Nope not perfect at all. Emily thought that renting part of her condo to Pip and her daughter Sofie would ease her financial problems but it doesn't work out that way in this thriller that leans in on the anxiety Emily quite rightfully feels. Pip is a grifter and a squatter but is she also a murderer? No spoilers from me! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A page turner.

3.5 stars. This tense thriller was almost too tense at times. I was so genuinely stressed out for Emily and by everything life (and her new roommate) threw at her that it was hard to enjoy at times. The author did a great job of creating an anxiety-filled atmosphere and I (mostly) enjoyed the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Holy crap. This is the first thriller in a LONG while that I actually...dare I say, enjoyed?! I don't remember the last time a thriller made my stomach uneasy, made my anxiety go through the roof, and genuinely made me uncomfortable and not uneasy. I know my three-star rating probably says otherwise but I did enjoy reading this fast-paced and short and sweet thriller!

The story follows Emily Hawthorne, a 32-year-old yoga instructor who is in debt. A lot of it. She lives in her Aunt Vivian's condo but is on the brink of losing it when she fails to pay her bills. Desperate, she puts an ad up on Craigslist looking for a roommate who can pay rent and help out with the bills. Enter Penelope "Pip" Stone and her 12-year-old daughter Sofie. Emily takes them in, but the condo she's lived in for half of her life is slowly taken away from her as Pip and Sofie make it their own. Increasingly aggravated, Emily tries to make do with the new living situation, especially since Pip fails to pay her the rent she's owed. When one of their neighbors is murdered, they're forced to attempt to keep the peace as the investigation is ongoing.

I think the story made me so uneasy because the plotline seems wholly mundane but could legitimately happen to anyone. I don't remember the last time I felt genuinely nervous reading a thriller and had that "I'm on the edge of my seat" feeling I so desperately wanted from any thriller I read. As Emily started to spiral and go crazy trying to beat Pip at her own game, I felt like I was also going crazy. I will admit that I had an inkling of what the plot twist was going to be and who the murderer was (because I don't trust anyone), but the backstory behind why was NOT what I expected at all. The ending was all kinds of effed up in the best way possible and despite me having my own gripes with Emily (more on this in the next paragraph), I was rooting for Emily to win and get out of the situation she dug herself into. I also liked the chapters from Pip's POV; there weren't a lot but it provided some much-needed context behind why she is the way she is.

The only thing I took off stars for in my rating was Emily herself. I debated between making my rating either 3 stars or 4 but settled on a 3.5 at the end. Emily makes a lot of stupid decisions throughout the story. A lot of the plot is driven by Emily's boneheaded decisions which made for a good story, but I couldn't get over how naïve she was and how she lacked any sort of common sense. I know I joked about this in my pre-read thoughts, but I genuinely think her very first mistake was putting a roommate advertisement up on Craigslist. Her second mistake was not doing a background check on all of the people who responded to her ad. I get it, money is tight and beggars can't be choosers, but at the very least have some common sense and meet with your potential roommates before you willingly hand them a lease. Throughout the story, Emily is constantly giving Pip the benefit of the doubt whenever she says something about why she can't come up with the payments yet, why she threw out Emily's groceries, or whatever the case may be. I also didn't understand her stance and relationship and what she thought about Nathan? They were a two-night stand and she claims to not care about what he does in his free time but she also has this attitude that no one else can date him except for her because what they had together--again, for TWO NIGHTS--was special to her? Like, she's kind of possessive of him for no reason and it rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall, if you're looking for an exciting, fast-paced, on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller, this may be the book for you! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this.

3.5 stars (rounded down to 3)

Take a deep “Emily” style yoga breath and don’t take this one too seriously. This is a fun, easy popcorn thriller that flies by. I read and listened to it, and the audiobook was a standout—light, youthful narration that fit the characters perfectly. But I also love the book cover, so my recommendation? Get both!

When Pip moves in, I understood why Emily reacted the way she did, but as someone who doesn’t shy away from conflict, it was hard to relate. She procrastinates, avoids confrontation, and second-guesses herself constantly. It got a bit repetitive, but I also empathized with her and cheered when she finally started standing up for herself.

The pacing felt a little slow at times, but the buildup was necessary—and the twist got me! By the end, I wanted more of Pip’s story. Loving a good villain as I do, I would’ve happily stuck around to see what happened next. Maybe we’ll get a “20 years later” sequel? I’d read it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Brilliance Publishing for access to this audiobook ARC and Lake Union Publishing for access to this eBook in exchange for my honest review

Thank you, Lake Union Publishing for the copy of Seems Perfect by Rebecca Hanover. I knew how this was going to go whenI read the book description. What I ddn;t expect is how bad off Emily was and how long it took her to catch on to what was happening. I guess when you’re in desperate straits you try to do whatever you can to survive and that includes grasping at straws. But some of the most basic things someone who is renting to a stranger would do Emily failed to even think of. It was annoying that she was so negligent and at some point I kind of checked out. The conclusion was clever and I never even considered it but it fell flat for me, maybe because there was so much background. 3 stars

When a debilitating injury and subsequent surgery leave 32-year-old yoga teacher Emily Hawthorne unable to work or pay her utility bills or her mortgage, she decides to advertise for a paying roommate to share her one-bedroom apartment. Penelope ‘Pip’ Stone answers the ad, and Emily can see that she seems perfect. Pip is affable, friendly and hard-working.

