"This twisty, addictively page-turning suspense novel about a perfect family’s perfect façade will keep you turning pages until its explosive ending." And what a. shocking. ending it was!! I rarely am surprised by plot twists or surprise endings, however, this one got me. When I read Harding's The Swap last summer, she became an auto-read author for me. I loved this one as well, so excuse me while I go order her entire backlist. This will be one people want to preorder, I promise. Thank you Netgalley! 4 stars from me.

The Adler family has curated the perfect life. That's why it's so shocking when their house is targeted by acts of vandalism. At first, they brush it off as adolescent pranks, but when things start to escalate out of control, they become afraid for their safety. Why would anyone do this to them? Why have they, of all people, been targeted? Everyone will soon learn that the Adler family has in fact curated a perfect façade and beneath that veneer of perfection lies dark secrets. Each member of the family has a secret they haven't shared with anyone else. The question is, whose secret was dark enough to elicit these threats.

This book is told through the perspectives of all four members of the Adler family. I loved that aspect of the book. Each perspective and secret was so vastly different. It kept me engaged in the story and made me care about all these characters. Once I started this book, I couldn't stop. (In fact, I finished it in one sitting). The character development was strong. But the best part of the book was the buildup of suspense. With every new act of vandalism, my anxiety went up right along with the family's. It was such an intense read and is my favorite book by Robyn Harding to date.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Robyn Harding, and Gallery Books for an ARC of The Perfect Family. This is definitely a twisted thriller. Every single character has their own twisted story! There were a lot of moving parts to this story, but it kept me wanting to read! I wish the ending wasn’t quite so vague, but thriller books love to keep you guessing! If you like really twisted thrillers, you might enjoy this one!

This is a fairly new to me author, so I was very excited to receive this ARC. What a great read!
What a page turner right from the beginning! You will be on the edge of your seat as you read about Thomas and Viv Adler and their not so perfect life. I was hooked til the very last page!
A must read!

The Perfect Family play Robyn Harding is a surprising domestic thriller surrounding one family. Are the Adler’s as perfect as they seem or are there cracks that are becoming more visible? This was a great read that told the story from different POV… each family member. It also unlocks several secrets that every family member is keeping. Why is this family getting harassed? Who is to blame?

Unfortunately this book just didn’t work for me. The characters were all not very likable and equally frustrating. I enjoyed the fact that there were multiple point of views and understanding everyone’s perspective but it also was slightly repetitive and the big reveal was like...wait, what? And not in a good way. And the ending wasn’t wrapped up so another disappointment on my end.

Overall it’s about a story with a family who seems to have it all together but each member has their own secret. Their house begins getting attacked mildly at first (egging, smoke bombs etc) and then it starts getting more serious and each member starts thinking maybe it’s because of them. So who is to blame?

It wasn’t suspenseful but it was an easy read and may work for someone who is new to the mystery genre. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to netgalley and Gallery Books for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was an engaging and fast paced thriller with a number of twists and turns. By all appearances, the Adlers are the perfect family but beneath the surface everyone in the family is hiding something. One by one as the secrets unravel the truth behind “perfect family” comes to light and that makes for a fast and exciting read. ***3.5 stars***

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

I absolutely LOVE Robyn Harding’s other books so, of course, when I was approved for an advanced copy of The Perfect Family I was over the moon. Harding’s writing style is so addicting you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished. Harding develops such intricate characters that you can’t help but love& hate at the same time. This amazing thriller is so unpredictable you won’t have an answer until it’s over.

Wow! The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding is far from perfect! Every member of the Adler family has something to hide and what that is is slowly revealed as the book evolves. I loved that it started right at the most egregious violation...the setting of a fire in their hedges, then went to the beginning and explained what led up to it. None of the Adlers were saints, but I did feel the most sorry for Eli. The end is a shocker, I never expected one of the culprits, which tells me this was a very well written suspense novel. It kept me wondering until the very end, which came quickly because I could not put it down!

Thank you to the author, Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This suburban thriller will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat!

