The Perfect Daughter is a twisty thriller that is heart wrenching, compelling and pulled me in immediately. Is Penny guilty of a unspeakable crime, or is one of her many alters responsible? Does Penny actually have D.I.D., or is she a skilled actress trying to get away with murder? Is she ill or evil? The narrators Dan Bittner and January Lavoy bring the story to life through a magnificent performance. My heart went out to Grace. Seeking justice for her daughter leads Grace into dangerous territory. Is it possible to both love and fear someone close to your heart? The ending was shocking and surprisng! Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook.

Eve? Penny? Ruby? Chloe? What? Who is who? AND who killed Rachel? Oh and then throw in Isabella and you have a whole host of people to contend with. OR are they all the same person. The Perfect Daughter will literally blow your mind from go. Just when you think your theory is right there is a twist that you definitely never saw coming.

I was happy to listen to the audio of The Perfect Daughter. Wanting just one more chapter (pun intended) as I tried to solve the mystery before it was revealed. Suffice to say I didn't.

The Perfect Daughter was an entertaining read, it had a nice mix of both likeable and unlikable characters, the pacing was good, the story line unique and well executed. Though a few times I had to suspend by belief but not enough to spoil this read. I liked how the ending played out.

But what stood out for me was educational lesson of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, which at one time was Multiple Personality Disorder). Definitely the author did the research and wove a mysterious story around that.

D. J. Palmer is a new to me author, I hope to read more of his books and check out his backlist.

My thanks to MacMIllan Audio (via Netgalley) for a e-audiobook in exchange for honest review.

I had a hard time not finding certain aspects of this book extremely far fetched unitil I did some side bar reading and realized how well the author did their own research with many facts about DID initially being unfamiliar with it I was put off but the characters love for her daughter was palpable and the story flowed nicely there was alot of talk geared towards god in a non ironical sense which seemed out of place at times but overall a good read I have to say A+++ for narration January Lavoy is amazing and one of my favourites she could read me instructions on how to boil an egg and I'd be captivated

“Meet Ruby, who speaks with a British accent. Then there’s Chloe, a perfectionist who strives for straight A’s in school. And along comes Eve, who is spiteful and vicious. All of them live inside Penny…Or do they?”

This was an easy poolside read! An unputdownable page-turner. Our narrator is Penny, a teen with supposed personality disorder. The book is actually quite educational about DID - which I didn't know much about prior to reading this novel. The young teen is convicted of murder and it looks like an open and shut case, without much chance of any way out. Penny is literally the one found holding the bloody knife inside the victim's home. But she has no memory of it and is then trapped in a mental institution. Was it her? One of her alternate personalities? Will she ever remember? And can her lawyer help get her out of this mess? But maybe it wasn't even her. Can she remember something that would help her, in time to save herself?

This book has lots of plot twists that are well crafted. You'll never see them coming!

The audio quality is really bad. It sounds like the narrator is in a tunnel. Not finishing the audio due to this

I did not finish this. I gave up as soon as I heard the premise that the daughter had split personality.

This was interesting and very well researched! I had a hard time putting it down! I’d also like to note this is the first book By this author that I’ve enjoyed.

The Perfect Daughter by DJ Palmer was an audio arc from NetGalley. This book was so good. I was in the dark up until the end. It gave insight into the world of mental illness and how it is viewed. The family dynamic was interesting and I enjoyed that part of the story as much as the mystery. I recommend this to anyone wanting a great story that will keep you guessing.

Predictable thrillers are my biggest pet peeve, and let me tell you, The Perfect Daughter is anything but that!!! I was in total shock over the outcome of this story. My jaw hit the ground, because I did not see that coming at all. The author is such a trickster. Totally fooled me! So many clever ways to steer the reader in a different direction. I absolutely love a few read herrings immersed throughout to throw me off track. This book was probably a 3.5/5 stars for the most part, but the ending changed that for me, and I bumped it to a 4! If you’re a fan of the author’s past novels, you’ll love this one too.

Great plot twists and extensive research into this story about a teenage daughter with mutiple personality disorder. It would probably make a great movie. I struggled with some of the gory details in the beginning, but enjoyed the different character perspectives of what really happened.
Good family dynamics story with grit.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an audiobook of this book.

