I loved this! Such a fast, thrilling book. Dark subjects though.

I received a copy via netgalley just before the release. I read it so quickly; I just couldn’t put it down.

I loved the characters. The main character especially; Eileen is so real to me. Most of the book is from her perspective and I really enjoyed reading it. It feels like everything is a spoiler in this book so I don’t want to give too many details.

Clare was also very interesting. I loved reading about her past to try and dig out the mysteries. Some of them were obvious but others were more real and it was wonderful.

This isn’t a happily ever after book, but that just made it so much more brilliant. Even if the ending was a bit corny, it felt so right.

It’s a must read. It’s fast-paced without overwhelming you. It’s got a great mystery and fun to read about characters. I’m so glad I read this!

Loved it! What a wonderful read- not too weighty, light or flighty, but not so depressingly serious and dramatic that it brings you down. Wonderful characters that seem to be very human- flawed and nuanced and sometimes drunk, but forgiving.

Eileen and Clare are wonderful sisters - ones that were close but now have their own lives, and when Eileen is faced with the reality of trying to understand her sister’s motivations, Taylor takes us back through Clare’s journals and shows us her world, both real and fantasy.
I know it’s silly, but I loved how Eileen looked into the mirror and said ‘come one Eileen’ - I haven’t been able to get that song out of my head; and I’m grateful Taylor did include that small reference as to not would have been a very sad missed opportunity.

And I know this may not be the opinion of other reviewers, but given that this is my review, I’m going to say I liked how Taylor treaded lightly in the end. We are given closure to the story without having to be beaten over the head with Clare’s motivations.

This plot was compelling and I found it hard to stop reading. The story explored the bonds of sisterhood, infidelity, suicide, and celebrity status. I was tempted to rush to get the answers at the end, but the journey was very good.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The day after publishing her latest novel, famous author Clare Collins commits suicide. Her husband (and agent) and her sister try to figure out why. This novel moves between the aftermath of that act and Clare's earlier life as a teenager in Wyoming. Though I had a sense of where it was headed, there was still enough mystery to keep me reading. Additional depth is provided by the secondary storylines of Clare's sister's rocky marriage and their mother's dementia. Very good reading!

A story essentially about two sisters. Clare was the award winning author and Eileen got to know that she committed suicide. But why? Clare had everything in her life.

My first book by the author, writing was thrilling in most parts. I got to know the lives of both the sisters and the secrets that revolved around them. Emotions were laid bare as the past and present intertwined. The mystery with its twist at the end was predictable. I couldn't connect much with the characters, but it was the story which got to me.

Overall, a fun read

I REALLY dislike giving negative feedback in books. I wanted so badly to love this book as the plot was very intriguing to me. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into it. The characters were not like able at all. The main character was a doormat and drove me crazy. 😬

This book is several stories all mish-mashed into one. It is Clare's sstory of her lost love and her writing career, it is Eileen's story of her marriage and it is Simon's story of standing alone without Clare. I did figure out Ella's secret before the author revealed it, but that was OK because it was self-satisfying when Ella made her confession. One thing that really did disturb me, however, was the death of the dog. I am so tired of dogs dying in stories--I wish that authors would figure out another pivital event. The other concern I had was the money that Eileen inherited...would she have left Eric without receiving 85 million from her sister's estate? It would certainly not hae been as easy to make her decision. But the book was a pleasant read--perfect for the summer.

Her Perfect Life centers on the life of Clare Collins. She is an award-winning author. Clare and her sister, Eileen, were once close. Now their lives couldn’t be any different. Eileen is stunned to hear that Clare has committed suicide on the beach just as her last novel is coming out. Eileen and Simon, Clare’s husband, read Clare’s last novel to try to discover what lead to the suicide.
I personally enjoyed the book. The sisters’ life while growing up was interesting. Clare’s life in the spotlight was interesting too. Eileen becomes very aware of the fact that appearances aren’t everything. You don’t know what is going on in someone’s life.

EXCERPT: 'Tell me a story, Clare.'

Her eyes flew open, the sound of Adam's voice still clear in her mind, but also, it was as if she had heard it in the room. His sound, his exact pitch and tone, the lifetime she'd lived with that voice - the eternity it had been since she'd heard it.