I was able to read this in one day! This was so great! All about a family that takes care of their appearance more than they take care of each other. It's not always what it seems in their household and I genuinely enjoyed watching their lives unravel.

The Adler family seemed to have it all...money, nice cars, and a stunning house. But looks can sometimes be deceiving. One night things take a turn for the worse for Thomas and Viv and their teenage children, Eli and Tarryn.

The Adler family starts receiving some mysterious nuisance harassment. First their house gets egged and their car tires get slashed. Things just escalate from there. The problem is the Adler's all have secrets that they are keeping. Are these secrets causing them to have enemies that would want to bring harm to them?

I found this story very engaging, The story flowed nicely and I thought the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger. I would recommend this to those who enjoy a good domestic suspense novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Review posted on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Whoever said keeping secrets from your family members couldn’t hurt wasn’t a part of “The Perfect Family.”

Simply Unputdownable!

Thomas and Viv Adler are married with two children, Eli and Tarryn. All four of them are keeping secrets from each other and because of it, harm has come to them.

You see, someone is out to get the Adlers and they are becoming the talk of the neighborhood.

It starts with eggshells on the window, progresses to a smoke bomb in the front yard, the slashing of tires, the burning of a bush on their stoop, and keeps progressing from there. It’s been escalating and yet, no one in the family is fessing up.

Dangerous, delectable, and wholly suspenseful, “The Perfect Family” was twisty, turny, and quite unpredictable.

This was the Perfect Buddy Read with Ms. Kaceey!

Thank you to Gallery Books, NetGalley, and Robyn Harding for the arc.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.

Do you enjoy highly dysfunctional families with way too many secrets? The Perfect Family is for you! You’ll follow an incredibly superficial family of four as they try to figure out who’s shitty behavior has caused someone(s) to seek out vengeance upon them. Really though, this family is a lot. None of the characters are terribly likable. Though I guess this would be an entirely different story otherwise.

The best thing about this story is that it’s a fast, fun read. My only issue was with the ending and how it just kind of left a lot dangling. This seems like a one off book and the lack of proper resolution gives my brain a proper aching.
That being said, I really did enjoy about 95% of this story and the last 5% didn’t completely ruin the story. It was just mostly kind of predictable and meh. So it’s 3 stars from me. The story is engrossing and you’ll fly through it, but the end is lacking in proper resolution. This would be a fun summer/beach read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Robyn Harding for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding was a fantastic book! I've read one of the author's novels, The Party, in the past, but for some reason, I hadn't continued to read the others since 2018. As I scrolled through NetGalley, I requested the author's latest, and low and behold, it was approved last month. So... when I needed a suspenseful drama this week, I dove right in... flicking myself a few times for not reading the ones in between... now they've been added to my TBR and you'll see some reviews in the coming weeks.

The Perfect Family takes place in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Everything seems quite wonderful on the outside, yet the Adlers have some secrets. It seems minor at first, but as the chapters unfold--set in rotating POV between the father, mother, college-aged son and high-school-aged daughter--we realize there are layers of trouble brewing among the different members. Each of the four issues on its own is relatively bad/problematic, but when you toss them together, it's a ticking time bomb. The first 75% of the book is non-stop page-turning insanity... it's almost like a journal entry of comings and goings, highlighting what they've all been up to. When all four secrets are revealed in full depth, I was hooked. I HAD to know who was torturing this family.

It started out light enough... a house being egged. In the end, someone tried to burn the place down. We know it's not the 4 family members either, so what was going on? Loved every minute of it... then in the final chapters, as we learned who it was, and each of the problems entered resolution territory, it was like someone let the gas out of the tires. I needed a huge confrontation, but we got none. It was as if we found answers to questions, but the payoff sorta just hung there. It was still good, and it made sense, and I felt like it was the right answer to solve the larger dilemma, but wow... it had been a 5-star ride all the way until then. We deserved more! LOL

Nonetheless, it's definitely worth reading, but linger in the story and the relationships... see what's not being truly written about, and you might figure it out. But prepare yourself for a slow boil ending. Next up, I think I'll read Her Pretty Face. How about you?

