| Title | : | Piper Perish |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1452155836 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781452155838 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 416 |
| Publication | : | First published March 8, 2017 |
Who are you now?
Piper Perish inhales air and exhales art. The sooner she and her best friends Enzo and Kit can get out of Houston and get into art school in New York City, the better. It’s been Piper’s dream her whole life, and now that senior year is halfway over, she’s never felt more ready.
Who will you become?
But in the final months before graduation, life’s got Piper a little more breathless. Things are weird with Kit and awful with Enzo; art school is looking increasingly impossible; three different guys have each claimed a different piece of Piper’s heart; and Piper’s sister’s tyrannical mental state seems to thwart every attempt at happiness for the Perish family. Piper’s art just might be enough to get her out. But is she strong enough—and brave enough—to seize that power, even if it means giving up what she’s always known?
Be now. Then be bow. Be now, now, now.
Piper Perish Reviews
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Ok I'm sorry I really tried. DNF @ 42%. It is very very rare that I DNF a book, so I have some things to say aha. I don't mean to be so harsh but, like I said, it takes a lot for me to DNF a book...
**Rant Ahead**
This ARC is seriously stunning and the concept sounding so great and promising. But, unfortunately, this book. Drove. Me. Insane. Oh dear god. The cliches in this book were ridiculous. I'm not even go into that one. It was completely unrealistic. I WANTED TO PUNCH HALF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FACE ALL. THE. TIME. Especially Marli. I understand she was supposed to be awful but she was... unrealistically awful. Literally the worst person I've ever read about. And literally no one cares that she was the biggest bully ever. Oh my gosh. I've literally read books where evil villains had more redemptive qualities than she did. She made my blood BOIL.
I also hated Piper in general. You know when someone's voice just drives you crazy? That's how it was for me and Piper. The way she talked and carried herself was incredible pretentious and infuriating. I didn't care if she got into art school. Honestly, I was hoping she wouldn't just so she could be brought down a peg.
WHY. ARE. ALL. THE. CHARACTERS. CRYING. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. SOMETHING. MILDLY. INCONVENIENT. HAPPENS?! Literally everyone. I think Piper alone cried about 20 times in the first 40%. I'm not even exaggerating. Is it normal for literally every single person in your life to always cry at everything? Are they ok?
Ok imma stop now. In general, I just felt like this book had an incredible amount of stereotypes and just did not seem realistic in the least. Maybe that's just me? Idk maybe things like this actually happen that I'm not aware of. Maybe it gets better in the second half? But from the reviews I've read, doesn't look like it does. But I don't care at this point. Ok rant over. Sorry aha... -
Misschien is het heel vreemd om een boek op mijn blog te bespreken waar ik zo veel betrokken was bij het proces. Maar ik vond het boek zelf echt een aanrader en ik heb het immers ook gewoon gelezen. Ik heb het dan natuurlijk over Piper Perish van Kayla Cagan. Dit boek verscheen in maart in het Engels en verschijnt over enkele dagen op de Nederlandse markt. En wat tof is? Dit boek is daadwerkelijk anders dan de Engelse uitgave. Niet alleen heb ik het boek mogen voorzien van een andere omslag, ik heb ook alle binnenwerkillustraties mogen maken. Say what!?
Ik wist al een tijdje dat dit boek er aan zat te komen en ergens wat ik een beetje jaloers; ik hoopte ook ooit een echte young adult te mogen illustreren. Het was tijdens mijn huwelijksreis dat ik een mailtje kreeg van uitgeverij Best of YA of ik dit boek misschien wilde illustreren. WAT!? Duh! Ik mocht de digitale ARC lezen en hand daarvan zou ik bepalen of ik met het boek aan de slag wilde gaan. En voor ik op de helft was, was ik hopeloos verliefd geworden op het verhaal van Piper. Ik ben geen contemporary fan, maar Piper Perish wist mij ontzettend te verrassen en in te palmen. Het voelde als een enorme eer om de Amerikaanse illustraties te vervangen voor mijn eigen werk. En nu heb ik het boek in mijn bezit en kan ik wel janken van geluk. Hij is zo veel mooier geworden dan ik had gedroomd!
Piper Perish gaat over de bovenbouwer Piper. Ze heeft twee beste vrienden en met haar beste vriendin heeft ze afgesproken dat ze samen naar de kunstacademie van New York zullen gaan. Ze kunnen niet wachten om uit het gat waarin ze wonen te vertrekken, want beide meiden zijn geobsedeerd met kunst. Nu nog even toelating doen. Maar voor het schooljaar voorbij is, klapt alles in elkaar en is die hunkering naar de Big Apple verder uit hun bereik dan ooit.
