I received a complimentary copy of The Perfect Father from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Scary realistic! The malignant narcissist husband makes the wife's life a living hell. The wife really had no idea who she married, and trusting him as the main caregiver for their daughter leaves her in an awful and frightening predicament. Previous and current situations initiated by the husband also cause problems for this woman. Charlotte Duckworth did a great job of expressing the wife's emotions through her thoughts and actions (and even inactions)--I was miserable and stressed out, right along with her! Great book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I found this book terribly entertaining.

Now here comes the BUT...
...parts of it were really off the wall.

If you don't mind one totally implausible storyline, then I'd recommend The Perfect Father. It was good fun, and there was one twist I did NOT see coming. I loved the way the story bounced back and forth in time with our two narrators, Esther and Robin. My opinion of Robin totally changed from the beginning of the book to the ending...that's good writing.

3.5 stars
Available December 1, 2020

My sincere appreciation to NetGalley and Quercus Books for my review copy.

This is a slow burn domestic drama that I found a bit hard to get into. I do tinted reading because I'd become invested, but I almost stopped reading a few times as I felt that the pacing was off.

However, it ended up being an interesting story and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

Great, quick read! Enough twists to keep me on my toes, but not so many that it was hard to follow. I enjoyed the format of past/present as well.

So I didn't like this book...at all and I usually enjoy everything about this premise but sadly this book fell completely flat.

First of all, I hated both Robin and Esther. I mean they were both so egotistical and both believed that they were something they were not. I felt like they both had very selfish personalities and only cared about what the situation could get for them.
The plot was all over the place. I felt like I was reading the rambles of some crazed person. I had no idea what was going on half the time and the structure of the book left me baffled. The pacing was another story. It would pick up all of a sudden and then suddenly drop weirdly fast.

Everything about this was just not good. From the characters, to the plot to the ending. Convenient eh? Just not for me.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#ThePerfectFather #NetGalley
A good read.
After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.
But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she'd thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.
OR A PERFECT LIE?
Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems...
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus books for giving me an advanced copy.

Unexpected and emotional. That's how this story made me feel. The struggle of motherhood, career and family is real. Some people struggle more than others; however, you just have to make it work. Esther is a real heroine. The characters are very relatable. The style of writing was full of emotions and carefully worded. The toggle of past and present added to the feel of the story. It helps the story move along as opposed to confusion.

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

This is my third book by Charlotte Duckworth, I have read and enjoyed everything she has written. The Perfect Father isn't a thriller in the usual sense, but boy was I thrilled to read it! The story is told in my favourite format...two points of view via husband and wife Robin and Esther AND two timelines, Now and Earlier. Both Robin and Esther were characters I loved to hate, I had no one to root for until the end...except the baby Riley.

This was without a doubt an emotional roller coaster. I had the hardest time putting it down. I was looking for something different and this book did not disappoint. Obviously the tragic feelings it invoked had me bummed...But for story purposes, I think that was the point. It is after all very psychological...Of all the theories that were running through my head, I never would have guessed one of the surprises and that’s why I loved this book.

There are actually two major twists in this story...one of them I had figured out but the other was an interesting surprise. I found the story to be skillfully blended and got caught up with the characters and story line. Would highly recommend this book for fans of psychological thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! This book was just “eh” for me. I had a tough time identifying with or liking any of the characters. How could they not see from the beginning that their relationship was a train wreck?

This is the first book I have read by Charlotte Duckworth and I found it to be an 'okay' story. It didn't capture me the way I thought it would. I found the storytelling a bit confusing alternating from past to present, giving the reader pieces of the story a little at a time. I didn't really care for either Esther or Robin and it made it a challenging read for me. I would definitely try another one of her books in the future but this wasn't really for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy.

I am such a big fan of Charlotte Duckworth’s books. I loved Unfollow Me and The Rival so I was very, very excited to get my hands on a sneak peek of The Perfect Father. When Esther comes home from work one day, her husband and daughter are gone. As in gone for good. Where did they go and why? This is the premise for the story that unfolds. Is Robin really the perfect father or he is more like a perfect liar?

Take a look:

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so she can return to the job she loves. But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she’d thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.

Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems…
Is Robin the perfect father everyone thinks he is? Or was it all a perfect lie?

This was a good book, a solid read that kept me interested from start to finish! I am already looking forward to what Charlotte writes next.

Coming on December 1! Get it here.

Oh wow! There’s a lot of slow burn to this so I think a few reviewers weren’t into that. Personally I don’t mind if it’s executed well! The twists and turns have to be big and often to keep you going! I love the mystery and dual point of views! Esther is a working mom and Robin is a stay at home dad. One day she comes home from work and they are gone! There’s a lot of secrets. What happened to Robin and Riley?

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this arc. I've adored Duckworth's previous novels, she's an absolute auto-buy author for me, and The Perfect Father was simply a too-be-read-in-one-sitting kind of read, a complete unputdownable binge-read. It's pacy with compelling characters.

This starts off with a prologue - Robin has taken his daughter away. He's driving with her in the backseat and texts his wife one word: sorry. Esther, Robin's wife, receives this text unable to comprehend what is happening, when the doorbell rings: it's the police.
Rewind three years back and we see Esther and Robin, the perfect couple. They balance each other out. The story is narrated from both their POVs. Esther is the breadwinner of the family and Robin is self-employed, trying to become a comedian. After failed pregnancies Esther finally becomes pregnant, only to be heartbroken when she discovers her husband's betrayal. We see their marriage stumble along, until they've finally given birth to a baby girl. Robin becomes the stay-at-home dad, much to his family's disdain (the story explores the toxic male attitude and stigma around men who are primary caregivers as slouches) while Esther continues to work. But someone is hiding a secret that can wreck their lives...