I was hesitant to jump into The Perfect Family because I have not really enjoyed Robyn Harding's writing in the past. However, I did request this ARC through Netgalley because I wanted to give her work a second chance. While I liked The Perfect Family more than her previous books, I still was not a huge fan of this story. I found all the characters extremely annoying and their individual problems over the top. Also, as a mystery thriller, the plot was lackluster. Certain readers, especially those who enjoy Harding's other books will enjoy this title, but I think I am just not a good fit for her writing style.

Every family has its share of secrets...

Welcome to the Adler household. Thomas and Viv give the impression of being in a very happy marriage. But do we really know what goes on behind closed doors? Even the two of them may have no idea as secrets are rampant!

Their two teenage children are keeping their lives shrouded in secrecy too.

When the home starts to be vandalized at night each family member starts to speculate which member of the family is somehow responsible

Told from all four perspectives. Each character had a very distinct voice and all were very well developed.

This is the third book I’ve read from this author. Once again Robyn Harding delivers a captivating and suspenseful domestic thriller that will keep you guessing.

Already looking forward to more from this author!

A buddy read with Susanne

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC to read and review.

The Perfect Family was about the Adler’s family who from appearances lived the perfect life. They had money, family, love, and success. They came across as refined and polished. Some might even say they were snobs snubbing others. However, what people didn’t realize was that each member of the Adler family was keeping horrible secrets from each other.
The perfect life came crumbling down when someone began pranking them. To make matters worse these pranks escalated very quickly. The family began to think these were personal attacks against them. The family began to turn on each other blaming one another.
These attacks humiliated and embarrassed them. They grew paranoid that these attacks were caused by the secrets they hid from each other.

Robyn Harding writes a twisty fast-pace domestic thriller about four characters. Each character gives their individual perspective regarding a secret they are hiding. The reader gets inside the mindset of each of these characters. What they share individually is a world separate from what they share with there family or outsiders. These secrets are tearing them apart.

This is my first read by Robyn Harding. I’ve seen her work on social media sights and have been wanting to read her books since I saw The Swap. However, I’m always leery to read a new author because I have particular interests when it comes to reading. I need unique original storylines that are not the typical cookie cutter variety. More than that I need a good writing voice, one that drives the story with good dialogue and interesting characters. I’m pleased to announce that Robyn meets my criteria. I’m pleased with this story and love her writing style. Reading four points of view was smooth and easy to read. Each character is identified separately yet they still blended in with the family unit. The story flows well with great transitions. It’s executed in a pleasing way with a steady pace of unexpected activity.
Speculating on who is targeting this family is quite entertaining given the limited number of suspects. As these characters struggle with the fear of these attacks by internalizing the guilt of their own secrets it’s quite entertaining. As a family unit each has a role to play. Thomas is the father and husband who is the protector. Viv is the mother and wife who is the nurturer. Eli is the brother and son who is the athletic straight A student. Tarryn is the sister and daughter who is moody and gloomy.
It’s a story about friendship and commitment. It chapter ended with me eager to begin another chapter.

THE PERFECT FAMILY
BY ROBYN HARDING

I just simply adore Robyn Harding's novels. I can say that she is consistent in that all of her books are phenomenally written and she never disappoints me. "The Perfect Family," is no exception for she has skillfully crafted another psychological thriller that knocked the baseball out of the park and she has hit a home run with three bases loaded. This family is anything but perfect. They are all keeping secrets from one another. They all are brilliantly characterized and oh my, what a suspense driven plot. From the very first page I was easily pulled into the story and the narrative never let up until the final pages. This is a book that once you pick it up it can only be a one sitting read because the chapters are short and they all end with a cliffhanger that compelled me to continue reading until I finished it. To say that this was phenomenal writing is an understatement. I LOVED IT!

Meet the Adler family of four. It consists of husband and wife, Thomas and Viv and their older son named Eli and their daughter Tarryn. They live in an upscale neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Eli has just dropped out of college to his parents great dismay with a secret he is keeping to himself. He has decided to go against his parents wishes and taken a job as a busboy in a nearby restaurant and local hangout for his age group. His ex-girlfriend named Arianna has moved on and is seeing one of Eli's high school friend's. His parents never thought that she was a good match for their son because her mother is a single parent. At first I thought both of the Adler's young adult children were angry, spoiled brats, but I grew to feel compassion for Eli the more that I read.

