So my thoughts and feelings on this book went through a progression that can best be described as a downward spiral with a huge drop off at the end:

Premise: Sounds intriguing. There's a reclusive writer hiding away after a family tragedy, and a determined journalist working to solve the unsolved mystery behind said family tragedy.

Beginning: Okay, we're getting some character backstory here. While it does seem a long time spent on describing a book signing, it is the set up to the crucial event the entire novel is centered around. We get the background on the journalist and her life as well, which also seems important for why she would be so motivated and driven to find this one specific author who does not want to be found.

Middle: I spent a large portion of this just wanting to shake almost all the characters and tell them to stop making stupid and annoying choices. But I was curious enough about the secrets that were still to be revealed, and there was a developing romance I was definitely rooting for.

Ending: Ooo, a big reveal I didn't call! I love when I don't see something like that coming. However, the other big reveal I had been essentially screaming at the book for many, many chapters.

Last Page: Um...that happened. It made no sense, came out of nowhere, and could have been a really intriguing twist if it fit in at all with what came before and if there was any sort of follow up. And it seems like almost every other review I've read seems to feel the exact same way. I just don't understand how any writer or editor would have just left that "plot twist" (?) in there and thought that was a good call.

I love Emily Liebert's writing, and was thrilled (ha!) when she pivoted to thrillers. Perfectly Famous is her second and its strongest moments are what she's always excelled at; looking at relationships between women, how and why they are the way they are and the ripple effect created by one moment. I wish her work got more recognition, and absolutely will be recommending Perfectly Famous every chance I get!

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would! Fast paced, well written & engaging characters. Left me on the edge of my seat a few times! I'm not sure on that very last bit, but it didn't really ruin it for me. Loved it!

Perfectly Famous was the perfect thriller for 2020. Meet Ward DeFleur: a successful author who lives in a picturesque estate in Connecticut with her daughter, Stevie. Ward DeFleur has it all. Or so it appears until one night when Stevie is brutally murdered. Ward goes into hiding and vows never to write again.

Meet Bree Bennett. A divorcee, who re-enters the workforce as a reporter for the town newspaper. Bree dips her toes back into journalism by writing a piece on Ward's tragic tale -- but what turns out as a simple narrative turns into her obsession with finding not only Ward but also Stevie's killer.

Perfectly Famous was a fast-paced thriller that kept me wanting more. "One more chapter" turned into staying up for another hour to keep reading. 10/10 recommend!

As the book opens, Laura Whitney, aka Ward DeFleur, is about to meet Bree Bennett, a fan who has read all of Ward's books and attends a book signing at which she promptly bursts into tears upon meeting Ward. Bree and her husband, Jeremy, had decided to separate just two days earlier. Bree doesn't forget Ward’s kindness and the conversation in which they engage just before Ward is informed that her daughter is missing and whisked away by her assistant. It was the fateful night when Ward's only child was abducted and murdered. And the last time Ward was seen in public.

Six months later, no one knows where Ward is. Her telephone number is disconnected and emails are returned as undeliverable, even to Ward's agent and editor who are concerned about the additional book she is contractually obligated to deliver. Only one person -- her stepmother -- knows where Ward has taken refuge. She is unable to write, in part because the police believe that Stevie's attacker was a crazed fan who staged the crime like a scene out of one of Ward's early books. As she explains in her first-person narrative, "He'd created a cliche out of my daughter. That, I did not appreciate."

Meanwhile, Bree describes, also via a first-person narrative, her need to find new purpose in her post-marital life. Her relationship with Chloe has been strained since Jeremy moved out of the family home. Chloe is testing her mother's patience by coming home after her curfew, drinking, and spending time with a boyfriend that Bree neither knows nor trusts. Fortunately, Jeremy is supportive, but Bree resents that Chloe is gravitating toward him after Bree gave up her career and devoted herself to raising the girl.

Bree strikes a deal with the editor of the small town newspaper to write articles about matters of local interest. As happy as she is to be writing again, the work is not satisfying because Bree wants to pen an expansive expose. She wants to find Ward and commences an all-out search for her. So she pitches the story idea to her editor, as well as Ward's exasperated agent. Both are enticed and green-light the project.

