Title: Perfectly Famous
Author: Emily Liebert
Published: June 2020, Gallery Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 320 pages
Source: Netgalley
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.
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Emily Liebert and it certainly won’t be the last one I read. She has such an engaging writing style and I was hooked right from the start!
This is a fast-paced thriller which makes for a quick read. I read this in one day as I just could not put it down. I was equally invested in both characters and needed to know how things would turn out for both of them. I enjoyed all the twists and turns this book took…as I didn’t see most of them coming. It was addicting and the suspense and tension were building at just the right pace. But then we get to the ending and I felt like it went a step too far. There was just one twist too many.
I was really enjoying this book up until that ending. Maybe I didn’t always agree with all the decisions that the characters made, especially Bree, but I still admired her dogged determination to find out just what happened to Ward. And I was rather curious about Ward…just how long would she stay hidden and would she ever go back to writing? Throughout the book, the twists kept me hooked and I liked that I didn’t see them coming. It made me even more eager to see just where things were headed. But then that ending…WTH??? I could have done without that last scene.
I’ll still be reading more from this author as I really like her writing style. This is definitely what I would call a popcorn thriller – it’s a fun, easy read that’s completely binge-worthy.
