Perfect by Judith Mcnaught

First Published: May 1993
Publisher: Pocket
Pages: 704
Format: Paperback
Finished Date: 19 November 2011

Awards:
1998 AAR Top 100 Romances #15
2000 AAR Top 100 Romances #62
2004 AAR Top 100 Romances #82
2007 AAR Top 100 Romances #70

Blurb from Goodreads

A rootless foster child, Julie Mathison had blossomed under the love showered upon her by her adoptive family. Now a lovely and vivacious young woman, she was a respected teacher in her small Texas town, and she passionately lived her ideals. Julie was determined to give back all the kindness she'd received; nothing and no one would ever shatter the perfect life she had fashioned.

Zachary Benedict was an actor/director whose Academy Award-winning career had been shattered when he was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife. After the tall, ruggedly handsome Zack escaped from a Texas prison, he abducted Julie and forced her to drive him to his Colorado mountain hideout. She was outraged, cautious, and unable to ignore the instincts that whispered of his innocence. He was cynical, wary, and increasingly attracted to her. Passion was about to capture them both in its fierce embrace...but the journey to trust, true commitment, and proving Zack's innocence was just beginning....

My Rating

My Review

What can I say? The title is a perfect representation of how the book is like. Without a doubt, Perfect was... perfect. There's no better word to describe it. What's perfect can't be made any better, can it? Throughout the book, I was led on an adventure with the characters that brought me from emotional peak to peak. I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I smiled, I got angry, I sighed in happiness. Everything that a person would normally experience, I experienced while reading this book. I found myself wishing so hard that the book was real, that somewhere out there, there are people who have found such a great love. Because the love shown in this book is just simply amazing. It cannot be adequately described, it is simply perfect.

Zack is an ultra-rich guy. Megabillionaire I believe. Thrown out at the age of 18, he worked hard all the way to make himself into who he was. I really admire that strength of will he had when he was thrown out. He has always been raised in the lap of luxury, but after being thrown out, he had no choice but to use his own two hands to support himself. And throughout all that, he somehow survived and became successful. When he was about 30, he was framed for murder and went to prison. He escaped when he was 35 and the next 2 weeks after his escape was the best weeks of his life. Because he found Julie. And in so doing, he found love.

Julie came from a very poor background. Abandoned at birth, she practically grew up on the streets even though she went to orphanage after orphanage. Why? She couldn’t keep up at school and hence she played truant. But one day, she was placed with the Mathisons’ and from that day on, her whole life changed. That is one amazing family, by the way. They never stopped believing in Julie and I found that very touching. And I got the sense that even though Julie tried to make her life as perfect as possible, so as to not let down the Mathisons, she wasn’t truly happy. At least, not until she met Zack. Then everything changed. For both of them.

So when Zack escaped, he met Julie along the way. He kinda kidnapped her and made her take him to his hideaway in the Colorado mountains. That place is just so beautiful. Wow, the next bits that happened are just so amazing. I can’t describe it well enough to do it justice. From their first kiss, both of them were hooked. He kissed her to hide the fact that he was kidnapping her, but that kiss just started off their relationship. I loved it when he was trying to rationalize with himself why he should seduce her. It was so cute haha:P

Those days that they spent in the house on the mountains were one of the most beautiful that I have ever read. I can’t describe it, it wouldn’t seem that good. But as I was reading it, I could see how much they were in love with each other and how they were just like a part of each other. It really was an example of 2 soulmates, finally finding each other. What can I say? Beautiful. Simply amazing.

Even the lovemaking scenes were so much more than just sex, so much more than just mutual pleasure. It was the joining of two souls that no matter how much they tried to fight it, they would fall in love.

But I think my absolute favourite part of the book came when Zack wrote that letter to Julie. That letter is simply the most beautiful words that could ever be written. Every single word showed the depth of love that Zack felt for Julie. He loved her so so much but yet, for her, he left, knowing that she would be better off without him. But he underestimated the power of love, especially the type of love they had. That type of love will never go away, because that sort of love lasts a lifetime. In the past, whenever I read that letter, I would cry my heart out. Because that sort of beauty just makes you cry. This read was no exception. I wept. Even if I just read the letter on its own, I would cry so easily. I remember flipping to the letter in a bookstore. I teared there and then, seeing those sweet sweet words. With a few short paragraphs, Mcnaught successfully conveyed the depth of love the two characters had for each other and that was the most amazing thing of the book for me.

After the amazing start and middle, the ending was a little bit of a disappointment. I mean the emotional peaks this book brought me to from the start to the middle was the highest I’ve ever reached. But after she decided to join him in Mexico, it just wasn’t that fantastic anymore. It was still good yes, but nothing compared to the beginning. And the letter:P I didn’t like how they made up. It wasn’t emotional enough. I actually would have preferred Zack having an epiphany, that he couldn’t live without Julie, rather than because of what Paul showed him for him to change his mind. But oh well, at least after he realised just how much Julie loved him, and that she had never truly intended to betray him, he went to seek her forgiveness.

Oh yes, one part that was kinda funny was when they were engaged. I loved seeing how Zack found it so difficult to control himself and actually had to restrain himself. It was so cute! Haha, and it just continued to reinforce the idea of how much he loved her.

And I don’t have any complaints about the book. It’s perfect and you can’t improve on perfection, can you? The pace was great, the storyline captivating and the love between the characters just the most wonderful thing ever. You really understood every bit of their actions and how their past shaped them. There really isn’t anything I didn’t like about the book, even though I felt that the ending wasn’t as good as the starting. And that’s the reason why I can’t say Perfect is the best book I’ve read. Because overall, its comparable to a couple of other books. But solely based on the book until the letter, it’s simply the best book I’ve ever read and I ever will. The maelstrom of emotions this book let me feel is simply incomparable to any other book I have read.

Perfect is honestly one of the best books I have ever read. True, the book IS pretty unrealistic, the events that allowed Zack and Julie to meet was just too coincidental to be possible. What were the chances of that happening? But then again, perhaps in the case of true love, fate will always contrive to bring the two souls together to make them fall deeply in love. Somehow, someway. All I know is that love will find a way.

I have read Perfect 3 times in total, and not once has it lost its magic for me. I think this read was the emotional read for me, because I found myself in tears every few pages. Zack and Julie were so in love, it was almost like love at first sight. Their love was so obvious and prevalent and simply so sweet. It shows the beauty of love and how love can truly conquer all. Perfect is a book that will always have a special place in my heart.