This is a tricky book to review without giving any spoilers away. The first half was a bit of a slow-burn, but then at the 35% mark there was a killer twist that had my jaw on the floor, and I was utterly hooked from that point on. The second of the book is much stronger and worth the patience. This is breathtakingly paced, with fleshed out characters who appear one way at first but then surprise you. The latter half of the novel has plenty of reveals and twists and the story comes together nicely in a satisfying conclusion. A perfect domestic suspense/mystery read. 5/5.

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther and her husband, Robin, decide that she will return to the job she loves while he stays to be the full time carer for their daughter, Riley. But it's not as easy as Esther imagined to leave Riley behind, and soon tensions between husband and wife surface.

Then one day Esther receives a simple text message from Robin, saying only, "sorry." Her mind immediately runs through terrible scenarios and when she finally reaches her house, both Riley and Robin are gone. The police are asking questions, but Esther doesn't know how to answer them. Because if she does, she'll have to admit that much of her life is a lie...

I thoroughly enjoyed Follow Me, so I was eager to read Charlotte Duckworth's newest. While I found a lot that worked for me here, there were a couple blips.

First, and most important to me, I found the story propulsive and easy to read. It's told in both the POV of Esther and Robin in both the past and present. I read it in a matter of days without getting distracted by other books (which will happen if I'm not terribly invested in the story). I liked the twists and turns the text took until it reached its inevitable end. Duckworth's depiction of Robin solidified my opinion that British writers are quite adept at writing downright awful husbands (I often wonder about the state of marriage over there!) and I found the core story problem (I don't want to be specific about it because it's a little spoiler-ish) to be interesting.

Now, on to where I struggled a bit. I found Esther's character a bit too weak to connect and sympathize with. She's a very successful and smart executive; nothing about her background suggests that she be so spineless in dealing with men. On the contrary, research suggests that the presence of a strong, loving father in her life would make her act the opposite. I could only take so much of her reaction to people's warning her about Robin: "No, you're lying; he loves me so much!" No, honey, he's a dunce.

Secondly, I found some of the narrative a bit repetitive at times. So much of Robin's POV was spent on him naval-gazing about "poor me, no one respects a stay at home dad." Likewise, I'm looking for a fresh take on pregnancy. Every book seems to be about significant infertility of every female character.

And lastly, the ending tied up just a little *too* neatly for me.

But overall, The Perfect Father was an enjoyable read; the problems I had wouldn't stop me from recommending it if you're looking for a domestic thriller that's a nice, quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for making this copy available for me to review.

Overall not a bad read, well written with good characters but it didn't really 'grab' me.

The story line was good but I was disappointed with the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Wow! What a ride! The story of Rob and Esther's marriage and secrets gripped me from the beginning and never let up. .

Color me unimpressed!

Robin, aka “The perfect father”, sends her wife Esther a message saying “Sorry”. When she gets home, he and their daughter Riley are missing, so when police knocks on her door she fears the worst.

I’m sorry too. Sorry for having to write the next review, cause I don’t have many good things to say about this one. In one word: MEHHH

I had big issues with both Esther and Robin, being the most important one I didn’t like them. I don’t know what I hated more, Robin’s behavior (I won’t go into it cause I don’t wanna give away any spoiler) or Esther trying to justify it, even blaming herself for some of it. Girl, if you can’t respect yourself, how in the hell you’re gonna get somebody else’s respect?

For all her business savvy she was so gullible in her personal life, taking at face value everything her husband told her. I don’t think any mother in her situation would be so uninterested.

On the good side, the story brought to light a medical condition I hadn’t read about so that was interesting. On the very bad side, the author used a character’s health as the means for another to manipulate and lie.

The ending was plain and simply disappointing. I think it was a lazy and convenient way of wrapping everything up without giving much explanations.

I had heard so many good things about “Unfollow me” that I was excited to read this author. Sadly, this time the story didn’t deliver.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After a difficult time getting pregnant, Esther and Robin are finally blessed with their daughter, Riley.
While Esther goes back to work, Robin decides to become a stay-at-home dad. He is the perfect father; attentive, loving and caring.
But one day Esther receives a message from her husband; a short "sorry", and when she comes back home, she finds Robin and their daughter missing.


I enjoyed the author's previous novel, so I requested this book blindly, not even reading the blurb.
The story is told from a dual perspective, and because it weaves from past to present, I found it a bit confusing at times to follow the timeline.
I was intrigued the moment I started reading, but the story was a bit slow to get going. However, it did pick up, and once the first jaw-dropping twist was revealed, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
The ending twist was unexpected too, but I was somewhat unsatisfied with the conclusion.
Overall, it was a great, gripping read, and despite the slow start, I decided to give it 4 stars as it was a really well-plotted story that had me at the edge of my seat.

The perfect father or is he? What are the best psychological thrillers I’ve read all year. This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page

I must say that like Esther, I didn't spot the signs of the abuse in the beginning of the relationship. Rob's perspective seemed odd at times but it wasn't until I read the book a second time that I finally noticed the gaslighting and manipulative skills that Rob has perfected. The story itself is really well done in terms of bringing awareness to difficulties of pregnancy and massive guilt in whatever decision a woman makes. I didn't enjoy the constant jumping between different times and jumps from one narrator to another however this pushed the story along into the narrative that Charlotte intended. I think it is a thriller definitely worth reading.