'Adam?' she whispered into the room. Only the sound of her own heart rushing in her ears answered her. Twenty years. In a few months, it will have been twenty years since that night. The thumb of her left hand pressed against his ring on her finger.

She opened the journal and stared down into her eleven-year-old handwriting. Looking at the loopy and irregular, slightly wild cursive that had improved only a little in the last twenty-seven years, Clare read the first line she'd ever put down into the world.

'Mama said Daddy isn't coming home.'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Reclusive Clare Collins crafts her novels like she crafts her life: perfectly. So the world is stunned when the famous author is found dead on the beach from a self-inflicted gunshot -- the morning after her latest book hits the shelves.

Her sister, Eileen, is at a loss. Clare led a charmed life: success, mansions, money…why would she throw it all away? But while reading through her sister’s latest—and greatest—novel, Eileen discovers a clue that unravels the fiction and reveals the painful truth. Suddenly, the life that Eileen had envied doesn’t seem so sparkling . . .

MY THOUGHTS: You know those days when you've forgotten your lunch, so you stop and buy a sandwich out of the cabinet on your way to work, and it looks fine, but by the time you get to it, it's kind of dried out a little and curling round the edges? That was my experience in reading Her Perfect Life by Rebecca Taylor.

Unfortunately, I didn't become enthralled or captivated by either the characters or the storyline, which I had figured out early on.

This is a rags to riches story. Small town girl makes good - leaves behind her tragic past and triumphs over it. Only, you know what they say . . . you can run away, but you always take yourself with you.

The two sisters, Clare and Eileen, couldn't be more different, their only similarity being their artistic talents. Clare is beautiful, talented, a successful writer who churns out a number of bestsellers each year. She is ridiculously wealthy and adored by both her agent husband and her fans. Clare's daily life is filled with stillness and silence, her mansion home reflecting this. She is also complicated and secretive. A mystery. She keeps her life carefully compartmentalised. 'To know Clare, truly, was to accept the fact that you couldn't ever know what was swirling beneath her beautiful surface.' And this is, perhaps, her greatest attraction.

Eileen's life is constant chaos. It's filled with her children, her dogs, her phone and her husband. She struggles to make a living as a photographer, relying on taking family portraits to keep afloat. She is an open book.

The two sisters have never really understood one another and, as a result, have never been close.

The story is told by both Clare, narrating the years that led to her suicide, and Eileen, coping with the aftermath of Clare's death while also dealing with issues of her own.

This is a quick, easy read, but for me it wasn't a satisfying one.

😑😑.5

#HerPerfectLife #NetGalley

'Time hated her - and it was clearly personal.'

THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Taylor lives in sunny Colorado with her husband, two teens, and two tragically spoiled dogs. Her Perfect Life is her debut novel.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Sourcebooks, Landmark for providing a digital ARC of Her Perfect Life by Rebecca Taylor for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This was a quick read that I stayed up way too late to finish!
I loved the characters in this book and how real they were. The twist at the end I saw coming but it didn’t take away from the book.
Overall, this is a great book that covers a lot of sensitive topics.
Thanks to Netgalley for my ebook copy.

This intriguing debut novel, “Her Perfect Life” by Rebecca Taylor explores the bonds of sisterhood in the aftermath of suicide. Eileen Greyden, was an overworked Colorado married mother of three when she received a call that her sister Clare Collins, a famous celebrity novelist had taken her own life on her private beachfront estate near San Francisco. Simon, Eileen’s distraught brother-in-law, could barely function-- she rushed to his side to help and make final arrangements.

Before leaving, Eileen found a packet of photos affixed to the windshield of her husband Eric’s car that she needed to drive to the airport. Eileen examined the shocking contents of the packet, which could permanently change and alter her family life. In California, Eileen and Simon were forced to contemplate why a multi-million USD bestselling novelist would end her life, at the peak of her success. There were no clues. Simon, also represented his wife as her literary agent, he adored her and their luxurious life of vast wealth and fame.

