The Perfect Girl: A Novel Kindle Edition

4 Stars..Zoe Maisey and her mother have built a new life for themselves. Even Zoe’s name is different. Everything changed within the blink of an eye. Zoe was involved in something horrific, something she paid a big price for and now, Zoe and her mother Maria have a second chance at life and a new family. The only thing that has remained a constant is Zoe’s piano playing. She and her new step brother Lucas have a concert tonight. At the end of it, tragedy strikes yet again and Zoe’s mother Maria ends up dead. Was it an accident or was it murder?In her second chance life, Zoe has had to put the past away and pretend it never happened. How long can Zoe pretend, hide and keep secrets before she begins to shut down and loses herself? Maria expects her daughter to be perfect and Maria herself acts as the perfect wife to her new husband Chris and that facade is bound to burst - in a big way.This novel alternates between the past and the present and is told from alternating viewpoints - in this way, we find out the truth - the story of what happened to Zoe and wha happens to her mother as well. I found this novel to be more of a slow burning character study of Zoe, her aunt Tessa and Tessa’s husband Richard v. a mystery novel. The author, Gilly MacMillan did a great job in development the characters and drawing us into their lives. As a whole however, the ending was a bit of a letdown and some parts of this novel seemed a bit far-fetched. “The Perfect Girl” was an enjoyable read though I liked Ms. MacMillan’s “What She Knew” a bit more.This was a Traveling Sister Read. It included Brenda, Kaceey, Jennifer, Berit, Marialyce and Nikki. Glad we read this one together sisters!Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 1.7.17.

The title of this book should really be "Flawed Characters" as the majority of the book is focused on exactly that. Zoe, the general central character is a lifeless, broken girl with a supposed impressive IQ. Why that's mentioned in the story is beyond me because nothing about her presents an extremely intelligent person. Gifted in being a pianist, yes, but not in intellect.The gist of this story is how Zoe, central character, had gone through a traumatic event involving her drunk driving and ultimately through circumstances during the driving, loses control of the car and kills three passengers. She ends up in a children's rehabilitation center since she's a minor. We know little about her during this period other than she was supposedly bullied and ended up being liked by a "popular" boy which caused the bullying. Here is where the author could've used the high IQ or something else to create Zoe's world of exclusion but didn't.We're fast forwarded and doing look backs as Zoe and her mother go into a "Second Chance Life." Her parents' marriage had dissolved and her mother happens to meet a very wealthy businessman taking them from a farm life to a luxury life, along with his piano gifted son, only there's never any real stress placed on how this change affects Zoe or her mother until the night of a piano concert at church. A parent of one of the deceased passengers shows up and everything begins to unravel only this doesn't add up.Suddenly, we find out her mother has problems with her husband, not a surprise at all. Her semi step brother is the epitome of a kid living in fear of his father. Not a surprise at all. And in come all the other characters whether directly impacting the story or not.The ending is pathetic. Zoe is someone who can't understand her own inner rage and teaches her step brother how to express his through misdirection. Needless to say, the murder in the story is dull and not unexpected.There are a number of critics out here that give the writing style credit and yes, it does move along but I found myself skimming through passages because there was so much unnecessary filler. If you're someone who likes a neatly packaged story with predictable people, this will suit you.

Gilly Macmillan’s THE PERFECT GIRL is a keep you up at night psychological thriller with a creepy character, teens whom you want to figure out, a woman who is desperately trying to hide from her child’s past, murder, infidelity, substance abuse, pretty much a lot going on that makes for a twisted story that you must find out, who you can trust.​It begins with a sister and her stepbrother performing a duo piano recital, which is interrupted by an upset parent, who lost his only child, a victim of a car accident – the driver was the young girl performing on stage. Shaken, the girl and her mother flee the recital. What happens next is a domino effect from this horrific accident, information that has been withheld in their new 'Second Chance Family,' fear, and trying to tell the truth.I loved that the story is told from various perspectives. This keeps it even more interesting and as a reader, on your toes. As I turned the pages, I couldn’t wait to hear from the next character. Literally, chomping at the bit.The story takes place over the course about two days and it is jam packed with emotional action. The ending leaves the reader with many thoughts, not necessarily all neatly wrapped up with a bow, but rather, you might question, what would you have done. From each character’s point of view.  Macmillan shares with her readers, at the end of the book, what inspired the story, and I’m always interested and fascinated by a writer’s process and what leads them to a particular story and how they weave a subject into their character’s lives.THE PERFECT GIRL is intense. There are many feelings on the surface and below. It is fast-paced and well written.

It's so difficult to be fair when giving this a star rating - Burnt Paper Sky was my favourite book of last year and, although I loved The Perfect Girl, it wasn't quite as stunning for me. The main reason for this, I think, was the lack of the brilliant DI Clemo, who was the wonderful creation in Burnt Paper Sky that was the glue that held the whole thing together. I thought at first that Sam, lawyer/lover, was going to inhabit a similar role in The Perfect Girl but it was sadly not to be. In fact, he kind of fizzled out by the end.However, comparisons aside, The Perfect Girl is a perfect fast read. Very short chapters, set over 2 time frames (yesterday and today, so you have to pay attention!) using 4 different protagonists' voices. I thought Zoe in particular (the 'perfect' girl) rang true and I could totally empathise with how she was feeling and dealing with her tragic past. I thought all the characters' voices in general were really well done.All in all, a really good second book and I believe DI Clemo will be returning in Ms Macmillan's next one. I cannot wait!

Fab book I really enjoyed this. It kept me going from page to page and I couldn't put it down. The only negative I have with it is that it started to feel a bit more far-fetched during the latter part of the book however I still enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend.

Zoe is a gifted young musician. She appears to have a privileged life with her mother step-father and step-brother. But Zoe and her mother have buried the skeletons from their past in order to re-invent this perfect lifestyle. Zoe's new family are oblivious to the fact that she has previously killed three young people. When a man appears at her concert the past comes back with a vengeance. Superbly written and catches the readers attention the whole way through with a nice twist to boot!

This book was a good twists read about a dysfunctional family suggested they want to keep hidden but cannot. Good as chapters written from each persons narrative about their lives and what happened on the night in question.

I didn't enjoy this book at all and struggled to finish it. The characters are very dull and their accounts of events are all very similar so you feel as though you're reading the same thing over and over again. The ending is signposted from about a mile away, I wish I hadn't bothered finishing it, Such a let down after her last book "What She Knew".