Beautiful, highly engrossing novel. I am actually a medical school student and saw lots of uproar from people who started this novel and did not like the use of DID as a plot device. These people were 1. incorrect and 2. now missing out because most didn't continue reading. The ending of the book was phenomenal. It is SO clear that the author did her homework regarding this mental disorder because when the 'physician' was explaining it, or when the mother was, it was spot on, straight out of the DSM-5. Spot on. People who say otherwise just haven't educated themselves and it is a shame because this is most likely my favorite book of 2021. This book will move you. So fantastic and strong, thank you for allowing me to be apart of the campaign!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title.

I wasn’t thrilled with this one. I felt it had too many characters to keep track of.

It definitely offers mystery and if you enjoy reading novels where you want to guess whodunit and then see if you’re right, then this one is for you. The writing was great, but I just didn’t lose myself in it like I hoped I would.

Well written and very popular! 3.5 ✨

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this ARC audio book.
I love D.J. Palmer books!
5 Stars!
I loved this book with it's twists and turns. The mental illness aspect was interesting and dealt with in a respectful manner. This was an excellent read mixing true crime, personality disorders, and an investigation all in one. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend reading it.

A main character with Multiple Personality Disorder? Sign me up. I really liked this book up until the last 3/4, at which point I thought it dragged on a little too much. I didn't love the ending, it felt a little rushed and unbelievable. While there were several red herrings, they could've been a little better developed as possible suspects. I could've done without Frank's perspective and would've enjoyed the narration from just the perspectives of Grace and Dr. Mitch. Speaking of, I really loved him. He was a fantastic character and contributed a lot to the storyline. Overall I found this book entertaining with several small twists along the way, I just felt it could've been a little bit tighter.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

5 Snaps for The Perfect Daughter!! D J Palmer you cheeky author!! You had me to the end!! I had a mental picture of the victim in the middle of a board and every single character on there with reasons why they would have been the killer. Except for the ACTUAL killer!! And of course I’m seriously tired this morning because I stayed up late last night because I had to finish. Loved it!!!!

Wow this was a great mystery book! I did not see the twists coming at all, and there were a lot. Also the narrators did great. There were a lot of characters but it was easy to tell the difference between who was who and what was going on!

This book wow. As a mother that has a son with DID this book hit me in the feels. There were twists I never saw coming. The narrators did a great job! I could distinctly tell the differences between the characters. The story I feel did a good job of describing DID from the medications to the mannerisms. I would definitely recommend this.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advanced reader listen. This is my honest review.

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer
Narrated by Dan Bittner; January LaVoy
Publication Date: March 9, 2021
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Description from NetGalley...
“Penny Francone, age sixteen, is a murderer. Her guilt is beyond doubt: she was found alone in the victim’s apartment, covered in blood, holding the murder weapon. The victim’s identity and her secret relationship to Penny give Penny the perfect motive, sealing the deal. All the jury needs to decide now is where Penny will serve out her sentence. Will she be found not guilty by reason of insanity, as her lawyer intends to argue? Or will she get a life sentence in a maximum-security prison?
Already reeling from tragedy after the sudden passing of her beloved husband a few years before, now Grace is on her knees, grateful that Massachusetts doesn't allow the death penalty.

As Penny awaits trial in a state mental hospital, she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh, a psychiatrist battling demons of his own. Grace’s determination to understand the why behind her daughter’s terrible crime fuels Mitch’s resolve to help the Francone family. Together, they set out in search of the truth about Penny, but discover instead a shocking hidden history of secrets, lies, and betrayals that threatens to consume them all. The perfect daughter. Is she fooling them all?”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @macmillan.audio #stmartinspress for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
Unpopular opinion. First off, the narrators were really good, but even they couldn’t keep my interest peaked. I still finished it because the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder is fascinating to me. I thought the way this subject was characterized was good in the beginning, but then the plot seemed to wane, and I felt it impacted the subject. It was a really slow burn, and I kept hoping something would happen. Overall, the narrators were great, the subject was interesting, but the book was not for me.

It’s so refreshing to read a book where you don’t predict what’s coming next. The twists and turns threw me for one loop after another.
Having a character with DID/MPD made it so you never knew who you would meet next or where they would take you.
Really enjoyed this book.

I read a ton of positive reviews of this book and was really excited to receive a copy of the audiobook. Unfortunately, this book was not a great one for me.

The narrators were both good & I would love to hear either of them read again, but wish they’d chosen to use the male narrator for the male characters and the female narrator for the female characters — it was a little weird hearing the male narrator do his impression of a girl/woman character that the female had also done (and vice versa) — not terrible, but it seemed like an odd choice with two narrators available.

As for the story itself.... Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) is a tricky thing to make work, and it was going well for a bit, but the plot dragged and then went way off the rails.

