**CW: Abuse, kidnapping, violence, and a few instances of racism.
I could easily see Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart as the perfect teen slasher movie, like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. The story follows Jessa, who has lived her entire life following her parents’ plan to be successful. Though she hates her goody two shoes reputation, she can’t break free from it — not even at a parent-free sleepover with her friends. But when innocent jump scares turn into serious dangers, including a raging storm and an actual killer, Jessa will have to break out of her comfort zone if she wants to protect herself and her friends.
The key to a good slasher, for me, is a protagonist you actually want to root for. And here, with Perfect Girl, I was definitely rooting for Jessa to make it out alive. I was mostly invested in her journey, cheering her on as she gradually loosened up and went into some tough decision-making. She really stood up as the leader of the pack, and she even built up the courage to pursue her longtime crush. (Yes, there’s a killer out there, but there’s still time to flirt. There’s always time to flirt.)
As the storm goes on, there’s a lot of decent build-up that results in some satisfying scares. But as the book wrapped up, I realized that I didn’t care as much for Jessa’s brother or her friends. They’re pretty two-dimensional, and at times, sound like they should be in middle school rather than high school — the only thing that saved them for me was that Jessa cares. So maybe this wasn’t the perfect teen slasher, but a fun Halloween read nonetheless.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Perfect Girl will be released on November 19.
Sara Bechtol 