ust like it's cover, this was an eye rolling, over the top domestic thriller/drama that just fell flat. Two dimensional characters that you can't even love to hate, the execution of the storyline and plot was uninteresting and I just didn't care how any of it ended. A no for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun, decently twisty and suspenseful domestic thriller. It does require you to suspend your disbelief at times and the husband and some of the supporting characters were unlikable, but it was an entertaining book overall. I feel like HGTV fans would really get a kick out of it.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

The premise of this book was definitely interesting, however the characters and the story were not. I felt that this book was intensely repetitive and completely predictable. I felt like Dawn would have had to be completely blind and stupid to not recognize that something was going on with her husband. I would have really liked to see her as a stronger character and to take less of a victim role. I will not be recommending this one. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

DNF - didn't work for me, just couldn't get into it. I didn't feel connected to it and it wasn't quite living up to my expectations

Ughh... This one did not work for me at all. I felt like it missed sharing some important facts and things happened that made me question if my intense dislike of it was due to me personally or the way the story was unfolding. Unfortunately, I don't think I will remember much in a few days.

This novel is being marketed as “Fixer Upper meets Gone Girl,” a comparison that, frankly, does it no favors. There’s no home renovation to speak of, nor is there a missing woman at the heart of the narrative. The promotional tagline feels more like a misguided attempt to shoehorn the book into a trend than an accurate reflection of its content.

As a thriller, it sits uncomfortably between tones—part fast-paced, over-the-top drama, part serious domestic suspense—and the result is a narrative that feels thematically disjointed. At times, it veers into melodramatic territory with a relentless he said/she said structure, while elsewhere it strains for gravitas that it doesn’t quite earn. The story also suffers from noticeable repetition, which further undercuts its momentum.

While I wasn’t personally disappointed by the lack of home improvement content (as someone who doesn’t watch those shows), I did hope for a plot with a bit more substance and originality in its execution. The premise had potential, and to the author’s credit, it was refreshingly different. Unfortunately, that potential wasn’t fully realized.

The characters, rather than feeling authentic, came off as exaggerated caricatures. The repeated emphasis on the male protagonist’s attractiveness and the female lead’s supposed lack of beauty grew tiresome quickly. The male characters' behavior bordered on implausible, while the female protagonist’s passive acceptance of being treated poorly became increasingly frustrating. Her "friends" offered no support, and not a single character displayed redeeming qualities—save for the mother, who, even then, ultimately betrays her daughter’s trust.

One strength of the novel lies in its commentary on the manipulative nature of reality television and media influence, which was both timely and insightful. Beyond that, however, the book didn’t work for me. A compelling concept undermined by inconsistent tone, underdeveloped characters, and a lack of narrative cohesion.

"The Perfect Home" reality TV couple are living in an anything but perfect home IRL as Wyatt tries experimental fertility drugs which have deadly side effects.

I liked that the book was written in Wyatt and Dawn's POV, it made the story interesting as the reader tries to piece together the mysteries before the characters can do. The novel goes even further in the dual POV theme by showing how news and media outlets can also curve a narrative. I found the use of TV and media in this story to be really well thought out and impactful to the plot.

A big issue I had with this book is the lack of in-depth explanations and (I assume) research on the authors part to nail the more serious topics in his book (i.e. abuse and illegal drugs). The abuse Dawn experiences is all told as exposition, we don't ever really see Wyatt abusing her. There is a "threat" on set at one point but I read that as Wyatt cautioning Dawn to be careful, I was genuinely surprised that that scene was later used to account signs of abuse in their marriage. I was hoping the twist at the end would reveal that both parties were false narrators and that is why the examples of abuse were vague and at times not realistic at all, but no they were meant to be taken seriously.

The experimental drug bit was poorly incorporated. How is a drug that--according to a major US news outlet--is close to impossible to research online in the United States yet Wyatt can order them easily and Dawn can do an ominous Google search about them?

I also found the ending to be really rushed, I would lose track of where a character was, what they were holding, and what they were doing. I read back to see if I missed a setting que but found that the text was just jumping around.

I was really excited for this one but it didn't live up to the hype for me. The idea of the home renovation reality tv show gone wrong was super appealing but I felt like the characters and story fell flat.

I really enjoyed this reality tv thriller set in Nashville, Tennessee. The couple, home renovators and tv stars have two different agqendas. The wife is struggling with a weight gain after birthing twins, husband Wyatt is all wrapped up in his career. Notice it is his career, not theirs. As the story is told we find out Wyatt has all kinds of hidden relationships and has been planning some changes in his life. Being a husband to his present wife and father to his twins may not be part of his plans. The story is well told, the characters well developed and it is just a fun an entertaining read. Thanks to #NetGalley#ThePerfectHome#DanielKenitz for a fun and fast moving story.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review "The Perfect Home." I am not sure that I would list this book as a thriller it is more of a chic-lit read. I am not a big fan of this genre but if I was I would enjoy this book. It reads easily and is fast paced. A definite beach read.

