⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+⭐
Oh wow, rainbow unicorn!
The Perfect Baby by Sam Vickery was something! This is a SO twisted, absolutely heart-pounding psychological thriller with an interesting main topic! That twists! What a twist! I was literally picking up my jaw from the floor! Wow!

I loved how layers tingled together giving out the small details to ensure you got your shock moment when the main twist hit the ground!

It starts by exploring a sensitive topic - surrogacy. What I loved was - that it was explored widely from different angles giving a good emotional understanding!

Elise and Maya meet at a surrogacy group. They are on a different side - Else is waiting for her baby while Maya is carrying someones baby. Despite anything they develop a nice friendship and support each other. But each of them has its own drama going on and both must meet drastic challenges!

Mostly the book is presented in present in some flashbacks from the past to unfold the next shocking level! Seriously, I can't believe how smooth and easy was first 74%! After that, it was like someone dropped you in the war zone, boom, twist, boom, boom, twist, boom, twist, twist... I seriously think I forgot to breathe most of the time. And it didn't help that I started this book at 2 am when I realised I couldn't sleep (it happens sometimes) and by 8 am it was done! I was getting the kids ready on autopilot as my brain was still processing what I just read! (I know you didn't need my life story it just came out ha, ha).

Thank you, NetGalley, Bookouture and mostly Sam Vickery for this fantastic book!

When provided with the blurb to this story, I immediately wanted to read it:
"All I’ve ever wanted is to be a mother. And as I look into the beautiful, bright blue eyes of this baby tucked up in her blanket, I can’t wait to bring her home with me. Everyone doubted me, but I know I’m ready now. I’m going to give this sweet child the perfect life.
Stepping into the cold air outside of the hospital doors, a shiver runs through me. I know my life will never be the same again. I slip off her little white medical bracelet and put it in the pocket of my jeans. She’s mine now, I smile, picking up the pace.
I know this little baby is safe in my arms. That I deserve her. That I should do everything in my power to keep her. Even if she wasn’t mine to take..."
So when I started reading The Perfect Baby, I was a little confused to read about a support group for women who are surrogates and for women who are getting a baby through surrogacy. For quite some time I was wondering if this book was going to inform me about all the difficulties of surrogacy, which I find very interesting, don't get me wrong, but it did not match up to the blurb I was sent.
But don't you worry! At some point this story starts to twist, leaving you gasping. I literally put the book down and reran all of what I had read before in my mind and saw it all in a very different light!
Because of that twist it is not easy to give a short summary, because I'd be afraid to give away too much from the plot. But I can tell you that the story revolves around Elise (oh yes, finally a character with my own name!), a woman trying to get a baby through surrogacy, her sister Julia, who is Elise's surrogate, and Maya, a surrogate for another couple. Elise and Maya meet through a surrogate support group and a friendship begins...
It all sounds very straight forward, but let me tell you, it definitely is not! You just have to experience this one for yourself!
Author Sam Vickery has done a great job of giving a 360 degrees turn to a straight forward story. The novel is easily readable and after some time the plots urges you to keep reading, wondering how everything will be turning out. The Perfect Baby is a informative book about surrogacy and at the same time a very well done thriller!

4 🌟

This story follows 3 different women's perspective. You have Maya, a girl who decides to become a surrogate for a wealthy couple. Elise, whose sister Julia is carrying a baby for Elise. Then Julia's perspective who is Elise' sister/surrogate. Most of the story is from Maya and Elise' pov. The two of them meet at a group for surrogates and the family who is awaiting the arrival of their babies. Maya and Elise hit it off and become fast friends, but each of them is hiding secrets from their past. The secrets were shocking and I NEVER saw those twists coming! This book is fast paced and really good. Highly recommend, thank you netgalley for letting me have an ARC of this.

