And who wants to be perfectly behaved all the time?

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A Place Called Perfect is an engaging, exciting and fun book for readers aged around 9 years plus, though it would be a great book for a parent/guardian to read with their child. This is one of those books that you think about when you’re not reading it and can’t wait to find out what happens next. Any book that starts with a map showing secret tunnels under rivers to graveyards and ghost estates is already a winner!