Direct nadat ik het boek uit had, appte ik de uitgever dat ik Piper super graag wilde vormgeven en maakte ik ook direct aantekeningen voor mijn recensie - voor als het boek uit zou zijn. En nu is het eindelijk zo ver. En stiekem kan ik niet wachten om het boek in het Nederlands te gaan herlezen. Elke krabbel, elke tekening - eigenlijk alles wat geen letter is - heb ik gemaakt en dus voelt Piper een deel van mij. En dat had ik tijdens het lezen al.
De weg naar de kunstacademie gaat vaak niet over rozen; je loopt tegen onbegrip van je omgeving aan ('daar verdien je toch geen geld mee, of 'daar vind je later geen baan in') en het financiele plaatje is ook altijd een dingetje. Kunstacademies in Nederland zijn vaak even duur als regulier HBO onderwijs, maar je komt er pas achter hoe duur papier, verf en potloden zijn als je elke dag naar het academiewinkeltje moet. Piper's struggles voelden dan ook super herkenbaar en ik kon me daardoor perfect in haar inleven tijdens het lezen. Haar twijfels, haar frustraties, haar enthousiasme, het was als een klein vlammetje binnenin mijzelf.
Natuurlijk bevat het boek de nodige dramatiek, maar die vond ik eigenlijk wel prettig. En realistisch. Het boek bevat drama, maar ook voldoende humor om het grappig te houden. De manier waarop Piper haar vriendengroep beschrijft (het is een dagboek), maakt het dat ik ook wel zo'n groep zou willen hebben. Piper's vrienden zijn stuk voor stuk fantastisch, inspirerend en voelen ontzettend echt aan.
Vooral de manier waarop Kayla Piper's gedachtengang heeft neergezet vond ik overtuigend; het was heel erg hoe tieners denken en doen. Hun enthousiasme, hun bevlogenheid en hun impulsieve gedrag kwam goed tot uiting. Daarnaast was het ook nog eens heel goed geschreven.
Piper's emoties, frustraties en doorzettingsvermogen. Had ik dit boek maar kunnen lezen toen ik zelf naar de academie ging. Ik was ook graag zo uitgesproken geweest vroeger. Piper is vreemd, cool, geobsedeerd door een kunstenaar en weet later haar eigen stem te vinden. En dat is voor mij net zo inspirerend als de verwijzingen naar kunstenaars in dit boek. Zij weet haar vreemdheid eigen te maken om zo geaccepteerd te worden. En laten wij alsjeblieft meer respect hebben voor mensen die de wereld vormgeven. Want de manier waarop zij naar de wereld kijken (Piper beschrijft alles als een kunstenaar) maakt alles net een tikje mooier.
Kayla Cagan bracht Piper Perish tot leven en het feit dat ik Piper's werk mocht maken was een droom die uit kwam.
Ik vond het superjammer dat ik Piper Perish uit had en ik hoop van harte dat er een vervolg gaat komen. Zelden heb ik zo genoten van een contemporary en kwam een hoofdpersoon zo dicht bij mijzelf. Een dikke aanrader voor iedereen die soms een beetje buiten de boot valt, voor iedereen die graag mooie dingen maakt en voor iedereen die vecht tegen tegenslagen. Hup, naar die boekhandel en scoren dit prachtige boek.
#megatrots.
[Deze recensie verschijnt binnenkort ook op mijn blog] -
Piper Perish is a character you cannot help but root for!
This book moved way more than I thought it would. I was expecting an entertaining read about an artist in peril, but instead I got engrossed in a story that felt so real. This is a story of the REALISTIC ups and downs in family and friendship. By the end of the final chapter (month) of this book I actually felt in the back of my eyes some joyful stinging. The story is captivating and even empowering.
Thoroughly enjoyed myself this morning reading it! -
I loved the synopsis for Piper Perish. It sounded really fun and the cover is beautiful so I was pumped. I was super excited. I was ready to read a cute, fun YA contemporary. However, this book was a massive disappointment.
First off, I wasn't super into the writing style. It was written in a diary-like format but it was so over detailed, it would have been better if it was just written normally.
Okay. So. I hated the main character. She was very whiny, ungrateful, pretentious, immature, and incredibly over dramatic. She complained so much. I'm not a fan of people who complain a lot, especially when they're fortunate in many ways. Piper was very fortunate and blessed but she just complained about everything. Her immaturity was sky high. I felt like I was reading the diary of a bratty, privileged eight year old.
