You know when you read a book, and you know logically who you are supposed to like and dislike, and somehow you feel the exact opposite? That describes how I read The Perfect Girlfriend in a nutshell!!! This book is T-W-I-S-T-E-D!!! I sat down to write this and I wasn’t even sure how to begin because this is one of the strangest and most entertaining books I’ve read in ages—in a good way!

Oh, Juliette… Or should I say Lily? Or Elizabeth? Juliette has as many names to switch around from as she has personalities and I was LIVING for it. Told in first person narrative, Juliette tells the story of what happens after the love of her life breaks up with her. Ok, so maybe she didn’t handle the break up that well. But now she is giving him exactly what he asked for—space! So he will come back to her at the end, right? He will definitely understand what she did to meet his needs.

Juliette is playing the long game. She could arrange a meet-up at any time if she wanted to, but she has this planned out. Slow and steady. Stick to the plan. Everything will work out if you stick to the plan. And so we see her applying for his airline, going through the long flight attendant trainings (seriously, flight attendant training at many companies takes about 8 weeks), and then building up her seniority on her flight schedule.

Juliette should have friends to show she isn’t needy, right? So she makes a friend. And by the way, their friendship was SO entertaining! It was such a delightful part of the storyline, particularly Amy’s reactions to a few odd things Juliette does, and then in Juliette’s monologue we hear her “I guess it was a bit odd…” It kept cracking me up! Because, YES. Juliette is at a minimum a bit odd, and more accurately she is off her rocker.

And this brings me to who I should like and dislike, and I oddly found myself rooting for Juliette and all of her crazy ideas! She was just SO entertaining and persistent. A person like Juliette is capable of an extreme amount of focus, which oddly enough made her an outstanding employee…most of the time. And even though she is absolutely someone who needs serious help, everyone who has been cruelly dumped, bullied, or mistreated will find a small amount of delight in her revenge plots.

The writing on this book is divine. So much of this book happens inside of Juliette’s head, and yet she often doesn’t clue you in on her plan in advance, so we see it unfold in shocking real time. And here is where we should give all of the credit to Karen Hamilton’s writing. Her story is gripping and hard to put down, though much of it is inner monologue. And she also finds a way to humanize and make Juliette sympathetic, despite the fact that she is absolutely vindictive and crazy.

There’s a sequence of events that occur around 50% and set in motion the second half of the book that had me shocked and delighted by the sheer amazingness of it all! Juliette is someone who is capable of such restraint. But the moment she gets what she wanted, she hits the fast forward button and she is off to the races. She has no in between speed. She is slow and methodical or all-in. And that is one of the many reasons I think she can be attractive as a character. Nothing in Juliette’s life happens due to anything other than extreme mental focus and over-the-top heart.

I got a chance to buddy read this with my friend Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark, so make sure to check out her page! Thank you to Harelquin’s publicity team for my copy. Opinions are my own.

The Perfect Girlfriend is perfectly crazy!

Lock up your bunnies boys, Juliet/Lily is here! This book was Fatal Attraction’s crazier big sister! This wild story has movie written all over it, and the part of Juliet would be so much fun to play. Karen Hamilton has written an addictive entertaining story about one of the most likable psychotic characters I have ever met in a book. This was one mind blowing thrilling debut novel!

Juliet, the psychotic formerly known as Lily has one goal in life... to marry Nate. Even though he broke up with her, she is convinced that he will see the error in his ways, after all she is the “perfect girlfriend.” Juliet will stop at nothing to win Nate’s affections. She changes her career and is now a flight attendant for the same airline that he is a pilot for, she changes her residence now she lives only minutes away from Nate,She even changes her name, although I’m not quite sure what inspired that. This is really all you need to know about the plot, just sit back, buckle up, and get ready for one wild and crazy ride!

The entire story is told from Juliet’s POV. I loved every minute I spent inside Juliet’s head, her inner dialogue was priceless. I loved how she justified every crazy thing she did, she almost had me convinced a few times. Poor Nate he really was caught between a rock and well... Juliet. Unlike in the movie Fatal Attraction Nate was single he just didn’t want to commit to Juliet or anyone for that matter. Nate’s only mistake and it was a fatal one, was dating Juliet in the first place.

🎧🎧🎧 I listen to this book on audio, and spending many hours with Juliet in my ear was fabulous! This is the first time I’ve listen to a book narrated by Anne Marie Lee and she did a wonderful job. She really brought the character of Juliet to life, And I think she gave her the perfect tone.

