The Perfect Daughter is a great psychological thriller by DJ Palmer. The story is very interesting and has a bit of a twisty ending! However, it was difficult to like a couple of the characters (by design, I'm sure) and that kept me from loving the story as much as I might have. I can't give it a LOVE rating however, it's a good book - read it if psychological thrillers are your thing! 3.5 stars

This was a gripping psychological thriller that hooked me right away! It was slightly disturbing at times but I was so intrigued throughout it!

I enjoyed that it shed light on mental illnesses and I was extremely fascinated by the debate for Penny of whether DID (Dissociative Personality Disorder) is considered a real diagnosis of a mental health condition or if it could be a fabrication and essentially a result of a whole other psychiatric issue!

While I was entertained and captivated throughout, unfortunately, I just didn’t love the ending. However, I still encourage everyone to check it out for yourselves as it was definitely a thought-provoking read!

This was a slow building thriller but it kept my interest and it had a fun twist at the end. Penny was found in a park when she was four years old and she was unable to give her.name or where she came from. Grace found her and then Grace and her husband adopted her and gave her the name Penny. As Penny grew she had some odd personality quirks appear and some issues with memory and eventually she was dignaosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Fast forward and Grace is called to the police station because Penny was found covered in blood standing over a dead woman who happened to be her birth mother. As Grace attempts to figure out what happened that night the reader is forced to consider if one alter had committed a crime can they all be punished? I was gifted an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher and author so I could provide my honest review and I thank them both.

Wow! The Perfect Daughter by DJ Palmer is a thriller that left me stunned. It’s centers around mental illness, family, secrets, and murder. It is a fascinating and addicting book that I couldn’t wait to unravel. Penny has dissociative identity disorder and is found covered in her biological mothers blood after the mother is murdered. Could Penny or one of her alters have murdered Rachel?

This is my favorite genre to read, and this book didn't disappoint! It had enough action to keep me engaged and the Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID) angle made for some interesting twists, and it showed a more realistic view of the disorder than is typically portrayed in the media. Some parts of the story moved a bit slower than I preferred or expected, but I'm glad I stuck with it, as it balanced out as the plot unfolded. I look forward to reading more of Palmer's books.

I was lucky enough to win an electronic ARC of THE PERFECT DAUGHTER by D.J. Palmer in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and stay safe!

Wow, what a thrilling read! I was drawn in from the first page. This was book was expertly plotted with many twists. I really liked the main characters. The conclusion was jaw dropping.

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer delves into the life of a teenage girl who has dissociative identity disorder (DID) after she is accused of murdering her biological mother. This was an average thriller for me. Overall, the plot seemed a bit too implausible, some of the characters were not only unlikeable but also boring, and I was disappointed in the ending.

The Perfect Daughter by D.J Palmer
Publication date 20th April 2020

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for a honest review.

Book Synopsis

Meet Ruby, who speaks with a British accent. Then there’s Chloe, a perfectionist who strives for straight A’s in school. And along comes Eve, who is spiteful and vicious.
All of them live inside Penny…Or do they?

Penny Francone, age sixteen, is a murderer. Her guilt is beyond doubt: she was found alone in the victim’s apartment, covered in blood, holding the murder weapon. The victim’s identity and her secret relationship to Penny, give Penny the perfect motive, sealing the deal. All the jury needs to decide now is where Penny will serve out her sentence. Will she be found not guilty by reason of insanity, as her lawyer intends to argue? Or will she get a life sentence in a maximum-security prison?
Already reeling from tragedy after the sudden passing of her beloved husband a few years before, now Grace is on her knees, grateful that Massachusetts doesn't allow the death penalty.

As Penny awaits trial in a state mental hospital, she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh, a psychiatrist battling demons of his own. Grace’s determination to understand the why behind her daughter’s terrible crime fuels Mitch’s resolve to help the Francone family. Together, they set out in search of the truth about Penny, but discover instead a shocking hidden history of secrets, lies, and betrayals that threatens to consume them all.

The perfect daughter. Is she fooling them all?

My thoughts
This was an interesting book, especially around the Penny’s Dissociative identify disorder and seeing each ‘identity’s’ characteristics.

My favourite parts were between Mitch and the identity at the time and the different interactions he had them.

Other parts of the story Mitch/Adam and those with Vince, did not hold my interest as much and I found myself want to get back to other parts.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy

I was excited to read this book. I love psychological thrillers/mysteries so this sounded right up my alley. I did enjoy the book, but some parts were a little slow to me and I felt I was reading and reading but wasn't gaining on the pages read. I waived between 3 and 4 stars, but decided with 3.

I absolutely loved the synopsis and couldn’t wait to dig into a book about dissociative identity disorder aka multiple personality disorder. The whole book was totally fascinating! I loved learning about things from the perspective of the psychologist, the adoptive mother, and one of the brothers. DJ Palmer writes so well that I’m totally going back to buy his previous book, too! I absolutely recommend The Perfect Daughter to anyone who wants to jump on a roller coaster ride of what-ifs and what-happened!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

DJ Palmer never disappoints. The Perfect Daughter was a well written thriller that kept me enthralled in the plot the entire time. The characters were thought out and well written. Highly recommend The Perfect Daughter

I must say, I did uncover the central mystery - but that only happened seconds before the revelations. Mr. Palmer managed to create a lot of empathy for the protagonist despite the grim tone of the story line. I appreciated there were no characters that were present just to create a smoke screen - all minor charterers did play some part. The style was easy going, spontaneous and remarkably lucid.

I won't give anything away, no spoilers here. Just know that it's a very well written book. The way the author carefully and slowly led us into the truth of the story was surprising and a fun read. I really enjoyed the trip through the unfolding and revealing of what happened and I look forward to more books from him for sure.

This psychological thriller had me totally absorbed in the story and invested in the characters. A family adopts a 5 year old girl who was initially found in a park alone. They call her Penny. As Penny gets older there are some issues where they notice that her personality totally changes and they seem like distinctly separate personas. It gets to a point where she's finally diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), or having multiple personalities. Penny has several - Ruby, Chloe, and Eve - they know of, but there could be more.

When Penny is a teenager she is arrested for a brutal murder. She was found in the victim's home, covered in blood and holding a knife. Penny has no memory of this at all. Grace, her mother, is a staunch advocate for Penny as the trial looms. The plot centers around investigation of Penny's condition and investigation of the murder. It is a fascinating read!

I'm sure the author spent a great deal of time researching this disease and it shows in the story. My heart went out to Penny and her mother, Grace for everything they faced. I really liked Dr. Mitch, who actually took pains to understand what was going on with Penny. The twists in this story are great!

I'm sure many people, like me, are fascinated with this multiple personality disease. Since I was young and saw the movie, Sybil, I've followed any books and movies I could which dealt with this topic - it's just so interesting to me.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an an advance copy.

The Perfect Daughter is the story of a young lady with a very complex history and diagnosis. It’s part mystery and part family drama.
While I enjoyed the story (and did not correctly guess ‘who done it’), I did not find myself HAVING to pick the book up to finish. The writing is solid and I will be reading other books by this author, these particular characters didn’t really grab me.
Final review- While this won’t be a story a choose to reread in the future, I’m glad I read it and can recommend it to friends who like this kind of book.

This was a very suspenseful thriller about a teen with Dissociative Identity Disorder (better known as multiple personalities). This is something that I have found so interesting in movies/tv/books and this definitely added to my intrigue with the disorder. It also had a nice surprising ending. Highly recommend!

Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A very well written and paced story that made you want to keep reading to discover who had committed this murder and why. From early on in this story you were clearly "on the side" of the family and invested in hoping for a good outcome but only cliose to the end of the book did you get the twist and it wasn't signposted at all.

This is the tale of a family trying to deal with their daughter's mental illness, when it appears the ultiate horror, murder, has occurred. But has it? Is Penny really responsible? Or did the police rush to close the case and ignore other possibile suspects? But is Penny really telling the truth? Has her mental illness changed and doctors ignored the warning signs? Nicely done, this thriller will have you rapidly turning the pages, trying to figure out if Peny is really responsible and is Dr McHugh is hiding secrets that will affect her case. Well done, this is THE thriller you want for Spring!

This book captured my attention straight out of the gate and didn’t let go until the end. The ending, by the way, that I absolutely did NOT see coming. I love when thrillers keep me in the dark and this one did not let me down. I had a number of theories and not one hit the mark. The characters were also excellent, including Penny and her various alters. I was concerned about how a mental disorder would be treated in a thriller, but it truly felt well researched and not at all used for shock value.

Highly recommend!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced e-copy.

Need a book that you'll be so absorbed in that you'll stay up late reading? This is the one.

There are 2 "views" in this book - a narrated view and a "letter" view from the brother to the sister. The story itself revolves around a teenage girl who is being charged with murder of her birth mother and is currently placed in a mental institution. The mother, Grace, feels it in her bones that her daughter is innocent and rallies those around her to discover the truth. Seems simple, right? WRONG.

The problem is that the daughter has been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder - a mental disorder that is debatable and involves multiple personalities. Grace must work with the defense attorney as well as the psychiatrist at the institution to prove the daughter's innocent - but first she has to find out who exactly murdered the birth mother.

I loved every moment of this one. It moved at the perfect pace and I found the therapy sessions absolutely thrilling. I figured there would be a happy ending of sorts - but I never saw the ending coming! I love books like that! It definitely thrilling! I absolutely recommend this one to anyone who reads thrillers.