I was not a huge fan of Emily Liebert's first book, but I really enjoyed Perfectly Famous. A well-known author's daughter goes missing and is found dead. But who did it? And where has the author gone? A journalist wants to explore the author's back story, but ends up caught up in the middle of a very strange situation where an author is hiding, her brother is trying to find her, an ex-boyfriend shows up out of the blue, and all hell breaks loose. I read this book pretty quickly and while I enjoyed the story line, the very end seemed a little rushed and did not really fit with the rest of the story. I loved the gotcha at the end, but I wish there had been a little more information and context about that character.

I’ll start this one off by saying I’m a sucker for a thriller about celebrities or about the lavish world of the rich and famous. That’s what I thought I was going to get with this one. I read the synopsis way back when I requested it on Netgalley and kinda forgot most of it by the time I picked this up. So I went in mostly blind.

I was really enjoying this one up until the 80% mark. While I had some problems justifying our main character Bree’s decisions, I was hoping things would come full circle and make sense when I finished. But I was completely wrong.

The last 50-75 pages of this were a complete mess. Certain story lines were not resolved at all and Bree’s actions just got worse and made no sense to me. It was like another author took over the last part of the book. The character development was incredibly lacking. And that last page, that last line. WHAT THE HELL. I literally yelled that when I finished. As I read this on my kindle, I hit the screen waiting for another chapter but that was it. I honestly thought I was missing something. After reading some other reviews, I see I’m not alone in my thoughts. I’m not sure if the last line means there might be a follow-up or if that was meant to be for shock value but it made no sense. There was so indication what so ever that the ending was a plausible outcome.

I’m so disappointed because I really did enjoy this one until the ending. It wasn’t perfect but it was fun and fast-paced and I thought I’d get a decent ending to wrap things up. Unfortunately, I’d say skip this one. I don’t think you’re missing out on anything.

I’m giving it 2.5 stars rounded up to a 3 simply because I did enjoy the majority of this and I hate giving bad reviews.

Thank you to @netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Book is out June 2.

A tale of subterfuge, betrayal, and retribution? Count me in!

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…

What a premise, right? And yet.. yet it somehow failed to deliver. This started off as such a gripping story and had me hooked because there was tension and intrigue with flawed characters but then the last 15% of the book you suddenly are met with some completely unbelievable, ridiculous and unrealistic pages and that's it. It's over for me. But I still persevered because hey, it just might redeem itself but unfortunately it did not and the ending had me so annoyed.

This is a 2.5 which I am bumping to a 3.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bree is a recent divorcée who meets her idol on what becomes the night her idol Ward’s daughter goes missing. Fast forward six months later, Bree decides she’s going to find Ward who went missing the day after her daughter went missing. This book captivated me from page one and kept me guessing til the very last page.

I make it a point not to give poor reviews, since I understand how difficult it is to write a book and sell it to a publisher, so I won't post this review to Goodreads. IMHO Perfectly Famous needs a rewrite and content edit in the final 20% of the story before it goes to publication. The final chapters simply don't work. The timeline is off too. There was also no motivation given whatsoever for the last line of the novel.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of the novel for an honest review.

Ward is living the dream life. She is a famous author and has her wonderful daughter by her side. Until Stevie is abducted and left with wounds that take her life. Since then, Ward has disappeared and not written a single word. Bree meanwhile, is recently divorced and getting back into the journalism world. She has a fantastic idea that will put her in good with her new boss…she is going to find Ward and do a piece on her. Ward doesn’t want to be found though…and maybe there is a reason for that?

Ya know those books that you finish and immediately need to discuss with someone? That is this book!I really enjoyed it, up until the very last paragraph. This was a solid 4 star read until that last page. I did figure some of the twists out a bit early on, but the book was a quick read and I still really enjoyed the story. Until the last line. I just don’t feel like the story was wrapped up for me. I’m not going to give spoilers but please message me if you have read this one so we can discuss!

Thank you to Gallery Books for my advanced copy of this book!

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review -
This is a captivating book of a famous author giving a presentation when she receives a phone call her daughter has been murdered.
She hides out and hasn't written another book since.
Bree wants to write a book about the author and her daughter. What is scary is the killer hasn't been found. She also needs to find the author to interview her.
Follow along for a thrilling read with a surprising ending!

Ugh.

I thought this would be a fun popcorn Thriller, but it was a melodramatic soap opera-style mess.