The Adler's high school daughter named Tarryn was another story for me as I saw her as definitely disrespectful and hard to warm up to. She is keeping a secret also from the rest of the family. She has her bedroom in the basement of their Craftsmen house. At night she performs for her online community in lace underwear and bra wearing a wig cut into a bob haircut and heavy garish makeup. She thinks that her identity is a secret but someone knows her identity and leaves her stalking like threatening messages. She has her suspicions of who is threatening her.

I just want to point out to be helpful that when Tarryn confides in one of her best friend's named Luke he suggests that perhaps the unwanted follower could have identified her by her IP address. My minor quibble with that statement in the novel is that unless you have a business account your IP address is not static. What I mean by that is an IP address such as Tarryn might have had is never the same because it is constantly changing. So Tarryn could not be identified by her IP address unless the Adler's had a business account. This is possible because her father, Thomas Adler sold Real Estate for a living and her mother was a graphic designer but worked as an interior designer when she wasn't staging houses for her husband.

Thomas Adler, husband and father has a secret, also. He went to a colleague's bachelor's party and had a lap dance with a stripper. He got blackout drunk and now he is being blackmailed. He is accused of a couple of vile acts which was captured on film. His wife Viv is suspicious and thinks that he may be having an affair with a younger woman he works with named Emma. He must pay $50,000.00 or his blackmailer whom he is communicating by text messages is promising to release the compromising pictures to his wife, children and colleagues.

Viv Adler is a pretty, stylish and traditionally feminine. She seemed to be a very sympathetic character. Always trying to please her children it seemed like she was walking on eggshells. I liked how the author portrayed Viv as practicing gratitude every morning. This is something that I do and it brings you joy and happiness for your blessings. It really works. The secret that Viv is keeping is that she is a thief. She rationalizes it by thinking that she doesn't steal anything to big or meaningful but I beg to differ.

The chilling part of this novel is at the very beginning and never lets up throughout the whole novel. It starts out when the Adler's house is egged. Then a rock is thrown through a window. Thomas Adler's all four tires are slashed and what starts out to be pranks become more and more ominous. They call the police but the police advises them to meet with Tarryn's high school principal who redirects Viv to the police, again. As time goes on the pranks become more menacing.

If you are in the mood for a truly captivating read then pre-order this fantastic novel. It is highly recommended and you will be in for a thrill ride of a great read. I have read all of Robyn Harding's books and they are all unique and excellent. I loved every minute of this one and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Publication Date: August 10, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Robyn Harding and Gallery Books for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love this author and everything she rights so I knew this would be no exception. She delivered. I loved this story! I’d highly recommend it to people and I think people are gonna love it!

The story follows the Adler family, who seem perfect in every way. Until one day their house is egged. Then fruit, then tomatoes are thrown. Then a smoke bomb. Gradually the attacks escalate until a fire is set outside their home while they sleep. Helpless to stop the attacks, the Adlers grow increasingly terrified. But each of the Adlers is keeping a secret. Which of the Adlers is responsible for the harassment?

I’ve read and loved all of Robyn Harding’s books and “The Perfect Family” was no exception. The plot was crazy but I couldn’t put it down. It was a very quick read. The writing was clear and concise and kept me in suspense throughout. Harding writes the characters in such a way that they could be your neighbors. All of the characters were flawed and unlikeable, but I was drawn into their emotional state and their fear. Every single member of “The Perfect Family” has secrets that they want to keep hidden which kept the story moving. The suspense is maintained throughout the book with many twists and revelations. The conclusion is shocking and satisfying, and I did not see the twist coming. I really liked that the story was told by different family members. This gave the book perspective because you could see things in different ways. This was an addicting and fast paced thriller about what goes on behind closed doors and what people want to keep hidden even from those they love. I was highly entertained. Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the e-ARC.