Piper also had a problematic and immature view on her (ex)boyfriend. Within the first few pages we find out that her (ex)boyfriend has an interest in boys. Piper goes on a weird rant about how she might have turned him gay because she has short hair. It was odd and surprising to find something like that in a YA book written within the last few years. Piper is an awful example for young readers. She single handedly ruined this book in the first 15 pages. I didn't like any of the other characters either so this book was pretty much hopeless for me.
I also wasn't a fan of the relationship between Piper and her sister, Marli. They hated each other for no reason and it was such a poorly written example of a relationship between sisters. I'm so sick of sibling relationships being so poorly written. I'm tired of girls being pitted against each other.
Piper and Marli didn't have to be besties but there is no excuse for such a terrible representation of sisters.
Honestly, all the female characters in this book are poorly written. This isn't a book I want young girls reading. There are so many more YA books out there that young girls can read that will empower them. Piper Perish just promotes the image that teenage girls are nasty and that it's okay to consistently compete with each other.
Overall, I didn't like this book at all. I found it to be very problematic and had a terrible representation of girls. This book was almost sexist against women. I don't think the author intended that at all but it's very unfortunate that this book has such a terrible cast of characters, especially the female characters. Maybe if you're not a critical reader, you'll enjoy this book but I definitely don't recommend it. There are many more YA contemporaries out there that aren't problematic and will empower the reader. -
“Piper Perish” is the perfect book for the kids who are creative and ponder life’s big questions. It’s also great for the adults who once were those kids and probably are still the same as adults. I really wish there would have been a book like this when I was in middle and high school. Highly recommended!
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher. -
Ik heb nog nooit een boek gelezen met zo'n irritante personages, amai. Enige positieve is dat het vlot las.
Ook heeft dit boek een aantal problematische zaken, zoals Piper die denkt dat Enzo homo is geworden door haar omdat ze eerder een jongenslichaam zou hebben?! Doe even normaal. De evenaar loopt niet door jouw achterwerk. Elke vorm van relatie in dit boek is gewoon toxisch. Irritant om te lezen, echt waar.
De zus, Marli, Jezus Christus alsjeblieft. Die is nog een meeste irritant van allemaal. Echt niet prettig om te lezen.
Het is dat ik wou weten hoe het ging eindigen, anders had ik het halverwege opgegeven.
Ook: hoe onrealistisch is dit verhaal en hoe onrealistisch zijn deze personages? Echt stom gewoon. -
So Piper Perish is an interesting book. The cover is gorgeous and lines up well with the content of the book. Simply this book is about the last year of high school of Piper Perish, an artist trying to get into a prestigious art school in NYC.
The writing style is very whimsical. It kind of jumps in time often, the text is basically little pieces of Piper's thoughts before we move to another point in time. It made for pretty easy reading but at the same time it annoyed me sometimes when we skipped to a later time when I felt the previous 'section' could have been expanded .
The characters were not my favourite part, Piper was ok in the beginning but began to really grate on my nerves at the end, she was really whiny, ungrateful and just plain annoying. Marli seems to be evil incarnate and does not have a single good moment in the whole book except a tiny one at the end. IN general, the characters do not have that much depth and change very little if at all.
This is very much a slice of life book, not much exciting happens and that's ok if you're into that kind of story. For me, while an easy read, I just wasn't satisfied at the end, mainly due to the characters. It's also a bit stereotypical at times although those instances were rare. It wasn't a bad book, but not my cup of tea.
I recently started an instagram for books that I'm reading or thoughts on books that I like. You can check it out here if you want :) -
Meh
*Gifted by Raincoast Books* -
4,5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️��️
Piper, wat ben je leuk!
En wat heb ik genoten ❤️! -
A couple of lovely quotes:
I love painting. I love drawing. I’m never let down, even when the picture isn’t exactly what I want. I can keep working on it. Paintings speak back. They argue. But it’s just because they still want attention. They aren’t done yet.
They want to keep the relationships alive. And when they break your heart, it’s only because they’re that good, not because they’re bad. Bad art can be fixed or transformed. But bad people? Bad choices? I think they’re with us forever.
And:
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” —Twyla Tharp. I get this one deep down. Every time I paint, I feel like I’m not just leaving home, I’m moving closer to something bigger and better than my life.
