Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F KAI
Collection
Publication
Harper Perennial (2009), Edition: Original, 309 pages
Description
"Jiselle, a young flight attendant has just settled into a fairy tale life with her new husband and stepchildren. But as a mysterious new illness spreads rapidly throughout the country, she begins to realize that her marriage, her stepchildren, and their perfect world are all in terrible danger."--
Original publication date
2009
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User reviews
LibraryThing member gaby317
Synopsis:
Set sometime in the near future but in a world ravaged by an epidemic of the deadly Phoenix flu, In A Perfect World is a close look at the demands and sacrifices of love.
Thirty-two-year-old Jiselle is ready to be swept off her feet by the dashing Captain Mark Dorn and shrugs off her
Review:
Kasischke takes complex and believable characters and drops them into an apocalyptic future. The effect is a suspense novel that holds all the emotional layers of a rich family drama.
I expected to be frustrated by Jiselle's naivete, but she proved to be such a sympathetic character. I was charmed by her kindness and thoroughly enjoyed Kasischke's approach to storytelling. In A Perfect World is an absorbing and satisfying read - I strongly recommend it!
Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 6, 2009), 336 pages.
Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.
Set sometime in the near future but in a world ravaged by an epidemic of the deadly Phoenix flu, In A Perfect World is a close look at the demands and sacrifices of love.
Thirty-two-year-old Jiselle is ready to be swept off her feet by the dashing Captain Mark Dorn and shrugs off her
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mother's warnings. It didn't matter to Jiselle that she'd only known Mark for a few months and that she would be inheriting a ready-built family. Captain Dorn is universally regarded as a catch and the other flight attendants are jealous. After handling the tantrums of drunken passengers during transatlantic flights, the prospect of spending time with three children in a quiet New York town strikes Jiselle as a peaceful and positive change . So, Jiselle succumbs to the romance and trades in her flight attendant's wings for motherhood and married life. Then the Phoenix flu spreads into Jiselle's world, and alters it forever.Review:
Kasischke takes complex and believable characters and drops them into an apocalyptic future. The effect is a suspense novel that holds all the emotional layers of a rich family drama.
I expected to be frustrated by Jiselle's naivete, but she proved to be such a sympathetic character. I was charmed by her kindness and thoroughly enjoyed Kasischke's approach to storytelling. In A Perfect World is an absorbing and satisfying read - I strongly recommend it!
Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 6, 2009), 336 pages.
Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.
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LibraryThing member Jenners26
While some dystopian books take place in an imagined future where things are very different from our own world (like The Hunger Games series), In A Perfect World takes place right in our here and now. There are no fantasy elements to this book at all—everything seems utterly believable and
Our glimpse into a world that encompasses nothing less than a complete breakdown of our society is Jiselle, a flight attendant who has "landed" the handsome and charismatic pilot Mark Dorn. In her 30s and tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride, Jiselle is ready to settle down and imagines a perfect little world with her ready-made family. (Mark has three children whose mother died a few years before.) Jiselle leaves her job and moves into the idyllic little town where Mark has a picture-perfect home. Anxious and excited to be the stepmother, Jiselle is eager to meet her new family. What she finds is three children who are less than thrilled—with the exception of the young boy (gotta love those boys!)—with their new stepmother. With Mark away for a good portion of time, Jiselle struggles to make the transition into her new life.
In the background of Jiselle's life, there are rumblings of another kind—a mysterious Phoenix Flu is causing troubles through the country. Even celebrities seems to be getting it and dying. (OK...a little editorial note here: I just loved that Kasischke killed off Britney Spears with the flu! Take that, Ms. I'm A Terrible Singer Yet Have Achieved Huge Success!)
As the story progresses, Mark is away more and more often, and Jiselle finds out some disturbing information about her new husband. And as the Phoenix Flu begins to become more and more of a problem, Jiselle's focus begins to shift from getting adjusted to family life to surviving—a skill she finds herself to be more adept at than she ever imagined.