I’d read another book by this author and wouldn’t tell anyone *not* to read this book, but I won’t be recommending it.

This book was just okay. I liked the idea of split personalities, but I think I was able to guess some of the storyline thanks to a well loved movie from my past.... (Primal Fear).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣
◘ I haven’t read many books about multiple personality disorder, or DID, as clarified in this book. So that was a nice change. ⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣
◘ This was the slowest burn of all time. Not sure if it felt so slow because this took me so long to read, but I kept waiting for something big to happen. ⁣
◘ How are you going to have a book about a woman with multiple personalities and not title it: The Perfect DaughterS (I mean hullo?)⁣
◘ I was able to “guess” a tiny plot twist thanks to a well known old movie I love.⁣

This is one of those books that I don’t think had a fair shot, which is why I’m keeping the bad bullet points short and not so harsh. I had to pick it up and put it down so many times due to a busy week. This took me 7 days to finish, which is impossibly long considering I usually finish a book in a day or two. Would I have enjoyed it more if I was able to devote a solid day to it? Probably.⁣
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Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy of The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer, narrated by Dan Bittner; January LaVoy in exchange for an honest review. It published April 20, 2021.
First off, I have to say, the production and narration was very well-done. Nothing was hard to understand, nor was there any fading in and out as if the reader moved from the microphone. I also enjoyed that there were different narrators depending on which character was heading up the chapter, that really helps to compartmentalize who is speaking and what is going on.
I have enjoyed Palmer's previous books, so I was pretty sure I would enjoy this one as well, and I was correct. I was impressed at the amount of research that was clearly done to portray DID, and other illnesses, and even addiction too. I felt that it was respectful, but didn't shy away from the prejudice and skepticism that those with mental illnesses suffer from. Hopefully by pointing that out, it will raise awareness to stop that prejudice in the future.
I found the alters to be interesting and engaging, and I was always kept guessing, all the way up until right before the big reveal! I had no inkling of how this was going to end, and I applaud Palmer for that! I think it's hard to write a good thriller that isn't completely obvious, or purposely evasive, but with just enough clues peppered in. I totally enjoyed that aspect.
Overall, if you've a compassion for those with mental illness, enjoy thrillers and like an audiobook that's well narrated, then you'll enjoy this one!
Trigger warnings: Strong language, domestic and child abuse, mental illness and prejudice against it, murder, violence, blood, torture, suicide ideation.

Before I started this book, I had seen multiple reviews about how it wasn't any good. So I was hesitant. But boy, there's a reason I don't always read reviews. I thought this book was great! Penny is a teenager, who is found one day with blood all over her body, murder weapon in hand. The thing is, she cannot remember anything about where she was or what she was doing there. Penny's mom goes on a search to find out what really happened because she knows deep down that her daughter is innocent.

This book was really interesting to me, especially with my background in psychology. Grace swears up and down that Penny has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID - previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder) ever since she was found in a park at 4 years old, but that's such a hard disability to diagnose, so others have a hard time believing her. Grace believes that Penny is fully innocent, but even if there was a chance that she committed this murder, it was one of her alters, not her. This book has the right amount of family drama thrown in with some legal themes, as well as the overarching theme of mental health awareness and trauma.

Fans of suspense/mysteries will not be disappointed with this one, especially if you are like me and like to 'solve' the mystery and see if you are correct. Sure, you can assume things along the way, but are your assumptions right? Did you figure it out before the characters in the story did? Kudos to D J Palmer for keeping my interest and writing this hard to put down suspense/mystery! The narrators of this audio book did a great job.

Holy cannoli!! I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook. I needed to know what was going on. Was anything true? Could everything we “knew” be a lie? I figured it out just when the author wanted you to know. (Though hindsight duh!) I loved both the narrators. This book is amazing as an audiobook.

🌱Book Review🌱 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“Giving birth is a single act, but parenting was the culmination of thousands of acts, large and small, done selflessly each day. It was the sum total of those experiences that had cemented an indelible bond, one that blurred the lines between parenting a biological child and an adopted one.”

Grace dreams of mothering a daughter, so when a little girl is found alone in the park Grace knows she is meant to be hers. But Penny has some issues. She suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. Then a woman is found murdered and Penny is at the scene, covered in the dead woman’s blood, holding the murder weapon. Can Grace, with the help of Dr Mitch McHugh, a man who himself suffers from mental illness, get to the bottom of what really happened? Will the multiple personalities that inhabit Penny’s mind tell the true story, or will they battle to keep the truth hidden?

This was a little slow for me for a thriller. It is told from multiple POV’s, and I feel that the brothers perspective could have easily been removed and nothing would have been lost in the story. It was so slow going that I found myself, at times, almost wanting to skip portions just to get to the conclusion. I prefer a more fast paced thriller, but overall I enjoyed it.

