Enjoyable And Immersive....
When the woman who seemingly has it all wins the lottery what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, everything. Enjoyable and immersive psychological suspense with some first class character development and an entertaining storyline. The added bonus of some armchair travel within the tale is also most welcome. Ideal escapism.

All that I could think of while reading this book was I wished I was laying by the pool! A great summer read that goes to show you be money isn't everything.

Thank you Netgalley, Susanna Beard, and Joffe Books for a copy of “The Perfect Life” which was released on December 21st!

Heather lives a normal life. She has a wonderful family with a loving husband and two sons. One day she randomly decides to buy a lottery ticket and ends up winning 29 million dollars (how nice would that be!?) Heather gets some anxiety about who to share the money with and about the public finding out. “People kill for a lot less.” The family and close friends head to a gorgeous villa in Spain to have some down time and decide what to do with the money. This is where Heather starts to receive anonymous threatening texts and things start to go terribly wrong.

Overall, I enjoyed the book! It was a bit of a slow burn and picked up near the end. I really like the concept of the book. I never thought how winning the lottery could come with its downsides, the feeling of being overwhelmed and seeing what some people would do for money but this book opened my eyes to that side! “The Perfect Life” has strong female characters and explores the themes of revenge, trust, greed, jealously and more. I would definitely recommend this read to any fans of psychological thrillers!

This was a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. A strong start particularly as I really enjoyed the lottery win aspect and its effect on people, friendships and family life. Also the planning and daydreaming (myself included) of how to the spend the millions was fun. But, as a thriller it was a really slow burn with that side of the book not really coming into play until the latter stages. And, even then it was pretty predictable and not particularly shocking especially as many of the characters lacked the necessary depth to illicit any strength of feeling. The writing style was also unusual with main character Heather's chapters written in the third person but her friend Natalie's chapters (of which they were considerably less) in the first person. There were also occasional chapters from the point of view of another as yet unknown person. Overall it was an enjoyable read but definitely not the thriller I was expecting.

Not really a book that appealed to me. In this character driven drama, I found it difficult to invest in any of the characters, I was simply not interested and this was compounded by the slow moving plot. No doubt this will appeal to many other people, but it just wasn’t to my tastes and I gave up at 37% and called time on it.

This is a soft dramatic thriller focused on the ups and downs on winning a lot of money and sharing it with your nearest and dearest.

I found the story slow but entertaining and I enjoyed the setting.

Most of the characters are untrustworthy and for the first half I wondered which one of them would end up doing what. As the story developed my initial thoughts changed and there was a twist toward the end that I wasn’t expecting.

I would have liked more drama/action toward the end.

I think it would be a fun holiday read, by a pool with a refreshing cocktail.

Trigger warnings for: eating disorders.

I would read another book by Susanna Beard.

Thank you NetGalley, Joffe Books and Susanna Beard for a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Money is the root of all evil………this adage proves true in this book. Imagine winning the lottery……. a BIG lottery. But you like your life the way it is: a caring husband, nice kids in a good school, a job you love………but all that is going to change, want it or not. Now who do you share your news with about your windfall? Who will want (or think they are entitled to) some of the spoils? Who is hiding secret financial issues that a share of your money would fix? The premise sets itself up for the usual snarkiness and jealousy that is expected in this situation but the naiveté of the couple in their attempt to keep their news undercover is hard to swallow. The cast of characters leaves lots of room for finger pointing and I have to say I wasn’t prepared for the final result. It made you think what YOU would do if you had a winning ticket……..and warn you what NOT to do!

The Perfect Life follows a family who have recently won the lottery and the fallout of how this sudden influx of wealth affects their lives, culminating in a crisis that makes the mother wish she had never bought the ticket.

I would recommend this read to those who like slower, internalised character explorations with gradually increasing levels of anxiety rather than to people who prefer high action thrillers. Unfortunately, I find myself in the latter category so this book was not quite for me.

The overall plot was enjoyable and followed a satisfying arc, however, I do feel that certain strange choices were made. The narrative is split between mostly third person from the mother's perspective with occasional first person input from the mother's best friend plus another mystery figure. Having finished the book, I'm not sure what the purpose of the best friend's perspective was. However, the mystery perspective was well woven into the plot and I really enjoyed the reveal - I had guessed close to the truth but not dead on, and I think this is what the author intended.

Overall, this more gentle thriller scores three stars from me, but would likely score higher for someone who fits the description at the start of this review.

Content warnings for bulimia and bullying.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest review. The Perfect Life is a novel with a great concept that simply did not live up to my expectations. The book examines what happens when a woman with a comfortable life wins millions in the lottery. What follows are a series of really mind numbingly bad decisions and misplaced guilt over having money

While I found the novel to be well written, I simply didn't enjoy any of the characters and thus found that it was hard to get through the book. I would give author Susanna Beard another try because I think she is a talented writer and a different cast of characters would have been able to better hold my attention.