Though I can’t make any claims to being an artist, I took enough classes to resonate with these thoughts—and to have picked up the book in the first place, anticipating finding myself among artistic teens once again.
For the most part, I did. The book is at its best in the beginning and the end, when the focus is on three friends—our diary narrator, the eponymous Piper Perish, Enzo, her sometime-boyfriend now just friend, and Kit, her BFF.
I liked the glimpses of the other artistic teens in her class, with the Yoda-like teacher, Ms. Adams, swooping in now and then to utter words of wisdom as she exhorts the high school seniors not to revel in senioritis so much that they stop working on their senior projects—and the email exchange with first year conservatory art student Silas, whose word pictures of New York City were actually a lot more vivid than the Texas setting.
Piper, Enzo, and Kit begin senior year determined to get accepted to an elite New York art conservatory. As we get into the year, and their complicated lives, the three musketeers begin to feel fractions in their united front—as of course will happen at a time of life when one is rapidly changing.
I really liked Enzo and Kit. In fact, I liked them a bit more than I liked Piper, whose tendency toward drama llama had a legit source, but that didn’t make it any easier to read about.
I wanted more art, and less of Piper’s dysfunctional family life, which sprawls through a great deal of the middle part of the book, always on one note: Dad running (heavy hint there, running away from problems), Mom uttering well-meant but helpless fatuities and popping pills, and most of all, Piper’s vomit-comet sister crashing through nearly every scene being selfish, violent, and a total drag. There was even a strong undercurrent of outright horror .
The book follows a somewhat conventional young adult format in a kind of Hail Mary at the end after Piper’s plans are shipwrecked, and though I found it a bit hard to swallow I did like how the circumstances tucked back into the friendship between the three.
That said, I was left wishing that this had been Kit’s or Enzo’s story so that Marli and her self-absorbed violence would have been minimized down to plot points that could be skimmed as they were so repetitive, but also because I could not believe that hip teens, even in a relatively conservative environment, were totally clueless about the B in LBTQ. I was hoping that aspect would be explored—and of course there was the art I’d hoped for, the conversations about technique, art then and now, experimentation.
I feel that if Piper had talked about her senior project all the way through, pulling in hard-won insights along the way, this would have been a much stronger book. But even with what I felt were unevennesses, there was enough energy and charm that other readers could have a great time with it.
Copy provided by NetGalley -
Piper Perish was an extremely fun read! The book is written diary style, and each day is random, loud and full of emotions. And also I enjoyed the little sneak peaks of art thrown in some entries. Our main character Piper, is an artist who has a dream of going to college in NYC. She spends her free time hanging out with her two best friends, Enzo and Kit either sketching the day away drinking coffee or thrift shopping. Now I myself was a photography major in college and had to take numerous art class in school, I've been in Piper's shoes, I know how stressful yet freeing art can be. To stay awake at night not knowing if you'll meet the deadline or feeling the weight lift off your shoulders as you splatter paint in every direction, I've been there, done that. Also I'm a huge thrift shopper! Mix matching random pieces to create your own look, YES! I really had such a visualization while reading this story, it was fast and fun and I turned the pages quicker than ever. I'll be the first person to line to read the next diary (I pray there will one!!) in Piper's life. I can't really explain too much about the plot without giving away the story but just know this is about an artist who just wants her family and friends to be proud of her while she follows her dream. And those colors on the cover, beautiful!!
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With the exceptions of Kit and Phillip (and maybe Silas, though he was just an e-mail presence), I pretty much hated all of the characters. I should have stopped reading as soon as I realized this, but kept hoping something would happen that would redeem someone, even if it wasn't Piper herself. And, while I appreciate Andy Warhol, Piper's obsession with him was really, really annoying and pretentious and the whole book was pretty much just...ugh.
ETA: I got to thinking more about this book and I don't like it any better with some distance, but in retrospect, I realized that this book just felt more 1986 than 2016. There were occasional uses of modern technology that were sorta-kinda crucial to the plot, but the Warhol, the thrift shopping, the gay boyfriend—all felt like elements from the high school life of an 80s teen. If the author could find a way to set the novel in 1986, it would, oddly enough, feel fresher. (It still wouldn't make the characters likable, but it would make the whole Warhol obsession less annoying.)
Or, oh gods, is this some kind of 80s retro thing? Am I now old enough that my teen years are the latest retro trend? (Please say "no", even if you have to lie to do so.) -
I really wanted to like this book. Not just because I've had a great record with loving YA novels published by Chronicle Books. Not just because I share a fantastic first name with the author. It sounded so interesting, like nothing I'd ever read before. Unfortunately, there were more frustrations in this novel than anything else, and it left me with nothing unique to hold onto. It's the kind of book where the plot will grow fuzzy a few days from now.
