Another amazing read from Robyn Harding! I have loved every book by her so far. So many secrets for the Adler family and tons of twists and turns. Gripping, captivating, and clever. Kept me guessing until the end. I definitely recommend this one!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I found myself picking this up and putting it down several times. The short chapters did help me get through this a lot quicker than anticipated but the repetitive nature of the reoccurring incidents, continuous dishonesty, and Tarryn as a whole really put a strain on my overall enjoyment.

I ended up hating Tarryn a lot. Honestly, what are her redeeming qualities? I felt that her story and Thomas' did not get a satisfying ending. The confrontations were very anticlimactic.

The Adlers seem like the absolute perfect family but behind closed doors there's a kleptomaniac, someone being blackmailed, someone with a secret they don't want anyone to know and someone with a seedy online persona.

This was a fun tale of a family imploding as everyone's hidden scandals start bubbling to the surface. Told in first person, multiple person. It's full of twists and turns and is very suspenseful.

Harding remains one of my fave writers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.


› The Perfect Family is told in first person from multiple perspectives:

Vivian Adler is a kleptomaniac who suspects her husband is cheating on her.

Thomas, Vivian's husband. He made a big mistake at a bachelor party after drinking too much and is being blackmailed.

Their son, Eli, is home for the summer after his second year at college. Something horrible happened at college and he doesn't want to go back.

Tarryn, Eli's younger sister, doesn't wear makeup or care about clothes until late at night when she puts on a wig, makeup, pretty lingerie and starts her job as a cam girl. She thought she could keep her identity hidden online, but she has a secret stalker who knows where she lives and what school she attends.

Their life is perfect until...the eggs hit the front door. Then the next night an apple is thrown at it. Then the next day the handle is covered in poop. Then there's an explosion on their lawn. Things are escalating and the police aren't helping. Vivian thinks she must have stolen something from the wrong person. Thomas thinks his blackmailer is taking things too far. Eli thinks he's being threatened to make sure he doesn't tell the police what he witnessed at college. Tarryn thinks her secret stalker is behind the attacks on their home. We don't know who's behind the attacks, and we don't know how far they'll take it.

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 5
The characters felt one dimensional to me, I couldn't connect with them and didn't feel any empathy for any of them.

› Atmosphere: 4
Not enough description and didn't feel any emotions.

› Writing Style: 6
It's okay, very cliche.

› Plot: 4
Beginning was good, the middle is muddy and the ending is anti-climatic.

› Intrigue: 4
I had a hard time getting through this and kept putting it down.

› Logic: 3
How did Tarryn's parents not know she was skipping class? Wouldn't the teacher or school have called regarding her attendance? Why didn't the police do anything?

› Enjoyment: 5

Average 4.4

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★

› Final Thoughts
• The Perfect Family is great for readers looking for a quick mystery read with an open ending. The ending is one that you'll either love or hate. Let me know what you think!

Check out my reviews of Robyn Harding's other books:

Her Pretty Face 2018 ★★
The Arrangement 2019 ★★★
The Swap 2020 ★★★

I want to start with saying I really loved The Arrangement by Robyn, I thought it was brilliant so i was so excited to read her next one. Unfortunately I was slightly disappointed with this one, i’ll tell you why.
•
I loved the aspects of the domestic thriller. There was a lot of secrets & lies. The book was told from 4 different perspectives, each a member of the family. The son who was dropping out of university, the daughter who started selling her body online, a mother with a stealing problem and a husband with a blackmailer. Everyone has secrets so it wasn’t surprising that someone was vandalizing their house. Like anything, the vandalism just got worse and worse leading to B&E’s & arson.
•
Now, the reason I wasn’t a huge fan is because the entire plot of the book was vandalizing the house. Like yeah it got more serious as time progressed but like the big OMG moments were like eggs being thrown at the house & that wasn’t like it for me. The secrets & lies were interesting but the rest kind of just had me bored.
•
The ending did pick up for me but i still think it was boring. There were a few twists that had you shocked but there was also some twists where you’re like “seriously?”

Robyn Harding has firmly entrenched herself as one of my auto-buy authors over the past few years, and I was genuinely thrilled to be approved for an ARC of her latest thriller The Perfect Family. If you had asked me several months ago for my favorite Harding novel, I would have easily stated The Arrangement.. But move over, Natalie, the Adler family has rousted you from that spot.

