49 pages • 1 hour read
Sarah DessenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Seeking perfection is a coping mechanism that Deborah and Macy both use to handle the death of Macy’s father. Both Deborah and Macy believe that they must move on with their grief as quickly as possible—that if they pretend that they’re fine long enough, eventually it will become true, and the grief will fade away. On a surface level, Macy believes perfection is a way of avoiding “The Face”—the expression others give her when they recognize her as the daughter who watched her father die—and appearing calm and collected in front of others. For Deborah, perfection is more about pretending she’s fine and covering up the ugliness of her life. She’s not interested in renovating her late husband’s beach house because of the way it forces her to confront devastating memories. Instead, she’d much rather tear it all down and build something new and perfect. Deborah may smile and put on a show for her clients and even refuse to acknowledge the depths of her suffering, but Macy becomes increasingly worried when realizing how tired and solemn her mother has become.
Deep down, however, for both, perfection is the illusion of control; as Macy says in Chapter 10, “It’s not about being perfect, really.
By Sarah Dessen
Along for the Ride
Sarah Dessen
Dreamland
Sarah Dessen
Just Listen
Sarah Dessen
Keeping the Moon
Sarah Dessen
Lock and Key
Sarah Dessen
Saint Anything
Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You
Sarah Dessen
This Lullaby
Sarah Dessen
What Happened to Goodbye
Sarah Dessen
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Daughters & Sons
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Fathers
View Collection
Fear
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Loyalty & Betrayal
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Mothers
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
Realistic Fiction (High School)
View Collection
Romance
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection
Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love
View Collection