Not much to say here. I started this in June and finally finished this. As a fast reader, some of my recent ARCs had some issues with flow and keeping me engaged. This was definitely one of those books. It just felt like nothing happens for a lot of the book and then something happens. I get it, a picture perfect family is hiding deep dark secrets, I just thought this would be more of a thriller than it was IMHO.

"The Perfect Family" follows Thomas and Viv Adler and their kids (Tarryn and Eli). The family is the stuff of Abercrombie and Fitch ads until one day it seems that the family has been targeted for vandalism.

I can't say much. I didn't like the characters at all. I had to do a really quick skim to refresh my memory on this one since I kept getting distracted by other books. I have hit a huge book slide and I need something to grab me back to loving books again, books like this are not helping. We follow all 4 characters above via their own POV and honestly I wish I could get worked up about them doing that since it feels like we keep zip zapping back and forth, but I just didn't care. I will say that some reviewers complained a lot about Tarryn's portrayal, and I have to say if I met her in real life I would have run away from her post haste.

The writing is okay but since the chapters are so short you don't get to spend much time with anyone. The plot twists are some you can see coming a mile away. Honestly this remind me a little bit of "One of Us is Lying". I just couldn't get too worked up while reading this one. I did laugh though cause another reader hit the nail on the head with this one. The Adlers' may think they are prefect, but no one else that knows them thinks that which made me go hmm at the title and then let it go.

The flow is up and down and I have to say that some of the plot elements don't make sense. As someone who has a Ring doorbell I was baffled that anyone would install cameras to catch the vandals. Just install Ring and go about your day.

This takes place in Oregon and it's nice to see other parts of the U.S. being the focus of more mainstream books, but I just went meh while reading.

The ending was a hot mess. I maybe laughed at the reveals about who was doing what to whom and why. I needed a flowchart. For those who care here you go:

<spoiler> </spoiler>

All in all, just a solid 3 star book, nothing that is going to blow your hair back while reading.

3.5

I have loved my past books by this author. I enjoyed this one as well but found it a bit slower, the reveals a bit less dramatic and far fetched. Don’t let that deter you though just grab the previous ones after you enjoy this.

This author knows how to write. The four narrators had very distinctive voices and alternated, building the story, well. I thought this was pretty clever in parts, as most of her stories are.

Some of the arcs left me with questions (either didn’t wrap up or motive was vague) but to go into it would end up being spoilers… I know some people didn’t care for the (absolute) ending but it gave me a bit of a chuckle. I will definitely look forward to the next one!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Gallery Books for a copy in exchange for a review.

I enjoyed this. The story is told from each family member's perspective- Thomas, his wife Viv, their son Eli, and their daughter Tarryn. The problems start small and escalate, and even when they see someone on their surveillance, it seems to be different people! Not to mention no one knows why they are being targeted, but each member of the family has secrets and guilt, and worries it's because of them. The police and school are no help, they're just silly pranks. And even though they do get more extreme, they can't tell who did it or why. I liked some of the surprising twists near the end and especially the last page.

Appearances can be deceiving...
The Adlers are being harassed at home and don't know why or who or anything about it, but each family member wonders if s/he is to blame.
Dad Thomas is not a very likable guy at work or at home and he is being blackmailed with photos.
Mom Viv has a desire to steal small items from homes she stages or decorates.
Son Eli is in the doghouse at home for saying he won't go back to college where his secret lies.
Daughter Tarryn has a side business at night instead of her high school homework.
Each of them could be the reason the harassment is escalating, but the secrets are just too big to have any of them confess.
A good story, with not all answers until the ending, but since none of the characters were really likable, I didn't care enough to feel for them.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Adlers are the type of people you really love to hate. The mom is perfect, has a perfect garden and even is an aspiring home-decor entrepreneur. The husband, Thomas, is a man’s man. He’s a successful realtor and knows everyone in the community. Their son Eli is a golden boy. He’s a soccer start who is home from his year away at college. And their daughter Tarryn, well, I guess there’s always a black sheep in just about every family.

The only thing is, someone actually really does hate them. Enough to terrorize their house and leave every single family member scrambling to figure out who really hates them THAT much. Harding writes a fast-paced novel where we watch those that usually only advertise success and happiness on Instagram, fall to pieces and get pushed to the brink.

