Perfection Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025

Perfection follows the lives of millennial couple, Anna and Tom, while they try to eke out an existence as foreigners living in Berlin. Their dreams of living a fulfilling life are thrown into question by the harsh reality of gentrification, job insecurity, and the failures of their progressive politics. This is made all the more absurd by the perfect images they craft and post of their various locales, meals, and desirable plant-filled apartment. What I loved about this novel was that it perfectly captures the desolate feeling that emerges after spending time on the internet, begging the question: what are we even living for - ourselves or our feeds?