Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

27 reviews

silverheartbookclub's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Abandonment, Excrement, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gaslighting and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

katiereadsbooks23's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Excrement, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Grief, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Addiction, and Drug use

wends_nblw's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i guess i was just expecting something.. more? i was waiting for the other foot to drop, but it never did. Chistopher was obnoxious, Hannah's character twisted into something I found quite bizarre

(really, she was suddenly crazed? i wished they just let her be paranoid without the sudden scribbled writings about the devil and angels; WHICH WAS NEVER ELABORATED ON!!)

, Janie was just.. awful and the "twist" (?) was obvious from the start. I think Piper was perhaps the only likeable character

despite her unprofessionalism within her work

. 

No ending, I'm curious as to her experience as a clinical psychologist, it makes a good amount of sense since the medical scenes with Dr. Chandler were good, but Chistopher??? Everything he did with Janie was completely inappropriate, no matter what. He came off as creepy instead of loving. 

Overall, despite what other reviews say, I think Berry should've amped up the disturbing content. Maybe not with Janie, but with Christopher. He makes excuses for Janie, but it was so annoying that she should have just said "fuck it" and made him completely under her spell instead of him pretending to care for his wife. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Infertility

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Vomit

queerbookworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I enjoyed it overall but there were some specific parts that were really hard to listen to. A good story if you want to listen to (or read but i listened) something incredibly distracting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

⚠️ TW: child abuse, infertility, drug abuse, animal abuse, mental illness, murder, parental death and brief mentions of miscarriages ⚠️ If you're looking for a deeply chilling psychological read that you won't be able to put down then you need to read this book! This book follows Hannah and Christopher Bauer, a happy married nurse and surgeon, who more than anything want a child. Then when Janie, an abandoned little girl, turns up at their hospital Christopher forms an instant connection with her and convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own. However, she's no ordinary child and proves to be more than they bargained for as her behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing. And as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind her past surfaces and it might just be enough to push them all over the edge. This book weaves a dark web of suspense that you know is going to end badly but you just can't stop reading, while still having some truly shocking twists! Throughout the whole book you feel the need to check that you're reading a work of fiction because it is written so well that it could easily be a true story. I loved so much about this read but my favourite part was the multiple pov's between Hannah, Christopher and Piper, their social worker, because it made it feel all the more real and like you were experiencing all of the changing emotions as the story progressed. However, the ending felt quite rushed and it was left on a big cliffhanger which left a lot of unanswered questions. Overall though, I highly recommend this book but please take the TW's into account.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Death of parent, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

lapluie8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Murder, Animal death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Eating disorder, Infertility, Sexual content, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

jenny_wren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

In this story a child, Jainie, comes into hospital with all the tell tale signs of abuse. Her mother is dead and Janie was found with her. Surgeon Christopher Bauer and his wife Hannah have been trying for kids unsuccessfully for years and little Janie quickly finds a way into his heart. Things don't turn out as expected and life raising children proves more difficult than they imagined. 

I listened to this book on audible and the narration was great. We get 3 perspectives- one from Piper Goldstein the current time where she is at some kind of enquiry involving the Bauers. So we know something awful has happened but not what. We then get perspectives from Hannah and Christopher that start in the past but then eventually join the enquiry timeline. This is a pretty gripping read - you're never quite sure what's going on. Overall I enjoyed it. 

This is a 4 star rather than 5 as Christopher's rose tinted glasses really started to annoy me. There is some animal cruelty- which I hate. The Bauers behaviour around this was completely stupid. I also hated the sudden ending. This book needs an epilogue. Overall though, I still enjoyed this dark and challenging read. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit