Perla is a Filipino American 16-year-old high school senior. She is very bright, has skipped two grades and is under crushing academic pressure from her parents and extended family. Her (her family's) dream school is the elite Delmont University. The plan is to study pre-med at Delmont, then attend a top med school resulting in a prestigious medical career. The problem: she doesn't get into Delmont or any other universities having not applied to any "safety schools". She can't bring herself to tell her parents about disappointing news.
Perla makes an impulsive decision to present a forged acceptance to Delmont to her parents and plans to camp out on campus, audit classes and meet Delmont students to get the lowdown on what qualities the university is seeking so that she can reapply for spring semester. Perla lies to everyone and, for a while, fits in and survives by snagging an unused dorm room, attending a few classes and getting a job in a coffee shop. The charade can only last so long and reading about Perla's life on campus is like waiting for a volcano to erupt. The tension is harrowing.
Perla must confront her assumptions and the lies she has told herself. Although, given the highly digital and computerized nature of the modern college experience, the reader has to suspend disbelief about Perla's ability to survive on campus, This is Not a Personal Statement is an insightful examination of toxic parental expectations, the immigrant experience, and the importance of honesty and finding your own path. The academic culture in Perla's high school is not an exaggeration. School districts like Perla's absolutely exist in the real world. This is a book that all college bound high school students and their parents should read. This is Not a Personal Statement was well-written and plotted. I loved it and just wanted a few more chapters to round out the ending. Thank you to BooksForwardPR and the author for a copy to review. ( )

teen fiction - A 16 y.o. graduating senior doesn't get into any of the prestigious schools she applied to, and rather than telling her high-achieving Filipinx parents that she doesn't meet their perfectionist expectations, forges an acceptance from their top choice school. The protagonist Perla is somewhat hard to like for the first half of the book, where she keeps up the lie, feeling entitled enough to live as a secret squatter in the dorms an persisting with her plan to eventually fulfill her parents' dream of admittance into the pre-med track, denying her true passion for gaming. She becomes more likeable in the second half when she starts to crumble under the pressure and starts to show vulnerability to the people who care about her. ( )

Perla Perez has had her academic career mapped out for her since she skipped two grades in elementary school. Now her parents have Perla on a strict regimen in order to mold her into the perfect Filipino-American daughter. The culmination of their plan in Perla's senior year at the rigorous Monte Verde high school is for Perla to get accepted into Delmont University for pre-med, just like her mother. However, when the time comes, Perla isn't accepted into Delmont. Or any of her other schools. In a panic, she photoshops an acceptance letter for her parents and begins researching work arounds in order to appear living on Delmont's campus and attending classes while applying again for the spring semester. Perla's plans to hide on campus miraculously work for a little while, but food, clothing and keeping up with all the lies are a little more difficult. Perla might just discover something she actually enjoys while pretending to be a student, but at what cost?

This is Not a Personal Statement is a young adult novel that takes fake it till you make it to the next level. While Perla's actions are a little unbelievable, her character is especially relatable. Anyone who has felt stressed by their parents to succeed can relate to Perla's trouble, especially if your parents don't share your vision for the future. Perla's parents are written to the extreme and their words and actions are really verbal and psychologically abusive. The writing carried an excitement, hope, and suspenseful feeling the whole way through as Perla's carefully constructed plan kept changing, the lies built up and an inevitable unraveling was in the works. I was glad that during Perla's stolen time at Delmont, she was able to discover that her parent's dreams are not her dreams, make friends and speak up for herself. Perla had to break herself down in order to rebuild. While Perla's punishment seemed harsh in the end, it is also exactly what she needed. Overall, This is Not a Personal Statement is an exciting, cotemporary story of gaining independence, finding yourself and discovering your passion.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )