Member Reviews

This was a well written and readable book - although a bit implausible at times. Also some elements were really predictable, and I wasn't totally convinced about Liv's motives.

Also I noticed that every female character in the book was completely unhinged or troubled in some way - there wasn't a normal woman to be found.

Despite this, I read the book in 24 hours and found it perfectly readable. I liked the two different perspectives and I think this worked well to build up a fuller picture.

Overall a good example of this genre.

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Wow what a book this is , The book tells the story of a nanny wanting revenge for her brother death and a new mum struggling to look after her new born son
without giving anything away this book is really good lots of twist and turns
with thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for the arc of this book in exchange for this review

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I loved, loved, loved this book! I had to force myself to put it down and sleep, but finished it within two days. So many twists and the ending! Sheesh. It makes you feel like you really can’t ever trust anyone. I can’t wait to see what else these two come out with!

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A super fast read from the POV of two very different women who are both struggling with their lives. Liv lost her brother when she was a teenager and was out to avenge his death. And Sophy is a new mom of a baby boy who is struggling with postpartum depression. Liv befriends Sophy at a mommy and me group while she is nannying for one of the other neighborhood moms and ends up becoming Sophy’s nanny to help with baby Finn.
There’s clearly more going on in both their lives, Sophy is beyond exhausted all the time and Liv is busy trying to get to the bottom of what happened with her brother. Meanwhile, Sophy’s mother in law is doing all she can to undermine Sophy and her sons relationship although no one believes Sophy when she says her MIL has it out for her. The neighborhood women are all catty and out to outdo each other instead of supporting each other, especially Sophy as she struggles. Liv and Sophy end up working together to find out what happened when tragedy occurs.
There’s several twists and though there were a couple of points I figured out before they were revealed, the ending wrapped things up. This would be a good movie. Psychological family thriller.
Thanks to HQ Digital and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

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Liv is seeking revenge for the death of her brother. Sophy is a new Mum who is struggling to cope. Liv thinks she knows the truth about Sophy and her brother and decides to make Sophy pay. However Sophy is not just struggling to care for her baby, she's struggling to stay awake . Sophy's mother-in-law seems only to happy to intervene and take over childcare.
Liv gradually begins to feel some sympathy for Sophy and then baby Finn goes missing.
A cracking read.

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What a fab read!
This was the sort of book where I was suspicious of EVERYONE, even if I couldn't quite work out why I didn't trust them. I was hooked throughout and loved the way the story unfolded.
If you're a fan of thrillers, this is definitely one worth reading!

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The Perfect Nanny?

Liv Grange or Olivia lost her brother Ben when he died and she blames Sophy because that's what Ryan told her (he was at Uni with Ben so he knows more of what happened).

When Liv finds Sophy and sees she seems to have the perfect life a plan is hatched by Liv to make her pay only the perfected life is not what Sophy has far from it in fact. As liv gets closer to Sophy it becomes clear that things aren't quite right and what follows is an incredible psychological thriller. It was so good I stayed up half a night to finish it at about 3 in the morning it was done and I was quite awake. Wanting to find another book by these authors.
The characters are great and damaged like life but a lot more so., the twists are excellent the suspence is painfully skilled loved it hope you do as well.

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A book of troubled women all with a lot of issues. I really enjoyed this book and found the pace just perfect. Lots of twists and turns which will have you speed reading to find out more. You will think you have guessed the ending, but I 100% bet you won’t. I felt sorry for Sophy throughout which in turn made me not like Liv’s character as much. But an enjoyable read and definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys a physiological thriller with twist, turns and secrets.

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This was a medium-paced mystery that follows Liv, a nanny who is seeking revenge for her dead brother. Liv meets Sophy, and their perceptions of each other change over time - are either of them who they appear to be? This has themes of grief and loss, which makes it easy to emphasize with (most of) the characters. With an over-bearing mother-in-law and a husband who has been suspiciously distant due to work, Sophy has to maintain a happy face for her son, but someone wants her to fail.
I was instantly drawn into this story because of how easily relatable both of the main characters are. They each have their flaws, but learn to be true to themselves. I did feel that some of the solved mysteries were predictable, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I will definitely be looking into other books by these authors.

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This book was gripping from the very start. I finished this in just a few days as I struggled to put it down!

You really feel Sophy’s emotion and exhaustion throughout the book, and the descriptions of this are great. Liv’s character is hard to work out, but I think that is intentional because she is a mystery!

I felt a little disappointed with how the story seemed to go as I neared the end, but then when the final twists came in at the end I was shocked and did not see them coming! I also love a dark and twisted ending so I really liked how it finished - it was very thought-provoking and an interesting end!

I felt that some of the descriptions of the secondary characters were a little lacking, in terms of explanations for their actions. But there was still enough to piece everything together.

Also some elements of the story were just a bit unbelievable - I did enjoy the twists at the end but they didn’t seem very realistic to me! But that’s the beauty of fiction I suppose!

Overall I really enjoyed the book and am glad to have read it!

Rating: 3.5/5

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An enjoyable read. The story is told from the viewpoint of the two main characters and moves at a good pace. I did guess several of the main plot twists - maybe because I read a lot of books from this genre but it was entertaining enough to keep me reading. I’d certainly read other books by this author.

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The Perfect Nanny is a gripping thriller that will have you hooked from the first page.

You trust her with your hone, your husband and your baby but is she about to destroy it all? Sophy Pemberton is a new mother and struggling to cope with her son Finn. She’s exhausted all the time and when Liv, a former nanny for one of her neighbours offers to help, it seems like the perfect solution. Finn adores Liv and the extra help means Sophy can sleep and perhaps stop failing at being an mother, something her mother-in-law takes great delight in pointing out. However it seems Liv has some secrets of her own and is getting close to Sophy for the wrong reasons.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and the author for the chance to review.

