ARC Review: Perfectly Wrong by Mariana Pereira

Perfectly Wrong by Mariana Pereira

Perfectly Wrong by Mariana Pereira is an age-gap, forbidden, workplace romance that revolves around a budding singer and his marketing executive. The story revolves around Elena Vaughan a twenty-eight-year-old marketing executive at Icon Records, who meets Sam Martin, an eighteen-year-old budding artist. She’s attracted to him and so is he. But, he is one of her clients and it’s strictly business. As tensions rise and emotions deepen, will they defy the odds and explore life beyond their professional boundaries?

“Perfectly Wrong” also touches upon the trauma one goes through in an abusive marriage and how one copes with it post-divorce. Elena’s ex-husband is an abusive partner who has always been jealous of her achievements and doubted her every single move. When things reached the extreme, Elena decided to jump out of the relationship (quite literally) and decided to file a case against her abusive husband. Elena now lives in an apartment alone and in the early chapters, the fear she had when someone unannounced came to her house really spoke of how women who’ve been through an abusive relationship feel when they’re alone. On the other hand, the book also talks about Sam’s imposter syndrome where he always thinks that no matter how good of a singer he is, he always feels that it’s never enough.

The book kept me hooked from the very first chapter and it was a quick read with merely twelve chapters. The first few chapters really resonated with me and I loved how it was going until I read that the male protagonist is ten years younger than the female protagonist. I’m not someone who prefers a reverse age gap trope. So, that was a huge turn-off. This book also gave me “The Idea of You” vibes in the beginning but later as the story developed, I found myself enjoying the book. I would say I had a love/hate kind of relationship with this book because somewhere I didn’t feel the connection yet somewhere I loved reading it. 

I really loved John’s characterization in the book and honestly, I shipped John and Elena over Sam and Elena. I really hope that something happens and Elena ends up with John in the next book. I really couldn’t picture Sam Martin as the main character since I couldn’t see any character development and  Yes, this book ends on a cliffhanger leaving the readers to wonder what was going to happen next. 

Rating: 2.5/5 (or 3) 

Overall, “Perfectly Wrong” was a quick read touching upon serious themes like abusive relationship trauma, self-doubt, and self-discovery. While the book’s writing style kept me hooked from the first page, the reverse age gap trope and the lack of character depth for the male protagonist made me feel less connected to the storyline. On the other hand, the supporting character John, felt more like the main character and I hope the writer doesn’t make him the bad guy in the next book. If you enjoy workplace romances with complex emotional backstories and don’t mind age-gap dynamics, this might be worth a read. To me, it was a mixed experience, sometimes engaging, sometimes frustrating.

Happy Reading!

Thank You Love Notes PR and Mariana Pereira for the opportunity! ❤️