‘Mummy, she’s gone…’

Gemma Ballantine is getting ready for work one morning when her eldest child comes running down the stairs, saying the words every mother dreads.

The front door is open. And her six-year-old daughter has disappeared. Frantic with fear, Gemma starts a nail-biting search for her little girl.

After what feels like forever, her mother-in-law Diane finds Katie wandering lost a few streets away. Relieved to have her youngest child back in her arms, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, Gemma thinks the nightmare is over.

But then her perfect family starts to fall apart.

And she realises it’s only just beginning…

A loving family muddling through life are shaken up by strange events and the arrival of a nanny. Is Gemma going mad or is someone causing mischief and why? Suspicion and suspense is high; you won’t want to put this book down. The twist at the end was totally unexpected. For lovers of psychological thrillers, The Perfect Family is definitely recommended.

Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

Great thriller, could no put it down through all the twists and turns. Would highly recommend to fans of this genre.

Shalini Boland is an author that I found on NetGalley. There is a twist in every novel and it's always shocking. I can't wait to read every single one of her books.

The Perfect Family is an enjoyable and well-plotted mystery by Shalini Boland. A six year old girl has disappeared and the family starts to fall apart..

This book took me by surprise. It kept me interested throughout the story and I needed to see what was going to happen. I truly enjoyed the pacing of the story and the well written characters. I would recommend this story to all.

What would you do if your child disappeared without a trace? That is what happened to Gemma Ballentine’s daughter. That is until Gemma’s mother comes to look for her and finds her. Gemma thinks that everything is ok now that he daughter has been found safe. But is it? Definitely a nail biter from the beginning and the characters are well developed and the emotions are very believable. The family hire a nanny who unfortunately for them, has other plans for their perfect family. This is a very well written book by a talented author who knows how to take you on one hell of a ride.


Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a bit of a slow burner for me however the twists and turns kept me captivated.
Easy read, recommended.

4.5 stars

I loved this book! It flowed really well, you could feel the mother's maternal guilt and frustration at what was happening. I loved the build up and there were a few surprises along the way! Thoroughly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC of a very talented author. The book starts off with a bang, with a disappearing young girl, and that quite sets the tone of the rest of the book. At some stages I thought Gemma was losing her mind, but soon I started to suspect one of the characters for all that is going wrong. Naturally that is a mistake, because just as soon as you think you have the plot figured out.... it throws you for a loop! This was a very well written book, gripping and thrilling, until the very last page, where Ms Boland takes you for a twisty ride again! Highly recommended.

A tense thriller that keeps you guessing right up till the very end, I've always enjoyed books by this author and this one is just as good.
Gemma and Robert hire a live in nanny to help out in their busy life's but all is not as it seems as the nanny seems to have a hidden agenda in which she plans to destroy this perfect family.
A great read that I rate 4 stars.

I think I read too many books that have very similar themes that this author's books just don't seem to have anything unique or completely mind blowing about them. Sadly, this one didn't either.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review The Perfect Family by Shalini Boland. This is a family drama that centers on a mother of young children.. Gemma does everything for her family - but she is at her wits end. One morning her daughter disappears and is found by Gemma's mother in law. This event pushes her husband and mother-in-law to get a nanny to help Gemma. Gemma reluctantly agrees and then Sadie arrives.
Sadie is a god send according to everyone, but Gemma is unsure and does not trust her.
Then things go down hill and Gemma watches her family change into something she could never believe could be.
Good Book - 3 stars.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is a brilliant modern with a brilliant twist. I read it in a day and couldn't put it down. We have a happy family, an evil mother-in-law and a crazy nanny. The perfect recipe!

Wow, Shalini Boland is my new favorite author. This is the second book I read by her and it was just as good as the first. This is a stand alone which are my favorite.

This book is about a mother trying to find out the truth before her whole family gets taken from her. Who is telling her the truth and who wants to unravel her like a ball of string.