This is a fun entertaining over-the-top story that will appeal to anyone who loves themselves some crazy! Absolutely recommend!

*** many thanks to Harlequin and Harper Audio for my copies of this book ***

In this psychological thriller, Juliette is obsessed with her ex-boyfriend Nate to the point where she enters his house without his consent and gets a job for the same company that he works for in order to be close to him. The story dives into Juliette’s psychologically unsound thought process.

Although I feel like this story has been done before and certain elements were predictable, I found the character development to be outstanding and Juliette herself beautifully audacious. As a reader, I wanted to jump into the plot and set her straight. I enjoyed her over-the-top, stalker personality. I did not totally love the ending, however this was an overall fun read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Graydon House and Karen Hamilton for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Fully developed characters in this very disturbing, first person Fatal Attraction like novel. I really liked the twists at the end where everything more or less comes together. I wish there had been at least one likable character but that's more personal preference than a critique of the book.

Lately, I have been on the hunt for new authors, whether they be debuting or just new to me. When I saw The Perfect Girlfriend on NetGalley by Karen Hamilton, the synopsis had me by "You've never read a love story as twisted as this."

Thank you to Graydon House for giving me the opportunity to review this chilling novel in exchange for my honest review. No, seriously, thank you. This was the page turner I have been searching for this year.

Juliette is in the relationship of her dreams. Nate is her soulmate, the only man she can ever imagine loving. She is the perfect girlfriend, feeding his fish and looking after his apartment when he's traveling as an airline pilot. She's so dedicated to him and to their relationship, she's even willing to give him the space he's requested. Loving long-distance is no issue when it's true love. Right?

Their first anniversary is coming up, and Juliette is determined to get their relationship back on track. Distance is great and all, but why should they waste any time apart when they could be together? And they will be together. Juliette will make sure of it.

Because when you think of the perfect girlfriend, you think of a girl dedicated enough to join her man's airline as a flight attendant and keep an eye on him from afar. Oh yes! Karen Hamilton manages this first-person narration of Juliette in a creepy firsthand account of just how far this woman is willing to go to see love win over all. When it's meant to be, there's no possibility of anything—or anyone—getting in the way.

From her harrowing backstory to her step-for-step plan to live out the rest of her days with Nate, this novel will keep you up late into the night asking yourself, "Did she really just do that?" I read a portion of this in the car while my husband drove, and I must have turned to him and said "This lady is crazy!" at least six times, despite his having no idea what I was talking about.

I loved the jet-setting scenery of this book, with Juliette traveling all over the world, London at the center of it all. I like that Hamilton makes some relevant distinctions about the life of a flight attendant. While her focus is admittedly more on those in a single lifestyle, there were aspects that certainly rang true, even from my secondhand experience of the life (my husband is an executive flight attendant).

Reading from Juliette's point of view gives the reader both insight into her state of mind and of her past, as well as a deep sense of foreboding as you contemplate what she might do next. Her thought processes about others are interesting, as she considers almost everyone around her pedantic. She only has nice things to say about people who are “useful” to her, like her friend Amy, and even that is a friendship of convenience. She's driven, focused, organized, and masterful at getting what she wants, and she'll do anything to see her dreams met.

"Every moment that we are apart is a waste of time, because the outcome is obvious—we will be together."

You know who else should be together? YOU AND THIS BOOK! If you are looking for a psychologically suspenseful narrative, this one is for you!

As far as warnings go, there's nothing crass or exploitive, and only mild explicit language. This is a book I'm comfortable recommending to any of my adult friends, and, believe me, with a 5 out of 5 rating, I will be. I appreciate a well-thought-out plot and character-driven narrative, and Karen Hamilton delivers.

The Perfect Girlfriend has easily topped my list of favorite suspense novels I've read this year. Well done, Karen Hamilton!

When people say “bitches be crazy” they are referring to Juliette (do people actually say that?). She couldn’t take a hint if it smacked her dead in the face. What she lacks in awareness she makes up for with perseverance. A resilient stalker, it’s too bad she didn’t run into Joe from YOU whilst sulking around outside the windows. I didn’t find her all that likable and wasn’t really routing for her but damn was she committed or needed to be committed, maybe. ⁣
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I would say this is more of a slow burn. The book picked up in the last 100 pages and then the last 10 pages were sort of crammed in there. I wish we had less build up and more action earlier in the book. I can see a lot of people really liking this as it has YOU, SOMETIMES I LIE and JANE DOE vibes. There were a few outlandish events but overall it was one worth reading and a solid debut novel. This was published on March 26th and is on sale NOW! ⁣

Thank you to @netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Juliette was super insane, to the point where I almost couldn't read it. It was a fast read - sort of like a car accident, you can't look away, no matter how awful it is. I was entertained but wish the ending had wrapped up differently. If you're a fan of the crazier than crazy characters, check this one out!

