A couple of years ago, I read Lucinda Berry's book The Perfect Child where we met Janie who was taken in by Hannah and Chris Barrett. They couldn't have children of their own and fell in love with this abused child. However, life wasn't to be all fun and games as it turned out Janie was anything but The Perfect Child and ended up killing Hannah's sister by pushing her down the stairs. Now Janie is 18 years old and has been released from Juvie and has written a memoir all about her experiences and she has changed her name to Hope. The whole world might be captivated by this, but those close to her which includes Hannah and Piper know that Janie will never change and is still as psychotic as ever. When Janie contacts Cole - Hannah and Chris's son and fills his head with lies and now he is ready to run away with her, Hannah knows that there is only one thing she can do as she can't lose her son to Janie. This was a quick read and put into perspective, how far a parent will go to save the ones they love from those who can harm them. I do wish we had seen a bit more interaction between Janie and Chris as those two had an unhealthy bond in the first book. But this was a good read to throw us back into Lucinda Berry's world of psychopathic children. I would strongly suggest, only read A Welcome Reunion once you have finished The Perfect Child.

What a powerful, gut wrenching story! I wish this was longer though for how short it was it explained the whole story perfectly. A true story of what a mother would do to protect her family against something or someone so evil. I really enjoyed this one!

3.5 stars -- short and a good thriller is not a little predictable

Janie is the last person Hannah and Christopher Bauer want to see again.

But Janie’s moved back to Clarksville. She’s no longer the frail child Hannah and Christopher adopted over eleven years ago. The child who destroyed their lives. Now Janie is out of juvenile detention—a beautiful, confident young adult—and publicly promoting her new tell-all memoir.

At just eighteen, Janie has a violent and tragic story to share, brimming with grisly details. Details the public can’t get enough of…and that the Bauers can’t bear to relive. Janie has taken a new name and claims to have reformed her sociopathic ways. She’s ready to make amends. But when the Bauers refuse to meet with her, she takes matters into her own hands.

After the social worker formerly assigned to the case makes disturbing revelations about Janie’s calculated behavior, the Bauers brace for Janie’s next move, determined to protect their family—at any cost.

Ever since reading The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry, I have been addicted to her books! She doesn't disappoint! I will forever highly recommend anything she writes!!

As a short story follow up to the Perfect Child, this was just as twisty and frustrating and enjoyable as the first. I still want more answers and could continue on ranting and raving about this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon for the advance copy.

I found out after getting a copy that this was a sequel. I decided to go ahead and read it without reading the first book. The story is a bit dark/heavy and makes that known very early on. It has a true crime vibe in the beginning despite being a fictional story. Even though I didn’t read the first book I became emotionally invested pretty quickly. I really liked this novella. While I was able to keep up and figure things out, I do wish I would have read The Perfect Child first to know the full story of everything the characters went through. Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I really enjoyed this! Apparently it’s a sequel, but even without that information it was a quick, compelling read. I enjoyed the deeply uncomfortable interpersonal dynamics & the mounting sense of dread the author managed to build quickly.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Amazon for the eArc!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

*I'm not going to give you the 'what this book is about' blurb - you can read that elsewhere.


1. Lucinda Berry is one of my all-time favorite authors, and she can do no wrong in my eyes. I’ve read almost everything she’s ever written and every story has stuck with me but there are 2 in particular that I think about almost daily (I’m not even joking) – ‘Saving Noah’ and ‘The Perfect Child’.

2. The latter of those 2 books is one of the most unsettling things I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It’s so freaking creepy because it’s legitimately something that could, and does, happen. (Hello, Dr. Berry brings her years and years of experience in psychology to the masses). This short story is the continuation of ‘The Perfect Child’ and man, it is exactly what I was hoping the continuation of this story would be.

3. I pre-ordered this but then saw it on NetGalley, and I was so impatient to read it that I got it early! Honestly, I’m saddened to see that some of my predictions for Hannah, Christopher, and Piper came true, but there was no way that it could have gone in any other direction. The whole saga of Janie is just heartbreaking for so many reasons. I can’t give too many details without ruining it for people who have yet to read these stories, and I don’t want to do that!

4. This could be read by itself and be completely stand-alone, but it’s much much better if you read ‘The Perfect Child’ first. I think there will be a lot more emotion invested into this short (81 page) story if you have the connection to the characters the novel will give you.

A great follow up to the Perfect Child and a little bit of closure on the mysterious Jamie. I really think this could have easily been a full length sequel to the Perfect Child, author Lucinda Berry nailed this novella in every way, shape, and form!

If you read “The Perfect Child” by Lucinda Barry you’ll really enjoy this one because that book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger so it’s nice to see what the aftermath of the 💩 show that is Janie’s story.

I don’t want to say too much because it’s too short so it would be easy to give stuff away but what I can say is that Christopher continues to be spineless which annoys the living hell out of me, Janie is still Satan incarnate, & Piper continues to be the absolute GOAT of the entire story.

This short story can be found on Kindle Unlimited— in case you want to check it out!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Not really much to write about.

Glad it all came to an end..

I thought the perfect child was OK, the characters were stupid and the storyline was quite unbelievable. Just glad it ended the way it did

I knew it was a short story but I felt like the ending was quite abrupt. I enjoyed it overall and some of the twist caught me by surprise. I will definitely read other pieces by Lucinda.

Overview:
She’s back and the Bauers are not happy.


Review:
I absolutely loved The Perfect Child, so I was very excited to get access to this sequel. I’ve read multiple reviews for The Perfect Child where a lot of readers felt it was left on a cliff hanger. This sequel was very much in high demand and it did not disappoint.

So given it was the prequel I may be a little bit confusing if you read it as a stand alone, however it unfolds so well that it could still work as a standalone book. I found it so engaging and twisty. My favourite type of thrillers are psychological and this one had me intrigued (and disturbed) throughout.
The characterisation was very good! The plot twists and pace was executed brilliantly. Lucinda Berry is a master story teller and quickly becoming a go to author for me when I want a fast, binge worthy thriller that keeps me guessing until the end.

Ahhhh, I was not expecting this to be the sequel of the The Perfect Child! I had nightmares with that book. I was hoping not to run into a Janie character because that kind of child gives me trauma.
Anyway, Lucinda Berry always have the unique talent of bringing horror to a mother’s heart! She also made me thank God for what blessings I have and be content to enjoy the things I have taken for granted because stories like this are the situations one could never wish for someone ever!
The writing is always good and best believe me when I say that I really love the ending of this or I would seriously need a therapy!

Decent sequel but I wish it was longer. It felt rushed to me and the ending was just okay. It was satisfying to have a solution to the first book though

A really good short story by Lucinda Berry. The child that this couple adopted is out of jail and trying to get back in their lives. The family wants to forget her but Janis will not allow that. A really easy and page turner read.

Is this the end of Janie's story? I sure hope not! I need more! She is definitely an interesting character that I really hope I see more of in the future. It felt like it ended on a cliffhanger, so I have hope. I feel this story had such potential, but it just needed more Janie craziness! Especially now that she is an adult. My biggest complaint is that it was too short!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

There was just something about this book that I could not get into. Maybe the characters? Maybe the writing? I'm not really sure why it struck me the wrong way, but I just couldn't get into it and it felt somewhat torturous to finish it.

This review was also published on Goodreads.

I will never not love something from Berry, I can just tell. I loved how there was closure and you felt like things were evened out, the score had been settled. Even though the book was short, Berry once again made you feel 100% invested, locked in on knowing the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her child. I would have read this had it been 300 pages longer but I love how she did this one as a short piece.