Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

94 reviews

bekahzabel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Perfect Child is told in alternating points of view. Focusing on a couple who’s struggled with infertility, a social worker assigned to a strange child abuse case, and a seemingly innocent mysterious child.  

All the Bauer’s ever wanted was a baby. When a mysterious young girl shows up at the hospital with terrible injuries, she wins over Christopher Bauer’s heart. The Bauer’s decide to take Janie into temporary foster care, with the intentions of helping her transition and adjust to a better life. As Janie’s behaviors and past begin to unfold, things seem to get darker at every turn and crossroads. 

Boy oh boy, things got pretty dark between these two covers. Very hefty child abuse and violence trigger warnings. 

For me, The Perfect Child had me white knuckling my kindle, and salivating for the next page. Even though I guessed some of the twists, this dark tale was a great read for me. My only qualm is how abruptly it wrapped up. 4/5 stars! 🌟

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Infertility, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Self harm, Miscarriage, Death, and Medical trauma

alreinwarth's review

Just no. This feels like it is demonizing mental illness and childhood trauma survivors. And then the brutal animal cruelty was just too much for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Medical content, Miscarriage, Confinement, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Violence

taykimel's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Death

nallelyjael's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Fast read with complicated and sometimes infuriating characters. I consider this book a slow burn despite how fast I read it. The ending is abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Infertility, and Pregnancy

averageawkwardasian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Version: audiobook narrated by Christine Williams, Erin Bennett and Dan John Miller

 

Start slow and warm then gets rather upsetting towards the end. The contrast paired with the rush towards the stark ending makes the whole experience more unsettling. 

The 3-person narrative brings different perspective to the same events and added more suspense and mystery.

Certain triggers in the later part of story might be hard to stomach.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Infertility

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Murder, and Medical content

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Medical content

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Ableism

gigi43's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Bullying, Child abuse, and Torture

theinstabookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I started this on audio but switched to my Kindle because even though there were two narrators, they alternated voices every chapter, not character. And hearing a female voice read a male character's perspective when I had just heard the male character read his perspective, was jarring and created a disorienting reading experience. I wish the narrators had alternated based on characters because I was enjoying the audiobook other than that. 

I wouldn't call this a thriller or even a suspense, but rather a psychological fiction. Janie drove me nuts and just acted like a spoiled brat. If her behavior had been more sinister I probably would have liked this more. There was nothing particularly shocking - just a child with a lot of psychological trauma and issues that acted out and needed professional help. I wouldn't recommend this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Abandonment

krwhiteh's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Child abuse

misshrider's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Murder