Juliette is determined to win back her ex-boyfriend, Nate, no matter what it takes: getting a job at the same airline, breaking into his house, putting a spy app on his phone, it's all on the table. She will do everything in her power to make Nate see that she is the perfect girlfriend.

This book was full of ridiculous, outlandish things that Juliette attempted to do in order to win back Nate. Just when you think her plan has been thwarted, she would dust herself off and figure out a new approach. Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy this book. I felt it dragged on and was just too over-the-top most of the time. I found myself rolling my eyes on multiple occasions.

I thought the plot jumped around quickly on multiple occasions in ways that didn't always serve the story. Some of Juliette's backstory didn't really seem to serve the plot in a necessary way, as if the author was trying to make too many connections among everything. I did feel that the big overarching twist was well executed and unexpected (to me).

3/5 stars

What a WIN for Hamilton’s first novel!! I was blown away by the sheer creepiness of Juliette; while also almost wanting to cheer her on. It was the oddest feeling, but Hamilton delivered a story where you truly wanted Juliette to “somehow” get a piece of happiness in the end. That was part of the awe of this book to me….to feel for such a dreadful character was astounding to me. This is such a remarkably written story; not to be missed!!!

Juliette is still in love with her ex-boyfriend Nate, or rather addicted to him….

Once they break up, she does all she can to become perfect in his eyes. She becomes a flight attendant at the same airline Nate is a pilot! She changes her hair color, stalks his house while he is and is not there, lays in his bed, brushes her teeth with his toothbrush, watches him drink coffee at the corner shop from his apartment….and, all of this is nothing!! She gets unleashed!!

But, she has had a tragic backstory that you cannot help but develop feelings for. Her brother died when she was only 10. He was 4. Her childhood best friend moved away after the incident. Her school years were rough too. I wonder how her life would be if certain events were different. This part of the story makes you feel a bond of hope for her, which I found rather intense, because it felt so wrong.

Falling in love for Juliette changes everything.

Read this book!

You will devour it!!

I will read every book Karen Hamilton writes going forward.

3 Stars-- The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book.
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Juliette loves Nate. So she cannot fathom why he does not want to be with her. Because of this, Juliette decides to reshape herself into exactly what Nate would want. Because she will have Nate. Even if Nate does not want her.
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What I Loved: The first part of the book was a complete page turner. Juliette's thought process was interesting to read about-- though absolutely crazy. The way Hamilton wrote about Juliette slowly losing grip was well done and is what kept my interest the most.
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What I Did Not Love: While the story was really good for the first 50-60% it began to drag a bit and become quite repetitive. Deep down the Miles storyline did not go anywhere and I find the ending and what Juliette got away with to be quite ludicrous. I mean no one is calling the cops here. Not once.
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This one was fine. Nothing really stood out to me, minus the stupidity of Bella and Nate. I think you will either really enjoy this book or just be like eh about it.

Review on Goodreads today as well. Instagram post on Thursday, March 28, 2019

I love that the author was a flight attendent and brought that experience to her book. I was fascinated by that whole lifestyle. The first half of this book was so captivating. It has such a sinister feeling and you are just waiting for something to happen. The second half did not work for me. I think I just prefer my mysteries a little more subtle. It became a little too outlandish for my liking. The writing was great especially for a debut novel. I look forwarding to seeing what Hamilton writes next!

Full review to come on my blog.

"If you love someone, set them free.
If they come back, they're yours. If they don't, make them."

I cannot even tell you how many times I said to myself, "This chick is INSANE," while reading this story.
And she is. Juliette Price is smart (with enviable investigative skills), attractive, and completely delusional. She is certainly not a likable character - actually, none of the characters are very likable - but she is fascinating in an American Psycho kind of way. The story is made all the more creepy by Juliette's narrative, because the delusional never think they're delusional, now do they? No, everyone else must be the problem. This 100% applies in this case.