A tale of the seemingly perfect family, with secrets to hide, and scandal in the dark corners. A few eggs thrown at the house? That can be written off as kids pulling pranks, right? The feces on the front door handle? Darned kids. But as the incidents escalate in severity, the Adler family starts to consider that someone has a vendetta, and they won't stop until the issue is resolved. Or will they? And which family member is the target? After all, they each have their dirty little secrets, and each of them is right to be nervous.

Harding has written a page turner, with twists and turns, that will have you questioning exactly what is going on. This was a quick read, simply because I needed to know how it was all going to end.

Grateful to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an advance reading copy, in exchange for my honest review. And now I'll just be over here waiting for the next Harding novel to drop.

Robyn Harding has done it again with another thriller that I couldn't put down. I read this book almost obsessively because I needed to see what kinds of twists she was going to throw at me. In my opinion, Harding can do no wrong. She constantly has me guessing and she knows exactly when, where and how to drop a plot twist!

In this book we meet the Adler family - parents Thomas and Viv and their children Eli and Tarryn. They are the American dream. Attractive, successful couple with great jobs, great kids and a beautiful home. Picture perfect in every sense of the word. At least, so it seems from the outside looking in. But eventually their house becomes the target of what seems to be foolish, child like pranks probably from delinquent kids in the neighbourhood. First it's throwing eggs and rotten fruit at the house. But things quickly escalate when one night, a fire is set to their front hedges and porch while they are sleeping. The attacks keep getting progressively worse and more dangerous, but why? Turns out, every single member of the Adler family has secrets. Secrets that they are hiding from the outside world, as well as from each other. And now, each one of them is wondering if they are to blame for the attacks on the family. Are the secrets they are keeping horrible enough to have somebody want to hurt them? And how far will each of them go to keep anyone from finding out?

I liked that this story was told with multiple main character views points. Each chapter alternated between members of the family. It focused on their individual secrets and left the reader wondering who was actually being targeted. This story could have gone so many different ways, which I loved! It made it really hard to guess what was going to happen and I had multiple theories throughout the story. I felt like we really got to know the family quite well.

This was such a bingeable read for fans of domestic thrillers and family drama. Her writing was totally addictive and I was hooked from the first chapter. All the stars for this one!

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding
Rating 4 ⭐️ (CawPile 8.5)

C- characters - 8
A - atmosphere - 8
W - writing Style - 9
P - plot - 8
I - intrigue -9
L - logic- 9
E - enjoyment - 9

The first book that I’ve read by this author and certainly won’t be the last!

The story pulled me in and I didn’t know what to expect!
The writing is the key for this book because it makes you invested!

Lots of twists and turns and I love how every family member is something different and you don’t know what to expect next from characters.
I was a little annoyed by parents but in the end, they started to act like parents taking responsibility for their actions.

Everyone has secrets, but in the end, the secrets are starting to bubbling up and a twisted path is coming!

Thank you @simonandschuster and @netgalley for this ARC!

The Perfect Family is being targeted, pushed to the edge, and are unraveling at the seams. They all have secrets not just from the outside world but from each other, and that makes for some twisted, dysfunctional family dynamics.

The story is told through each member of this not-so-perfect family while they reveal their secrets and thoughts to us. They have a lot of thoughts to share with us that felt a little too much at times and I might of done a little eye rolling. They share their guilt and shame as well as their fears. They all think they are being targeted because of their secrets, which creates some tension and suspense that drives the story forward.

The Perfect Family is a readable, well-paced, and briskly plotted story that I flew through quite quickly. I won’t say this one has Robyn Harding’s signature unlikeable characters I love so much, but she does spin a unique twist to that perfect family with secrets trope. On their own, each character has an intriguing secret, which keeps the plot briskly moving, making it a readable story. Each secret is touched on rather than fully fleshed out in that way Robyn does so well. It works here because the suspense and tension build up as the family feels the pressure each fear they are targeted because of the secrets they are hiding.

While not my favorite from Robyn Harding as it felt a little too much with all the secrets going on here. I liked Tarryn’s unique secret and would of liked to see more focus on her character and the outcome for her. However it is still a great read and I enjoyed how it all wrapped up and highly recommend this one for an entertaining and fun read!!!

