Isabella's Reading Corner: The Perfect Family

The Perfect Family

Author: Robyn Harding

Publication Date: August 10, 2021

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Thomas and Viv Adler, along with their two teenaged children, appear to be the ideal family, living a picture perfect, flawless life. After a seemingly isolated prank escalates into more alarming incidents, it becomes clear that at least one person isn’t fond of the Adlers! Each member of the family is harbouring a dangerous secret, one of which could be the reason behind the disturbing attacks. 

Wow, this is quite a book! Robyn Harding is a stupendous writer, this was such a fast-paced, compelling read, extremely clever and fun. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of each member of this crazy dysfunctional family, and I couldn’t get enough. The suspense builds as more revelations are uncovered. There are many twisty-turns throughout and the author kept me guessing every step of the way. Highly recommended! 

From the publisher:

In The Perfect Family—which has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist—#1 bestselling author Robyn Harding explores what happens when a seemingly perfect family is pushed to the edge...and beyond.

Thomas and Viv Adler have a picture-perfect family. Affluent and attractive, with two well-mannered kids almost out of the nest, they live in a beautifully restored Craftsman house in a well-to-do neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Their jobs are secure; their children are thriving; the world is their oyster.

Until one morning, when they wake up to find that their house and car have been pelted with eggs. Thomas dismisses it as the work of a few out-of-control kids, but when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and the tires on their BMW are punctured, he begins to worry. The family installs surveillance cameras but they show nothing but grainy images of shadowy figures in hoodies. Unable to identify the perpetrators, they are helpless as the assaults escalate. The police assure them that this is just the work of bored teenagers. But no one in the Adler family believes it. After all, each of them has a secret—kept not only from the outside world but from each other.

Seventeen-year-old Tarryn is dabbling in a seedy online world; her older brother, Eli, has dropped out of college and refuses to tell his parents why; and Thomas and Viv have their own secrets that began as harmless fun and relief from the pressures of everyday life, but have grown into something darker and more dangerous. As the Adlers grapple with their guilt, fear, and shame, the assaults grow deadly. Their “perfect” façade is crumbling, and it may be too late for any of them to do anything about it in this addictive and twisty suspense novel that will keep you turning pages until its explosive ending.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Perfect Family here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: Such a Quiet Place

 

Such a Quiet Place

Author: Megan Miranda

Publication Date: July 13, 2021

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Hollow’s Edge is the perfect place to live, that is until the murders! Ruby Fletcher is convicted of killing Brandon and Fiona Truett. After serving 14 months in prison, she’s released and now she’s back in Hollow’s Edge. This is much to the surprise and dismay of the residents, who testified against Ruby at her trial. Were they all telling the truth or was Ruby innocent of the crimes and is now out for revenge?

Such a Quiet Place is a chilling and twisty whodunnit. It’s an atmospheric mystery with a compelling and unnerving cast of characters. The story starts off slowly with an opportunity to get to know more about them and the circumstances surrounding the killings. If Ruby isn’t the murderer, it could be any one of them! 

Miranda has a delicate, yet convincing way of revealing the layers underneath the surface of the personas. There is definitely a lot more going on in Hollow’s Edge than meets the eye and I enjoyed the tense build up that led to the conclusion! 

From the publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last House Guest—a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection—comes a riveting, “suspenseful” (BookPage, starred review) novel about a mysterious murder in an idyllic and close-knit neighborhood.

Welcome to Hollow’s Edge, where you can find secrets, scandal, and a suspected killer—all on one street.

Hollow’s Edge use to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors, celebrated graduation and holiday parties together, and looked out for one another. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow’s Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back.

With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she shared with Harper Nash. Harper, five years older, has always treated Ruby like a wayward younger sister. But now she’s terrified. What possible good could come of Ruby returning to the scene of the crime? And how can she possibly turn her away, when she knows Ruby has nowhere to go?

Within days, suspicion spreads like a virus across Hollow’s Edge. It’s increasingly clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truetts’ murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.

Pulsating with suspense and with Megan Miranda’s trademark shocking twists, Such a Quiet Place is Megan Miranda’s best novel yet—a “powerful, paranoid thriller” (Booklist, starred review) that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on Such a Quiet Place here.