I received complimentary copies of both the print and audio versions of this book. I was going out to walk my dogs when I started the audio. In the introduction I hear “narrated by January Lavoy.” *immediately does happy dance* 💃🏼 I LOVE her narrations and she is one of my favorite narrators. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 They could not have picked a better person to do a character with multiple personalities!! She brought so much life to each one with her cadence and tone that I added a whole star for her alone 😍.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and the author for these complimentary copies in exchange for an honest review.

I thought most of this book was really intriguing and fascinating and seemed very well researched--heading for 5 stars all the way--until it faltered on a few points towards the end. The main plot revolved around whether Penny, an adopted daughter who had been abandoned as a young child, brutally murdered her birth mother. This story was suspenseful and well done, especially all the information and questions around Penny's DID. The revelations of various triggers that brought on different personas was interesting, and each alternate had a distinctive voice and personality that was well drawn. I had the great pleasure of listening to the audiobook version, and the two narrators, Dan Bittner and January LaVoy, were absolutely first rate and made the book even better. I didn't have a huge problem with the reveal of who the murderer was, although it did require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but, without giving away too much, I was shaking my head at the behavior of one of the attorneys in court and thinking it made absolutely no sense, and this definitely detracted from what was later revealed. Another rather clumsy part at the end involved Penny's brother Ryan and the facile explanation for his behavior. It all seemed half-heartedly contrived and too easily dismissed, and there was no good reason to include that storyline in my mind; for me, it detracted from the overall success of the book. Still, I'd recommend it and am grateful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this generally excellent book.

The Perfect Daughter is a complex and suspenseful story that follows Penny, a teenage girl with a possible Dissociative Identity Disorder diagnosis who has a loving adoptive family along with her adoptive mother, Grace, a struggling widow. When Penny is found at the scene of a murder with blood all over her and a pretty compelling motive, most presume an open/shut case. With an impending murder trial and overwhelming evidence against Penny, things aren’t looking good. With the help of Dr. Mitch McHugh, a new psychiatrist at the state psychiatric hospital Penny’s remanded to, a new personality emerges and may hold the key to just what happened the day of the murder.

Traversing the narrative of Grace, Penny (and her alters), Dr. Mitch and Jack – Penny’s adoptive brother– there’s a great round robin view of both past and present events. Penny is a fairly unreliable narrator but not in the usual sense – is she lying? Does she remember the event? Maybe, maybe not? It’s hard to tell because Mr. Palmer did such a stellar job with Penny and her alters character development. This kept me listening all day and ignoring pretty much everything and everyone around me. I found this story to be suspenseful and twisty but also, just all-around fascinating.

Narration: Narrators January Lavoy and Dan Bittner are phenomenal! Both complemented the characters beautifully. Their voices leading me through the chapters smoothly with perfect inflection and flow; generating the perfect atmosphere for this tense thriller.

Big thank you to @Macmillan.Audio for the #gifted ALC and to @StMartinsPress for the #gifted DRC

4.5 rounded up to 5

D.J. Palmer does it again.
The perfect Daughter is a crazy ride of suspense, heartache, and family.
Mental illness is real. It is not something to take lightly and I’m glad this story took on the subject and told a story of DID and what it means.......what it’s like to be locked inside your own mind to protect yourself.

Not only does this story tell about mental illness, it has a great storyline and you won’t know “who done it” until the very end.
Awesome read! Can’t wait for whats next from Mr. Palmer.

3.5, rounded up! The Perfect Daughter is a super interesting and original thriller, with an ending you will NOT see coming! Listen to my full thoughts with no spoilers in my reading vlog: https://youtu.be/iUwkb7r8hGo

This book is about Grace, and her daughter Penny, who has DID (multiple personality disorder). Penny is the prime suspect in the murder of her birth mother - having been found with the victim's blood at the location of the murder, but has no memories of what has happened. Throughout the book we find out more of Penny's alters, secrets from her past, the trauma that caused her to have DID, and who the murder is.

This book was super intriguing, and all I want to do now is read more books about DID (especially nonfictions ones). If you have watched the movie SPLIT and enjoyed it, then you should definitely pick this book up, as its pretty similar in concept, but definitely is a legal thriller. It also gave me vibes from American Horror Story, Insane Asylum, as Penny is transferred to a mental health facility.

This book made you think about whether Penny was just pretending to have multiple personality disorder, or if she really did have 4 alters with totally different personalities. It also raised the question, that if one of her alters committed the murder, and she had no control over that, should she be convicted?!

If only this book wasn't so long and repetitive, it could have easily been a 5 star read for me. D.J. Palmer is a great thriller writer who dives into mental illnesses and very interesting concepts. I'm definitely reading more by this author!