It’s my stop today on the blog tour for The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden. Many thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the invite.
Title: The Perfect Girl
Author: Kelly Golden
Published on: 3 February 2023
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Psychological Thriller
The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden is a gripping, gritty, twisted and riveting psychological thriller. In brief, A PERFECT psychological thriller!
I was hooked on to the story and could not put it down until the end. Almost every chapter has a twist. As the story proceeds, the reader learns more and more about Emma’s darkest secret, her lies, and how she was manipulated by… hmm, I cannot say who emotionally manipulated her without giving away spoilers.
The story begins with Emma, her husband Mike and daughter Arla looking forward to meeting Mike’s childhood best friend Sophie. When Emma and Mike were dating years ago, Emma did wonder if Sophie was more than just a friend to Mike. He denied it. Emma’s mother asked her to be wary of the ‘other woman.’ But when Emma and Mike got married, Sophie disappeared from their lives. Until now…
Sophie is married to JB. She refuses to give his full name. She hasn’t shared a photo of him on social media either. When JB’s arrival is delayed, Emma wonders if JB is real. Sophie and Emma never got along well and as the wait for JB continues, Sophie makes it clear to Emma that she’s afraid of her husband. Then, JB arrives and Emma is shocked… he looks so familiar. It cannot be… NO!
As Sophie enters Emma’s life, there are subtle changes… changes that point out to Emma being a ‘bad mother.’ But Emma is pretty sure whatever she’s accused of didn’t happen… But others convince her saying she’s just lost her mum so grief can make people do certain things they aren’t proud of… But why would Emma accept something when she didn’t do it?
I didn’t want the story to end. There were times when it felt like Emma lost control of her life and I started to doubt her too. Is Emma really losing her mind? Is she playing double games? Well, she has a dark secret, you see… so why wouldn’t I doubt on her?
Absolutely fantastic storytelling. This is Kelly’s debut novel. Say Whaaattt??? Wow!! Excellent character portrayal and development. The twists and turns kept me guessing for more – edge-of-your-seat/nail-biting scenario. The final twist – gosh! That was totally unexpected. I never saw it coming!
This gripping and completely engrossing psychological thriller deserves an award. Scratch that. Not award. AWARDS. Plural.
If you are looking for a mind-blowing, spine-chilling and completely gripping psychological thriller, you HAVE to read The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden.
The Book Decoder 
I just can’t believe it’s a debut. Terrific review 💗
It’s really good, isn’t it. 😊