Her Perfect Life

by Hank Phillippi Ryan

• ISBN10: 125025888X
• ISBN13: 9781250258885
• Publish Date: 14 September 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Forge
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Hank Phillippi Ryan is back with another psychological thriller, Her Perfect Life, and I rushed to hit that request button SO fast on NetGalley!

Lily is perfect. No, really, that's the image she presents to the world. Lily Atwood, the great and famous television reporter. And as long as she can keep her secrets where they belong – hidden – she can keep on appearing perfect to the world.

Unfortunately, somebody else has figured out her secret. Lily cannot deny this fact, as they begin leaking these secrets to her. As a threat? As a warning? But how far will Lily go to keep this secret in the dark?

“I'll give you the best story ever.”

Right away, I was invested in Her Perfect Life. I love the author, and I was fascinated by the description here. A television reporter getting her secrets fed back to her? That sounds so thrilling and thus the perfect basis for a thriller!

I was pleasantly surprised by the alternative perspectives in this story – I thought that Lily would end up dominating the plot. In a way, she did, but it didn't unfold the way I expected it to. On the whole, I think the additional perspectives added to the story, though there were times when I was frustrated with the lot of them (suspension of belief issues, my bad).

It took a bit of work to really get into the narrative for Her Perfect Life, and by that, I mean that I didn't feel invested until at least a third of the way in. I think that's probably because Lily seemed to be at her most perfect early on, though that wasn't the entirety of it.

There were certainly some interesting elements in Her Perfect Life, which is one of the reasons why I had no trouble finishing the book. It did a good job of starting conversations, especially in regards to fame and the like. I'd recommend this book for any thriller reader looking for something fun and quick.

Thanks to Forge Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Jeff Sexton]

Slow Burn With A Bang. This is one of those slow burn mysteries that doesn't seem like the stakes are *overly* high... until you find yourself in a situation with guns drawn in broad daylight in the streets of Boston. (Yes, a touch of a spoiler, but a very minor one given the lack of other details. :D) Overall you've got three primary perspectives, two in third person (sisters) and one in first, and everyone is hiding things from everyone for varying reasons and no one really knows who to trust at all, including some of the non-perspective characters. So on that point, this tale works well - if, again, a bit slow and seemingly low-stake. But it is compelling enough to have you want to follow along and see what exactly happens, particularly once we begin to get the third perspective (which doesn't happen until around the 25-33% of the book, IIRC). Overall an inventive tale that plays with some well worn tropes and spins them a bit in a new-ish way, and for this it is very much recommended.