A review by jenny_wren
The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings