Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General for the ARC copy of this book.
Sorry to say this one wasn’t for me at all. Didn’t like the constant change of timeline and none of the characters drew me in. Found the “fairy tale“ like element a bit over the top and the ending just left me wondering why I had just spent 4 hours reading the story.

I'm finding it hard to properly review this book because I haven't got a clue what I really feel about it. My overwhelming thought is that this book was okay. That's it, nothing special about it and nothing glaringly wrong about it either.

Okay, so first of all, the first half of the book is incredibly slow. The mix between the Then and Now chapters didn't have much of a clear definition and I felt like it interrupted the flow of the story a lot of the time. The book did eventually pick up, but by then I was already kind of bored.
This really isn't a thriller book either. It's more of a woman trying to make sense of the manipulation she is suffering through and doesn't get me wrong, it was interesting enough, but it's marketed as something it's not.
I also thought that Vanessa was very one dimensional. I didn't like nor care for her character and frankly, I found her challenging to read from. She was very selfish and chaotic and made questionable decisions.
The ending was predictable and to be honest, I skim read it at best. I felt the plot was unoriginal in this sense and there was no big reveal or any of the dramatics you'd expect. I kind of felt let down.

Overall, a decent book but sadly, unmemorable.
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminds me of an old film called Gaslight I enjoyed every twist and turn.  The characters were perfect for the book. I would highly recommend it.

This was certainly an interesting concept which was well written and I read it in one day. It was an story about Vanessa who was looking for the story book lovely life that she fantasised about when she was young and was searching for that since her mother r died at an early age.

It was an interesting read as I found myself alternately liking and loathing Vanessa and not quite understanding why a seemingly intelligent woman had firstly got involved with someone who was clearly mentally abusing her and then had decided to play out the fantasy of visiting very exclusive homes up for sale, under the guise of different personas.

The tale is well written and the characters are interesting and kept the pages turning. I enjoyed the ending which I didn’t see coming and this rounded the story off well.

A definite recommendation for those that love a chic lit style thriller and love to hate the characters they are reading about.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an amazing read and I am so thankful I had the chance to read it before its publication day. 

A pacy psychollogical thriller that touches many interesting topics including depression, lies, rape, and trying to become someone else.

I was hooked from the very beginning and cannot recommend it enough!

Vanessa struggles with finding happiness and uses house viewing as a way to pretend her life is better, just those few moments of looking around that special house, she feels elated and happy.

But her addiction becomes her downfall and her life takes a sudden change for the worst. 

This was an enjoyable book, but some plots didn't add up right and the actions of her best friend were very odd. 

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for ARC

I found this book hard to get into but once I did I enjoyed it. The subject matter of coercive control is very complex. You wonder why didn't she get out sooner but whilst it is actually happening to you you don't recognize it for a long time. It just builds up slowly. I found the final chapter very insightful. The only bit I found really unbelievable was her abandonment by her best friend but I realize this had to happen so that she had no one "on her side" except her sister who she didn't want to worry.

Vanessa is struggling to make sense of the direction her life has taken and decides to indulge in some escapism by viewing random houses she has no intention of buying. When one of the sellers ends up murdered, and Vanessa is the last known person to see him alive, suspicion naturally falls on her, particularly given her recent unstable behaviour ...

I had mixed feelings about this one. I loved My Sister’s Bones and so had high hopes for another gripping read. And this book did hold my interest; it was really well written with plenty of complex relationships. I enjoyed the Geoffrey storyline and the author really evoked Vanessa’s poignant longing for her dead mother. 

The description of the pivotal childhood meeting between Vanessa and Gabriel - 2 desperately lonely children - was also very moving, and I liked the way it was introduced towards the end to explain the link between the two.

For me, the story was a slightly let down by the last few chapters. It felt a little rushed and the last chapter in particular seemed a bit too conveniently wrapped up and was verging on trite.  

Overall though, a solid read that captured my interest and provided a decent distraction from lockdown blues!

I really wanted to enjoy this book but I just couldn’t get into it. It felt like there was too much jumping around and I was getting confused what was happening when.  I also didn’t really like the main character that much.  

I did plod through but it really wasn’t enjoyable for me.

I really wanted to like this because of its gorgeous cover and what appeared to be a great concept. However, I couldn't believe that the characters would do the things they did and that got in the way of my enjoyment of the book. I may well return to it over Christmas, but with so many other great books out there it didn't feel worth persevering with. Sorry publishers, but the rise in quality we're experiencing at the moment is also raising the stakes.

I enjoyed this book but find it a difficult story to  review: I found the behavour of the 'best friend'  very peculiar and could only imagine it was for plot purposes.  The victim spent  time looking at houses that she could not affoard, whilst this was part of the storyline, the pages and pages of information about the properties was a complete waste of time.  I did not see the twist in the tale, but it did stretch the imagination somewhat.  A good read but I would not go out of my way to look for other books by this author.

Thank to Net Galley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a novel about coercive control and the perils of social media. To be effective and believable the victim needs to be intelligent, savvy but ultimately have a fragility that allows the coercion to take place. Vanessa is rather shallow and somewhat irritating in the "I can't believe she really fell for that" sense. She has a high ranking job and yet falls for some of the most obvious traps. Why on earth are you staying? I found myself asking on numerous occasions especially after the pregnancy- did she not have a biology lesson at school? The story is told in a dual time line which is a good idea but this felt very disjointed and leapt about all over the place. I could just about believe someone going to look at expensive houses they can't afford but she was obsessed and somehow it didn't ring quite true. Her best friend behaves in an appalling and totally unreasonable way, almost out of character so this telegraphs the way the plot will go. I think it would have been much better to just have the coercive storyline and not muddy the waters with a completely preposterous sub plot. The ending? Again really? Implausible and a "oh well c'est la vie" attitude form the police. No- sorry I can see others are huge fans but I found it wanting

I was lucky enough to of been given the chance from net galley to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Well first of all I would say buy it as soon as u can. I couldn't put it down, there was twist after twist and even though you could kind of see certain people and how they would turn out like later on, the ending in my eyes I didnt see coming at all. I loved the style of writing and the characters. Definitely a must buy and one of my top reads this year.