Piper Perish is about just that: A girl named Piper Perish. She's an artist, from Houston, in high school. I know this because the book is told in journal entries and in about every entry she complains about how limited Houston is compared to NYC. Actually, I feel like this was a very accurate representation of teenage ranting, but it didn't translate well to real storytelling. The journal entries didn't progress throughout the half year they detail so much as passionlessly chronicle Piper's lives in a vividly failing attempt to capture teenage slang in the written form. There's no indication of what year this is intended to take place within, so with the technology available in Piper's world I assumed 2017 was a fair choice for setting. For teenagers so "cool" Piper constantly harps about how cool they are, their word choices are awfully . . . uncool, for lack of a better way to describe it. It was hard to read.
There was a big factor in the beginning of the novel that almost made me DNF it right away but I hung on, because I partially hoped it would right itself partway through the book and also thought I should give the rest of the plot a fair chance. A main character in the book reveals very early on that he has an interest in boys, while he has been dating a girl for a few years. Thus said girlfriend goes on a slightly insane spiral thinking that because she has short hair, she has accidentally convinced him that he likes men. Later that thinking shifts to how did everyone but me know that he was gay?
I'm so incredibly tired of authors just ignoring the fact that, hey, it's true: You can like GUYS AND GALS. Basically most of the book was her coming to terms with the fact that yes, he loved her, just not in that way. This is a horrible example for teens who'll be reading this book. There's EVERY CHANCE some guy could love a girl, yes in that way, and then when he finds a guy to date instead, love him too. He doesn't have to be straight. Or gay. Or even define himself by being bisexual, because I get that people don't have labels, sexuality is more complex, and all. But the word bisexual? Not once does it appear (and I'm reading an advanced copy so, if for some reason this changes, I would be incredibly pleased to know about it!). Not even as a consideration or an afterthought.
Throughout the rest of the book, this was marring my experience, but I have to admit it didn't truly detract from the plot because not much happens. Tiny situations resolve themselves. Plotlines that could have been interesting, such as a certain character potentially having very serious unresolved mental illness issues, are never even addressed. The only thing that isn't stagnant is time. -
One of the best contemporary YA novels I've read in years. Kayla Cagan is an author to watch.
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Just not for me.
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"Jij dacht dat Ronnie vis had gekocht toen hij zei dat hij platjes had,' zei Kit. 'En dan wil jij jaar helpen? Ik dacht het niet." ~ p9.
Toen mij gevraagd werd of ik dit boek wilde recenseren hoefde ik geen 2x na te denken en was het gelijk een volmondig JA!!! Alleen de cover maakte mij al super nieuwsgierig. Enorm trots op Emmy van Ruijven dat zij hiervoor het artwork heeft mogen doen. Het voegt absoluut iets aan het verhaal toe dat er ook binnenin leuke krabbels tussendoor staan. Na het omslaan van de laatste pagina was ik intens verdrietig... ik was nog niet klaar om afscheid te nemen van Piper. Gelukkig trooste Kayla Cagan mij via instagram met de belofte dat in 2018 het verhaal van Piper verder gaat ♡
"Liefde betekent dat je je fouten achter je moet kunnen laten." ~ p32.
Piper Perish is bijzonder meisje met een geweldig talent. Kunst is haar manier om te ontsnappen aan de realiteit, zowel tijdens het maken als voor de toekomst. Want Piper wil maar 1 ding: met Kit en Enzo naar New York om te studeren. Weg uit het vreselijke Houston waar ze continue geconfronteerd word met haar zus Marli (echt, die zou je wat aandoen af en toe!!!). Haar lerares mevrouw Adams heeft een mooie, inspirerende en stimulerende rol in het boek en ik hou van de quotes van kunstenaars die zij elke keer gebruikt. Iedereen zou zo'n lerares moet hebben tijdens zijn/haar schooltijd! Ook Piper's liefde voor Andy Warhol, en het gebruik van zijn quotes, is een leuke toevoeging aan het verhaal. Of je nu een Warhol fan ben of niet, je gaat hem absoluut waarderen. Kayla Cagan zorgt ervoor dat je Piper in je hart sluit en niet meer los wilt laten...
"Er zou een regel moeten bestaan dat je je beste vrienden nooit slecht nieuws hoeft te vertellen." ~ p112.