As the story progressed, it became apparent that Eileen and her sister were not close. Eileen and Simon consumed a lot of wine as they read and studied the stories, writing, and Clare's personal papers in hopes of unraveling the mysterious reasons surrounding her death. As the story drew to a close, the reasons that led to Clare Collins death seemed to be based on speculation rather than reality or fact. It just seemed unlikely that a successful mega-celebrity novelist would or could hide glaring mental afflictions that often lead to suicide without clues or detection by loved ones. The real intrigue of this story wasn’t actually entirely about Clare Collins, but rather, Eileen, and how she would address the contents of the packet. (3*GOOD) ** With thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark via NetGalley for the ADC for the purpose of review.

I feel like the premise of Her Perfect Life started off strong, but by the 30% mark my interest started to wane. Other than Eileen, I never really felt a connection to any of the other characters. Especially not Clare, who I really think was not as fleshed out as she could have been. I also was able to guess the "big reveal" as soon as the accident was mentioned. I honestly almost gave up and DNFed at about 75% in, but figured I'd read it through just to see if I was right. And when it was finally officially revealed, it all just fell flat to me. Like no one was truly surprised, mirroring my own feelings at the time. I just found this novel to be more about relationships than the suspense/thriller novel it was supposed to be and I wasn't exactly pleasantly surprised by that revelation.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Claire is a famous writer who lives in a mansion with a husband who adores her. Eileen is a photographer with three kids and a stale marriage. After Claire's tragic suicide, Eileen struggles to determine why while struggling to make sense of the changes in her own life.

I made it about a third of the way through this book before I gave up on it. The story is about a wealthy author who apparently commits suicide on a beach right as her latest novel is hitting the public eye. It's also about her sister who lives a rather more impoverished life, apparently receiving no assistance from her rich sister, and who gets an unexpected call from her distraught brother-in-law. I immediately suspected that guy rather than suicide, but since I didn't finish this novel, I have no idea if I'm right.

Eileen flies to her sister's home, and that's where I gave up on it. The story did nothing to move me at all. In fact it felt like a depressing and dreary read, but two things really turned me off it. The first was the screeching halt to which the story was brought to by flashbacks. I cannot stand flashbacks. I can't think of a better way to annoy your reader than interrupt what had begun as an interesting story to explore tedious family history. When I read a story I want to get on with the story. I do not want to be constantly and irritatingly interrupted by the author forcing me to go back in time, giving me whiplash by suddenly - in Chapter three, for example, forcing me back two years ago. Tell the story now for goodness sake!

Neither did it help by the tennis-play chapters - now we're with Eileen, Now we're with Simon. No, it's back to Eileen. Wait a sec! Now Simon has it. Slap! Look left. Slap! Look right! Sorry, but no. No. NO! I was initially attracted and intrigued by the idea of Eileen reading Clare's latest novel and finding clues in the writing as to what happened, but he author seemed defiantly intent upon putting me off that story altogether by screwing around instead of getting on with it. The more I read, the less I felt that the payoff would be worth the work of reading this, and work it was.

One of the most obnoxious parts of the book was that I once again had to read a female author describing a woman and putting beauty first in the list, like no woman has any higher calling or more important trait than being beautiful. I have seen this time and time again in reading books by female authors and I find it sickening that they cannot value their fellow women - not even fictional ones - for anything apart from beauty first.

I read, at only 6% in, "Clare Collins was beautiful...." Yes, it went on to describe other qualities, but beauty was always foremost. 28% in: "...beautiful, talented, and simply awe-inspiring sister...." Yep. Beauty first. Again. How beastly. 37% in "...her beautiful face...." 40% in: "...her beautiful surface...." 41% in: "Clare was beautiful...." Oh wait! at 51% in we get a change! Clare is "...vivacious and..." on no! "Vivacious and beautiful...." There it goes again. 61%: "...beautiful and talented...." It was tediously repetitive.

This is tiresome, obnoxious, and awful writing. People who write about women like this are a part of the problem and I cannot commend a book that persistently devalues women to a skin depth and little more. The book description has it that this is "a page-turning debut" but for me it was a stomach-turning one, and a cover-closing one so I could move on to the next read on my list which hopefully will feature characters who are not valued only for skin which is 'bright and clear' which is what the name Clare means. I can't commend this based on the layout of the book, the demeaning of a female character, and the content of the third of it that I managed to stomach.

