Cover Image: The Perfect Daughter

The Perfect Daughter

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Member Reviews

3.5 stars
This was interesting but I really didn’t like the ending so I ended up going with 3.5 stars instead of 4

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Thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.The entire pace was a little slow for me. I didn’t find this a fast-paced thriller that I couldn’t wait to pick up and finish.

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The Perfect Daughter is a fascinating, fast-paced mystery about Penny, a 17 year old with dissociative identity disorder (DID) who has been arrested for a grisly murder. The crime happens at the beginning of the story and the rest of the book puts the pieces together as to what has happened and the process of Penny's arrest and what follows. The story is told in multiple perspectives and short chapters, which really propelled the story. I had no idea where this story would go and I felt invested in the characters. I listened to the audiobook, which is expertly narrated by January LaVoy and Dan Bittner.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

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3.5 stars, rounded up for excellent narration. Like many others I found the side plot of Dr. Mitch unnecessary, his dedication to the case and to Grace unrealistic, and was disappointed in the epilogue. And it sounds like the description of DID is off-base. All that being said, I couldn't put this down. I was fascinated by the alters, what really happened to Penny as a child, and if she really did kill Rachel, or if someone else really was there. Recommended if you like psychological thrillers.

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Not my favorite book by this author but still an incredibly compelling and interesting thriller about a young murderer with multiple personality disorder. A unique plot that was great on audio narrated by Dan Bittner and January LaVoy. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

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This was a gripping psychological thriller! I really enjoyed it and did not see the ending coming. The characters were developed so well throughout the book. DID is such an interesting subject.

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Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

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Again, D.J. Palmer never disappoints. An exceptional writer. It was such a great read that I recommended to my book club.

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The Perfect Daughter by DJ Palmer is a wild ride of a psychological thriller. There are multiple narrators, and the focus of the book is Penny, who is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Penny is also a murderer. The question is where she'll serve her sentence.

A gripping story of mental illness and a mother's love!

Fantastic narration amplifies the story.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

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The Perfect Daughter by D. J. Palmer is my first book by this author, and it was a good, entertaining introduction to his work. I listened to the audiobook version which was narrated by Dan Bittner and January LaVoy. The listening time is 11 hours, 41 minutes and 35 seconds. If you like psychological, courtroom and medical thrillers, this is the book for you!

Penny Francone, age 16, has just been arrested for the murder of someone from her past. She was found in the victim's apartment, drenched in the victim's blood and holding the murder weapon. Penny, however, claims to have no memory of the event. Years ago Penny was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. (You may know this condition as multiple personality disorder.) Did Penny commit murder, or was it perhaps done by her alter Ruby (who speaks with a British accent), Chloe (a perfectionist who must get straight A's), or Eve (snarky, vicious and protective)? Grace Francone, Penny's adoptive mother, is willing to do everything she can to help her daughter. Awaiting trial, Penny is sent to a state mental hospital; her new doctor is Dr. Mitchell McHugh, a man who is dealing with his own personal problems. Dr. McHugh and Grace try to get behind the mystery of Penny before the trial date. Is Penny the perfect daughter, innocent of the crime, or perhaps not so innocent after all?

This was a compelling thriller surrounding a young girl who allegedly had DID. Grace Francone was a protective mama bear who was still dealing with the death of her beloved husband Arthur. She found Penny alone in a park when she was quite young, and immediately fell in love with the little abandoned girl; she is determined to keep her daughter from being sentenced to life for murder. Grace's son Jack, a budding filmmaker, narrates part of the story in letters to Penny. Ryan, her other son, is very resentful of Penny and believes she is guilty. All he wants to do is run the family pizza restaurant, which is not doing very well due to the horrible crime. When Penny is sent to the state mental hospital, Dr. Mitch does his darndest to discover the truth of his new patient. He needs to determine if she has a personality disorder or actually has DID. We meet all of Penny's alters, but the most prominent one was Eve, who was not a pleasant "person". There are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing if there was someone else actually involved in the murder, if one of Penny's alters was guilty, or if Penny herself was a devious murderer. Narrator Dan Bittner gave life to Jack, while January LaVoy voiced all the other characters; both did a very credible job. I most definitely will dive into other works by this author.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

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This story grabbed me and pulled me in right away and I couldn’t put this one down. The author did an excellent job of illustrating this family and what they are going through, not just with Penny’s dissociative identity disorder and her treatment, but the murder and the ensuing trial. The author researched his subject matter very well and presented it in an open and honest fashion, enabling the reader to make their own conclusions without any preconceived ideas.

This story is told from two points of view, one from Grace and one from one of her sons. I found this interesting because, although they both wanted the best outcome for Penny, their perceptions were coming from different directions, which gave a lot of insight to the characters. I had immense empathy for this family and what they were going through. I also enjoyed the side story involving Dr. McHugh’s struggle to help his son with his addiction. His determination to help Penny was admirable.

The pace of the story moves very quickly and held my interest throughout the story. I never doubted Penny’s guilt, but this book had several moments that took me by surprise and had me rethinking everything I thought I knew.

My Final Verdict: I’ve never read this author before and will be looking for more. Fans of suspense thrillers who enjoy intricate stories that weave a web around the reader, making it difficult to separate reality from fantasy will enjoy this story.

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I have heard great things about this book and I’m so glad it lived up to the hype, it was so good!! One of the most fun thrillers I’ve read this year!

