I'm really conflicted about my feelings on this.
The beginning started out really great. I really liked the switch of POVs, the premise, the way the story began. Penny was such an interesting character and I liked the therapy sessions with Mitch as well.
However, I feel like the book sort of lost me halfway through. A lot of scenes were repetitive, the whole plot was just honestly pretty confusing and a lot of things or characters were introduced only to throw off the reader and served no real purpose. I feel like the author tried really hard to avoid anyone guessing the ending.
I do have to say, I didn't manage to figure out how it would end. I also really really liked the courtroom scene in the end, it was super intense and I was basically glued to the book. The way the author played with the crumbs she gave the reader throughout the story was very clever. I was fully convinced that Grace was the killer throughout the entire book. I did find the last twist shocking and unexpected, but also very random. I feel like there were no hints towards this ending, and the way it was explained was pretty weak. I wasn't really a fan of that resolve.
Overall this was a mixed read for me, but I would still definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller.

The Perfect Daughter by D. J. Palmer was one fascinating read. This story touched on family dynamics, mental illness, multiple personalities, you name it. I found this book very hard to put down, and when I had to, I was constantly thinking about the story and characters, and what was going to happen next. It’s been a very long time since I have read a book that totally captured my attention like this one did. Oh, and the ending, ,You Will Not Believe It! . Don’t peek by any means. I will be purchasing multiple copies for my library, and this book is going on the highly recommended shelf when it’s available for my patrons to read. Thank You to NetGalley, D. J. Palmer and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this amazing story. I highly recommend this book.

And that is how you write a book! From the first chapter I was captivated, all the way until the very last page. The first chapter sets up the story perfectly. Penny has DID and is charged with a murder she does not know she may have committed. The story is about not only Penny’s journey, but her doctors as well as that of her family. Written by multiple viewpoints, adding to the storyline. This is by far this author’s best piece of work and I find myself sad that the story is over.

This book was fantastic, and it was unlike anything I have read before. There are many books out there that have mental illness, and link it to some type of murder and/or thriller type theme. This book, however, tackled a mental illness in a term that is not usually used. DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), is a term that refers to something that we all have heard of as Multiple Personality Disorder. This is where someone has multiple personality states, and it is often highly sensationalized. The "crazy" and most evil personality usually takes over and does terrible things. This is always the common theme, and it can often be completely misleading as to what people actually go through. This author actually did a lot of research, and consulted with a psychologist to make sure they did a true representation of what its like.
The story follows Grace, whose daughter Penny, has been implicated and arrested for a murder. Penny was found covered in blood at a murder scene with the murder weapon in her hand. It couldn't be more clear except, Penny has DID, and was completely unresponsive at the scene and has no recollection of the murder. Grace,and her family, can't believe that Penny would ever do something like that, so the set out on an investigation to prove the police, and everyone else wrong. Definitely a lot of twists and turns to keep you on your toes!
It truly touched my heart as I have a family member that has DID, and I know what they go through. Thank you to this author for coming at this story the way they did, and doing their research!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
DJ Palmer - I knew this book was going to be good based on the last 2 books (Saving Meghan and The New Husband) of his that I read and this book surley did not disappoint!
I haven't seen another author take on Multiple Personality Disorder (DID) in such a real and captivating way since Mary Higgins Clark. He took on this condition with understanding and professional. The story showed many different angles of how this condition affects not only the patient, but their family, their friends, their doctors, even the general public.
I love how Mr. Palmer made us all really connect with Grace, the mom. I felt her joy, her struggles and her turmoil throughout the whole book.
Penny - my heart broke for her so many times throughout this book. Not only because of her condition, but her life growing up.
Those final chapters- wow! I don't want to spoil anything, but one of the revelations about blew my socks off!!!! I didn't see that one coming.
I can't wait to read Mr. Palmer's next book!

I was drawn into the story immediately. It was very interesting with a great plot and a great cast of characters. There were some twists and turns and I did not figure it out. If you are looking for a good read that will hold your interest until the last page this is it.

Started this book with great expectations, given the high rating. But was disappointed...The plot revolves around DID ,a mental disorder afflicting the main character who is accused of committing a murder..The author does try to explain DID to some extent but I couldn't get into the book,. The narrative had some cliche sentences and many scenes repeated. The mother character ,Grace was irritating .The twists were quite easy to guess ,the ending was unbelievable. Started losing patience and skipped paragraphs to get to the final reveal. The lawyer appears to be totally dumb and the doctor equally so. They were so easily manipulated by the mother !!.All in all not a great thriller but an average book for me.

I received an advance copy of, The Perfect Daughter, by D.J. Palmer. Wow, what a book. A mothers adopted daughter, who has multiple personalities, kills her biological mother. Such great writing.

Well this was probably one of the best suspense novels I have read. So many twists, turns and surprises and an ending you won’t see coming. I have a book hangover today and I don’t regret it. Highly recommend to everyone!

A look about mental illness and multiple personalities at its best!!!! DJ Palmer told such an awesome story about all of it. Loved all the characters (even the multiple personalities!) and I could not put the book down. And there’s a nice twist towards the end that I enjoyed too! Best book of 2021 so far! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, Usually, it's not difficult to guess the ending of a thriller with all sorts of hints in the chapters, This one was a complete surprise and exciting like finally reaching the top of a gigantic mountain and at last being able to breathe with ease.