Basically, you've got Ward, a 40 something lady who's a wealthy famous author who enjoys her book tours until her teen daughter is abducted and killed and then she's a shut-in who can't write.

Then, you've got Bree, a 4o something upper middle class divorcée who's slumming it working for the local paper trying to write about Ward. Oh, and she has a teen daughter who is spoiled and hates her.

Add in some attractive mysterious men for Bree and Ward, some fatphobia and clichés and stereotypical upper middle class white lady shit and you've got Perfectly Famous.

There's a shocking ending--true, but it's bad B movie shocking and made me laugh. Oops.

Thanks for the fluff Netgalley!

Perfect summer book for any mystery/thriller fan. Perfectly Famous is an easy read with good characters, plot, and lots of twists. Perfect for that vacation read.

This was such a quick read for me. Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down!! I feel like it was a very good (simple) story. It’s def worth the time to read and enjoy. There were a few characters (Evan) who I thought their character didn’t seem a good fit (towards the end) his role in the story was great but I think his climax could have been written better. I also hated the end. I think the book would be much better if the last few sentences were just deleted.
This would have been a solid 4-4.5 stars if the last few sentences never existed but now it’s making me confused on other character 🤦🏽‍♀️


Spoiler

So if alex was behind wanting to harm Stevie (and why would he want to it doesn’t make any sense) then why was Chris/Evan obsessively looking for ward and Stevie now?! Wouldn’t he have been looking before Stevies trauma, they weren’t hiding then?? Just delete the last few sentences. Let alex be the good guy and just keep Evan/Chris as the evil character who was hunting them down and the one who hurt Stevie.

Perfectly famous started out great with an interesting premise and promising suspense. It does get predictable until the end and there is a twist no one would expect at that point. Bree, a newly divorced, gets obsessed with writing the story of a famous author, Ward whose daughter dies after a kidnapping. She then goes on to investigate Ward’s disappearance and tangles herself in the plot. There were a lot of details on Bree’s personal life which don't really contribute much to the story and same with her ex-husband’s details as well. This ended up dragging the plot-line a bit.

Overall, it was good but it wasn’t great for me. So thriller nerds might not like it that much but those who are new to the genre might enjoy it more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for my ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review. Perfectly Famous starts out as a promising thriller but ends on an absurd note. Ward DeFleur is a famous author whose world comes crashing down around her after the murder of her daughter. Ward understandably retreats from the spotlight only to be pursued by the dogged Bree, a divorcee with a background in journalism and too much time on her hands. I actually liked Ward and I was dismayed to see the lengths Bree was willing to go in pursuit of the author. As Bree is herself a mother, I felt as though she should have had more respect for Ward's situation.

The book is pretty good at the beginning but falls apart as it goes on. The ending just didn't work for me at all. I was not satisfied with the conclusion and found it to be quite melodramatic. The characters and the reader deserved a better ending.

Perfectly Famous, Emily Liebert’s latest novel, is a twisty ride that will appeal to lovers of psychological thrillers by authors like B.A. Paris and Liv Constantine.
Bree Bennett, a divorced mom raising her teenaged daughter in suburban Connecticut, wants to revive her journalism career, and she thinks she’s got the perfect idea. The pitch? A piece on Ward DeFleur, a famous local author whose daughter, Stevie, was kidnapped and murdered. The catch? Stevie’s case went cold, and Ward DeFleur went off the grid. Bree is determined to locate Ward, though, even if it means risking her life, as well as endangering her family.
Overall, Liebert writes a taut story, and Bree’s best friend Maggie is a nice foil; their banter, along with the dialogue between Bree and her hoot of a mother, keeps the novel from becoming too dark and maudlin. However, I’m not buying the ending.
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books and the author for allowing me to read an advance copy of Perfectly Famous in exchange for my honest review.

This book kept me on my toes but also was a little predictable. I figured out the "brother" was just using her to get to Ward. I did not expect the ending though and I enjoyed reading it.

I loved the first half of Perfectly Famous!!! And then... (it kills me to say this because I am a huge Emily Liebert fan!) things started going south. I read the book in one afternoon, but I still had a few moments where I felt as if I'd missed something because certain bits felt like they came out of left field. And then the last chapter. Sigh.
I'm truly sorry to say that Almost Famous didn't really work for me but I'm sure it won't stop me from devouring whatever she writes next.