I appreciate the fact that there's no "big twist" in this one, but rather a series of smaller twists that help to further the narrative. Honestly, Juliette herself is so twisted, that's all you really need.

Also, can I take a minute here to say that Nate is SUCH a douche, and even a bonkers chick like Juliette deserves someone better to stalk?

I'm giving this one 4.5 stars rounded down because the ending frustrated the hell out of me. How about an epilogue? Gah.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Graydon House Books for the opportunity to preview this title early in exchange for an honest review.

This book took a while to get into, I almost gave up. The middle was OK. I absolutely hated the ending.

The Perfect Girlfriend is is a fantastic Debut Novel from Karen Hamilton. The ultimate story of obsession. Juliette loves Nate, if you can call it love, I am not sure what it is, obsession is more like it.

Nate broke up with Juliette six months ago, but that doesn't seem to bother Juliette one bit.

This is a great twisty psychological thriller. I look forward to more from this author.

At one time, Elizabeth had been living with Nate, an airline pilot. She was in love with him and thought he felt the same way. But one day, he broke up with her saying he needed his space. Now, she is living in a small flat. She can’t stop thinking about him.

Elizabeth is in training to be a flight attendant. She is using her middle name, Juliette. She just wants to be closer to Nate by working in the same industry. She still has a key to his flat from the time they lived together. She follows him on Facebook and knows when he is on a flight. Then, the simply sneaks into his flat just to feel close to him for a short while.

When she was young, her father left her mother and did not keep in touch. She had a younger brother, Will, and she was tasked with babysitting him when her mother was at work. But one day, she fell asleep and Will accidentally drowned in a pond. She carries the guilt of that with her.

After the loss of her brother, her mother sent her to a boarding school where she met fairly wealthy girls. One such girl is Bella, who happens to be Nate’s sister. She kindly took Elizabeth under her wing, but then one day she just pushed her aside for another friend. Elizabeth was hurt by her wishy-washy friendship.

Elizabeth, now Juliette, is enjoying her flight attendant career and seeing new places. She is always aware of where Nate is and doesn’t want him to think she is stalking him. Oh, but she is confident she will win him back and do whatever it takes to get that. But, how far will she go to achieve her desire?

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Perfect Girlfriend is superb. Juliette is exacting, emotionally broken, and fully committed to proving herself the perfect girlfriend. When Nate broke up with his girlfriend, asking for space, I guarantee he did not see Juliette coming.

This storyline has it all. Twists and turns I didn’t see coming and a main character that steals the show. I’ll admit there were times I felt sorry for Juliette, found myself routing for her and dare I say I found her likeable. Then she’d ramp up the insanity and have me alarmed by what she might do next.

The Perfect Girlfriend delivers a compelling plot, ending in a crescendo of crazy. I highly recommend this novel.
4.5 stars

Thank you so much to Harlequin Graydon Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Holy psycho woman. This book instantly hooked me and didn't let go until the last page. The craziness, the plot, the writing style and characters, everything was meshed perfectly together into this great book.

When Juliette's (formerly Elizabeth or Lily) boyfriend that she's wildly in love with and obsessed with breaks it off and tells her she has to move out she doesn't take it nicely. Her now ex, Nate, is a pilot so she decides to become a flight attendant as a start to a way to get him back. Trying to show him how much she's changed and grown up she starts immersing herself back into his life, including visiting his house when she knows he's away on flights.

Determined to make Nate hers once again she does everything within her power to ensure he will never leave her again. Even if she has to permanently remove some people along the way.

I was immediately drawn into this story from the first paragraph. I feel like Juliette suffering such a great loss as a child played a huge factor in how she perceives relationships and how she can't let go of someone. Her character honestly blew me away with how crazy she was and the lengths she was willing to go to get her love back. More than once I felt really bad for her but I also felt bad for the people that had to deal with her crazy antics.

I felt like this book ended with a cliffhanger and now I'm dying to know what happened next. What happened after Nate walked into his house and found that Juliette was there again? I sincerely hope the author has plans for a sequel to this because I'm so curious to know what happens between the two of them and if Juliette gets caught for what she did.

I don't think you could fit any more crazy into a book if you tried! This chick is insanely cuckoo, undoubtedly unbalanced, and nutty as a fruitcake - and I gobbled up every one of her loose screws with deranged enthusiasm. I have never loved such a mad character more, since the Mad Hatter himself, and every time I thought she'd peaked with lunacy - we get another rush of bonkers!

