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A review by popthebutterfly
An Otherwise Perfect Plan: A Novel of Mystery, Love, and Chocolate That Defies Description by Ken Schafer
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the author. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: An Otherwise Perfect Plan
Author: Ken Schafer
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 2.5/5
Diversity: FLF relationship mentioned, wheelchair-bound character briefly shown
Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, mystery
Publication Date: July 31, 2023
Genre: YA Contemporary
Age Relevance: 13+ (language, drugs, vague sexual references, HP reference, romance, religion, immigration, panic attacks, blood gore, politics)
Explanation of Above: There are a handful of curse words in the book. There are a couple of small references to weed and there are a couple of vague sexual references. There is one HP reference. The romance is slight and sweet. There are a few mentions and showings of the Christian religion. There is discussion and mention of immigration, though brief. There are a couple of panic attacks shown. There is one mention of blood gore. There is one part of the book that discusses some political commentary and there are a couple of other small references to political content as well.
Publisher: Moon Jumper Press
Pages: 278
Synopsis: Life hasn’t been easy for Gwen Pendergrass as a free-lunch student living with her mom in a one-bedroom apartment whose tiny, Marquis de Sade-inspired kitchen seems intent on inflicting grave bodily harm. The only thing making life palatable is Peter, a loner like herself who goes to the same high school, and who shares her love of books, banter, and endless reflection on the absurdities of the universe.
When Gwen’s mom receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get back the life she’d given up when she’d dropped out of college due Gwen’s unplanned birth, Gwen is beyond ecstatic…up until her mom says she has to reject the offer, because they can’t afford to take advantage of it.
Gwen cannot, will not, let this happen, no matter the cost. She intercepts the rejection letter her mom was mailing, then ropes Peter into a Hail Mary of a scheme to find her father, undeterred by knowing utterly nothing about him—not even his name!—and only having a strip of photographs of him and her mom, taken in a photo booth somewhere in Las Vegas the weekend of her conception to go on.
And while she receives surprising help from unexpected allies, before she knows it, her white lies, scheming, and emotional roller coaster start to make a mess of everything, and it quickly becomes a race to find her dad before her mom catches on, her head explodes, or it all spirals completely out of control.
Review: For the most part this book was enjoyable. The book told the story about a girl who is wanting to make her mother’s life better by getting her a scholarship to Yale. When the mother finds out she’s been accepted, she tells the story about why they’re in the predicament they are in. The girl, also being fueled by an assignment at school, finds clues to who her father really is and with the help of her friend and a detective she sets out on a mission to find and reconnect with him. The book’s plot was predictable but had some nice side journeys to go along with it. The book had decent character development and the world building was fairly well done as well.
However, I had some issues with the book. Aside from the one HP reference (why are we still putting that in books?), the book had a couple of “what the fuck?” instances. The first was near the beginning of the book where the character goes off on a tangent about “dead people who are voting beyond the grave”. The leaning of that tangent was very Republican based and it gave me a very uneasy feeling for the book throughout the rest of my read. On the topic of the tangents, the book had way too many of those. The book, without the tangents, would have been maybe 150 pages less than what it is right now. With the tangents the MC goes on constantly, it makes it hard to understand the book and very easily sidetracks the reader. There is way too much info dumping in those tangents as well. Instead of developments happening naturally, a lot of times the developments felt forced along with the tangents. This also makes the MC of the book not sound like a teenager at all in my opinion. There are way too many tangents the MC goes off on that I don’t think a real teen would give two cents about to care. I also have a problem with the ending, specifically why the MC is kissing in front of her mother? It’s kinda weird. The whole of the book was kinda weird anyways but I was definitely like “what the fuck?” at that point as well. Neglecting these issues, the book was also kinda written weirdly and it took me a long time to find my groove with this book.
Verdict: It was good, but the writing isn’t for me. However it might be for you!
Book: An Otherwise Perfect Plan
Author: Ken Schafer
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 2.5/5
Diversity: FLF relationship mentioned, wheelchair-bound character briefly shown
Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, mystery
Publication Date: July 31, 2023
Genre: YA Contemporary
Age Relevance: 13+ (language, drugs, vague sexual references, HP reference, romance, religion, immigration, panic attacks, blood gore, politics)
Explanation of Above: There are a handful of curse words in the book. There are a couple of small references to weed and there are a couple of vague sexual references. There is one HP reference. The romance is slight and sweet. There are a few mentions and showings of the Christian religion. There is discussion and mention of immigration, though brief. There are a couple of panic attacks shown. There is one mention of blood gore. There is one part of the book that discusses some political commentary and there are a couple of other small references to political content as well.
Publisher: Moon Jumper Press
Pages: 278
Synopsis: Life hasn’t been easy for Gwen Pendergrass as a free-lunch student living with her mom in a one-bedroom apartment whose tiny, Marquis de Sade-inspired kitchen seems intent on inflicting grave bodily harm. The only thing making life palatable is Peter, a loner like herself who goes to the same high school, and who shares her love of books, banter, and endless reflection on the absurdities of the universe.
When Gwen’s mom receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get back the life she’d given up when she’d dropped out of college due Gwen’s unplanned birth, Gwen is beyond ecstatic…up until her mom says she has to reject the offer, because they can’t afford to take advantage of it.
Gwen cannot, will not, let this happen, no matter the cost. She intercepts the rejection letter her mom was mailing, then ropes Peter into a Hail Mary of a scheme to find her father, undeterred by knowing utterly nothing about him—not even his name!—and only having a strip of photographs of him and her mom, taken in a photo booth somewhere in Las Vegas the weekend of her conception to go on.
And while she receives surprising help from unexpected allies, before she knows it, her white lies, scheming, and emotional roller coaster start to make a mess of everything, and it quickly becomes a race to find her dad before her mom catches on, her head explodes, or it all spirals completely out of control.
Review: For the most part this book was enjoyable. The book told the story about a girl who is wanting to make her mother’s life better by getting her a scholarship to Yale. When the mother finds out she’s been accepted, she tells the story about why they’re in the predicament they are in. The girl, also being fueled by an assignment at school, finds clues to who her father really is and with the help of her friend and a detective she sets out on a mission to find and reconnect with him. The book’s plot was predictable but had some nice side journeys to go along with it. The book had decent character development and the world building was fairly well done as well.
However, I had some issues with the book. Aside from the one HP reference (why are we still putting that in books?), the book had a couple of “what the fuck?” instances. The first was near the beginning of the book where the character goes off on a tangent about “dead people who are voting beyond the grave”. The leaning of that tangent was very Republican based and it gave me a very uneasy feeling for the book throughout the rest of my read. On the topic of the tangents, the book had way too many of those. The book, without the tangents, would have been maybe 150 pages less than what it is right now. With the tangents the MC goes on constantly, it makes it hard to understand the book and very easily sidetracks the reader. There is way too much info dumping in those tangents as well. Instead of developments happening naturally, a lot of times the developments felt forced along with the tangents. This also makes the MC of the book not sound like a teenager at all in my opinion. There are way too many tangents the MC goes off on that I don’t think a real teen would give two cents about to care. I also have a problem with the ending, specifically why the MC is kissing in front of her mother? It’s kinda weird. The whole of the book was kinda weird anyways but I was definitely like “what the fuck?” at that point as well. Neglecting these issues, the book was also kinda written weirdly and it took me a long time to find my groove with this book.
Verdict: It was good, but the writing isn’t for me. However it might be for you!