The Perfect Child
Ratings87
Average rating3.8
This is the second book I’ve read by Lucinda Berry. The first being Saving Noah. You can check my review on that one if interested. This one has a great plot and will keep most people reading. In my reviews, I don’t like to summarize the book, you can read the cover for that. I like to talk about what I liked/disliked, and about my overall view of the book. No spoilers.
What I liked: I liked the mother and protagonist character development. The rivalry between them kept me reading. I also enjoyed the mother and the Child Protective Investigator’s point of view.
What I disliked: I’m so over the dumb husband trope. Yeah, I understand that it’s used to help the reader emphasize with the female character. Makes her look more competent, believable, and/or intelligent. But it must be another way to accomplish this. You want the reader to believe the husband is intelligent enough to be an orthopedic surgeon, yet he lacks common sense, is easily manipulated, and repeatedly puts his family in immediate danger for no logical reason? Enough already!
In the author’s defense, this is one of her earlier books. So maybe books from 2019 were like this lol. I still love this author and will keep reading her work. Hell, I purchased her entire collection, so I have little choice.
The book has an unsatisfying ending, but I heard she followed up with a short story titled, “A Welcome Reunion” which I will read next. I’m giving this book three-and-a-half stars.
Omg.... This was phenomenal. So real and raw and disturbing. Lucinda Berry is now going to be an auto-buy auto-read author for me
4.5
a sad story but i was so engrossed in it especially starting around the halfway point. mental health and behavioral psychology are very interesting
This was a solid thriller I would say, except for the ending. I would say I am yet to read a book from this author to have a solid ending lol
I loved the psychological aspect of it and how it played with my mind because the logical side of me knows that children aren't evil, but the author builds the mom and dad character so well into the sane, rational people they are that you can't help but wonder what could have possibly led to this. Also given the fact that you never get the child's perspective throughout.
I enjoyed this, now I'm gonna go and read the sequel novella.
This book was really good. Held me by the heart the whole way through. However, I agree with other reviewers that the ending fell flat since there really wasn't one. I still think it's worth the read!!
3.75 ⭐️
I've never worried about having a kid before and thanks to this book I'll never look at a child the same way
Oh my god, this was intense.
Apart from the husband being in constant denial which got annoying and the incredibly abrupt ending, this was so good! The 3 alternating POVs and short chapters made it easy to binge read.
As a parent, the point after Hannah has her baby, the books moves from the “creepy kid” category into the “fuck that” category.
solid book i loved the end part sm but it's just not my favorite topic in a book but i loved the way it was talked about and the way the story was told
NOOOO WHY DID IT END LIKE THAT I WANT MORE AHDBDJSJ
baby teeth 4.0
it's 7:30am rn btw lol
the last 30-40% got way too ridiculous and messy for my liking. it was as if the author just threw stuff on the wall hoping for it to stick
This book kept me hooked, and despite the buildup throughout the story, I was absolutely not prepared for the ending.
The author does a damn good job building her characters, I found myself siding with Hannah a lot and sharing her frustrations at her husband, and her fears for her family.
To me, this is one of the best books I've ever read, and would recommend picking it up!
read for summerween 2022
this was really good and more graphic than most evil child books but it wasn't completely unique to the trope
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story was WILD. Talk about keeping me on my toes. I was invested from beginning to end. I thought the writing and story telling was excellent. I felt like it was a slow progression into madness but it was perfect. It didn't go from one extreme to the next, you were right there with all the small changes. Great at keeping me interested as I didn't know if it was an unreliable narrator or if the child was just that scary. Fantastic read especially for my first Lucinda Berry book. Got me out of a reading slump
This felt like a really good lifetime movie. I felt for Hannah so much, and couldn't believe Christopher's blindness. A good mix of character and plot. A solid read!
There has never been a worse ending to a book. Literally... never. No ending would have been better. There was so much build up and none of the questions were answered.
What was all the demon stuff? It was talked briefly by 2 people and then never addressed again. Was Hannah really going crazy from PPD or was it something else? What was going to happen with Allison's death? Ugh, a huge let down.
Did not enjoy this book at all. Characters all grated on my nerves, and the ending could have been done without leaving do much to the imagination as to how everything was eventually resolved. Pretty tedious and boring for me.
This book f**ked with my head. No joke. There were times I sympathized with Christopher and Hannah, and times I wanted to smack the crap out of them (mainly Chris). I thought this would be the one book I absolutely could not finish, but it was so well written I couldn't stand not knowing what happened next. I won't lie...it's intense, and will most likely offend/trigger many people. If you have thick skin, I definitely recommend giving this book a chance.