I received this book from NetGalley. I really loved it.
I will look forward to more of this authors books.

I’d like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Perfect Daughter’ by Alex Stone in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Jess Harper is ruled by her mother Abigail who makes the decisions on what her daughter should or shouldn’t do, after all she is Jess’ mother, it’s her job. So when Jess starts dating Adam the plumber, it isn’t long before Abigail starts to turn Jess against him. Jess doesn’t know who to believe and when Adam’s van is found wrecked on the top of a cliff and Adam disappears, the police question Jess as their prime suspect.

‘The Perfect Daughter’ is the intriguing story of a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship where the mother influences her daughter in every aspect of her life, getting rid of her boyfriends and friends so that she’s totally dependent on her. The storyline becomes gripping as weak and gullible Jess gets more involved with Adam who she’s so scared of losing she’ll put up with his coolness towards her and possible infidelity. It’s further enhanced by conversations Jess remembers having with Adam, her mother and her friends giving a more in-depth understanding of characters who were described really well. I was involved in the story from page one through each drama and twist and turn, until Jess finds her mother’s notebook and the truth starts to be revealed. I’ve enjoyed this novel that’s easy to read and has an exciting and completely unexpected ending.

The Perfect Daughter by Alex Stone
Pub Date 19 Oct 2021
Jess Harper has spent her whole life trying to make her mum, Abigail, happy and proud. And everything Jess does, from the clothes she wears, the job she has, the men she dates, are all approved by Abigail first.
The perfect boyfriend
So when Jess announces that she has a new man in her life – plumber Adam – Abigail is less than impressed. 'A
Jess, caught in the middle, doesn't know who to believe or trust. And then Adam vanishes without a trace.
Now Jess is the police's prime suspect, and they want to know if Jess really is as perfect as she seems.
The plot is told over two timelines. Jess and her mother, Angela have a toxic, controlling relationship; it is disguised well behind so-called protectiveness; Angela just wants to keep Jess safe. Jess tries to please her mother by doing all she asks, but nothing she does is enough. When she meets Adam, a plumber, and attempts to have a relationship, this agitates her mother. With two people now in her life competing for control, everything gets strained; suddenly, Adam disappears. Who will be the last one standing?
It is a well-written story with a good plot, and even though I sussed out the ending, it is still worthwhile reading.
I am happy to recommend it.
I want to thank NetGalley, Boldwood Books and author Alex Stone for a pre-publication copy to review.

The perfect daughter by Alex Stone is the story of Jessica Harper and her manipulative mother Abigail. Whatever Jessica does is first approved by her mother, even the boys she dates. But when Jessica meets Adam, her mum refuses to acknowledge their relationship and tries to protect Jessica from getting hurt..

On the other hand, Adam can see that Abigail has an strong constant hold on Jessica's life and encourages her to break free from the manipulation of her mother. Will Jessica break free or will a new can of worms open up, when Adam suddenly goes missing and Jess becomes the police's prime suspect...

When I requested this book on Netgalley, the plot sounded very intriguing, which it was but I personally enjoyed only the last 15 to 16 chapters. To me the story progressed in these last chapters. The initial part of the book was too repetitive and slow paced.
I liked that the chapters alternated between two time lines but it was the mind talking (which there was a lot) that made it a bit confusing. The characters also were not strong enough to stand up for themselves.

In my view, there should have been lesser chapters, lesser mind talking and a little more of action and manipulation. Other then this the author had nailed it plot wise.

Thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood books and the author Alex Stone for ot ARC.

Oh my, I am so pleased my mother isn't like this. Poor Jess, first a somewhat deranged mum, and then Adam. Who frankly, doesn't seem to be up to scratch either. I enjoyed this, particularly the ending (a twist which was unexpected, probably because it was a bit far-fetched), and hope that Jess can finally find her feet!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for my ARC.

The Perfect Daughter by Alex Stone is a gripping contemporary psychological suspense that I just could not put down as I read with heart racing.
The novel is written in two alternating time periods ‘then’ and ‘now.’ The reader must try to join the dots to reveal the truth.
There is the theme of trust. When life has a habit of knocking us down, we find it difficult to trust. Sometimes our trust is misplaced.
A mother’s desire to protect is strong but what happens when it becomes overbearing? Is it actually protecting? Or smothering?
A character has been manipulated and molded to fit the ideas of another. In the course of this the truth has become blurred as she believes what she is told. But is it the truth or a lie?
Words spoken over us can build us up or tear us down. People often live up or down to those words. We need to speak life and we need to listen to those who build us up. We all have a choice to make – who to believe? And who to listen to? Do family speak life or death over us? Who is speaking hope into our lives?
There is a beautiful father-daughter bond. Her love and hope in him is infectious as his love for her reaches beyond the pages of the book.
The plotline is cleverly executed and constructed. It is written in the first person enabling the author to manipulate the reader’s emotional responses to line up with the lead character whom I instinctively liked.
Alex Stone is a new author to me but I want to read more, more, more please.
I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

This book is about a mother controlling every aspect of her daughter's life. Jess tries to please her mother, but never does. Trying to break free she meets Adam, a plumber, which further upsets mom. Jess now has two people in her life vying for control in the name of trying to protect her from being hurt. These two have secret agendas that will put lives at risk. Who will be the last one standing.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a sample of this book I really loved it and would love to purchase and add to my collection.

Great read had me gripped from start to finish. Its a bit predictable but nevertheless a really good read

This was a great read. The story drew me in right from the beginning and was not what I was expecting. It is pretty obvious from the start that Jess' mom is emotionally abusive and I wasn't expecting that. Jess has only really known this version of her mom for so long, the one who puts her down constantly, who makes her think she is a problem, that no one will love her, that everyone will always leave her because she is somehow wrong. Bad. Not a good person. That she has something that is inherently wrong with her and no one, except her mother, will ever stay. And Jess' life has proven that again and again. Whenever she has a boyfriend things seem to be going okay until they leave suddenly. Because she did something wrong, even though she doesn't know what. Something about her pushes everyone away.

Until Adam. Until he tries to help her break out of her cage and see her mother for who she really is. Until he disappears. But was he who he seemed? Did he have secrets too, secrets that could be revealed after his disappearance?

Jess was written so well, so sympathetic that you really feel for her. She isn't sure what is real and what isn't at times. She has had this life of being invisible for so long, but now it slowly trying to change. Adam helped her step outside herself a bit. I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the double timelines, the past and the present and how they were woven together. I enjoyed watching Jess deal with everything that is happening and figure out what is going on. This was a fun read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

3.5 Stars

I really liked that this book had two timelines add to that the mother from hell and this was a pretty good book. The plotline drew me right in right away and I was able to read it in a day. The relationship between Jess and her mom felt true to life...in an toxic way...hidden behind false protectiveness. You aren't doing your children any favours by smothering them. Thank goodness she had Karen in her life. I really felt for Jessica and that made me want to keep reading. I am rounding down because I guessed the ending and was disappointed by that. I did like this book and the writing and I would definitely give this author another go, I haven't read anything by him prior to this.

I raced through this book in just one day - I really enjoyed it!

I did guess some of the twists quite early on, but I still enjoyed following the story to get there, and having a few doubts along the way!

Some of the writing is repetitive, in particular Jess’ thoughts - I skimmed through a lot of this. There was a lot of manipulation, which was slightly unrealistic in how much the main character believed.

On the whole though, this was a great psychological thriller.

I really enjoyed this book!

Jess and her Mom have a really close relationship, its just been the two of them since her Dad left them when Jess was only 7.

Jess has always pleased her mother and ties to be a good daughter. Now Jess has a new boyfriend and her mother doesn't like it at all.

This book kept my attention and had several twists along the way especially at the end.

Thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC!

