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A review by themermaddie
Perfect Little Children by Sophie Hannah
3.0
this is definitely an unusual book in its genre. there's a lot to unpack.
based on the summary i wrongly assumed that it would be at least vaguely supernatural, so that was my misconception going in. this is just a straight psychological conspiracy thriller. it was also the kind of book where i enjoyed the ride more than i liked the ending. after that rollercoaster of a plot, it all culminated in a final confrontation scene that just felt, well, lackluster.
The book's strongest suits are the characters and the setting. everything about the world and the people feel real and believable, the setting is like the mat of a board game, easily pictured.
the reason i say this book is unique in its genre is because i think beth might be the most levelheaded thriller mc i've ever read, like, she IS final girl material. the woman is utterly unflappable. almost every character in the book tries to gaslight her into thinking she's crazy and beth is just like "no, i know what i saw". she is literally the Most Reliable Narrator ever, which feels like a strange choice to make given that psychological thrillers thrive on the unreliability and instability of their narrators. in this book, i trust beth's pov bc beth trusts her own pov. it's kind of slay in a way, to be able to read a thriller and sink into the comfort of trusting the narrator and instead pay attention to the clues. is there such a thing as a cozy psychological thriller? bc this might be it.
i feel like the author did a great job of planting clues and misdirects, it was very easy to follow and take mental notes about what's happening to who where, anne great fun trying to figure it out before the narrative tells me.
probably the most glaring oversight is the conspicuous absence of the children. The book is called perfect little children, after all. there is Thomas, Emily, Thomas, Emily, and Georgina; that's so many children for there to be so few actual children in the plot. Zan is a wonderful credit to fictional children everywhere; I think fictional children are hard to write without them coming off as plot devices, and Zan helps her mother investigate in a very believable and endearing way, she is the star side character.
but her excellence just highlights the absence of the other children. for the entire book, Beth claims that she's pursuing this mystery so doggedly because she is worried for the safety of flora's children, but we never actually get to meet them. they didn't need to be front and centre the entire time, but with a book called perfect little children, I was at least expecting some creepy children, or maybe just speaking to one of the children once. it just makes the lack of children in this book supposedly about children feel very strange.
anyway, it was cozy time. very unusual but not unpleasant.
based on the summary i wrongly assumed that it would be at least vaguely supernatural, so that was my misconception going in. this is just a straight psychological conspiracy thriller. it was also the kind of book where i enjoyed the ride more than i liked the ending. after that rollercoaster of a plot, it all culminated in a final confrontation scene that just felt, well, lackluster.
The book's strongest suits are the characters and the setting. everything about the world and the people feel real and believable, the setting is like the mat of a board game, easily pictured.
the reason i say this book is unique in its genre is because i think beth might be the most levelheaded thriller mc i've ever read, like, she IS final girl material. the woman is utterly unflappable. almost every character in the book tries to gaslight her into thinking she's crazy and beth is just like "no, i know what i saw". she is literally the Most Reliable Narrator ever, which feels like a strange choice to make given that psychological thrillers thrive on the unreliability and instability of their narrators. in this book, i trust beth's pov bc beth trusts her own pov. it's kind of slay in a way, to be able to read a thriller and sink into the comfort of trusting the narrator and instead pay attention to the clues. is there such a thing as a cozy psychological thriller? bc this might be it.
i feel like the author did a great job of planting clues and misdirects, it was very easy to follow and take mental notes about what's happening to who where, anne great fun trying to figure it out before the narrative tells me.
probably the most glaring oversight is the conspicuous absence of the children. The book is called perfect little children, after all. there is Thomas, Emily, Thomas, Emily, and Georgina; that's so many children for there to be so few actual children in the plot. Zan is a wonderful credit to fictional children everywhere; I think fictional children are hard to write without them coming off as plot devices, and Zan helps her mother investigate in a very believable and endearing way, she is the star side character.
but her excellence just highlights the absence of the other children. for the entire book, Beth claims that she's pursuing this mystery so doggedly because she is worried for the safety of flora's children, but we never actually get to meet them. they didn't need to be front and centre the entire time, but with a book called perfect little children, I was at least expecting some creepy children, or maybe just speaking to one of the children once. it just makes the lack of children in this book supposedly about children feel very strange.
anyway, it was cozy time. very unusual but not unpleasant.