This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. 

Perfectly Famous

Summary: From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Pretty Revenge—a “gripping tale of subterfuge, betrayal, and retribution” (Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish)—comes the story of a journalist obsessed with finding a crime novelist who disappears after a deadly attack on her beloved daughter.

As a mother and a famous author, Ward DeFleur has it all. She lives in a beautiful estate in picture-perfect Connecticut, along with her teenage daughter, Stevie, where nothing can go wrong. Until, one night, when Stevie is brutally murdered and Ward’s entire world is shattered. Consumed by panic and grief, Ward vows never to put pen to paper again.

Enter Bree Bennett.

Bree is a recently-divorced, former-journalist-cum-housewife, desperate to fill her days with something other than Pilates classes and grocery shopping. So she decides to start writing for the town newspaper. What begins as Bree’s effort to tell Ward’s tragic narrative turns into a fixation with finding her favorite author. Unfortunately, Ward doesn’t want to be found. Even worse, Stevie’s killer is still on the loose…

This harrowing tale of one woman’s infatuation and another woman’s fear is full of explosive surprises, perfect for fans of The Night Olivia Fell and Then She Was Gone.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Ok so I really enjoyed Pretty Revenge which was Emily Liebert’s first book in a more suspenseful type of writing style.

I had high hopes for Perfectly Famous. And while they were not all met- I still say read the book.

 

First, take a REALLY good look at Sarah Pekkanen’s blurb and trust me- you won’t see the surprise  coming. But is that a good thing? We’ll discuss further in a minute.

What I liked:

The cover- it’s daring and even a bit creepy.

How the story was divided into Bree’s and Ward’s voices. They are both integral parts to the story.

 

Where I am conflicted:

Ok, when you read a lot of mystery/thriller/suspense books as I do- you start to see patterns and twists (real honest to goodness GOOD twists) become fewer and harder to find.

There is a point in the story (and I won’t tell you where) that I SCREECHED WTF… I was convinced that pages were missing because it came out of left field. Except- that it did not completely come out of left field- there had been some hinting about one of the characters that something wasn’t just completely on the up and up with this person.

Was the surprise good? Well, I read the book almost a week ago and I still am finding myself thinking of it- so yes. Was it necessary? That is a bit of a dicier question. Once I recovered from the screeching- I was immediately torn. It almost felt like a twist for for twist’s sake. Of course, it answered some questions- but left so many more to ruminate on- particularly- what was the driving force behind the surprise… And that is the beauty in this particular part. Because there are going to be people like me who will flip back through the book to pinpoint exactly when they began to have questions about this character. There will be others that just love it because it’s shocking. And on and on.

 

Bottom line: For me, I say read this book. And then come talk to me about it. Because I need to discuss. And maybe screech a bit more 😉

 

*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

 

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Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T