I really didn’t joy this book very much. The character was weak and allowed herself to be manipulated by her mum who I saw through straight away. Other parts of this book made me uncomfortable and I really didn’t like the boyfriend Adam at all. I guessed what was going on early in this book and quickly realised that the boyfriend was almost as bad as her mum. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

2.5 stars

The book is extremely predictable and repetitive. You basically know what is happening and how it will all unfold from the first chapter. There are no unexpected twists or surprises. Also, the idea of manipulation and gaslighting is taken to an extreme. The naivety of the main character is hard to believe.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for offering me the chance to read this novel.

I have read so many psychological thrillers and most have been amazing but this is the real deal. Gaslighting at its best. It was a very hard book to read. Not because it wasn’t absolutely edge of your seat thrilling, it was. But because it is hard reading about someone as evil and manipulative as Jess’s mother. Talk about coercive control. I liked the way the story was written in the past and present. I thought Alex Stone did a brilliant job of getting inside Jess’s head. Unlike some other reviewers I did not see the end coming and I loved it.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. From the time Jessica was a little girl, her mom has controlled everything in her life. Her dad left for work one day when she was 7 years old and never returned. Her mom told her that her dad left them. As an adult, everything that she did--from where she lived to her clothes to even how she felt about herself was controlled by her mother.
She never got too close to people because she never felt worthy enough to be in someone's life. It was so sad how she felt about herself, how her mom controlled her and how she never even had a clue until her boyfriend, Adam.
Everything was perfect in the beginning and Jessica could not believe that someone actually loved her. After a few months, Adam seems to be distancing himself from her. Adam does not get along with her mom at all.
When Adam's van is found near a deserted beach, the police are looking for his body. Jessica did not seem to be upset that he could be dead. When she gets her hands on a notebook that her mom seems to be writing in anytime Jessica has a relationship in her life, she is shocked and there are some surprises.
I was able to figure it out early on but it was still a good read and so nice to read a book with no foul language. I will look for more books by this author.

This book had me gripped from the opening chapter to the last.

Difficult to review without spoilers, but the story was gripping, the characters were credible and the ending was fast paced and kept me up way past bedtime.

A cracking good read.

Highly recommend.

This book was an absolute page turner. The is the story of Jessica, a twenty something woman, who has whose life is submerged under her mother's manipulative hold. Her mother consistently interferes with her life, toying with everything in her life. But when Jessica meets Adam, her life changes. To Jessica it seems like she for the first time, she has freed herself from her mother's clutches (at least partially) and is doing something for herself. But is she really free? Or has she simply moved on from being manipulated by her mother to being manipulated by Adam? This is the question that keeps her scratching her head.

The story jumps between 2 timelines. I loved the way in which the author has narrated Jessica's thought process. It makes her character so relatable. You can't wait to see what she does next and there are moments of utter frustration where you would want jump into the plot and shake her just to stop her from doing something stupid. All of this makes it very hard to put the book down.

What I didn't like about the book was that it did not address a lot of the mental issues that the various characters seem to be going through. I feel like the climax should have focused on these, particularly on the impact of so much manipulation and interference from a parent into children's lives and how it can stunt their growth.

Nevertheless, the book's narration is so well written, that I just couldn't stop reading it. If you are looking for a quick & interesting read, this might be for you. A seasoned mystery reader may find the plot predictable. But it is still worth it to read it, simply because of it's wonderful narration and the excellent character building.

I would like to thank NetGalley & Boldwood Books for the ARC.

#ThePerfectDaughter #AlexStone #NetGalley

Jess’ father left when she was six years old and, since then, it’s just been her and her mum, Abigail.

Abigail is quite controlling and even jealous of her daughter; Jess has to run every single decision by her, and I was quite surprised that Jess wasn’t still living at home. Then Jess meets Adam, a plumber, and Jess has to try and justify it all to her mum.

Jess defies her mother and continues the relationship until Adam suddenly vanishes without trace, and Jess is the prime suspect.

A gripping mystery/thrilled that I really enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.