Well my streak of books determined to keep me childless and alone continues friends.
The Perfect Child, was certainly no exception, and let’s be honest it’s entirely my Facebook book club’s fault. I blame them, and someone can break it to my mother.
Good Reads Synopsis: “A page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge. “
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Told in alternating perspectives, The Perfect child is an adoptive parents’ nightmare. Traditionally I’m no fan of the alternating perspectives for each chapter, but here it works. I was drawn into this god awful parenting story gone awry (could also be filed under another “woman’s intuition ignored and we all catch hell for it later” tale).
Also no worries on it being The Orphan redux, its not. Its worse.
Look I love kids, I have none but I love them, but books like this keep my womb very VERY empty.
Janie is the victim of some horrific abuse, who meets adorable couple the Bauer’s in the hospital (he’s a surgeon, she’s a nurse Awwwwww). Important point of order, The Bauer’s desperately want a baby so of course CHRISTOPHER not Hannah (women are so much smarter than men FACTS) falls in love with Janie gets Hannah onboard and suddenly they have a toddler with severe trauma.
Here’s where the shit hits the fan both literally and figuratively…seriously the kid throws feces frequently.
Janie hates mothers.
ALL mothers.
Christopher is enamored with Janie; do we see where I am going here?
Poor Hannah, I spent most of this book wanting to scream at Christopher for being such a dunce.
Look an animal dies, someone's nip gets bit, a relative gets a good shove down the stairs, and there’s no ending NONE essentially this book ends on a non-ending.
Intriguing yes, but no ending? The demon spawn gets hospitalized and essentially it all boils down to the system is broken? I call foul.
Speaking of which Piper, the Bauer’s social worker is a real piece of work. WOOF.
It felt as though she was a little too invested in Christopher, and her police interview chapters were not my favorite parts of the story.
A quick read, fun and frightening but imperfect I give this book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 a pleasant part of my Saturday read-a-thon but not earth shaking.
Want to read it yourself? It’s a Kindle Unlimited option! You can find it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BPJFYA