I wanted to like this book. I persevered through the beginning, which I thought was rather slow, but then I breathed a sigh of relief when the middle of the book seemed to pick up and grab my interest. The young character, Penny, the focus of this book, has multiple personalities or dissociative identity disorder… Or does she? The main gist of the story, and this is not a spoiler, is that she was found covered in blood at the scene of a murder and was charged with it. Her mother does all that she can to get to the truth, which is made much more difficult by the various personalities of Penny, which keep popping out with portions of story. All of that made for an interesting read until we get to the end. Unfortunately this is where it all breaks down, and the tale ends with a seemingly contrived, implausible, stretch of a solution to the mystery. For this reason I will give it a generous two stars (because of the middle of the book) but unfortunately that’s as far as I can go. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance read a copy.

Off hand I can’t remember a book I’ve read or at least retained about DID - Dissociative IdentifyDisorder but I did watch All My Children so I have some background on this mental health disorder.

D.J.Palmer did a fantastic job of researching Dissociative Identify Disorder as he was able to describe in great detail as each alter integrated into its host Penny Francone. Each alter was very important to this story and each held a piece of the puzzle, I think if this book was to be made into an audiobook it would be great to listen to.

Isabella was found at age 4 all alone in a playground, Grace came upon this little girl and did everything she could to give her a home and adopt her as the little girl she always wanted. The old saying, “find a Penny pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck” was just how Penny’s name came to be, especially since she didn’t respond to Isabella.

Fast forward years later, teenage years, Penny is arrested for murder but doesn’t remember a single thing about it. Was Penny there or was it her alter- Eve? Chloe? or Ruby? Instead of sitting in jail to await her trial, Penny is sent to Edgewater a psychiatric facility where she is assigned to a new Dr at the facility Mitch McHugh. Dr.McHugh is very talented in his field but upon reading the case notes on Penny, the Dr he predeceases has Penny as a psychotic sociopath. Grace, Pennys mom begs Dr.Hugh to examine Penny to make his own diagnosis, there’s no way Penny would survive in jail and she’s desperate or Penny’s defense to be by mental defect.

Mitch is determined to help Penny in every way he can but will be really be able to give her the diagnosis Grace so desperately longs for when he’s battling his own demons?

Mitch suffers from extreme depression and having a heroin addicted son only makes his depression worse. Feeingl like a failure, letting down his wife and son, how is Mitch going to be able to help Penny when he can’t even help himself?

D.J Palmer is a master at his craft, the way he researches every aspect of each character and weaves it into this book is nothing less then perfection. With shady guards, other dangerous patients, a murder investigation, abandonment, mental health disorders and drug addiction The Perfect Daughter kept me on the edge of my seat at all times. There was no sleep to be had reading this book.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review, I gave this book 5 stars.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley for the chance to listen to this book!

DID - Dissociative Identity Disorder otherwise known as Multiple Personality Disorder is a very intriguing subject for a novel. There's just so many different ways this could go. I was definitely intrigued.

At 4yrs old, Penny came into their lives (she was abandoned at the playground), it was like an unanswered prayer being sent from above. They all adored her and Grace fought to adopt her. As Penny got older they started noticing things were off and at age 13 she was diagnosed with DID.

Now, she's been arrested for murder but who did it? Was it Penny or one of her personalities or someone else all together?

I will be reviewing the audio book. I have not read the physical book.
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Let's start with one thing. I am fascinated with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I follow all the youtubers, the tiktokers and will pick up anything to learn more about this mental health disorder. I can probably attribute that to reading Sybil years ago. I loved this thriller. It was both educational and entertaining...I love when a book holds both of these. The story was amazing. The point of views were exactly the vehicles that we needed to hear the story.
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Let's talk narration. I love the narrators. They gave a perfect voice to all the characters. I will 10/10 listen to them again.
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Ok, let's talk about the story itself. You have Penny, Penny's adoptive mom, Penny's brothers and Penny's therapist. Penny's birth mom has been found murdered and Penny (or one of Penny's alters) has been accused of the murder. What a great premise. You have the unreliable narrator....You have the stereotype of mental illness and you have the family unit. I personally think this story was well thought out and researched. It felt very put together. D.J. Palmer. I need to read more from you. I plan on doing so!
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Bottom line. This thriller held my attention. Kept me fascinated and really immersed me in the story. The audio book was well done and I would absolutely recommend listening to this title.

Alright, true story. I had a bit of a fixation on "multiple-personality" books and films when I was a teenager. Just one of many fixations I had. You know how it is...maybe.