This was fast-paced and twisty and hard to put down! It takes a bit to figure out how everyone and everything is connected, but when it is all revealed, it was totally unexpected! I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Many thanks to Net Galley & Bookouture for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I absolutely loved this book, it’s full of surprises, twisty, fast paced, suspense, tension and lots of drama.
Maya is a surrogate for Nina and Will. Elise’s sister Julia, is her surrogate, or is she?
Maya and Elise meet at a surrogacy group, the begin a friendship and the drama begins to unfold, nothing is as it seems, the relationships between all the characters are also not as they seem, to say they are complicated is an understatement.
This is a rollercoaster read, difficult to review, less said is probably best, get reading, The story grips the reader from page one, great characters, a very clever conclusion
Congratulations to the author on this book, it’s definitely a 5 star read and in my top reads of 2024.

This book had me hooked from start to finish. It made me so uneasy. I thought the author did a brilliant job of creating that build up of tension and oh my God that twist!! I loved the two main characters. They were both hiding secrets from their past and we were slowly drip fed information which really made me want to not put this down. Really enjoyed the multiple pov too. I do think you need to suspend belief in certain parts but I was completely enthralled in thinking what if!

A brilliantly tense page turner with a showstopper of an ending!! I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Massive thank you for the opportunity to read and review

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

This is a good thriller. It plays on every mother's fears regardless how you went about becoming one. I liked the insight into the other side of women who are surrogates and what might lead to that, what they think about it and how they feel too, which was really interesting.

And the twists were great, I didn't see them coming at all and I usually do as I'm such an avid psychological thriller fan.

Looking forward to reading more by Vickery and I hope there is another installment because I refuse to accept how it ended!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very slow for me. I am definitely in the minority here. This book didn't pick up for me until the last 70% of the book. While the ending was good I can't get past the fact that it took almost the end to engage me.

2.5 rating

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
The book was great, and you knew from the first couple of chapters that there were secrets to be told, BUT I never would've figured out the twists, they were good.
however the reason I didn't give it five stars is because I wanted to see the story come full circle, I wanted to read that the babies were home and revenge was gotten, I think we need a sequel lol

The Perfect Baby by Sam Vickery

The Perfect Baby is a fast paced dark psychological thrill ride that will makes it hard to put down. I wasn't sure what to expect when i started reading, finding myself drawn in with the first chapter, then it kind of takes a step back and dives into several different people that meet in a surrogacy support group. this book takes you on a journey from both a surrogate and adoptive parents' points of view.

Once the book picks up, you find yourself on a fast roller coaster ride of information and secrets. I quickly found myself drawn in, unable to stop reading. The book switches between the past and present from different points of view. Will Maya give them the baby? Will Julia change her mind about giving her sister Elise her baby? This book will make you lose sleep, as you won't wany to stop until you find out who stole the baby and why.

I wasn't expecting this!! Ok, complete honesty here, I wasn't sure where this book was going at first, and I wasn't in the mood for it. I knew something was going to happen but wasn't sure what. I even decided I might take a break as I felt I needed a break from reading. I then got the audiobook, and I started listening. (I LOVE listening to books!) I still wasn't sure what would happen, but things got "strange, " and I was hooked and wanted to know what would happen. I wanted to know how everyone was going to be linked.

Then!!!!

That twist!!!!

Jaw dropped! And my head was spinning, I had to pause the book to go to physio, but after I blitzed the last hour or so, what a way to twist everything up. I thought I knew what was happening, but I was wrong. The most delicious of unreliable narrators blew it out. I was shocked, I was like, no f-ing way! It completely floored me. Then the ending, I mean there surely will be a sequel, I need to know if we are about to have an explosive showdown. I think I know what I would do in that character's position. The absolute gall that someone could do "that" and potentially be never found - WOW!!!

This book surprised me in the best possible way. I was itching for the narrator to hurry up so I could connect the dots, (although I couldn't work out the timeline) I connected them, and boy oh boy, they were thrilling!

Hats off to Ms Vickery, she has written a final third to beat final thirds, to twist you in knots. To make you rethink how you felt and feel about people, and to turn everything on its head. Pure genius!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy. I love the plot line of surrogacy, I can't imagine carrying someone else's baby. I really enjoyed this one, and did not see the twist that came! I felt fooled, but happy it tricked me.