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The Perfect Daughter is a psychological thriller that I could not stop listening to! The stress and tension felt by the characters resonated with me making this thriller believable.

I liked that the author did a great job portraying a youth with Disassociate Identity Disorder (DID). As we go through the investigation of “who done it”, the story revolves around the appearances of Penny’s other personalities. The different persons have their own story to tell and versions of what happened on the night in question. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what really happened.

I didn’t see the end coming…This alone warrants a 5 Star read in my opinion. I usually figure things out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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I am so glad I listened to the audiobook for this one. Listening to this was like listening to an episode of my favourite crime podcast. A large cast of characters, with a lot of darkness behind them, this book was as unreliable as it was thrilling!

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D. J. Palmer show’s readers how far a mother will go to prove her daughter is innocent of murder:

One thing a parent never thinks will happen is to have their child accused of murder, but this is the reality that Grace has come to face. There was no doubt that Penney was physically there, her fingerprints were on the knife and she was covered in blood but it might not have been Penny that committed the murder. Grace is convinced that Penny has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and is hoping the doctor at the psychiatric hospital will agree with her. With each passing day the trial date gets closer and closer and Grace is getting desperate to prove Penny is innocent and starts to do her own investigating.

This is the first book that I have read by Palmer and I was super impressed. The writing is well done, the plot is well laid out and the mystery within the book is a solid one. I appreciate that this book jumps right into the court case and does not have a lot of fluff in the beginning. We know that Penny is accused of murdering her biological mother and that her adoptive mother is attempting to prove that Penny has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and should not be held responsible for the crime. I have not read a book with DID for a really long time but I will say that Palmer does it right.

I was able to figure out one of the main twists early on, but did not see the last twist coming till the very end. WOW, it was such a crazy reveal that was amazing, and like I said I did not see it coming at all, well done Palmer.

It was an interesting take on POV but I liked that Palmer decided not to have "Penny" or any of the other Alters as one of the POV as all the switches between the alters I think would have been confusing and would have taken away from the book. Instead we get to see each alter through two different people and it was interesting to see how they would act for each person. I also appreciated the background information and the format that it was presented in, through Jack and saying parts he would place in his movie. Honestly, I would be interesting in watching the movie that Jack was trying to write about his sister's life.

This book was a roller coaster ride from start to finish that I think anyone wanting to read a mystery or psychological mystery book should pick this one up. I look forward to reading more books by Palmer.

Enjoy!!!!

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Was unable to listen to this audiobook. Damaged my phone and had to get a new one. When I opened my netgalley app, I was unable to listen.

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The Perfect Daughter is a psychological thriller that will keep you turning pages. This book also does an excellent job of portraying a person with disassociate identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder.

Grace Francone and her son find an abandoned little four year old girl in the park. Cold, tired and hungry, the little girl offers no clue as to her background. First as a foster child, and later as an adopted child, the little girl is named Penny, and is adored by the Francone family. As the years pass, it becomes apparent that Penny has a number of alter identities.

Fast forward to Penny's late teenage years. Her birth mother has been murdered, and Penny has been arrested and charged with the crime. Unfortunately, Penny's most aggressive alter, has taken over. Will they be able to get to the truth before it's too late.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new psychological thriller, as well as to anyone interested in disassociate identity disorder.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this book to review from Net Galley.

#ThePerfectDaughter#NetGalley

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This was a very enjoyable family thriller with lots of twists. It kept me engaged and guessing until the end. To some degree, secondary characters remained a bit flat, but the central relationships were intriguing.

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Thriller/Mysteries are one of my go-to genres, so I was excited to read this twisty thriller, The Perfect Daughter by a new-to-me author, D.J. Palmer.

I went into the book blind, as I often do, to keep the element of surprise from beginning to end. Within the first chapter, a murder was committed which completely pulled me in! Penny Francone, a 16-year-old girl with dissociative identity disorder (DID), was found alone in the victim’s apartment, covered in blood, holding the murder weapon and appeared to have the perfect motive.

Open and closed case......or is it? A mother’s love drives Grace to try and understand the why behind Penny’s unspeakable act. What she uncovers is more than she bargained for.....I adore an unexpected ending in a thriller this book executed!

The narrators Dan Bittner and January LaVoy bring the story to life! I enjoyed the dual narrators and felt they added depth to the story. They kept my attention from beginning to the jaw-dropping end! I can easily see this story on the big screen!

I highly recommend to anybody that loves a good thriller!

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I was gripped by this psychological thriller immediately. It was an interesting look at Dissociative Identity Disorder. Penny, a 16 year old girl, is found by police at her biological mother’s place, covered in blood. Her mother is dead having been stabbed multiple times and Penny is at the murder scene, holding the murder weapon. It seems like an open and shut case but the caveat is that Penny has DID. The story explores the legal, social, and emotional aspects of DID. I was impressed by how the author was able to weave DID into a compelling mystery.

I listened to the audiobook. The performance was engaging and dynamic. I enjoyed the different narrators and felt they added depth to the story. The plot itself moved along at a good pace. It kept my attention the whole way through. I just wish the very ending had been better. It kind of felt rushed and as though the author quickly summed it all up, making the pieces fit together, even if they seemed a bit far fetched or lacking. Still it was a unique thriller that incorporated mental illness and addiction in a more positive light. I would definitely recommend to others.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

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