As conditions worsen and society begins to fall apart, Jiselle is thrust into a nightmarish world where isolation, survival, sickness and death become a part of everyday life. Yet the worse things get, the more Jiselle's world actually becomes "a perfect world." With an ending that will leave readers who need things tied up at loose ends, this book surprised me in how it shifted and turned and twisted and changed into something that I can't quite describe. Consider it an uplifting story about the end of society as we know it.
Reading this right after The Hunger Games, I think this book came out on top for me. Where The Hunger Games is flashy and showy with its tantalizing premise, this book is more subtle and slow and deep. Written in an almost distant, chilly type of prose, Kasischke has created a dystopian book that truly scared and disturbed me yet also made me feel good about the world at the same time. As I said, this isn't a book that ties things up in a nice little package for you, but I thought it suited the story well. If you're looking for an adult book on the opposite side of the dystopian spectrum, then this book is for you.
The Bottom Line: I'm giving the book 4 stars. I was drawn into Jiselle's world in an almost hypnotic way. Each page brought me closer to horror but also to goodness. This is a book that I could envision happening in our lifetime, and I think Kasischke did a wonderful job of keeping it from falling into a run-of-the-mill "Oh No...There's An Epidemic" type thriller. This book has a vibrant beating heart if you take the time to look for it.
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possible, which made it a more effective and scarier book for me.Our glimpse into a world that encompasses nothing less than a complete breakdown of our society is Jiselle, a flight attendant who has "landed" the handsome and charismatic pilot Mark Dorn. In her 30s and tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride, Jiselle is ready to settle down and imagines a perfect little world with her ready-made family. (Mark has three children whose mother died a few years before.) Jiselle leaves her job and moves into the idyllic little town where Mark has a picture-perfect home. Anxious and excited to be the stepmother, Jiselle is eager to meet her new family. What she finds is three children who are less than thrilled—with the exception of the young boy (gotta love those boys!)—with their new stepmother. With Mark away for a good portion of time, Jiselle struggles to make the transition into her new life.
In the background of Jiselle's life, there are rumblings of another kind—a mysterious Phoenix Flu is causing troubles through the country. Even celebrities seems to be getting it and dying. (OK...a little editorial note here: I just loved that Kasischke killed off Britney Spears with the flu! Take that, Ms. I'm A Terrible Singer Yet Have Achieved Huge Success!)
As the story progresses, Mark is away more and more often, and Jiselle finds out some disturbing information about her new husband. And as the Phoenix Flu begins to become more and more of a problem, Jiselle's focus begins to shift from getting adjusted to family life to surviving—a skill she finds herself to be more adept at than she ever imagined.
As conditions worsen and society begins to fall apart, Jiselle is thrust into a nightmarish world where isolation, survival, sickness and death become a part of everyday life. Yet the worse things get, the more Jiselle's world actually becomes "a perfect world." With an ending that will leave readers who need things tied up at loose ends, this book surprised me in how it shifted and turned and twisted and changed into something that I can't quite describe. Consider it an uplifting story about the end of society as we know it.
Reading this right after The Hunger Games, I think this book came out on top for me. Where The Hunger Games is flashy and showy with its tantalizing premise, this book is more subtle and slow and deep. Written in an almost distant, chilly type of prose, Kasischke has created a dystopian book that truly scared and disturbed me yet also made me feel good about the world at the same time. As I said, this isn't a book that ties things up in a nice little package for you, but I thought it suited the story well. If you're looking for an adult book on the opposite side of the dystopian spectrum, then this book is for you.
The Bottom Line: I'm giving the book 4 stars. I was drawn into Jiselle's world in an almost hypnotic way. Each page brought me closer to horror but also to goodness. This is a book that I could envision happening in our lifetime, and I think Kasischke did a wonderful job of keeping it from falling into a run-of-the-mill "Oh No...There's An Epidemic" type thriller. This book has a vibrant beating heart if you take the time to look for it.
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LibraryThing member cmwilson101
In a Perfect World is a novel about family, love, acceptance...and coping with the end of the world as we know it. The story centers around Jiselle, who becomes a stepmother to three kids just as a plague begins sweeping across the US. Jiselle is separated from her new husband, and learns to cope
This was a good book, but I could not help but compare it to (Life As We Knew It), which had a very similar plot, but left me crying and worried about whether the characters would survive. This story is less intense and somehow less personal, despite the introspective nature of the main character.