But then Pip moves in too much stuff and a preteen daughter, Sophie, that Emily knows nothing about. With her only living relative, Aunt Viv, living with dementia in an assisted living facility, and having broken up with her fiancé, Seth, out of fear that she might die of cancer as her parents did, Emily is all alone. She is fair game for Pip who quickly begins a devious game of manipulation and gaslighting, taking worse liberties.

Will Emily ever be rid of Pip? Will she get her house back?

The story is written in the first person PoV of Emily, besides occasional 3rd person PoVs of Pip and Sophie. The 3rd person PoVs were the author’s way of humanizing Pip and explaining why she is the way she is, but I hated her all the same.

Right away we know that Pip spells bad news, but Emily ignores all the red flags. She comes across as naïve. She has the most basic password on her wi-fi. I dislike stupid Main Characters, and Emily was just that. She kept making allowances for Pip’s wrongdoing, and that made me want to tear out my hair.

But of course, if she wasn’t stupid, we’d have no story. But it would have been better if there had been some other way in which Emily had found herself sharing her home with Pip.

Breaking up with her fiancé because she fears dying of cancer is another weak angle. Today there are tests that can reveal one’s risk profile for cancer.

I strongly wanted to DNF this book. Emily was just so annoying in her naivete. Even when she takes action to reclaim her home and her life, the solutions she comes up with are rather daft. The only reason why I kept reading was because I felt invested in the situation. Emily only pulled up her socks at the 27% mark. Even then, there was no explanation for why she didn’t confide in best friend, Ally, or her ex-fiancé, Seth.

At one point, she tells us that Pip has isolated her from her best friend and fiance, but that is not true. Emily herself takes the decision to resolve the problem by herself.

The author has a tendency to overwrite a point long after it’s been made. Towards this end, she provides too many details over and over again.

Emily describes herself as a yogi. The right word is yogini. A yogi refers to a male practitioner of yoga. Also, yogic breath is not a thing. Yogic technique of breathing, or even yogic breathing, would be more accurate.

This book keeps you guessing, has great plot twists and is a very entertaining story. I liked this one a lot.

I love when a book takes a seemingly mundane situation and adds a twist to it and that’s exactly what the author did here. Getting a new roommate shouldn’t be dangerous but it is when Emily allows Pip into her home. Forget the danger, the thought of someone being at my house and never leaving sounds like my worst nightmare as an introvert and I felt so awful for Emily. Yes, she was a little frustrating at times, her decision making skills were lacking and I don’t think I agreed with her choices one time, but no one deserves what Pip put her through. I don’t want to go further into the plot because this developed in ways I didn’t see coming and I love a good surprise. If you like unsettling books with unlikable characters and fast pacing try this!

Emily is seriously strapped for cash after an injury and breakup leave her struggling to pay her bills. She is left scrolling Craigslist for a roommate to help pay the bills, but finds a whole lot more than what she bargained for in new roomie Pip and her daughter, Sofie.

This was a medium paced domestic thriller with a murderous twist. It was both satisfying and difficult to read as people-pleaser Emily is continuously put in frustrating situations by Pip, who seems to outmatch her at every turn. But unlike some thrillers, our FMC finds her backbone, attempts to stick up for herself, and even goes on the defensive to keep her condo from squatter Pip’s grasp. Then, the killing starts. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this arc!

I had a hard time getting into this book. It might be the mood I am currently experiencing. As I have written with other reviews, I am a major mood reader.. I may give this book another shot when I am in the mood.

I found the plot of this book really intriguing. The story follows a woman who takes in a roommate for extra income, only to realize too late that she’s actually a squatter. It’s a fantastic premise for a thriller, and the way Pip slowly invaded the main character’s space was deeply unsettling—like knowing something bad is coming but not quite sure what.

That said, the writing style wasn’t for me. There were a lot of unnecessary details that made the story drag, almost like filler that took away from the main plot. With a stronger focus, I think the book could have flowed much better.

While this writing style and unnecessary details didn't appeal to me, those who enjoy highly detailed and slow moving books will.