Onnodig te zeggen geloof ik dat ik echt verliefd ben geworden op dit boek, en heel erg blij ben dat er een vervolg komt. Sommige dingen mogen nu eenmaal niet eindigen? Niet al na 1 boek!!! Echt een fantastisch debuut van Kayla Cagan ♡♡♡ -
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
This is going to be kind of a ranty review because spoiler alert: I hated it. Maybe part of it is an age thing. Some parts of it may appeal to younger audiences because while I could relate to some things, most of the book just annoyed me. This book is told through Piper's journal entries. Interesting choice for a narrative style, but it ensured that we only got things from Piper's POV. The problem with Piper was that she annoyed me for most of the book. She was a typical teenager who couldn't wait to leave her hometown for an art school in New York and she wouldn't shut up about it. I do understand that part because I was the same way. But she was so whiny about everything and she was unrealistic about her options. She wanted to go to an expensive art school, but did she do ANYTHING about trying to figure out options so her parents could afford it? No. She didn't look for scholarships or loans or grants or anything. She even took her sweet time about getting a job. She got in and then just expected her parents to be able to pay for it all and then she blamed other people for the fact that they couldn't. And she didn't have ANY other backups.
Let's talk about her family. Her parents were supportive and I felt sorry for them because they had to deal with two very bratty teenagers. Okay, now I get that sisters can have a whole rivalry thing going on and they can hate each other for no reason and one always thinks the other is being spoiled by their parents. That's how it was for me and my sister growing up. But here's the thing: Piper's sister, Marli, was an absolute horrible person and there was no reason for it. And there was never any supportive or loving moments between the sisters. I don't even get the point of the Marli point of the storyline. I felt like the author was trying to insinuate that Marli had mental problems. Piper and her friend read a chapter in a psychology textbook and decided that Marli was a sociopath. Really?? I agree that Marli was mean, but I never saw any indication of that. Not a diagnosis you want to throw around lightly. And Piper kept calling Marli crazy. So annoying. And here's a radical thought: a person can be awful and mean WITHOUT suffering from a mental illness. But since nothing was ever resolved with that, I don't know if Marli actually had issues or if it was just an insult thrown around by an envious sister. But Piper could be mean to Marli too. And she thought her parents were spoiling Marli just because her parents actually did things for her. And not to give away any spoilers, but Marli's problem couldn't just be swept under the rug.
Then let's talk about Piper's friends. They were both artists too and they were also as moody as Piper because of the whole "teenage angst" thing. Kit was jealous of Piper a lot instead of being supportive. And Piper just apologized to Kit for things that weren't even her fault and she was so needy in her desire to make Kit okay. That was annoying. Enzo was Piper's artist boyfriend, who breaks up with her in front of everyone at the whole school because he's gay. I never got over the way he ended things with Piper and then I hated him because he kept jerking Piper around, despite the fact that he said he didn't want to be with her. And another reviewer pointed out that the author should have made Enzo bisexual or something and I have to agree with that. Basically, the ONLY options that were presented for Enzo were gay or straight. Yet, he still kind of wanted to be with Piper at times even after he came out. So was he just struggling with being gay? Or was he bisexual? If he were bisexual, then maybe some of this actions would have made sense and I would have liked him a bit more.
To sum it up, this book was way too young for me and I basically hated all the characters. Sorry, but I cannot recommend this one. -
I tried so very hard to enjoy this book. What drew me to it was, for starters, the cover art. Very colorful. And unusual title. Then, naturally, the synopsis.
In my case I am a former art student. Seeing what the synopsis was about I couldn't help but be excited about something surrounding an art student who was shipping off to be a big time change on the art world.
Or so I thought. I couldn't get that far because of the hard time I had with this book.
In most cases when an author decides to feature their work in nothing but journal or blog entries there seems to be a very easy flow. The Princess Diaries is one example. You get a very clear idea of what's happened with out having the author actually written out word for word what happened, dialogue and all. This is not the case this time. Not only does the narrator clue you in she also nearly explains everything word for word, full dialogue and then still some how, either, A) makes a bad put down statement about herself or someone else. Or B) makes a compliment or has a compliment or something pertaining to how amazing she is.
Which brings me to my next point.
Are.. we supposed to feel for her? Or.. go on some journey with her or what? Because she's either this infamously popular, has a ton of friends, can get whatever guy she wants hottie. Or she's this person you want to smack because all she does is complain about everyone else, her "terrible" life because she's the younger sibling and how her life is over now that she's had a bit of a dramatic change in her life. Even with these changes ahead of her life is so full of opportunity it's very hard to feel.. sympathetic to her plights of drama.
