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.