Real, Not Perfect
- Downloads：3518
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-22 01:31:16
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Stephanie Coleman
- ISBN：1589977041
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Real， Not Perfect is the first book in a series that travels alongside four friends as they deal with teen life in Riverbend， Indiana。 The novel inspires girls and young women to deepen their relationships with God and solve their problems in God-honoring ways。
Tessa has lived a trouble-free life as the only child of two loving parents--she is well-liked， gets straight As， is on the competitive swim team， and is active in her church youth group。 It's a pretty perfect life！ That is， until she comes home from swim practice one day to find that her parents are divorcing。 Along with that， her BFF has moved to Florida， and Tessa gets stuck in Intro to Drama--possibly the worst class ever！
Soon Tessa's mom sinks into despair and Tessa struggles with her anger and hurt。 Meanwhile， her BFF posts fabulous pictures of her new life on Instagram。 Tessa thinks that everyone's posts show lives that are way better than the one she has。 Why does it seem like everyone else's life is more perfect than hers？ Find out how Tessa's new friends from Intro to Drama and Alex， her true-blue friend， help her discover that real is better than perfect。
Tessa has lived a trouble-free life as the only child of two loving parents--she is well-liked， gets straight As， is on the competitive swim team， and is active in her church youth group。 It's a pretty perfect life！ That is， until she comes home from swim practice one day to find that her parents are divorcing。 Along with that， her BFF has moved to Florida， and Tessa gets stuck in Intro to Drama--possibly the worst class ever！
Soon Tessa's mom sinks into despair and Tessa struggles with her anger and hurt。 Meanwhile， her BFF posts fabulous pictures of her new life on Instagram。 Tessa thinks that everyone's posts show lives that are way better than the one she has。 Why does it seem like everyone else's life is more perfect than hers？ Find out how Tessa's new friends from Intro to Drama and Alex， her true-blue friend， help her discover that real is better than perfect。
Reviews
Amy Langmaack
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I’m not an avid YA reader， and I think that has impacted how this book hit me。 I struggled to understand the purpose of this story while I was reading Real， Not Perfect。 The characters all felt self-centered。 No one talked about what was really bothering them， and big feelings about big life issues were addressed by the main character “tucking herself in her turtle shell。” This book is filled with triggers: divorce and suicide being the main ones， and really， they aren’t addressed or handled in I’m not an avid YA reader， and I think that has impacted how this book hit me。 I struggled to understand the purpose of this story while I was reading Real， Not Perfect。 The characters all felt self-centered。 No one talked about what was really bothering them， and big feelings about big life issues were addressed by the main character “tucking herself in her turtle shell。” This book is filled with triggers: divorce and suicide being the main ones， and really， they aren’t addressed or handled in ways that I would want to see characters in a Christian book for young adults being handled。 The only redeeming character in this story is Zoe who tries to point Tessa， the protagonist struggling through her parents divorce， towards God and offers to help her talk through her emotions。 The rest of the story is filled with stuffing feelings， no one truly helping this young girl who is suffering immensely。 Unfortunately， this is not a book I can or would recommend anyone read。I received copy of this book through NetGalley。 This review is my own， honest opinion。 。。。more
Emma
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I was so excited when I saw this new Christian YA series was being released！ I feel like there’s not a whole lot of YA contemporaries on the Christian fiction market which is a shame since I love them！ Real， Not Perfect is the first book in the Riverbend Friends series。After Tessa finds out her parents are separating， she feels like the nearly perfect life she’s always known is starting to crumble。 On top of her parents divorce， her best friend moved away， she’s stuck in a drama class she didn’t I was so excited when I saw this new Christian YA series was being released！ I feel like there’s not a whole lot of YA contemporaries on the Christian fiction market which is a shame since I love them！ Real， Not Perfect is the first book in the Riverbend Friends series。After Tessa finds out her parents are separating， she feels like the nearly perfect life she’s always known is starting to crumble。 On top of her parents divorce， her best friend moved away， she’s stuck in a drama class she didn’t sign up for， and the boy she likes sees her as just a friend。 While her mom sinks into heartache， Tessa deals with her anger and hurt。 She hides her emotions behind smiles and “I’m fine” but inside， she feels anything but fine。 There’s only so much pretending she can do。 What if she could embrace that being real is so much better than being perfect？I really liked this book。 While it is sad， it also has it’s light moments that made me laugh and smile。 I really liked Tessa and found her relatable in so many ways。 Her struggle with opening up to people and stop pretending that she’s okay is something I could especially relate to。 As for side characters， I really liked Izzy， Shay， and Alex， especially Izzy。 I’m so excited for her story！ As for Amelia， I think she’ll grow on me。 :）I really enjoyed seeing Tessa’s friendship with Izzy， Shay， and Amelia grow。 It reminded me that sometimes we’re put in situations we don’t like but a lot of good can come from it， like valuable friendships that can change our life for the better。 They were a fun group and I’m so happy they each get their own story！ I also really liked watching her relationship with her mom。 I was getting all teared up several times！ This book really shows just how social media can affect you。 It’s so easy to forget that people are posting the highlights of their life。 You don’t always see the side of their lives that’s less than perfect。 You only get a small glimpse but it can make you feel like your life isn’t as great as everyone else’s。 So much connection yet it can make you feel even more lonely。 I think this is something soo many teens can relate to。 I know I could！ Tessa’s struggle with this was very realistically done。 I felt her struggle。 It also touches on some tough topics like divorce and someone you love dealing with mental illness。 While this made it a sadder book， it also makes it real and relatable for a lot of people。 Tessa’s struggles with her relationship with God was authentic and relatable。 Her hurt and anger along with her struggle to forgive was very real and I felt it。 I teared up multiple times throughout this book， something I didn’t expect to happen。 Overall， I really liked this book！ I really liked the characters， and I’m so looking forward to the other girls’ stories！If you’ve dealt with the struggle to forgive when someone you love hurts you or felt the pressure to act like you’re okay when you’re really not， I think you can relate to this story。 If you’ve went through friendship complications or feeling the loneliness of social media， you’ll understand。 I give this book 4 out of 5 stars。 *Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review。 All opinions are my own。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Real, Not Perfect
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Real, Not Perfect&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Real, Not Perfect&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0