3.5 stars. Easy, entertaining, suspenseful and twisty!

Everyone in this family has a HUGE secret!

This novel follows one well-to-do family through a tangled web of secrets, lies and deceit. From the outside they seem to have it all, but underneath they all have something to hide.

There is something so smooth and addictive about Robyn Harding’s writing. Her books grab me from the start and keep me flipping the pages while following the lives of crazy characters I love to hate.

This book has a lot going on! But not in a way that makes it complicated or hard to follow. There is a major crisis within each family members life that they are struggling through. There are several heavy topics addressed yet none are truly explored which prevented me from maintaining a strong connection and investment in the storyline. There were some eye rolling moments, but they were fun and entertaining.

Overall, an enjoyable, easy and entertaining, suspenseful and mindless read that you don’t have to think too hard about. While this isn’t my favourite from this author, I continue to be a fan of her writing and look forward to what she comes out with next!

.✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨
The Perfect Family by @rhardingwriter

My thoughts: I was so excited to read this book because I have read another book from this author and LOVED it. This book was full of twists and turns that I totally did not see coming. Eventually after learning everyone’s secrets, it really has you wondering who might be the target. Please don’t even get me started on the ending because I was caught SO off guard. Never in a million years could I have seen that coming!!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5)

A special thank you to @netgalley, the author, and @simonschusterca @simonandschuster for granting me access to read this book before it’s release date.

The Adlers are perfect to the outside world but what happens inside their home is a different story. Viv suspects her husband is cheating on her. Their son has dropped out of college and their daughter has a secret night life online. WHen someone starts vandalizing their home, they quickly realize they don’t know each other at all. They are the perfect family but also perfect strangers to each other.

There were a wide variety of subjects covered in this novel. The focus on hazing and consent was very interesting for me. I read The Swap by the same author last summer and I loved it. I was disappointed by this one. It just wasn’t as explosive or juicy for me. I did think that it depicted a ‘modern family’ very well, as it is so easy these days to become alienated from your loved ones with social media and technology. I would say the novel was more of a drama than a thriller and it just wasn’t very memorable for me.

Is the Adler Family as perfect as they seem? This story circles around the four family members Portland, Oregon: parents Thomas and Viv and their children Eli and Tarryn. They seem to have it all together, successful careers, the kids doing well in school, but suddenly the family is under threat from an unknown source, starting with their house and cars being egged. Over time, we learn about the secrets the family members have been keeping and the ensuing that lead the whole family to be targeted. As the attacks on the family escalate, they look for police protection with no help, and slowly the secrets are revealed. Someone is being blackmailed and has no memory of the event, someone has something in their possession that started a terrible chain of events, someone was witness to an unspeakable crime, and someone's secret life has led to some scary online threats. No one is safe, no one is innocent. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the advanced copy of this book.

“Everything seemed completely normal, on the surface. But it wasn't.” 

The Adler family appear to have it all, a beautiful home, two healthy children, careers that they enjoy, and well….secrets!  When the home starts to be vandalized at night each family member starts to speculate which member of the family is somehow responsible - is it because of them?

I have read many of Harding’s books and like the others, this one kept me captivated.  I read it in two days and would recommend it to readers who enjoy domestic suspense / thrillers and contemporary family drama.

The Perfect Family was an engaging thriller.
In the book we met the Adler family- Viv, Thomas, Eli, and Tarryn. While they might be perceived as "perfect" on the outside, their collective secrets told a very different story. They all had something to hide, and I liked that the author told the story in four alternating points of view.
In each member's POV, their secrets were revealed to the reader, but not each other.
As each secret was uncovered, the harrassment and disturbances at the Adler family home continued to escalate and evolve. Harding weaved a good mystery, and I had fun trying to guess which persons wrongdoing had provoked the pranks and attacks.
Maybe one of them?
Maybe all of them?
The way it all came together and concluded was for the most part satisfying, though I felt it was missing a big dramatic "showdown" moment. The very last line had a good impact though! It gave that eerie feeling that things may not be as resolved as you may think.
All in all, I found The Perfect Family to be an entertaining, gripping read.

______

*TW/CW: Hazing; Assault; Drugs- dealing + addiction

**Complimentary copy for review provided by Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster Canada. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of @rhardingwriter !