So with all of that she has this flat as a paper plate personality. It's as if the character can not be happy no matter what is going on. Because while the dump thing sucks, from my point of view, her life does not suck that much. I would not mind her high school life to be entirely honest.
That being said, let's move on.
Okay, so the centered art world is what brought me into this book. As I stated I was/am a former art student. I still enjoy art of all sorts. I'm very open minded to many interpretations of many things. However, what I was saddened by is the fact that THERE IS NO ART IN THIS BOOK! I'm not talking about the little doodles and paint smudges in between the pages, no!
I'm talking about the fact that there is NO art work description what so ever of the characters or side characters art! Nothing! Nada! Not even a mention of a blue sky with a yellow sun! There's mentions of colors on her nails and on the canvas but there's no.. nothing. I think the only pieces that were mentioned were of Enzo, a main male character, who fashion designs doing some clothing sketches and outfits for dances. But when it comes to Piper, there's nothing. I was really hoping for an art background book we, the reader, would get a vivid picture once in a while. Maybe we do in the end but through most of it.. I just couldn't believe there was nothing.
The doodle sketches were a little off putting, to be fair. Filler maybe? Perhaps the full novel will be flushed out?
Lastly, what is the Andy Warhol obsession? There were other artists just as great. Other quotes. Other.. time lines and styles of art that shaped the world. But everything something went wrong Piper would go "Andy always said.." and for a while it took me a minute to realize she meant Warhol because of how often she mentions him. I seriously thought he was a character I was going to meet until it clicked in my brain that the entire time she meant Warhol.
It's great to Idolize but I am glad the teacher told her to branch out. That she couldn't rely on him. She had her own ground work to lay.
Don't get me wrong, I will try very hard to, maybe, finish this book in hopes it does get better. Perhaps, in time, my thoughts may change. But in the long run I don't think this book is something I would recommend.
I do not enjoy giving negative or poor reviews, in honesty, it hurts my heart. I'm sorry this book didn't touch or reach me the way I hoped. -
Little Miss Perish is one of the coolest characters I have ever come to meet in a novel. She is talented, cool, quirky and fun. I found myself hoping I could’ve been cool enough to hang with her in high school. Cagan creates such realistic high school experience for the reader. The story is written like a journal, and Piper’s voice is so genuine and real. It is exactly how you would imagine a senior in high school to write about her daily feelings.
Throughout the story, Cagan introduces the reader to several of Piper’s close friends. They are all artists and have a great relationship with one another, constantly planning their future in New York City together. I loved how each of the characters had their own quirks and individual personalities. They truly care about Piper, and that shows in their interactions. Not all of the characters were rainbows and sunshine. Piper’s sister Marlie does an excellent job of bringing the reader’s head out of the clouds and back to reality with her difficult personality.
Throughout all of the ups and downs, Piper is a fighter and keeps going after her passion. Cagan wrote a beautiful and fun story about a young artist and her fight to make her dreams come true. There are always pros and cons to a book, but in this case the pros most definitely outweighed the cons. I would highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy contemporary young adult novels. -
This is one of those books that I liked from the first page, and then quickly went downhill when I realized there wasn't much more to say.
The characters were weirdly flat. Piper, for example, can be defined by her love of art and her obsession with Andy Warhol... an obsession that is confusing, as if it only exists to say "this girl loves art. Here is an example of how much" without adding any depth to her character. There are so many of these "Look! Here's what an art lover would do!" moments that don't hold any truth. This is coming from the girl who's done 14 years of studio art, has an artist for a mother and a sister in art school. Piper felt like a caricature of an art student, with the author telling us rather than showing us who she is.
I was hoping Piper started off as annoying so that she would have some kind of redeeming arc. So that she could grow as a person, discover that life was more than hating everything and everyone and loving Andy Warhol. But no. She's whiny, all the time. She even says things like "No one has ever suffered as much as me," which felt like how an adult would imagine a teenager feels and thinks.
I should have put this book down when I realized how little I cared for Piper's story, but I pushed through to see if there was this redeeming arc. Unfortunately, the plot remained predictable and Piper remained annoying. While I am sure many could and would enjoy this novel, it really was not for me. Pass. -
Piper Perish is a thoughtful, passionate, and page-turning story about a group of young artists who are stretching the boundaries of "what art means" as they simultaneously stretch the boundaries of their own lives.
