Pinterest tracking pixel
If you are having difficulty navigating this website please contact us at member.services@bookofthemonth.com or 1-877-236-8540.
Oops! The page didn’t load right. Please refresh and try again.
All booksYoung adultPast Perfect Life
Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg
Young adult

Past Perfect Life

by Elizabeth Eulberg

Quick take

Think you know your family? Allison thought life with Dad was perfect—until she discovered his shocking past.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_Emotional

    Emotional

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_FastRead

    Fast read

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_FamilyDrama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_SuburbanDrama

    Suburban drama

Why I love it

Stephanie Mooney
Book Blogger

When it comes to reading YA contemporary, I crave something cute, but with substance. And on this, I know that Elizabeth Eulberg is always going to deliver. Her well-developed characters, relatable emotions, and sweet romances draw me right into a book’s world—and make it so I never want to leave.

Ally is a small-town girl with a devoted father and a small but wonderful group of friends. Her biggest problem? She’s got nothing noteworthy to include in her college application essays—that is, until an application detects an invalid social security number, and Ally discovers that she’s not who she thought she was. Soon her world is turned upside down as she comes to terms with the lies of her past and her new normal.

Ally’s emotional journey, told through Eulberg’s completely addictive writing, compelled me to keep turning the pages. I was moved by her deep friendships, developing romance, and the challenges her family faced. I didn’t mean to finish this book in one day, but that’s exactly what happened. I couldn’t put it down, and I don’t think you’ll be able to either.

Read less

Synopsis

Small-town Wisconsin high school senior Allison Smith loves her life the way it is—spending quality time with her widowed father and her tight-knit circle of friends, including best friend Marian and maybe-more-than-friends Neil. Sure she is stressed out about college applications . . . who wouldn’t be? In a few short months, everything’s going to change, big time.

But when Ally files her applications, they send up a red flag . . . because she’s not Allison Smith. And Ally’s—make that Amanda’s—ordinary life is suddenly blown apart. Was everything before a lie? Who will she be after? And what will she do as now comes crashing down around her?

Read less

Preview

Check out a preview of Past Perfect Life.

Read a sample →

Member thoughts

All (341)
All (341)
Love (138)
Like (180)
Dislike (23)
355 ratings
  • 39% Love
  • 51% Like
  • 6% Dislike
    Young adult
    • As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
    • The Downstairs Girl
    • These Violent Delights
    • Legendborn
    • Anna K Away
    • A Wilderness of Stars
    • Firekeeper's Daughter
    • Instructions for Dancing
    • The Boy in the Red Dress
    • Color Me In
    • Not So Pure and Simple
    • Throw Like a Girl
    • Frankly in Love
    • The Queen of Nothing
    • On the Come Up
    • Wayward Son
    • The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
    • Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things
    • Anna K
    • The Rest of the Story
    • The Red Scrolls of Magic
    • This Time Will Be Different
    • Patron Saints of Nothing
    • Yes No Maybe So
    • The Gilded Wolves
    • Permanent Record
    • Full Disclosure
    • Oasis
    • Where the World Ends
    • I Have No Secrets
    • Song of the Crimson Flower
    • When the Stars Lead to You
    • All the Bright Places
    • Saving Zoë
    • Hello Girls
    • Symptoms of a Heartbreak
    • All of Us with Wings
    • The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World
    • Past Perfect Life
    • There's Something About Sweetie
    • Again, But Better
    • Sky Without Stars
    • How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom
    • Night Music
    • Opposite of Always
    • Shout
    • The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
    • The Deceivers
    • Enchantée
    • The Astonishing Color of After
    • Top Ten
    • Turtles All the Way Down
    • Little & Lion
    • A Million Junes
    • And We're Off
    • The Impossible Fortress
    • The Most Dangerous Place on Earth
    • You Will Know Me
    • The Sun Is Also a Star
    • Salt to the Sea
    • Bloodmarked
    • Foul Lady Fortune
    • I Must Betray You