The book opens with Grace being informed that her adopted teenaged daughter, Penny has been arrested for stabbing her birth mother to death. In the past, Penny has been assessed by psychiatrists to determine if she has multiple personality disorder. She says she doesn't remember anything from the time of the murder and is confused by what is going on. Penny is whisked away to a decaying state mental hospital where she is put under observation to determine if she is fit to stand trial and if she does indeed have a multiple personality disorder or if she is just a dangerous young woman putting on an act. Grace works with Penny's attorney and new doctor to try to find a way to defend her daughter and not get her locked away for murder.

This was a wicked ride (I can say that because it was set in Eastern Massachusetts) that helped me get my fix. It was a fun thriller to break up some of my more serious or fluffy reads of late. I liked that it wasn't super predictable, and of course the multiple personality disorder angle. We as readers were left wondering did Penny commit the crime as one of her personalities? DOES she have multiple personalities? Was her trouble-making friend there that night and had something to do with the murder?!? This is the first book I've read by DJ Palmer and I see that we graduated from the same college (Go Terriers!). I will try to check out some of his other books when I am looking for another thriller. I listened to the book on audio and I liked that it had multiple narrators for the various parts such as Grace, her son, and the doctor.

Penny was found by Grace Francone wandering alone in a park when she was a small child. After her addict birth mother relinquishes custody and she is adopted by the Francones. Now she is on awaiting trial for the murder of that birth mother after she was found in her apartment covered in blood. It seems certain she will spend life in prison or in a mental hospital if she is lucky. Dr Mitch McHugh is determined to help clear her. This is a well plotted story about murder, adoption and its effects on one family and most of all about DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder). This subject has always fascinated me so I found the book extremely interesting. The trial brings the book to a stunning conclusion. Dan Bittner and January LaVoy do an excellent job bringing this book to life.. I highly recommend the audiobook.

I loved this book as it included some of my favorite trends in books- an unreliable character, multiple POV, and lots of unexpected twists! It also includes a fascinating look at a multiple personality (now called DID). I really enjoyed that aspect of the book as I had been fascinated by that disorder growing up.

In this book, we follow the story of Penny. She was found standing over the body of her birth mother with the weapon in hand covered in the victims blood. But she claims she doesn’t know how she got there or what could have happened. Her family and lawyers believe that Penny has DID. Penny’s adoptive mother Grace and her siblings have multiple stories over the years of watching some other personality emerge from Penny. As we move between points of view, we go back in time with various family members and see these stories come to life.. As the reader, we wonder what caused the personality split and if it is real. We jump between certainty she is just playing her family and a horrid suspicion that maybe Penny was abused by her birth mother.

Penny’s mother Grace believes that one of Penny’s personalities has the secret of what happened on the day of the murder. As the trial approaches, Penny’s psychologist, lawyer, and family attempt to unravel this mystery and uncover a host of other secrets locked in Penny’s personalities. As you race to the end of the book, the reader struggles with deciding if Penny is faking it or not, and how to get to the bottom of secrets that could tear this family apart.

Thanks to NetGalley who gave me a copy of the book so I could review!

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: A teenage daughter with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is accused of murdering her birth mother.

BRIEF REVIEW: Penny Francone is the 16 year old adopted daughter of Grace and her late husband. Grace also has two older sons, one in college and another who helps Grace to keep the family restaurant running since Arthur's death. Penny has been arrested for the murder of her birth mother and the evidence against her is mounting but, what possibly could have been her motive? She is sent to a locked psychiatric hospital in MA. and bit by bit we learn several things about Penny. She was abandoned by Rachel, her birth mother, in a park at the age of four, she has DID (formerly called multiple-personality disorder) in which Chloe, Ruby and Eve have been known to manifest.

Grace is determined to prove her daughter is innocent and relies on Dr. Mitch, a determined psychiatrist who is working with Grace to uncover locked memories about the day Rachel was murdered.

The Perfect Daughter was a fast paced thriller that kept me wondering what was true and who had a reason to want Rachel dead. I found myself changing my opinions about a couple characters from time to time as new twists were introduced. I found the ending satisfying and liked the epilogue which followed as well.

Dan Bittner and January Lavoy did a great job with the audio narration.
https://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2021/05/2021-75-perfect-daughter-dj-palmer.html

RATING: 4/5 stars

3.5 stars. Listened on audio. Working in mental health, I question some of the accuracies of this book, but if you aren’t enmeshed in mental health, you’ll probably enjoy it