This is a fast paced medical thriller about a mother, Grace Francone, that sees a toddler alone in the playground and immediately has a connection with this lost little girl. After discovering that her birth mother is addicted to drugs and not able to take care of her, she starts the proceedings for adoption. Grace and her husband, Arthur, have two sons and she has always wanted a daughter. But this little girl comes with a serious medical condition: Dissociative Identity Disorder or what's usually known as multiple personality disorder. This wasn't apparent for the first few years after adoption. And when they did come out, Grace said, "We were all too in love with Penny to notice" the signs.

The beginning puts you on the edge of your seat when Penny Isabella Francone is now 16 and she's been arrested for murder of her birth mother. The reader dives into her background to learn about the different personalities of this girl: Penny, Eve, Chloe and Ruby -- all with different traits. One of the personalities also has a friend Maria would keep me as a mother up at night.

The most interesting part of the book is about the characteristics of this medical disease and how it can be confusing in the court system. Did "the Devil make her do it?" How does an attorney approach this case? It shows how little we know about mental illness and how difficult it is for parents, siblings and friends to relate. The author also tosses tidbits of related medical information like drugs that may help and how smell is closely linked to memory. This book is on my list of favorites.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGallery for allowing me to read this advanced copy expected to be released in April, 2021.

All I keep saying is OMG!! Our main character is Penny, adopted daughter of Grace and Arthur, who is diagnosed with Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID). Penny is arrested of the brutal murder of her birth mother, Rachel Boyd! She is sent to a psychiatric ward where her parents visit and begins to dissect what actually happened, does Penny truly have DID, or is Penny a murderer? Grace is Penny’s biggest supporter though she too begins to have some doubt. Penny has a few personalities that it took a bit to focus on, but once you do it’s crazy I can’t imagine someone actually having this disorder. The author does a wonderful job developing the characters and giving us a suspenseful, twisty story! Thank you to the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for a gifted ebook arc. This is my honest review.

I absolutely love DJ Palmer! This book had me hooked, and I struggled to put it down! Very suspenseful with great twists. I think I could have done without the Mitch side story, but it did make him a likable character. Wonderfully done!

I got to read this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 for Palmer!! I absolutely loved his previous 2 books and loved this one as well. Totally gripping from page 1 till the end. Highly recommend

I don’t understand the hype and glowing reviews about this book. The plot is ludicrous, the ending implausible, and the writing not at all sophisticated. I had high hopes but was very disappointed.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

Penny has been arrested. That's the call her mother Grace gets late one night. Covered in blood, Penny has no memory of the death of her biological mother Rachel. Complicating the situation is Penny's dissociative identity disorder - each of her identities Eve, Chloe, and Ruby has different information about her past trauma and recent events. Can Grace and therapist Dr. McHugh discover what happened that night?

I love a good thriller, and this one did not disappoint! What I liked:
-the mystery surrounding Penny
-Grace and Dr. McHugh's slow struggle to uncover the truth
-the shocking twist near the end - did not see that coming!

Buckle up for a wild and suspenseful ride!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing read

This is my first book from this author and it was absolutely addictive, hard to put down. The blurb immediately captured my attention because I like this kind of thriller, and multiple personality disorder is very interesting. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer
Warning: Contains information you may not want if you have not read the book yet.
I was so excited when I was notified by NetGalley that my copy of The Perfect Daughter was ready for download! I have read and loved Mr. Palmer’s previous two books. Others who had already read this one told me I was in for a treat; that it was his best one yet. Not so for me. I eagerly started the book and quickly read the first few chapters but then I had to put it down. It was disturbing. I had to take a breather.
The next day I picked it up and once again had to put it down. In these times of the pandemic I was not prepared for such a heavy duty story line. Then on the third day I picked it up again and this time I had to keep reading. I put off chores and cooking dinner to keep reading. I needed to find out what was going to happen to Penny and her other personalities. I knew now why others said to keep reading; it was well worth it.
Mr. Palmer makes his characters come to life. He makes the reader feel as if you know each and every one of them. You feel for them. You hurt for them. He smoothly interlaces their lives.
The Perfect Daughter was well worth it and when I got toward the end all I could say was “Wow!”
01.10.2121

I was given a chance to read an advanced copy through NetGalley, thank you. I have read previous books by this author and liked them, so I automatically requested this without really looking at it. The subject matter was not what I had expected. A sixteen year old girl is found covered in blood at the scene of a gruesome murder and since she is holding the knife, she is arrested. The kicker? She can not remember anything because she has been diagnosed with DID, or multiple personalities. The resulting story is very intense and interesting as her family and doctors try to save her from going to jail for the rest of her life. There is a twist near the end that I did not see coming, and a second twist that I did, but was pretty obvious by that time. Mental illness is something that can tear a family apart, and there are many forms of it. I found this book to be quite interesting.

I'd like to see the chapters labeled so you know if it's Jack's or Grace's point of view, though honestly I think it should've just stuck with Grace for the narrator. I also wanted to see more of Penny's other personalities, since Eve dominated the story for the most part. I was surprised by who the "bad guy" was, so that was nice. This was 3.5 stars for me, rounded up because the subject was interesting.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.