And The Perfect Family is another total win for me 😍

Oh and there’s a character named ARIANNA in it!

The Adler family seems to have it all. They have the perfect house, nice cars and success. But each member of the family is hiding secrets. And when the family and their home become victims of vandalism, it turns out that these secrets might be very dangerous …

I love domestic suspense that’s focused on family, secrets and lies. And this book delivers! The short chapters and multiple cliffhangers throughout the book create a quick and tense pace making it impossible to put down.

I loved the multiple POV format and was especially drawn to Tarryn’s story (and also couldn’t help but wonder if her name was inspired by the wonderful Tarryn Fisher..?).

Harding is great at showing just how creepy and chilling real world scenarios can be and can take something that seems innocent enough on surface and make it send shivers down your spine.

10/10 recommend this fun and juicy read!

Thank you to @simonschusterca and Netgalley for the gifted arc. All thoughts are my own.

I'll preface this by saying that while I'm not a huge fan of the thriller genre, I love a book about messy, unlikeable people. Preferably hiding secrets- the messier the better. The Perfect Family is full of people who are anything but, and I enjoyed the alternating perspectives throughout the novel. The trouble is, I didn't find there were enough satisfying reveals to keep me invested start to finish, so it wound up largely being a lot of complicated people I really wasn't all that invested in. A quick summer read, but not a book that will stick with me.

4 STARS

Thomas and Viv Adler are the envy of their neighbors: attractive, successful, with well-mannered children and a beautifully restored home. Until one morning, when they wake up to find their porch has been pelted with eggs. It’s a prank, Thomas insists; the work of a few out-of-control kids. But when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and their car’s tires are punctured, the family begins to worry...Because everyone in the Adler family is keeping a secret—not just from the outside world, but from each other. And secrets can be very dangerous….

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.
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At this point, Royn Harding is basically and #autobuy author for me. Everything she writes is full of juicy drama - and I am LIVING for it! I really enjoyed the short chapters and multiple narrators used in THE PERFECT FAMILY, which kept me guessing and on my toes the whole time! Although the ending didn't shock me, the last line of the novel was 🔥🔥🔥 and definitely left me with some lingering questions!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC! THE PERFECT FAMILY is out now.

The Perfect Family was your typical narrative formula of a rich suburban white family + their horrible secrets + those secrets on the verge of being leaked unless someone pays the price (either monetarily, physically, or emotionally). There were four family members, each with their own chapters and thus, a shot at showing us their perspective, but OH MY GOD they were so excruciatingly one-dimensional and trope-y that they could have all been one single person. This was exacerbated by the fact that the dialogue was EXACTLY the same for everyone, there was no differentiating between adult and teenaged speech.

The 'secrets' were surface level, and the stakes, which I think were intended to be high, did not come across that way at all. The following first instance of police involvement was where I should have closed this book for good and marked it as 'absolutely not for me': the main family is visited by two officers after an incident involving the harassment of a minor by the father and son. The officers asked a few questions, got confirmation of the harassment, and then LEFT THE HOUSE. Like are you kidding me???? This was only one of MANY instances where the white characters (and there were ONLY white characters in this book) were being pardoned and simply slapped on the wrist for situations where if the ethnicity/race was changed, the scene would have played out VERY differently.

I was fuming by the end, FUMING. I will not be reading any other work by this author.

I liked this book.
It starts slowly with a normal family or so we think and then the mishaps come one at a time, pick up paces and get to a point where we, the reader, know that the family has to address this bullying and destruction of their property as it is clear they have an enemy who is after their lives. What I liked was that all members of the family are hiding something. And pretty meaningful and serious things too.
And you keep wondering until the end who is responsible for the assault on their property and lives?
The author did a brilliant job at revealing details one bit at a time while putting on the pressure on all family members. You end up flicking the pages as fast as possible as you need to know what comes next.
The subjects treated in this book are also well chosen: being witness to bullying/rape (what do you in such a situation?) underage camming online (or letting peuple watch you with very little on), kleptomania, dirty secrets and their impact on mariage, also blackmail.
A lot is going on in this book and it is very entertaining. I liked it.
Thank you for NetGalley and the publisher to give me a copy in return for my review.