Vanessa has been unlucky in life. Losing her mum  at age ten has left her emotionally vulnerable. When she meets the wrong man she finds solace in viewing huge houses she could never afford to buy. She adopts a different persona for each house she visits  and gives herself a new name and detailed back story.
Although she is loved well by her older sister and her best friend Vanessa cannot confide in them when things start to go wrong until the day the police are involved.
I don't know whether I loved or hated this book. I did have to take a break from it for a few days. I didn't realize the subject matter was going to be what it was and found it hard to read.
My blood pressure rose at what was happening to Vanessa and I wanted to  make her  tell her sister the truth. There was a good if unbelievable twist to the book. I didn't see it coming.
I suppose all that I have said is what a good book is all about. It affects you  and makes you think about it after you have put it down. 
After that I need a nice quite romance book to read to steady my nerves.

Vanessa Adams leads a double life, adopting fictitious identities as she is shown round houses as she has no intention of buying.  Her embarrassment as this subterfuge unravels is enormous, all the more so as her deceit is dissected by the policeman investigating the murder of an acquaintance .
The tale is told as by Vanessa and includes lots about her sister, her friends and her clothes and it was the girlie aspect that had me struggling to get involved.  I did not find the central character to be all that interesting.  
It's not a bad book, just not one that got me involved.

Vanessa seems to have it all. Perfect job, friends and boyfriend. And she likes stories. So much that she starts to visit houses on sale under false identities. She just wants to find a home, the feeling she had as a child, when her mother was still alive. One day everything turns against her.
Will her perfect life fall apart? 

Good novel, just not for me personally. Story is just too all over the place for my taste.

In The Perfect Life, we meet Vanessa Adams in two different time periods - Now - where she finds herself living with her sister, fragile, and being questioned by the police... - and 2 years earlier, where she appears to have the Perfect Life - the perfect job, the perfect new boyfriend, and the perfect dreams of that perfect home for them to move into.

As the story develops, and flips between Then and Now, we slowly find out what has happened to bring Nessa's perfect life crashing down.

The way that Nuala unfolds the story across the two time periods, and from Nessa's viewpoint - which is unreliable as she is unaware of everything going on around her and how these forces are manipulating her - is executed brilliantly, and had me confused (in the good way!), emotionally invested and compelled.

As we only hear from Nessa, we experience the weight of her loss for her mother and best friend, and the strength of the manipulation that she suffers unknowlingly. I found that aspect very powerful, especially looking back when we know the full story.

It was also easy to get lost in the magical world of Holly Maze House - the children's books that Nessa thinks back to throughout the story - and the dream world of exploring the luxury homes for sale that Nessa feels she needs to aspire to in order to be happy.

A very powerful read that I will keep thinking about!

This is far from an easy book to read; Vanessa is a damaged, vulnerable character before she meets Connor who subjects her to horrific verbal abuse and worse. Viewing houses and making up stories has always been an escape for her and shows just how important books can be in allowing us to escape through them.
Well written and absorbing I read this book with a feeling of dread for Vanessa.
This book highlights so many issues in a sensitive way and is ultimately a story female empowerment in this modern, twisted world.
A five star read.

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin General and Nuala Ellwood for allowing me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

"In front of me the screen darkens, obliterating Gloucestershire and polished floors and perfect lives, leaving me only with the stark truth of what I have done."

Vanessa is pulled into an intricately weaved web of manipulation, obsession and murder. Her life falls apart and for the first half of the book you really think that she committed the murder.

As the book progresses, we see that she is horribly manipulated into thinking she is crazy.

For me this first half was very slow, and I almost stopped reading. However I am very glad I kept going.

The second half delves deeper into the manipulation. As Vanessa starts to decline mentally her sister is there to support her throughout.

We reach the end which has some twists i did not expect, justice and finally some happiness.

The second half more than made up for the slow first half, this was a brilliant story.

As someone whose guilty secret is looking at houses I can’t afford on Rightmove, I could identify with Vanessa, the main character in this novel, who escapes from her problems by dreaming about the perfect life she would lead if only she could afford one of the luxury homes she covets whilst browsing property websites. 
Vanessa is a vulnerable, rather child-like young woman in her thirties who is still suffering from losing her mother at the age of 10.  Unable to accept reality, she takes her property fantasies a step too far and makes appointments to view high end properties, adopting different personas and back stories, and posing as a cash buyer. Harmless enough, if unfair to estate agents. However, when a house owner is murdered whilst Vanessa is viewing his house, her lies and tendency to fantasize make her look guilty. 
As a child, Vanessa escaped into fantasy literature; as an adult, she escapes into fantasy houses. The plot cleverly interweaves her childhood obsessions and her adult daydreams, as both lead her into dangerous situations. Unable  to trust her own grasp on reality, Vanessa becomes a victim of coercive and violent behaviour. Can Vanessa grow up and find a way to cope with reality?
I read this book in a day and found it an easy, undemanding read, perfect for a duvet day.