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So many unhinged women! This was a quick and twisty read, but it was tough to get into when almost EVERY female character is unbalanced at best.

Synopsis: Sophy Pemberton is struggling after the birth of her son. She hires Liv Granger to be a nanny, and hopefully a friend. But Liv has a hidden agenda - she blames Sophy for the death of her brother 16 years earlier and is planning to make Sophy pay.

So I thought this was good, but I didn't love it. One twist very much surprised me, but another I guessed very early on.

I was also disappointed with Liv's storyline. She wants to "make Sophy pay" but once she gets hired as her nanny she just doesn't actually do anything. I mean, that's good for Sophy, but I had hoped Liv actually had some sort of plan. In general, I didn't think she was developed that well as a character.

And as mentioned, the women were all quite troubled. Granted, Sophy had a really good excuse, but I still couldn't root for her, and was disappointed that how every woman was portrayed.

Exciting ending though, I enjoyed how it was left off! That bumped it up to 3.5 stars for me.

Thanks to #netgalley and HQ for an early copy of this!

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Gripping and well written, with plenty of twists and sub plots to keep you guessing. A good ending with a final intrigue. Your sympathy is drawn to the main characters in a way that keeps you turning the pages, willing good to triumph over evil. I would have given five stars but it did seem slightly unbelievable to me that there were quite so many characters keeping dark secrets. Overall, though, an excellent and entertaining read.

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This was fantastic what a roller coaster of a book. There was so many twists and turns and the ending was just perfect. I am not going to go into the plot as just read it and you wont be disappointed.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

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3 stars

Liv and Sophy, who tell the narrative from joint perspectives, have an interesting relationship. Liv is a nanny, and she is mourning the loss of her brother, who completed suicide 15 years earlier. Sophy is, in Liv's mind, responsible for the aforementioned brother's death. Welcome to the recipe for revenge.

Revenge plots are not my favorite because I have a hard time believing that the person hellbent on revenge can stay that way for so long. This maybe has something to do with my own personality. Aren't there better ways of handling problems? Not for Liv.

It's tough to watch Liv come after Sophy because from the moment readers meet Sophy, it's clear that Sophy isn't doing great. Is she struggling with that death? Is she experiencing postpartum? Is her mother-in-law actually bad or just kind of normally overbearing? Whatever is up with her, she's not managing it well. For me, an entering skeptic into the general motif, Sophy needed to be a way less likeable character from the jump.

There is some surprising material here, but so much of it is exactly what readers will expect, and some of the material that seems like it should resurface just conveniently goes away. I'd have like to see more surprise, more character development, and a stronger basis for the relationship growth between the two leads.

A good but not mind blowing read.

TW: suicide

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Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A great book where most of the people you think are awful aren’t actually that bad and all is not as it seems.

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Firstly thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in return for an honest review.

The Perfect Nanny is a psychological thriller and having read so many, it is quite rare that any really surprise me anymore. And sadly The Perfect Nanny didn't either. I had guessed the plot quite early on, and there weren't any clever red herrings or twists. Having said all that, for someone who hasn't read many thrillers from this genre, it is a perfectly well written and easy read with enough suspense to keep the pages turning. Just a little unoriginal for me.

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Deliciously tense and with countless twists and turns, I spent most of this book really not knowing who to trust as the characters built up slowly, revealing secrets bit by bit. There were some really dark themes and the story preyed on every new parents’ worst nightmares so there were some heart stopping moments lots of empathy.
I loved that the book was set in Hertfordshire and I recognised all the places being described. I lived in Stevenage Old town previously and am still in Herts so the familiarity of the place names made me smile a lot.
I was pleased that I was suspicious of those characters it turned out I should’ve been but to be fair I was suspicious off ALL the characters at one point of the story or another. I don’t think I’ll trust anyone ever again now! *looks over shoulder nervously*

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Another one sit- oh god I cannot feel my legs- my bladder is about to burst- I feed myself with Chardonnay during my entire read and now book-gover- I think I should grovel to reach the bathroom or could I call Uber to go there- maybe I request the driver just park his car and carry me to the bathroom and give him 5 stars, he will accept to carry me reading!

I entertained a lot during my read and as I try to gather my wits after my intense book-gover experience, I highly recommend this book who looks for something fast pacing, smart with shocking delightful twists!

There are two narrators: Liv ( Olivia) works as nanny, hating her life, trying to avenge her brother’s death, planning her great scheme to be hired by Pemberton family! She thinks Sophy is the one who ruined her entire life and now it’s time for her to pay for it!

Sophy Pemberton is new, struggling mom, trying so hard to cope with motherhood, tired, exhausted, stressful. When she meets with Liv who offers to help her raise her kid as their new employee, she feels so relieved! She thinks she didn’t find only a nanny, she also finds a real confidante! Think again Sophy! Something really goes in your household and somebody plays tricking mind games with you. Who could be the culprit? There is not only Liv to blame on! There are too many suspects confuse the hell of us! Which one of them turn Sophy’s life so miserable instead of herself?

From the beginning I’m on team Sophy. I easily understand her frustration, lack of her coping skills even though she tries so hard to be efficient mother. On the other hand: I hate the guts of Liv and I want to use her my own punching bag. I found her feelings about deceased brother way too much exaggerating!

The conclusion and several twists of the book were witty, unexpected!

Overall: it’s such a great popcorn ( or cheese platter and wine reading- do not try to read it at home with empty stomach just like I did) reading! It’s riveting, exciting, high tension, arm biter, teeth clenching thriller!

Giving my four entertaining stars and jumping to another mystery sooner!

Special thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

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