The Perfect Life by Susanna Beard is a psychological thriller that explores revenge, jealousy,truth and trust for a few examples. A brand new author for me, I picked this up and just expected the unexpected! Definitely a story that keeps you on your toes and an author whose work I need to look for.
Heather buys a lottery ticket for the first time ever and ends up the winner of a rollover jackpot! 29 million! Heather and her husband James don't want the money to change them, or want publicity, they want to stay under the radar. That works until one of their sons talk about it. They decide to take themselves, James's sister and her family, Heathers best friend and their close neighbours on holiday to celebrate, all expenses paid, a new beginning. Thus new beginning turns to a nightmare when one of their sons disappears. Is one of the people close to them the culprit? Heather and James have no clue who to trust and anyone could be a suspect. The fact that money is the root of all evil is prevalent here for sure.
I found this a really easy book to get into and was grabbed from the first paragraph. The struggle of Heather and James with their massive lottery win is a realistic one and the realisation that their life is never going to be the same with all this money. They don't realise the other things that are in store, the jealousy that money breeds and the expectations of people. The twists and turns within the story kept me reading until I turned the last page and I really didn't see that ending coming up! A fantastically well written book I can highly recommend.
Thank you to Joffe Books and Netgalley for the copy of the book to write my review today.

I was highly disappointed with this read. From the title to th description, I was left with the impression that this would be a highly captivating and quick read. Unfortunately, instead I was left with a very slow, draggy storyline. Didn’t live up to the hype. With all that being said I would still check out the authors other books

Money changes everything! Money is the root of all evil! There are reasons people who win the lottery want to remain private! This thriller begins when Heather and James win the lottery. Followed by suspicion, hatred, jealousy, harassment and fear. I enjoyed the read very much. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I enjoyed the book although it was a slow starter.

Heather wins the lottery and then the problems begin. Heather is an anxious person with bulimia and the lottery win exacerbates her anxiety.
Heather and her family take a holiday and this in itself brings added worries and issues.

I found the book a great quick read, and it made me question how I would feel as a lottery winner, would it be all I’d ever dreamed of? Or a Nightmare?

The writing flowed nicely but I found some of the characters lacked depth, but overall a satisfying read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe books for this arc copy.

Heather has never played the lottery but hits it big when she does for the first time. Nothing will ever be the same and who can you trust? This is a story about all the challenges of winning the lottery that turns into a family’s worse nightmare.

I enjoyed the topic of the book, but didn’t feel it was really a thriller. Quick read and would check out authors other books.

I was interested in this story right away and enjoyed it. The characters were a little annoying at times and the ending was a little predictable but again I still enjoyed it. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Heather becomes one of the lucky few who win big on the lottery,but it's it a poisoned chalice?

No longer sure if she can trust anyone, she and her family rent a villa and invite the chosen few to join them where they will share some of their fortune but despite their genoristy, the ugly head of greed rears it's head.

I did enjoy this book but it was a bit of a slowish read, with the action not kicking in till about 70% of the way through. It did keep you guessing about who Heather could trust.

All in all, not a bad read.

Thanks to Net galley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy. Heather is a married mother with two teenage boys. On a whim she purchases a lottery ticket in the local shop. She is shocked when she discovers that she has just won £29 million pounds! She is worried about the news becoming public and her family being targeted by begging letters and unwanted publicity. Heather decides to only confide in family and close friends. But then the news is out when she receives threatening texts, a visit from the press and social media requests. They decide to rent a villa in Spain with their close family and friends. But has Heather put her trust in the wrong people?

It was the premise that hooked me into wanting to read this one.

Heather has a reasonably good life, and on a whim buys a lottery ticket for the first time in her life. Unbelievably, she wins the massive jackpot first prize.

An interesting insight into both the positive and negative aspects that such a win can bring. This part of the novel was very well portrayed and I had a lot of empathy for Heather as she struggled with this life changing event.

My only criticism is that the thriller part of this novel didn't feel as tense as I felt it might, but I still enjoyed the read from beginning to end.
3.5 stars from me.

I really enjoyed this book and got interested in the story, right from the start.

Everyone dreams of winning the lottery and the freedoms of being able to afford all you would want in life

But when it happens to Hannah, it brings up past traumas of being bullied. The attention it brings isn't what she and her family want either, so they divise a plan to go abroad for a little while to make some decisions.

But then things get even worse for the family

Felt it ended abruptly, but glad I read it

The plot of the book is exciting and I was really looking forward to reading the story. However very little happened so not sure how this is being marketed as a psychological thriller.

Apart from Heather's intense paranoia and the weird subplot involving her best friend nothing really happens. I ended up skipping large parts of the novel and basically just skimming it to find out what happened in the end.

Also the note explaining the reasons for the kidnapping was so stupid and unnecassary. The idea behind the book is very good it's just the turn it took is not thrilling.