I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately I just could not get into it. I found the writing style very confusing and the story dragged

This was such a good story pure escapism I read it so quick just to know what was happening!! I would recommend this book!!

I enjoyed this book but did find it a stressful read that left my head spinning. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes this kind of read.

I both liked and disliked this book all at the same time. I find the book quite discomforting to read as you weren't sure exactly where it was going but all roads pointed back to Vanessa being the victim and not the perpetrator.

I had to keep reading as needed to know how it was going to end and who was to blame for what and also why the things happened happened.

A great read and kept you gripped until the end.

I found this book disturbing, and not in a good way. I mostly enjoy reading about crime and twisted people doing twisted things, but I did not enjoy this. First, the pacing was off and I did not connect with the narrator. Second, the description of her emotional abuse and gaslighting was long drawn out and really stressed me out. Third, plot was unconvincing. Finally, I’m tired of the trope linking mental illness to criminal behaviour. It’s harmful and needs to stop.

(Review copy from Netgalley)

Another great read from this author. The Perfect Life centres around Vanessa who seems to have it all. She has the job she wants, the boyfriend, the best friend and sister but she still craves more and dresses as somebody else to view houses she cannot afford, so will not be buying.

As an opening Vanessa is asked by the police to assist with a murder enquiry. She had viewed the house he was found dead in on the same day as the murder under a different name. it turns out to be her favourite author from when she was younger.

The story is told from Vanessa’s viewpoint between past and present which reveals how happy she was and how life has changed for her. The twists and turns keep coming and I was totally engrossed.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin General UK and Nuala Ellwood for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Recommended

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin UK for giving the ACR to me in exchange for an honest review.
The story is narrated in two time slots, alternating then and now timeline. For me, it's quite a bit confusing and sometimes I couldn't catch it. Anyway, all slots absolutely were at the right place and sensible progress. In present time, her life is totally devastated but in the past her life seemed bright and optimistic. The story explored what happened to her from prefect life to nightmare. Utterly, it's a entertaining read. Nuala Ellwood is talented and genius. I was so hooked that I couldn't put it down, and ended up late into the night. It was a bit fast paced, gripping and twisty.

I have just finished The Perfect Life by @nualawrites and my head is spinning! This was a sensational story that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The protagonist, Vanessa Adams, is a complex character. Her avid love of reading as a child specifically Geoffrey Rivers Holly Maze House series help her through her darkest times starting with the premature loss of her. In adulthood Vanessa finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation bizarrely linked to her childhood idol.

This book is cleverly written and completely unpredictable. The author tackles sensitive themes brilliantly and as a reader it challenged my perceptions of the characters, their relationships and behaviours. A superb read, thanks to @netgalley and @penguinukbooks for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you for the arc copy of The Perfect Life. Vanessa likes to go and look round houses that are up for sale and it’s become a bit of an obsession and then one of the house owners, an author, is murdered and she was the last person in his house. Then there’s the added mystery of her new boyfriend Connor and it soon becomes clear that he is quite controlling and you can see a gradual wearing down of her spirit, quite a topical situation with domestic violence and co ercive control.
The story unfolds quite slowly giving you time to process and understand what is happening but still left guessing who the situation will end.
Well written and gritty

Have you ever wished you could be someone else? For a day? An hour?

Vanessa has a job she loves, a new boyfriend who is kind and caring and a sister who loves her deeply. So why does Vanessa enjoy putting on clothes and pretending to be someone else while viewing houses she can’t afford? It’s all just a bit of fun, house inspiration when her and Connor move into somewhere bigger than Connors tiny flat. It’s all just a bit of fun until a man turns up dead in one of the houses Vanessa views. A man who who is an acclaimed author. A man whose books Vanessa was obsessed with when she was younger.

Now all eyes are on Vanessa and as her relationship starts to break down and her job stops being so perfect, could she have really killed him?

What I loved about The Perfect Life was that there was so much going on, all the time. Usually I find it hard to follow if there’s too much information at once, but Nuala made it work. Did I feel like shouting at Vanessa a few times for the decisions she was making? Yes! But that made the book so much more realistic and enjoyable!

Thank you Nuala Ellwood and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A really tense and suspensful story. I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend for a good read xx

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit I didn't really enjoy this book at all. It was incredibly stressful to read, almost anxiety inducing. The main character was unlikeable, unreliable and hard to sympathise with, and there were just too many coincidences for this to be a convincing read. The ending also felt unbelievable and completely out of place, like it was pulled out of thin air and dropped in. There were also too many plot holes and inconsistencies for this to be a satisfying experience. Not for me!

A very good book, not exactly an original story line but a couple of twists I didn’t see coming. I read this within 2 days so it kept me entertained.
Overall I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.

A very powerful book to read. lots of twists, felt i had to stay on track with the plot to keep up, heartbreaking end, lots of emotions going on throughout.

I always get excited when I see another one of Nuala Ellwood's books to read .... and yet again this book never failed to disappoint. The storyline was page-turning and will leave you saying ok one more chapter won't hurt until there are no more chapter's to read and the birds are just starting to wake up outside it's just that kind of book.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book once again

The layout of then and now can be a bit confusing at times but the overall story is in someways like daydreams. A relaxed read that keeps you entertained throughout.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑵𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅

We all aim to have a perfect life - we try to work harder, learn boring subjects and socialize with snobs at work to make our life better sometimes. But how far will you go to get the dream life? What will you do to reach the expectations set by your own mind?

Vanessa prefers to pretend to be someone better, view properties she can't afford with new clothes and fake accent however one day she is at a murder scene and suspected for the murder. She has no way to explain her lies and to top it all, someone is stalking her, threatening to make her pay for a murder she didn't commit

This is a clever psychological mind game on the protagonist!! Loved it so much that I read it in one sitting. I would recommend it to all psychological thriller readers

I was looking forward to reading this book from the title, the description and its my usual genre. The premise of the story of everyone wants a perfect life. It was a good storyline and I was enjoying it until the story became more confusing. I wasn't expecting the more traumatic topics of grief, sexual assault and abortion. I had to leave it at times but did manage to finish it. Unfortunately it wasn't for me however I would try other books by this author again. I would recommend it to others to give it a go.

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

So, there are effectively two bad guys here, one gets caught, one gets away. I liked that, it sat well with my sense of right in the world. (And if I were the author, I'd see the door wide open for a serial killer series, one with a bit of a classic, magical, Dickensian Alice in Wonderland kind of spin - just saying.

All things considered this wasn't a bad read, but also not my favourite. It dragged a bit here and there and I think the atmosphere could have been built up a lot more from the start. The bad guy (mmm, not the bad guy, the killer. Who wasn't the bad guy actually). really came out of the left field, he wasn't part of the story at all, and more could have been made of his childhood, who he was, why he was who he was...

I did find Vanessa a bit iffy (sorry), but Georgie was fab, solid and a good anchor. And yay for Lottie, we all need a Lottie. I loved the references to the children's books, and the idea of the ghosts was lovely, more could have been made of that world, the foundation of Vanessa's childhood.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for my ARC.

I found this book a bit difficult to get into, normally I'm hooked within a few pages or a chapter but I was almost half way through the book before I felt the need to keep reading it. It turned out to be a good book with a twist I didn't see coming! I ended up enjoying the book and thought it ended well and it does transport you through the lives. I wasn't too keen on the going backwards and forwards between then and now in the character's life but it did need to happen and is probably what made the book what it was. Not one of my favourite books but it was a good read.