Looking at the reviews of this book, they swing wildly. I'm not surprised, because my feelings were all over the place. I quickly got immersed in this book about a well known author who lost her daughter one night when she was at a book signing. Recently divorced mom Bree decides to pursue the author (who disappeared) to try to find answers. Drawn in 100 percent. Then, though, I found one character almost boring beyond belief and the other so irritating that I rooted for her best friend when she got angry at her. Some of the plot points didn't seem to be resolved, but I kept reading. Then. Then. An ending that literally popped out of nowhere, and had me literally turning back to see if I'd missed something. Is a part two coming? But, if so, can the characters even support it? I'm not sorry I read this book, but maybe this needs a bit of reworking. Thank you to Gallery Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance. All opinions are my own. (I probably would give this 3.5 if that was a choice.)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book is told simultaneously from two viewpoints.  The first is Ward DeFleur, who has it all. She is a single mom to a great daughter, is a fabulously successful crime thriller novelist and quite wealthy to boot.  Then one night, her idyllic world is turned upside down. While at a book signing, her daughter is missing, and is later found dead. Ward retreats from life, cutting off all her friends and associates.  

The second is Bree Bennett, who had a career as a journalist in Manhattan before marrying a well-to-do lawyer.  The Bennetts moved to Connecticut and Bree became a stay-at-home mom. Now that she is divorced and her daughter is an angst-filled teenager, Bree needs something to fill her days.  After starting part-time with the local paper, Bree pushes her editor to approve her idea of writing a series on Ward DeFleur. But first, she needs to find her. And maybe it isn’t such a good idea, seeing how a killer is still on the loose.

So, what works in this book?  The language. It just flows.  The plot dangles just enough questions to keep you reading.

What didn’t work were the main characters.  Without giving away any spoilers, Ward’s actions just didn’t seem right, and after a big reveal you’ll see what I mean.  Also, she is moody and pensive, which you expect after losing her daughter less than a year before, and it didn’t fit with her then going out with old friends and rekindling an old flame.  As for Bree, it was hard to understand her at times. She bemoans the fact that she is alone, yet she is the one who wanted the divorce because her husband was more married to his work. I kept expecting her to take charge of her life, but she didn't.  She claims to be looking for a man who is supportive, but when she finds one who meets all her expectations, instead she fixates on someone who comes across as whiny, manipulative and, well, just a little off. There are some serious issues with her daughter, yet she puts them to the side to chase after Ward.  And she is tenacious in her pursuit of Ward, to the point of being unlikable paparazzi.

As for the ending, it happens in a flash, but I still don’t know what happened, or why.  Oh, wait. Part II coming soon.

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Holy cow! What another amazing book! So many twists and turns til the very end! The ending just left me with my mouth dropped open like OMG! That’s my kind of book! I would love for a 2nd book with these characters!🎉

Here is a novel that had such great potential and it was fairly successful at the beginning at building that tension and then all of a sudden you reach a "Wtf" moment where not only things don't make sense, but they are way too unrealistic. This was a very, and I mean very close DNF for me. I muscled through to get to an even more horrendous ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Ward DeFleur had it all. She was a bestselling novelist and beginning a 15-city book tour to promote her latest book. Then her worst nightmare happens. Some time during the book tour, her teenage daughter, Stevie, went missing. When Stevie is finally found it has been clear she had endured a terrible trauma. Unfortunately, Stevie succumbs to her injuries and Ward disappears to grieve. Meanwhile, Bree Bennett was an avid fan of Ward's and met her at the book signing on that fateful night. As a journalist, Bree wants to know the truth and begins a quest to find Ward. She learns dark secrets to Ward's past and uncovers a truth even she couldn't believe.

This psychological thriller started out really strong. It was a really fast read and kept me turning the pages, but from about 60% into the book, I became disappointed. The characters were a bit shallow and Bree could get on my nerves, but I could get by her flaws to progress through the story. It was easy for me to see when Bree was being used and when she was making selfish decisions - decisions that were excused away because she was solving the mystery of Ward.

The plot was very predictable. I expected every twist, which would not have been a problem because Liebert wrote in a way that kept my heart racing. However, the ending ruined the atmosphere for me. The dream/nightmare sequence was completely out of character. It felt like it was thrown in purely to add another twist to the story. I don't think it tricked anyone. The story becomes okay again as reality sets in until the last page. Again, another predictable twist and completely underdeveloped like much of the ending. For a book that steadily builds in suspense, I was not expecting an ending that tried to wrap everything up so neatly yet remain ambiguous to maintain some mystery. It left me confused and disappointed. My hope is that it was setting the stage for a sequel. As is, the resolution does not do the story justice.