Meanwhile, Laura is residing in the small town where she grew up and when she runs into one of her oldest friends at the local supermarket, she is reunited with the group of friends who knew her best. That includes Alex. Everyone assumed that Laura and Alex would end up together. Now that he is in the midst of a divorce, their reunion reignites old feelings. Laura has "the powerful feeling that Alex was supposed to be the one. My one."

Through alternating chapters, Liebert describes the women's journeys. Laura remains in hiding, confident that her trusted friends will not reveal her whereabouts or any other details about her present-day life, while Bree follows leads and clues in her effort to find Ward and convince her to permit Bree to write her story. Even though Bree receives warnings about her activities that lead her to believe she is in danger, she forges ahead with her investigation.

Both Bree and Laura (Ward) are compelling characters. The two women have much in common. Both are devoted mothers, writers, single, and independent. Each struggles to balance their own needs and desires while managing the stresses in her life. But Laura has secrets she does not want uncovered and Bree becomes obsessed with discovering them. Liebert keeps the story moving forward at a steady pace and the women's inner dialogues are engrossing and believable. When Laura realizes that Bree is searching for her, she takes steps to protect herself and her privacy, confiding in Alex because she finds it "so comforting to have another person in my life who I can trust fully. There are so few of them these days."

Liebert indeed injects surprises and unexpected plot twists, and intensifies her characters' discomfort as Bree inches incrementally closer to discovering the shocking truth. Savvy readers may correctly guess aspects of the story, but Liebert's revised ending is deftly set up and jaw-droppingly explosive. And controversial, not only because it appears to come out of left field. It can be argued that it is gratuitous and contrived, included solely for shock value, while detracting from the ending that readers were expecting and would have found satisfying. However, in Liebert's defense, her narrative does include subtle clues and foreshadowing . . . that could easily be overlooked by readers whose attention is focused on other plot developments.

Despite the contentious conclusion, Perfectly Famous is an entertaining, cleverly constructed thriller.

I loved Pretty Revenge so I was super excited to get Perfectly Famous!
Emily really kept me glued to my kindle with this book. I really enjoyed it! Would totally call it a beach read but it’s 2020 so great back yard oasis read!!

This book was great for an easy summer read! This book was a great combination of Thriller and Women's Fiction, which covers 2 out my 3 favorite genres.

The story is told through 2 narratives - Ward DeFluer, a famous writer that has experienced a horrible personal tragedy and gone in to hiding, and Bree Bennett, a recently divored mother who is trying to find her passion in life again while battling with her angsty teenage daughter. I found both narrations to be engaging and easy to follow along with. There were bits here and there on Bree's side that seemed a little inconsequential. I did enjoy her character trying to pick herself up again and make a life that she really wanted after her divorce. I would liked to have had more of a wrap-up with the relationship between Bree and her daughter, Chloe.

That ending though!! I had my suspicions on how it was going to go down, but that last page blew my mind! I really hope that the author has a sequel in the works.

Thank you to Gallery Books for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Does being famous mean you have no real friends? What happens when someone feels like they know you and want to insert themselves into your life but aren't harmful? Do you call them a stalker?

This is what happened to Ward DeFleur. Being a famous author would bring the crazies to the playground, I suppose. Where's the line in the sand between being a fan and becoming a stalker? Is it a fine line?

When Bree reaches out to Ward, we start to see that line, but Bree is determined to find the missing author because she is sure something is wrong.

Unfortunately, things go south very quick and Bree finds herself in a situation she may not be able to escape. Who can be trusted and who can't? Is everyone the person they seem to be? Does Ward even want to be found?

Perfectly Famous is my second time reading a book by Emily Liebert and it was just as enjoyable as the first! I was really surprised at how often I laughed during this book, and I loved the banter between Bree, her daughter Chloe, and her friend Maggie. I listened to the audiobook and that may have been another reason I was laughing so hard. Tavia Gilbert and Natalie Naudus did a great job voicing Ward and Bree, and they use the full range of their voices as well as plenty of inflection to create the desired effects for each situation the characters are in. I highly recommend the audio just because the narrators were so talented even if they were a bit overwhelming for me at times.

