Title: How To Be Perfect

Author: Holly Wainwright

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Legend Press

Publication Date: 1st November 2019

Cover:

Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Elle is holed up in an exclusive retreat where women pay thousands to mimic her extreme lifestyle, or die trying. But who’s bankrolling Elle’s new empire?

Abi just wants to marry her true love in the garden on New Year’s Eve. But her ex-husband is building a financial cult in the shed and her teenage daughter’s YouTube channel is gaining followers for all the wrong reasons.

Frances has a newborn and a WhatsApp mothers’ group that’s giving her anxiety. But she’s certain that if she can just be more like those fitmums on Instagram, things can only get better.

Enter the world of How To Be Perfect… fake gurus, green smoothies and bad influences included.

Review:

I had so much fun reading The Mummy Bloggers earlier this year so I was really excited to get my hands on the follow-up, How To Be Perfect. It was as enjoyable as it’s predecessor and I loved jumping back into the crazy world of these characters. How To Be Perfect catches up with what Elle has been doing since the events of The Mummy Bloggers and I was pleased to find out she is up to her usual tricks of obsessively curating her online persona into an airbrushed and totally unrealistic version of herself. We also find out where Abi and her family are in their lives and how Elle and Abi are still somewhat tied to one another despite their mutual loathing. There is also a new character added to the mix, Frances, a new mother who hero-worships Elle and desperately tries to emulate her insane version of how to live perfectly. I liked the introduction of another mum, it kept things fresh and I found her story really interesting to follow as she becomes involved in the lives of Elle and Abi.

This is a funny and sometimes ludicrous book which shows how much influence a person can have simply by faking it online. There are many crazy antics along the way but How To Be Perfect also demonstrates the damage that can be done when vulnerable people are taken in by a ‘perfect’ instagram feed and beat themselves up for being unable to attain the unattainable. It’s an important issue in the world we live in where you often see only what has been edited and sometimes what has been totally made up on the online platform of someone with influence. Despite this serious aspect of the book, the author knows when to find the biting humour and when to find the warmth in the events of this story which makes it an enjoyable and sometimes quite touching read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley. My review is my own honest opinion.