The Perfect Family is definitely a thriller for our times. It’s a fast-paced page-turner, where the reader is guessing the whole time as to who is behind the attacks on the family home. Special thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

“So many secrets. So many lies. And so much anger.” It’s amazing what a little honesty will do for your mental and physical health. In a family with rampant impostor syndrome, outward appearances mean everything. However, when danger is lurking because of all the lies, the skeletons start flying right out of that closet!
Written in multiple perspectives, Harding gives us a full picture of the Adler family, their personalities, secrets, hopes and fears. The plot unravels in an unexpected way, making this a stimulating and entertaining read.

I inhaled this book! Told through four different viewpoints — one for each member of the secretive Adler family — THE PERFECT FAMILY is tension-packed and wildly addictive!

I was so excited to read Harding’s new book after previously reading and loving The Swap and The Arrangement. I always fly through books like hers that have short chapters and are told from alternating perspectives.  The Perfect Family is told from each of the four family members’ perspectives: Tom, Viv, and their two kids. Each person has a secret they haven’t told anyone about and has reason to believe their secret has led to the attacks on their home. 

One of the things that stood out to me was how soon the reader finds out the secrets some of the family members have been keeping. I expected the author to keep that part hidden until closer to the end. On one hand it was interesting, because we knew the secret, but no one else in the family did. On the other hand, it was an element of suspense that was taken away early on. When I got to the ending, I was a bit let down too. I expected a little bit more of a shock, and it just wasn’t there.

Overall, I still enjoyed the read and will definitely pick up more from Harding in the future. I was just hoping to enjoy this one more based on how much I enjoyed her prior books.

The Adler family lives in an upscale neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Dad and Mom both work very hard to make people believe they are the perfect nuclear family. Thomas (the dad) is a real estate agent, Viv(the mom)is an interior designer, Eli(their son) just dropped out of his first year of college, and Tarryn (their daughter) is a 17-year-old high school senior. The Adler family’s story starts innocently enough when they wake up to find that their home has been egged. Gradually the pranking starts to get more serious and more violent. Every single member of the Adler family is harboring a big secret from each other. Eventually, their secrets start eating away at them, and each member believes that they are personally responsible for these attacks.

This story is told from each of the four Adler’s points of view. The chapters are all very short which makes for a fast read. Robyn Harding is a very exceptional writer. Each page flowed perfectly onto the next. The Perfect Family is a very suspenseful read with cleverly planted red herrings throughout. There are a couple of big twists and revelations that I did not see coming. Without giving anything away, I will say that the end is very satisfying.

Even though I did feel a great deal of sympathy for the family while they were being attacked, every single character in this book is unlikeable. Which to me is perfectly fine, I can enjoy a book and dislike the characters. I also felt like this is more of a lighter thriller and family drama than a traditional thriller. Overall, I found this book highly entertaining and I compulsively read through this one in one sitting. The Perfect Family is the first book I've read by Robyn Harding and I will certainly look forward to reading anything she publishes next.

I would recommend this book for people who like domestic thrillers with plenty of suspense. If you liked The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave or, The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth then you will definitely like The Perfect Family.

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding will be available on August 10. Many thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the arc of The Perfect Family in exchange for an honest review!

** Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. **

Everyone has secrets. This family wants to be portrayed as perfect, or at least the parents do. This was a very fast paced book. A quick read. Lots of drama on every page that really kept my attention.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. The parents really want to make everyone think they are perfect, to the point of being house poor and house proud. Told from all four family member's points of view everyone in the house has issues and secrets and any of them could be the cause of the terror that is making them feel unsafe in their own home that they want to be so proud of.

This one definitely kept me engaged. All of the secrets and drama in this family was insane. They are definitely a troubled group. I enjoyed the fact that each chapter was from a different family member’s POV. It was easy to follow each of the character’s storyline this way. The issues seemed to be wrapped up well, but there’s still one hole in the plot that I’m trying to figure out. Also, the ending seemed kind of random. I still definitely enjoyed it, though. I read 60% of it in one day and quickly finished it up the next day.

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding is excellent and an engrossing read with well-developed characters and plot. Well worth the read!

Get comfortable because you will not get up until you finish! Harding's THE PERFECT FAMILY is the perfect thriller read.

Thomas and Viv are married with two children, Eli and Tarryn. They live in a beautiful two story home with a perfect life. Looks are deceiving though. The neighbors soon see the police coming to their house on a regular basis. The Adler home is being vandalized and they do not know who is doing it. Each family member is holding on to deep, dark secrets and the others do not know. Each family member feels responsible for the recent threats to their home.

In this thriller, the family keeps secrets from each other until everything has to come out into the open in order to save the family.

Four family members each with their own secrets. When someone targets their house by throwing eggs and worse each one wonders if it’s their secret that’s causing it.

The story is told from the view of each family member with a new character each chapter. The author slowly reveals the secrets in a way that keeps you reading to find out what the secrets are.

I loved the way the author ended the book. It made the family stronger. It also leaves a little cliffhanger at the very end. Wonderful ending!

Absolutely loved this book and read it in two days! The Adlers are one messed up family, each member holding a horrific secret that could destroy them. Great book, however, the ending really left me wanting more!

Thomas and Viv look like the perfect family with their two seemingly perfect children, but much more is bubbling beneath the surface.

The Perfect Family begins with what seems to be harmless pranks on the Adler home with eggs being pelted at their front windows and cars. It quickly graduates to more serious crimes, such as smoke bombs and slashed tires, causing the family to contact authorities and install security cameras. Meanwhile, the Adler children are rebelling, with Eli deciding not to return to college due to ghosts and Tarryn is performing online.

I liked the alternating POVs and I didn't like the alternating POVs. Some of the sentences by each character were repetitive and sounded like they were coming from the same voice and I like being able to distinguish each actor when reading from different viewpoints. When it comes to thrillers, I like to be hooked immediately, and with this one, I struggled. The action did not grab me from the start and seemed to drag. I had only read one of Harding's in the past which I enjoyed, but this didn't quite capture the same magic.

Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second book by Robyn Harding, I loved The Arrangement and this is an excellent read as well. I am so happy to be able to say that she is becoming a favourite and I love touting Canadian authors.

Told by four different points of view of the Adler family, we have Thomas and Viv the parents and their two children Eli and Tarryn. All four members are hiding a big secret which could be the cause of the escalating harassment/vandalism to their home and family. I am not going to give anything away because it is so much fun getting there without knowing too much.

This was a really good book and it would have gotten the coveted five stars from me BUT I found a few bits to be a little repetitive and the epilogue was a cliffhanger...maybe there is a sequel in the works? The book was certainly a page turner and I do recommend it. I look forward to reading more from this talented author, she has a great imagination.

It has been a bit of time since I read a book so quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have read almost all of Robyn Harding’s recent backlist and they have all been 4 star reads for me. This particular book exceeded my expectations.

What is seemingly a “normal” family from an outsider looking in, there are secrets at every turn that can put the lives of each family member in jeopardy. The pacing of the storyline is fantastic and the story is relatable.

If you are looking for a family drama with suspense and thrills, pick this book up!

This is a really slow paced novel about unlikeable characters dealing with personal drama which may or may not be causing the increasingly frightening vandalism of their home. This is really not my type of book and I definitely considering marking this as a DNF several times. I believe I saw a reviewer call this a "juicy thriller" and misunderstood that to mean something along the lines of an good, twisty psychological thriller. This book is for people that get something (positive, i guess) from drama and maybe even gossip. I guess I'm on the more sensitive side but I can't stand it books like this . Fictional or not, I hate knowing people are having a hard time especially when it starts taking a toll on their health. I don't understand what people get from a book like this. I saw someone say they got more excited the more they read but HOW? These characters are having an increasingly awful time, they have no clue why and their lives may be at risk. This isn't a horror story. These people aren't exactly likable characters but I'm may be too empathetic or something cause I was so bothered by their situation. Literally all the stressful circumstances of this book could have been solved by thinking things through, or at least going to therapy or the police. As I said, I'm not a fan the core elements of this novel. I'm giving a 3 because I'm sure this type of book is for someone, just not me.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.