Perfectly Famous is full of short chapters and the pacing is very quick. I also really liked the fact that the book switched back and forth between Bree and Ward since it helped build the suspense for me. Now let’s talk about that ending! I know a lot of people were unhappy with it and I can see why, I loved everything up until the last few pages when I was thrown for a loop and didn't really like it. I thought one part was a tiny bit predictable, but I didn't completely see the end coming and I really don't know how I feel about it.

Perfectly Famous did also branch out into the unbelievable side of things, so if you don't like that don't read this. But overall I loved this fast-paced, HILARIOUS, thriller and I would recommend to fans of this author and people who enjoy controversial endings. I love Liebert's writing style and since this is book seven for her I am really looking forward to reading the rest of her backlist now.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

The stories of two women are interwoven in Emily Liebert’s most recent domestic thriller Perfectly Famous. Ward DeFleur is a famous author who goes into hiding following a family tragedy, cutting off all ties to her former life. Bree Bennett is a recent divorcee looking to reboot her own writing career by finding Ward and exposing her story, hoping to eventually turn a series of articles into a book. What begins as an interesting premise for a mystery diverts into banal romance with some unrealistic dialog and awkward interaction. Both women lack clear motivations for their actions, and Bree’s irrational attraction to her literary subject is unconvincing. The most interesting parts of the book involve a subplot about Bree’s teenage daughter, Chloe, who is rebelling after her parents’ amicable split. Unfortunately, no explanation or resolution about the mother-daughter relationship is satisfyingly explored. Liebert attempts to depict an increasing degree of danger for Bree as she chases down her story, but it comes across as artificial and fails to stimulate a genuine sense of peril. Unfortunately, the plot then goes from ploddingly predictable to jarringly irrational at its conclusion. The ending seems to be almost hijacked, tacked on as a last-ditch attempt to elicit surprise. What results is a disappointing and ultimately unrewarding experience—one that is somewhat insulting to today’s sophisticated mystery consumer.

Thanks to the author, Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really wanted to like this thriller, but it fell flat for me. I didn't like that it wasn't clear or given before each chapter started on whose POV you were getting until you were a couple of sentences in. It was a guessing game and made it kind of annoying, to be honest, and confusing at times. A handful of those times I would have to go back and reread what I read after I figured out whose POV it was supposed to be on. All the mystery leading up to the ending was horrible and left many questions open which was a weird way to end a thriller.

Well........ This book was so, so, so good. Until the end. I don't know what to say. I am a HUGE fan of "holy crap, where did that come from" endings. This had that, it just went a little too far, in my opinion. I loved the characters, although I didn't always understand their reasoning, the suspense was great, the writing was great, it was just that ending. I did definitely stay interested throughout so I would definitely read another by Emily Leibert. I do have to recommend this one though, just because I cannot say it was a bad book and to each his own.

Thank you to Gallery Books, NetGalley and Emily Leibert for this ARC!

Ward is a famous writer getting ready to go on a whirlwind book tour. She is at the top of her game. Then her daughter gets brutally murdered. Obviously the book tour is over and Ward's life comes crashing down.

Then things take an interesting turn...or so I thought. A woman that had attended the book signing- Bree- starts to resurface in the story with a keen interest in Ward. I am thinking...oh yayy a good fan girl story. Umm no...I struggled to figure out what Bree's problem was. It almost was like she was obsessed with Ward, but she wasn't. She was a journalist who was dead set on talking to Ward about the murder of her daughter. The whole book pretty much revolves around this...I just didn't get it. Why would Ward want to talk to her? Why is this the main plot of the story?

I thought surely we would have a fantastic ending...well the ending did leave me speechless, but not in a good way. I really did want so badly to love this one but it was missed the mark for me. I feel like this story could have been so much more! I do want to read more from this author because I feel this was just perhaps a miss for me.