Juliette is in love with Nate. And she knows he loves her too. Sure, he broke up with her. He needed space. But he doesn't know what he needs. Juliette knows what Nate needs, and that is her. No one will love Nate more than Juliette. She's even gone so far as to get a job at Nate's airline, just so she can be close and keep tabs on him. Juliette will stop at NOTHING to get her man back.

"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they're yours. If they don't... make them."

I love me some cuckoo - and Juliette is such a fun character to follow. Just when you think she's lost it completely, or her plans won't to work - think again. She rises, dusts herself off and moves forward with a new plan. Girls got determination, for sure! You begin to adore her lovesick antics and almost want to root for her. After all, her and Nate are MEANT to be.

A really fun and thrilling debut!

Elizabeth aka Lily aka Juliette is obsessed with Nate Goldsmith. They were in a relationship but he was not ready for the type of commitment she wanted. Determined to convince him that they are destined to be together, she makes a plan of action. One step is to become a flight attendant for the same airline for which Nate is a pilot. It soon becomes clear that she will go to extremes to reunite with him.

I found the book very derivative. How many books have been written recently about a jilted girlfriend who becomes an obsessive stalker? There are some twists to Juliette’s stalking but on the whole the book is not especially original or clever. Juliette’s plotting just becomes tedious. I kept reading not because the book was suspenseful and interesting but because I just wanted to finish it. I probably would have stopped reading had I not felt obligated to finish it since I received a galley from the publisher.

The book requires too much suspension of disbelief. Juliette has access to everyone’s work schedule at the airline? She is allowed to fly international flights immediately after training and gets a promotion on the basis of one incident where she performs well? She makes copies of everyone’s keys? No one has security on their social media accounts? Nate knows his ex-girlfriend so little that he is constantly being duped by her? Considering their history and how Nate treated her, why would Juliette want to have anything to do with him?

Juliette is not a likeable character. It is difficult to relate to her because she is so disconnected from reality. It seems that the reader is supposed to have some sympathy for her because of a traumatic event when she was ten years old and her social difficulties as a teenager, but her extreme behaviour negates that sympathy. The message of the novel seems to be that “without love and acceptance, all that’s left is something dark and hateful.” Unfortunately, she becomes totally dark and hateful. Again, how often do we have to read about a schoolgirl not being accepted by a snobbish clique? What’s with her pre-occupation with secretly staying in people’s apartments when they are away? In addition, as time passed and Juliette continued her machinations, I found her less and less threatening and more and more annoying.

An unlikeable protagonist is not necessarily an issue; the problem is that there are no characters that are worth an emotional investment. They are all so flawed and unsympathetic that I didn’t care what happened to them so there was little suspense.

This book was just not for me. It relies on the overused crazy stalker protagonist and adds nothing original. The events become more and more implausible, veering into the ridiculous. Then, after being offered nothing but a formulaic plot, the reader is subjected to an ending that can only be considered a cop-out.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton is a super creepy thriller that will keep you up at night. This book has a mentally ill narrator who will send chills down your spine. The book is both suspenseful and interesting with its various settings. While I really enjoyed reading this one, the ending didn’t satisfy me as much as I had hoped.

Elizabeth/Lily/Juliette (she goes by many different names) is a character that is extremely well-developed. The first few pages of the novel have the reader empathizing with her, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Elizabeth is a psychopath. These types of narrators aren’t ones that I typically enjoy, however, this character’s actions are so shocking that it kept me glued to the pages.

❀ SUSPENSEFUL

The Perfect Girlfriend is a book that is full of suspense, but not in the traditional way one would expect from a psychological thriller. The story isn’t necessarily full of plot twists, it is set-up in a way that makes the reader want to know what this crazy narrator is going to pull next. Elizabeth takes a lot of risks and some of them are quite terrifying.

❀ INTERESTING SETTINGS

One really exciting aspect of the novel is the career path that the main character has taken. The life of a flight attendant is really explored to the fullest in the book. There are many different countries and cities that Elizabeth goes to and it makes for a very interesting read. The highs and lows of the job are also brought to life, which show its not so glamorous side.

While the book is quite enjoyable and thrilling, the ending doesn’t tie things up. It almost feels like the end of a first book in a series. There are a lot of loose ends that need tidying up and there is too much left for the reader to imagine. The Perfect Girlfriend is definitely a great book to read if you are a fan of the genre and books like Gone Girl.