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with the kids and all that is happening. This was a good book, but I could not help but compare it to (Life As We Knew It), which had a very similar plot, but left me crying and worried about whether the characters would survive. This story is less intense and somehow less personal, despite the introspective nature of the main character.
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LibraryThing member Ravenclaw79
This is a really good apocalypse book that looks at it from a different angle. A lot of books look at the overall picture of an apocalypse, giving you a sort of omniscient point of view about what has befallen the country, but this one puts you inside the story, telling you only what the main
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character knows, leaving a lot of questions that make the story that much more believable and realistic and that much more creepy as well. The only criticism I had was that the last couple of pages sorta fell flat. Then again, it's hard to end a story like this well. Overall, I'd say that if you like apocalypse-y stories, definitely give this one a read. Show Less
LibraryThing member anwulf
Only missed a five-star rating because of the extremely frustrating ending and some other minor things that bugged me. Other than that I loved it. I may even reread it soon.
LibraryThing member busymombookclub
I enjoyed reading this book but I didnt like the ending
LibraryThing member justablondemoment
Flight attendant Jiselle is tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride. When pilot Mark Dorn walks into her life that all changes. The two join together after a whirlwind courtship and decide to marry. The only obstacles they face are the world being under economic failure due to a
The first part of this book was a bit of a struggle for me. It was a bit on the slow boring side. I am glad I stayed with it as it turned out to be very engaging. I found myself reading as fast as I could to find out what was to become of the characters I had grown very found of. But yes, I to was let down by the ending as stated by other reviews. There was no closure. That to me is okay if the ending builds the reader up to believe there will be an encore, but that is not what happened. Sadly, I was left with wanting to know more, but the feeling of, I'm never going to know. If I had been giving a different ending this book would have probably reached a five star.
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plague called Phoenix flu and Mark's daughters who let it be known there is no place for a stepmother in there home or hearts. Left alone while her husband travels, Jiselle does her best to win over the daughters and fight for their survival as the plague worsens. Her only happiness at times is Mark's son who, unlike his sister's, accepts her role. The first part of this book was a bit of a struggle for me. It was a bit on the slow boring side. I am glad I stayed with it as it turned out to be very engaging. I found myself reading as fast as I could to find out what was to become of the characters I had grown very found of. But yes, I to was let down by the ending as stated by other reviews. There was no closure. That to me is okay if the ending builds the reader up to believe there will be an encore, but that is not what happened. Sadly, I was left with wanting to know more, but the feeling of, I'm never going to know. If I had been giving a different ending this book would have probably reached a five star.
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LibraryThing member NeedMoreShelves
I was unsure about the novel for most of the time I spent reading - it seemed purely superficial, lacking some sort of depth that could truly draw me into the story. While the situation was eerily prescient for our current times, I just couldn't quite connect with Jiselle's life. And then the
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author gave this book the absolute perfect ending - for THIS story - and it all came together. I'm extremely happy I stuck it out until the end, because it wound up being a thoroughly rewarding experience. Show Less
LibraryThing member Iira
At first I disliked the book. Kind of romantic, almost a chic-lit story of a not-too-bright flight attendant who falls in love with a pilot. Blah. But then the pandemic strikes and the story turns into something else. This is definitely not the post-apocalyptic story I suspected, but an interesting
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one nonetheless. I kept wondering, though, would it really be so easy and peaceful to live in a world where the infrastructure is more or less lost? Would life in small town America continue peacefully - only without electricity - while the big cities collapsed? They might. But for how long? Show Less
LibraryThing member bnbookgirl
I enjoyed this book. It covered so many issues: global warming, epidemics, motherhood, family, and survival. These topics don't sound like they would go together, but this book is beautifully written in the way it ties them together. The author based a lot of this story on the Black Plague which I
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haven't read much about. I am now interested in reading about it. Not all the characters are likeable at first, but many redeem themselves as the novel progresses. This is definitely a novel about the choices we make and the choices we are sometimes forced into. This book holds a lot of fodder for book club discussions. Definitely will be reading more from this author. Show Less
Pages
309