Smart domestic thriller you won’t be able to turn from as your find yourself entrenched in the lives of both these women!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Seems Perfect had a thrillingly creepy plot line that really played on what a homeowner looking for a roomie or tenant has to fear in the back of their minds - what if the person who sails through background checks and seems really normal and together is about to take over your home, your life, and just….refuse to leave?

First our homeowner, Emily, isn’t completely perfect herself, but her flaws don’t generate the kind of bad juju that brings nightmares like Pip and her daughter (who somehow is a concentrated version of all the bad in Pip + extra) Sofie. Pip especially resonates for me, the lengths she’ll go for her daughter at the cost of others’ lives and profound sense of entitlement show shades of how real life parents have enabled their own troubled kids and a closeup of how some of the bad behavior of parents and children alike comes to be. No doubt this is a shade to the extreme but it’s the root emotions rang true as we try to puzzle why parents of ex. school shooters aren’t getting their kids help or raising a red flag.

All this to say I loved the bad characters in the book not because of who they were but because they were written so well, they sparked emotion and felt very timely. The story was great and definitely preys on the fear of knowing who you’re letting into your home, be they rentals or your actual living space, but the characters and their twisted minds and actions stood out. If you like true psychological thrillers you won’t go wrong with Seems Perfect.

This was intense, it was fast paced, gripping and had an almighty plot twist I didn't see coming.

Honestly Emily was way too naive and trusting however desperate times call for desperate measures and she only did what she thought was best. I did find it a tad weird when Pip turns up with a tween in tow. But again I thought that she must have been desperate to turn to a stranger for a homeshare. It wasn't until the twist that I actually began to really feel sorry for Pip in a way, all that she had to do to stay above water so to speak. [ Don't want to give too much away ]

I actually felt furious initially those first few chapters had my blood boiling and I wanted to give Emily a good ole shake but in the end she found her backbone and that's what counts.

Well it was riveting, attention grabbing and definitely a superb psychological thriller that I will highly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy.

Emily Hawthorne lives in the well-heeled Noe Valley of San Francisco…but just barely. With less work than she would like at the yoga studio, a pile of debt, and a fraught past, she can no longer afford her tiny condo. When she meets the charming Penelope “Pip” Stone and her young daughter, also beset by financial woes, she agrees to take them in as roommates.

But Emily’s stroke of luck turns out to be another twist of the Pip is a professional squatter who has no intention of paying rent. And Pip doesn’t want to share the condo.

She wants the whole thing.

Their domestic standoff only intensifies when a downstairs neighbor is murdered. Both women become suspects, not to mention each other’s mistrustful alibis.

Emily feels the walls closing in. Is she trapped with a vulnerable grifter—who, like her, may have good reasons for making bad decisions—or is Pip just a cold-blooded killer?

Loved it. Will recommend to others

This book sucked me in right away but boy was it frustrating.
Don’t let that put you off though, it was frustrating because the author built this frightening scenario that I could see really happening.
Emily is drowning in debt and is newly single after dumping her fiancée for imo a very dumb reason but it adds to the story. She puts an ad up for a remote to help offset the mortgage so she doesn’t lose her beloved condo that her aunt raised her in.
Pip answers her ad and they video chat and Emily thinks she’s perfect, they may even become friends as well as roommates.
Pip shows up and right from the beginning drops one bomb after another on Emily.
Pip insinuates herself into the condo and very quickly takes over. Then someone is murdered in their building and they have to rely on each other for an alibi.
This was a very tense ride, I thought Emily was dumb for not confiding in anyone what was really going on with Pip until it was too late. Pip was a terrible person and so was her daughter.
I really enjoyed this quick read, thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read and review.

Love the premise! Love the cover! This is certainly a fun read. While the main character will not win any likability awards, she doesn't need to because Hanover has crafted such a suspenseful narrative. The twists and turns are doled out masterfully in this battle of wills. Highly recommended for fans of domestic suspense. A gripping page turner! I will look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

Intense tale with a battle of the wills and wits between two women in desperate circumstances. What a fun premise for a book, and great writing from the author as well.

Squatters are one of my nightmares so this book scared me more than pure horror books do. It's very good! Recommend. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book encapsulates the absolute terror of squatters slowly taking over your home. I thought this was a great psychological thriller that keeps you hooked on the story. Although the plot twist was a bit predictable, I found the book fun to read. I did think the beginning of the novel was aggravating. Pip and Sophie were the two worst roommates, and it’s unbelievable of all the things they were able to get away with. I was so heated and wished Emily would’ve grown a backbone and done something about it sooner, but I understood why she didn’t. Emily is a very flawed, yet realistic character, and even though it was incredibly frustrating to see her not take any action against Pip and Sophie in the beginning, it made sense character-wise. The book does become better later on as you learn more about Pip and Sophie’s mysterious past and you get to see Emily’s character development. I do feel like the ending could’ve been longer as it felt short-lived, but it was still satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!