REVIEW: The Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ultra-high-achiever Viviana Rabinovich-Lowe has always had a plan—and no room to be anything less than perfect. But her quest for perfection comes toa screeching halt when her boyfriend leaks racy pictures of her to the entire school. Making matters worse, her parents are getting divorced and now her perfect family is falling apart. For the first time, Viv feels like a complete and utter failure. Then she gets a job working at the community pool, where she meets a new group of friends who know nothing about her past. That includes Evan, a gorgeous guy who makes her want to do something she never thought she’d do again: trust. For the first time in her life, Viv realizes she can finally be whoever she wants. But who is that? While she tries to figure it out, she learns something they never covered in her AP courses: that it’s okay to be less than perfect, because it’s our imperfections that make us who we are.

Ugh, I wanted to like this one. I really did. There were parts that I liked. I could relate to Viviana's need for perfection and all the tension she felt at not getting everything done that she needed to. And I liked the panic attack part of it. But that was about it. First, the story should have just focused on Viviana's need for perfection and her desire to please her father. But alas, there was way too much focus on romance. Viviana meets Evan and OF COURSE, Sammie (her best friend) likes him too. You see where this is going, right? Viviana had a bad experience with a guy so she doesn't want him. She also doesn't want to hurt Sammie. Sammie likes Evan and Evan likes Viviana and Viviana likes Evan, even though she insists way too many times that she wants nothing to do with him. Yeah, that wasn't predictable at all. I thought Sammie just acted like a big drama queen. She has a crush on Evan, but he completely ignores her for Viviana and she gets mad at Viviana for it. Annoying. I wasn't a fan. 

In addition to the romance, there was a LOT of family drama. Let's just say that her father sucked. But I hated the way Viviana treated her mom and her sister because of it. Her sister, Mila, was freaking adorable and only eight years old, but Viviana acted horribly to her. I get that she was mad at her dad, but come on, it wasn't Mila's fault. And Viviana just made these impulsive decisions and she didn't communicate AT ALL. Yeah, yeah, I know what you are going to say: she's a teenager, so it's expected. Sorry, but I think eighteen is old enough to be able to communicate with your jerk of a dad and to refrain from being mean to your eight year old sister. 

I would have LOVED more focus on Viviana's panic attacks, as well as the fact that her plans for the future were a result of wanting to be just like her dad and wanting to please him. But I didn't feel like any of that was resolved. There was some resolution to the family stuff and to the Evan stuff, but as for the stressed out about colleges stuff, there was nothing. And it seemed like her panic attacks went away and she was fine again. Weird. 

Sorry, but this book was just not for me.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Skip this one.