This one was intense and I thoroughly enjoyed! The dual timelines were great & it was so neat to read Clare's diaries and see a peek into her life when she was younger. The format was great and :Taylor did a really great job telling the stories of both Eileen and Clare. I felt bad for Eileen and all of her struggles (SO MANY!), but also felt endeared to Clare and her personal demons. Definitely lots of trigger warnings in this one but a solid story line and well written. A true page turner! Thank you Sourcebooks Landmarked for an advanced copy!

Thank you to Netgalley, Rebecca Taylor and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted, advanced copy of Her Perfect Life by Rebecca Taylor publishing on June 2, 2020.
I devoured the book in one sitting.  I loved the plot, the characters, the point of view. The novel provides a glimpse into the world of a bestselling novelist, a lifetime love, and the burial of secrets. The story is from two points of view; the first POV is novelist Claire Collin's Sister Eileen as she navigates the suicide death of her only sister as she works to find out why her sister would have taken such a drastic measure to end her own life. The second POV is Claire's perspective and the year before suicide, taking the readers through her experience of becoming a novel and all of her past events she puts into her writing. The book is categorized as a mystery/thriller, and I would be more apt to put in the general fiction/mystery. I found this book entertaining, engaging, and was sad when it ended as I wanted to continue being a "fly-on-the-wall" of Eileen's life and her extended family's lives. I would love the author to re-visit the experience of Eileen as a continuation of her story.  As much as you begin to understand Calire's secret, I get the feeling there are secrets to learn about her Eileen. I would also like the author to go deeper into the life of Eileen and Claire's mother as I loved her immediately and could sense the mystery around her. Her Perfect Life is the perfect beach read this summer, or the ideal any time read!

Successful writer Clare Collins and Eileen, a wife and mother of three, are sisters. One day, Eileen receives a phone call from Simon, Clare's husband in which he reveals shocking news... Clare has been found dead on a beach after apparently shooting herself. Eileen cannot understand why her sister - someone who led a charmed life - would do this, so she heads to San Francisco to meet with Simon. But did Clare really have the alluring lifestyle that Eileen found so enviable?

Her Perfect Life is told in seamlessly transitioning chapters between past and present, narrated by Simon and Eileen, with excerpts from Clare's journals and published works. This style worked very well for me, making unfolding events easy to follow. The characterisation by Rebecca Taylor was very well done and each had plenty of personality and depth. I was invested in all of them and needed to know how the story would pan out. Her Perfect Life is an engaging piece of domestic fiction about sisterhood and relationships that included good dollops of harboured secrets, infidelity, duplicity, lies, and envy. A pretty good début and an all-round riveting read.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

This one was just okay for me. I found it a little predictable but still an okay read. I wouldn’t necessarily classify this one as a thriller really. I just felt it was more of a general fiction bordering on a mystery read.

I devoured Rebecca Taylor's compelling debut adult fiction novel, "Her Perfect Life." Eileen has a normal life, with three unruly kids, and a workaholic husband, but normal. Safe. Plain. Maybe even boring. Unlike her older sister, THE Clare Collins. Clare is a very successful, bestselling novellist, with more wealth and fame than Eileen could imagine. When Clare is found dead in an apparent act of suicide, her husband, Simon, enlists Eileen's help to figure out why she would do this. United in their grief, they will not stop looking until they find answers, no matter how painful the truth might be.
.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I often found myself furiously flipping pages, eager to find out what happened next. More than once, my heart raced in my chest, and I needed to calm myself down before reading further. I love the use of journals throughout the novel to help us understand Clare's complex character more and more. I never once found myself lost from one chapter to the next, regardless of the passing of time. It was seamless and done perfectly!
.
Rebecca Taylor has a riveting style that will keep hold of your attention from start to finish. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Many of the twists in this story were predictable and many times specifically Eileen, comments and train of thought very repetitive to the point of redundancy. This made Eileen's chapters drag on. However, I did enjoy Clare's pov and her plotline. It was the strongest one. The way it was presented was riveting. Her issues and interactions pulled me in. I would rate this book a 3.25 because of this.