This story wasn’t what I expected, a story about surrogaty. The story takes you to both sides of it. But it also was a puzzle that slowly is put together, but when almost finished it falls apart and you can start over again.
I enjoyed reading this , couldn’t put it down. When finishing the final chapter I keep thinking if the story will continue.

Thanks NetGalley and the author for the chance to read and review this book.

The Perfect Baby by Sam Vickery is a suspense-filled drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat with its unpredictable twists and gripping tension. The story follows Elise, an intended parent, and Maya, a surrogate, who meet at a surrogacy support group and quickly become friends. But as their bond deepens, layers of secrets and deception start to unravel, leading to an intense, thrilling plot where nothing is quite as it seems.

Vickery masterfully crafts a story filled with hidden motives, mystery, and plenty of shocking surprises. Just when you think you've figured out where it's going, another twist pulls the rug out from under you, leading to an unexpected conclusion that will leave you thinking long after the final page.

With short, snappy chapters and a smart, sharp narrative, The Perfect Baby is a thriller that hooks you from the first chapter. The well-drawn characters, tense scenarios, and fast-paced storyline make it impossible to put down. For those who love psychological dramas with plenty of twists, this is one book where less is definitely more—best enjoyed without spoilers.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The first page draws you in.. omg, this woman stole a baby, she stole a baby from a hospital! And then, it drags, and drags, and drags some more.

There’s a lot of characters. More characters than a plot it seems and more just keep getting introduced, leaving me confused.

This book has really good reviews, so I suppose it gets better, but I DNF’d it 50 pages in because I just could not bring myself to care anymore; it seemed like this story is going nowhere.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, but unfortunately, this one isn’t for me.

The Perfect Baby is an absolutely heart pounding, all consuming, addictive psychological thriller. The beginning was a little on the slower side, but trust me keep going, I am so damn glad I kept going because this book ended up being amazing. Definitely different from the regular surrogacy trope !

I can't go into too much detail but that twist left me with my jaw on the floor for quite some time.. It truly took the book in a whole other direction, made it that much better and twistier. Vickery masterfully crafted a tale full of suspense and intrigue that will keep you on your toes until the chilling end.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @bookouture & @samvickery for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I found the book a bit challenging to keep up with between the different characters due to lack of distinguishing character details. I found the storyline was ok.

WOAH. This book is insanely good!!! I'm saving all the author's other books to my book wish list immediately because wow, what an amazing book this was!! I have read lots of thriller books to the point that I can guess the twist a lot of the time now. Well guess what? I didn't guess the twist this time, the twist took me completely by surprise! Wouldn't be surprised if this book became a bestseller. I will say though, with how it ended, I want more! I hope the author will write a second book. I'm recommending this book to all my friends! You've definitely have to read this one! Thank you to the author for giving me an advanced reader copy from Netgallery. I enjoyed it so much!

Thank you Bookouture for a copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Perfect Baby is a twisty, suspense filled melodrama with many moments of gripping tension.
We are introduced to Elise and Maya who meet at a surrogacy group.
They become friends and then the drama unfolds.
As the world turns nothing is as it seems.
Be prepared for a shocking twist and an unexpected conclusion.
This one of those books that the less said the better.
I was hooked from the opening chapter and as I read, I thought where is this going to go, then bam a twist and I was very eager to finish.
It’s a smart, sharp and interesting thriller.
Short snappy chapters, an intriguing plot, a bunch of interesting characters and lots of tense scenarios.
One book I would strongly recommend.

I absolutely loved this book. It was gripping, and I loved the little twists sprinkled throughout the book that all came together 75% of the way through the book in a big twist. I feel the ending was dragged out a bit and almost left more questions than answers hence 4 stars, however I would absolutely recommend this to lovers of the thriller genre who like a relatively short book with short chapters that keeps you hooked from the beginning!