I should start by saying that author Kayla Cagan is a friend of mine, and also that I got an advance copy. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's a short (and non-exhaustive) list of what I loved about Piper Perish:
1. Piper's voice. She cares so much about her work (and her family, and her friends) that you care about her too.
2. "Art" in this story is not limited to "the classical tradition." Fashion, makeup, and web design are all included in the discussion of "how can we do art to this?"
3. There's also the question of "How do I live in an artistic way? How do I make my day-to-day interactions match the values I put into my work?"
4. The characters run up against real and recognizable obstacles: family, teachers, bureaucracy, money, even bad reviews. If you make art yourself, you're going to recognize a lot of this. If you want to make art, be prepared.
So yeah, this book is GREAT, and I haven't even gotten to the Andy Warhol part yet. Enjoy. -
I liked the description and the cover of this from the start, and I had high expectations based on some of the really great contemporary YA that I have read over the last couple of years. But unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations.
It had cliche, stereotypical teenagers with the teenage artist who is, of course, obsessed with Andy Warhol. They were unrelatable and the conflict and relationships were so disjointed and seemed out of place at times. The NY storyline and emails to the mentor were so oddly done. I mean-no one-and no one-writes emails that Piper does, especially to strangers! I didn't buy into this plot device. It doesn't work at all here.
One of the major problems with this storyline is the character of Piper's sister, Marli, and their parents. Marli's horrible behavior is bad enough but then the reasoning behind it and the parents reactions and subsequent actions are so inadequate that it's baffling actually.
And the end! What? It's very abrupt.
It was a promising book at the beginning and the cover caught my attention but it fell very flat. -
I hate that I didn't love this one - but in January, I was already pretty sure I wouldn't love it.
I think this is a case of a reader and a book - just not destined to get a long. I found the story boring - I keep trying to imagine what I would tell someone the plot is and I think I'll go with "dysfunctional family and the few months before college." I just don't think anything stands out here. Told is a kind of journal format, each "chapter" section is broken out by Month. The story starts in January and runs through August as Piper waits for the answer to college, struggles to like her family, a boyfriend and keep her psycho sister from completely losing it and from Kit throwing yet another tantrum.
I didn't like the characters. That is almost always the way that books and I don't get along. I didn't like Kit or Enzo and I definitely didn't like Marli or Piper. I wish I could say I liked it more. -
Pages read: 6
This was very immediately not my kind of book.
Piper Perish opens with Piper waking up and thinking she's blind because she fell asleep with false eyelashes on and they've glued her eyes shut. Then she talks about how there's glue and glitter on her eyeballs and my eyes started watering with how freaking gross that is.
Piper idolizes Andy Warhol (dear god) and asks herself "What would Andy do?"
There's a character they call "STD Ronnie." His girlfriend, Marli, refers to Piper and her bestie as Angsty Warhol and Etsy Betsy respectively.
The amount that all of this is not relatable to me is a looooooooooot. But maybe if you're super into Andy Warhol this will be your jam idk? -
I have to say, this book was over the top. It managed to make me hate every single one of the characters in under 50%. The cover is gorgeous but don't let that fool you. The main character's voice irritated me down to my bones. So pretentious. So snotty. Marli, her sister and who was supposed to be the main villain, was even worse. She was just horrible, not a complicated or round character at all. Both consistently made bad choices, and did not improve or learn any lessons. Gah. Even writing about this book makes me cringe. I DO NOT recommend this book.
-
I really wanted to like this book, and Piper, because the idea seemed really fun. But it was just another ya contemporary, with too much childish drama - between Piper and her friends, between Piper and boys, and most of all, between Piper and her sister. The art felt more like a sidetrack than an actual plotline, which is strange, seeing Piper's love for Andy Warhol was one of the central premisses. Moreover, Piper's (boy)friend, Enzo, was a very problematic character, with his 'turning gay' (?).
-
ugh! so much love for this crazy dramatic, crazy beautiful, crazy relatable story. Piper's voice is so strong, and i adored being surrounded by her world of art and her friends.
full review up here! :) -
3 1/2
I’ve got to admit that I am all over the place regarding Kayla Cagan’s Piper Perish. For the most part, I enjoyed the story of Piper who aspires to be the next Andy Warhol. She sounds like a typical high school student, although a very talented one, dreaming of a perfect future.
The novel is written in diary form, but breaks that at times to include emails, etc. As such, the style is very conversational.
read more:
https://saschadarlington.me/2017/09/2...