Nothing is what it seems in this book and that is what makes it such a fast and great read. You think you got it all figured out but then another bombshell gets dropped on you. Even the ending I would have never guessed. It makes you think that you truly don’t know someone and what bad intentions they have boiled inside of them. Boy do I love this author and book.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Another brilliant read from Shalini Boland. Tense, gripping and compelling. Couldn't put it down and found the character of Sadie very unsettling and disturbing. Great twist at the end, didn't see that coming!

What did I think about The Perfect Family?
I received this book as an advanced review copy (ARC) from Netgalley. It’s so much fun to read books as they are being released or right after they are released.

This book was a fun read and my first book by Shalini Boland. I love reading a book with a strong, intelligent, working mother. I definitely know it isn’t easy and can relate to the things you miss or feel like you aren’t doing. She has lovely kids that aren’t perfect and she shows how hard of a struggle it is to balance work and home. She has a mother-in-law who is pretty intrusive, loving to point out her failures as a working mom. And then of course there are the other “perfect moms”. Do you think there really are perfect moms or do they just appear that way? Gemma realizes her oldest daughter needs a tutor, and with work complicating things she decides to kill two birds with one stone and get a live-in nanny. This makes things both better, and more complicated, as it is definitely hard to rely on a stranger

I’m trying not to say something like, I love the twist, because I’ve been reading that can set books up for failure at times. Do you feel disappointed in books with twists when you are expecting that twist?

The main narration of the book is from Gemma’s perspective, but there are short chapters thrown in from another perspective. These start out mysterious and of course are revealed later on.

So, what didn’t I like?
While I enjoyed the book, including the ending which I hated and loved at the same time, I really didn’t love the characters. It certainly makes for a better book when you really connect with the characters. It isn’t that I disliked them, but I didn’t feel a big connection to them.

A huge thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for approving me to read this book and sent me a copy to read and give my honest review. I really do enjoy getting early peeks at books and be able to share what I’m reading with you! I hope you like to see the variety of what I read too!

Would I read more books by Shalini Boland? I most definitely would. I enjoyed her writing and thoroughly enjoyed this crazy ride of a story.

This book did not live up to the expectations that I thought it would. The storyline was okay at best. It was a slow starter for me and I really did not want to finish reading this.

What a thriller; what a ride! The Perfect Family by Shalini Boland delivered everything I look for in a domestic thriller; it was gripping and captivating, and it hooked me from the very beginning. Of course, the story involves the picture perfect who seems to have it all. However, the characters, mainly the mother, are under an incredible amount of pressure to make it all work. As the story unfolds, I found myself sympathizing with Gemma, as I too am a mom. I felt so bad for her, and I just wanted to reach through the pages of the book and give her a hug. This is a testament to Boland's excellent writing style. I would definitely recommend this one, especially if you love a juicy domestic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

I loved this book. It seems I either love or hate Shalini Boland’s books and I definitely loved this one. The Perfect Family is probably the best book of Shalini’s that I have read. It has everything you want from a thriller and was even more enjoyable because every single thing that happened was 100% believable, there’s nothing too outlandish or over the top and in fact the story is almost scary because of how easy it would be for someone to do this to you (that is, if you are as naive at times as Gemma was).

Stories featuring nannies attempting to seduce their employers aren’t exactly rare but what Shalini has done with the story here is brilliant. I’m not even going to allude to the plot other than that (a comment made in another review almost ruined the story for me), but I will say that it really is a fantastic and twisted story. Gemma is a likeable character, a workaholic mother who has to hire a nanny to look after their children and also tutor their daughter Eva. Because some events obviously have to happen for the sake of the story, sometimes it can feel a little contrived and forced, but that only happened once here for me. The rest of the story flowed brilliantly and I couldn’t read quick enough (it did slow down a little bit in the middle but the ending more than made up for it).

The Perfect Family is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year in terms of the ending because it really was fantastic and did justice to the story that had came before it. All too often I read books like this and the ending is abysmal or completely unbelievable, here it was so satisfying. I highly recommend this book and I am now excited to see what Shalini brings us next.