A Journalist Searches for a Famous Author

Bree Bennett is newly divorced with a difficult teenage daughter, Chloe. She needs something to do other than pilots and dealing with her daughter. As a former journalist, she’d like to find a subject that would get her back into the business.

Ward DeFleur is a famous novelist, who has been in hiding since the murder of her daughter Stevie. Unable to cope with the fallout from the savage murder, Ward is hiding in her beautiful estate. She refuses to write and doesn’t want publicity surrounding the tragedy.

Bree, however, is persistent and against the odds, she meets and becomes friends with Ward.

I found the book very uneven. The stage is set through phone conversations between Bree and her friend, Maggie. While interesting, they didn’t move the story for me. Once Bree starts working on her quest, the pace picks up and the story becomes more interesting, but the ending was rather a shock. It seemed to come our of nowhere.

I couldn’t warm up to Bree or Ward. They seemed like stock characters. Bree’s mother was more interesting and flamboyant, but she couldn’t carry the story. Chloe was a typical teen, but again the motivation was lacking.

Although the characters didn’t draw me, the plot was interesting and well paced until the ending.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Had so much potential for a crazy good ending but I couldn't quite understand why this ending was the way it was. Made no sense at all and it ruined the story! ugh! I hate when that happens. Makes me feel cheated!

Thanks for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. I have to go with 2.9-3.0 stars.

Lots of twists and turns and a shocking ending. I enjoyed this book and would read more by this author

This book should be called "The Weird Journal of Bree Bennett." I think it would have made more sense that way.

The premise was interesting. A recently divorced woman trying to find her way back into journalism. She picks a very random-but-ok subject to write about. From there we move into a hot mess of nonsensical things. Bree tells us all she thinks, all the food she eats, all her concerns, her dating life, etc. That would be fine and wonderful, had we not need to be focusing on the "mystery" part of the story, right? Ward DeFleur? Hello?!

Not much of Ward is known. Her actions are never explained, really. There's no resolution to basically anything. When I realized last night I was at 85% and NOTHING had happened yet, I worried. All sorts of random things are thrown in the last 10% of the book. People without motives, random revelations, we are left without answers to many things... and then the end. I won't give spoilers, but... wtf?!

I thought this was a debut novel and I thought maybe that would explain the endless plot holes, terrible writing (I got tired of counting how many times the main character's answer is "wow, ok"). I saw then this is the author's 10th novel. I hope this was some fluke in her career.


I can see from other reviews that I'm part of the unpopular opinion. It happens.

I'm sorry, Netgalley. I appreciate the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest review.

Perfectly Famous is the second book that I've read by Emily Liebert. It's a quick read (I was able to read it in one sitting) and I found it enjoyable, for the most part. The ending definitely threw me for a loop and left me with many unanswered questions.

I went into this book expecting to love it (yes, I judge a book by its cover!) and the first chapter sucked me in but it was downhill from there. I found almost all of the characters to be huge stereotypes and guessed most of the twists early on because of it. But my biggest issue was the two protagonists - Ward, a famous author whose daughter is attacked and goes into hiding, and Bree, a recent divorcée who interacts with Ward the night of the attack and becomes determined to uncover what happened to her. Their behavior and decisions throughout the book were over-the-top and completely illogical so it was hard to care about or root for either of them.

I pushed through my doubts expecting a reveal to make all of the bizarre build-up worth it but the last 25% of this book goes from domestic drama/thriller to full-on soap opera and not in a good way. The final twist of the story (which involves a character I could have told you was "bad" the first time we met them) happens with no explanation or clear motivation and we never find out how it affects all the of the people we were supposed to have become invested in. It's like it was the ending for another novel that someone tacked on by mistake.

I might have given this book 3 stars for being light and fluffy entertainment but the ending knocked it down to 2.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of this book to review.

Perfectly Famous focuses on the lives of two women as they navigate changes in their lives.

The ending...was BRILLIANT.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy psychological fiction feature strong female characters.