Kindly sent from the publishing team for an honest review.

Soon as I read the blurb I knew this book was for me. However I wasn't expecting such traumatic events/ topics such as, abortion, sexual assault and grief. I did have to put it down a few times to recollect my thoughts but that wasn't a bad thing .

It was a book that I wanted to keep reading as quick as I can because i wanted to know what happened next. I really enjoyed that the really got to know Vanessa and the flicker between past and present events gave you a better understanding to the story.

This book was fully of mystery and drama and I was engaged from the beginning.

First book I've read of thus author's and a good story line. There were a few spacing issues in the book but that may have just been my copy. The story of a great friendship that becomes threatened with a dark twist that most book lovers would either love or loathe. Had to keep turning those pages to find out what happened!

Nuala Ellwood never disappoints! What an intriguing story this was. I quite liked Vanessa - her sister, Georgie, is very protective of her; her best friend, Lottie, finds her predictable but loves their life together. Life is fun - then the inevitable happens and Vanessa meets Connor - the perfect man, who sweeps her off her feet. This is well written and left me often feeling uncomfortable with their relationship. Vanessa seeks solace in a harmless, if deceitful, way that leads her into trouble.
At the end I felt the author was making a moral announcement and a warning which struck home.
A definite twist in the tale.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Nuala Ellwood/Penguin General UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Another amazing piece of writing from Nuala.

I couldn’t put this down.

Everyone wants a perfect life and sometimes we wish we were someone else just to get it.

Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough on her real life, all she has to do s throw on som nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape. That is how it started: looking round houses she couldn't possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn't. Because a man who had lived in one of those houses is dead.

This is another book i can't say too much about as i don't want to spoil it for potential readers. This is a dark and twisted psychological thriller. I was pulled in from the first few pages and it held my attention throughout. I liked the authors style in writing this steady paced book. I never saw the ending coming. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #PenguinGeneralUk and the author #NualaEllwood for my ARC of #ThePerffectLife in exchange for an honest review,

Vanessa enjoys looking at homes she cannot afford. It is a harmless enough deception - pretending to be someone she isn't in order to look around houses for sale that she can only dream of owning herself. That is, until the owner of one of these houses is murdered, and she is the main suspect...

This is a fast paced and gripping book which jumps back and forwards in time to allow us to understand Vanessa's mindset and motivations, and to uncover who it was who committed the crime. I enjoyed reading it.

This book started really good but lost interest half way through. I loved the house on the lake, maybe I expected too much from this book

Vanessa lost her Mum when she was young. All she wants is to recreate that comfort of a family home. She finds solace in viewing beautiful houses she knows she can't afford. It's a harmless escape until one of the house owners is found dead and everyone thinks Vanessa killed him.

I really enjoyed this book. I definitely didn't see the twist coming and without giving spoilers, the plot covers some very emotive subjects in quite a sensitive way. It's well written, the characters are very believable and I found myself doing that "just one more chapter" thing. Always the sign of a great read. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for allowing me to preview this book.

Loved this one! So easy to read and lots of twists and turns along the way. Definitely a quick read and one I recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. It unfortunately was not for me. The storyline had a lot of potential but I the plot was confusing at times & the characters unlikeable. The ending was a little predictable too & I found it hard to finish

Although I have enjoyed Nuala Ellwood's writing style and storyline in the past, I can't seem to finish this book.
Sadly, I had to DNF. Thank you, nonetheless to Netgalley for the eArc.

Intrigued by the author and the title coupled with the blurb, I was really interested in getting this one into my hands however, I soon hit some issues that didn't sit that well with me.

The main character wasn't my favourite and I struggled to gel with her and perhaps even like her, I'm still undecided. I don't tend to really like the idea of the 'perfect life' scenario, as it is something that society especially nowadays is unhealthily obsessed with, however, I was willing to over look that.

I felt that the perspectives of 'now and then' didn't really work for me as there was lots of flipping backwards and forwards, there was also a big theme of gaslighting, which I didn't particularly like either but it did fit in very well with the unhealthiness of perfection and it is very well displayed, bringing attention to the manipulation that many go through without actually realising.

The book itself was a bit slow paced, a bit too much for me, and then when it came to the ending it seemed to creep up quite fast and I felt a bit deflated by the end. Overall, it was a bit of a mixed bag for me, there was some good ideas here, but I don't feel they've been executed as well as they could have, the murder, the kidnap, the gaslighting, the rape etc etc, it all became a bit too much as there is lots of different topics going on. I do think that the book touched on some really important points, like perfection isn't everything, to be aware of a gaslighting and manipulation, but it was also quite draining.


Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this free ARC in exchange for my review,

In her search for the perfect life Vanessa's grasp on reality seems to have loosened & now a man is dead. The question is, did she do it?

I couldn't put this book down once I started it. Unfortunately I'm not sure if that's because I was enjoying it or because if you stop reading you will lose the thread of one of the subplots, of which there were so many it becomes impossible to remember the main storyline. When I had read approximately one third of the novel, not only had I forgotten what the main plot was but I had also lost interest and didn't really care about Geoffrey's death.

This novel had so much promise and I really enjoyed the writing style there was just far too much going on. We could have focused on Vanessa & Connor's relationship without all of the pointless sub plots.

The Perfect Life really did pull me in right from the beginning. Well written, easy to read and keeps you gripped until the very end. You honestly believe, right from the start, that she can't have possibly done it, but the twist was great, didn't see it coming at all. Highly recommend this title for those who like an edge of your seat story. Couldn't put it down and was finished in two days.

Once again Nuala doesn’t disappoint 😉 great little read with lots of twists and turn and characters you’ll love to hate or totally adore! Brilliant storyline and I didn’t guess the twist, love her books!

I was so hooked with this book I just couldn’t put it down! I did not see the ending coming which I love in a thriller book as it makes it much more enjoyable to read. At points I thought the main character Vanessa was guilty but then soon ended up feeling sorry for her and how her life unraveled. It showed a range of different emotions which really made you understand Vanessas character and the events that unfolded. The story featured past and present format. Sometimes I can find past and present layouts hard to read but this one seemed to work well and contributed to the story telling.

However, I do think the book should possibly come with a warning for some sensitive content (I wont say much more otherwise it will give it away). Saying this though I loved how at the ending of the book justice was given, so even though it didn’t have a warning for this it felt powering to ultimately have the justice served.

Rating: 3.5/5

This is the book that focused on Vanessa; whose world is about to be shaken off by a series of events from an encounter she thought could turn her life into “a dream life” but turns out not. And she becomes more disheveled from time to time, which differs in the way she used to acts.

This is one of the books that tell you the consequences of wanting a life that you could never reach from the beginning and the effect of living under someone else shadows or following someone's thumb would only cause suffering. It would end up making you feel more miserable.

What I learned from this book is that you could be happy by appreciating what you already own by living your life accordingly because then you won't feel like someone owns your life.

Also, you have to take note of the red flag and know when to walk away from a situation that demands you to do so and understand the differences between caring, control, obsess, and manipulation. Remember that love is when you treat one another with respect.
Lastly, you need to seek help went things fall off because it would save your life.

This book is about Vanessa who wants the perfect life. The story starts with Vanessa being involved in the murder of a man whose house she had viewed. The story starts with the present and takes us back to when things were looking very rosy for her. At times i felt sorry for her and other times annoyed with her. I really enjoyed this book and found it very gripping. I fully recommend.

I didn't really enjoy this title loads myself, but thats not to say I can't see the appeal and the audience that it would appeal to. I find the double narration really difficult to get on board with when reading and this did that. However, I think its important to address some of he issues in this book and there are definitely some customers who I think would love this.

3.66 stars

The Perfect life is a book told through Vanessa’s POV in two timelines, past and present. Vanessa is a bright young woman with a tragic past. We meet her in the present, as she is being interviewed in relation to a murder in a house she just viewed – using a different name! Things do not look good for her.

From then, we find out that Vanessa has made a habit of viewing houses out of her price range, pretending to be other people. And we also find out things that makes us wonder how reliable she is.

I felt that Nuala Ellwood did a really good job with Vanessa and her sister Georgie. I actually really liked them both and I was invested in their narrative. Ellwood also built an anxious atmosphere and did a great job enticing the reader to finish it in one sitting.

Unfortunately, I felt that the subplot didn’t add much to the mystery and at times, it read as two different books. I appreciate the subplot as it helped bring attention to a serious issue, but it felt like it would have been better developed as its own book.

All in all, I enjoyed the book.

Thank you, Nuala Ellwood, Penguin and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of The Perfect Life in exchange for an honest Review.

#ThePerfectLife #NetGalley