My opinion doesn't matter and I nearly died but sure, let's hurry up and read books for a publisher who doesn't care anyway. I'm just going to stick to the books I know I will like and stop wasting time and money on things that don't matter.

I enjoyed the drama in this one. This is a domestic thriller that started a bit slow but picked up and just kept getting better. I loved the intensity and the setting of Nashville.

Fantastic read! Kept me on the edge of my seat! I can’t wait to read more by this author!! I really enjoyed all the twists and turns along the way.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for a honest review. As someone else said I too believe this was a quintessential three-star read. It balances both strengths and weaknesses making it an easy read. Pretty predictable but yet kept me engaged and entertained until the end.

I enjoyed this domestic thriller which focuses on a married couple who seems perfect on TV is slowly cracking behind the scenes until a a dark secret is revealed between the two and Dawn takes off with their twins. This was fast paced, twisty and a fun ride. My only wish is that Dawn has been made a stronger character as she often made poor decisions they seemed fairly obvious.

"Fixer Upper meets Gone Girl in this suspenseful and witty domestic thriller set in the world of home renovation TV—featuring a woman who becomes public enemy #1 after a horrifying discovery prompts her to flee her celebrity husband with their twin babies."

Thank you for the chance to read and review The Perfect Home.

As someone who loves mysteries, thrillers and DIY it was so excited to read The Perfect Home. The story starts off with the perfect marriage to match the perfect home that Wyatt and Dawn live in. Wyatt is handsome, charming, rich and attentive to Dawn - on paper he is everything you could want. But as they try to start a family, Wyatt takes extreme measures to be the perfect man and give her children. As his behavior continues to change and become increasing alarming Dawn starts to wonder if their marriage was a fake as the staged jokes on their TV show.

The Perfect Home by Daniel Kenitz is a dual POV thriller that I could not put down! The premise is so well-done: what is truth in a reality-TV obsessed, social media driven society? Add in the infertility angle, along with the experimental drugs, and you have a really compelling story. Can a medication change a person's personality enough to cause sociopathic behaviors? Where does acting the part for the public end and gaslighting and manipulation in private begin? The fact that the reader knows who is telling the truth but everyone else in the book does not creates a wonderful tension, resulting in this well-written suspense/thriller. The only part I found unbelievable was how Dawn's relationships with Alice and Victoria were tied up at the end.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this e-galley.

I really liked the beginning of this but ended up finding it really boring /: there are a few small reveals throughout the book, but there's really no big twist or mystery going on. the synopsis pretty much tells the whole story and you're just seeing exactly how it plays out.

The Perfect Home blends two of my favorite concepts: reality TV and psychological mystery. Daniel Kenitz's debut novel features Dawn and Wyatt Decker-the married DIY couple on the top rated cable show on HLTV. Wyatt is handsome, charming and seemingly talented-perfect for reality TV, while Dawn balances him out and provides some levity (scripted of course). They are living a charmed life in Nashville-TV show, a popular home store, numerous books and possible spinoffs. All that's missing is the perfect child to go with the perfect life. The cracks start to show when Wyatt's behavior becomes erratic during Dawn's pregnancy. Fearing for their lives, Dawn takes the twins and leaves-while Wyatt frames her as having postpartum issues-and is so convincing even her good friends start to believe it. Dawn will stop at nothing to save the twins and herself but at what cost? The story is told from both Dawn and Wyatt's perspective-which works well as we are clued in to Wyatt's perspective early on-as well as some twists along the way. I really enjoyed this debut; it is fast-paced with well-developed characters and the reality TV show and Nashville serve as the perfect backdrop.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

The perfect marriage, the perfect family - the perfect little home. Dawn can't believe she can be so lucky. Her marriage to a reality star 'home improvement' personality still surprises her every day. Wyatt is perfectly sweet and attentive, driven and understanding. He's the perfect husband.

But soon after they start trying to have kids, they realize one of them is the reason they haven't conceived yet. Wyatt shouldn't take it hard, but he does. He has to fix this.

The story was a race and once I started, I didn't want to stop. Dawn was so darn easy to like. She was down to earth and realistic. Wyatt was easy to imagine and his charm oozed off the page. After Part 1, my jaw was on the floor. From there, each new part was a new shock and I needed to know how this would end.

The twists and turns kept me hooked and I loved how this one end, each lovely last chapter. Absolutely phenomenal, I will definitely look for more from this author!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.