The Perfect Baby, written by Sam Vickery, is an unstoppable thriller that I greatly enjoyed! This book tells the story of Maya and Elsie; Maya is a surrogate mother for a family, and Elsie's sister is a surrogate mother for her. The two meet at a support group where they hit it off. This books chapters alternate between being told by the two characters, and also have some chapters where we learn about each young woman's past as well. And through the book the reader learns about connections, and that each woman has s0me experiences that they would rather keep in their past.
I loved the character and plot development in this book, and also really enjoyed how you saw the experiences of both a surrogate mother and a woman working with a surrogate. There were plenty of questions that this book answered, and yet it still left the reader guessing a bit at the end. I definitely recommend this book! Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher, and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an absolutely fantastic book that had a dynamite twist. There's enough connections between characters that you can't really tell where the twist is going to come from until it jumps out at you. Think you know what's going to happen? Just wait...

This is a great thriller!

The story follows two woman that meet at a surrogacy support group. Both woman are keeping secrets and the twist you wont see coming.

4 stars.*

I confess I selected this because the cover looked a lot like the thrillers by AJ McDine that I have listened to and enjoyed. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this story was!

The Perfect Baby tells the story of Maya and Elise, two women on opposite sides of the surrogate relationship who meet at a surrogate support group. As the novel wears on we learn that both women have trauma in their pasts that lead them to where they are. Maya's relationship with the couple whose baby she is carrying becomes more prickly the closer she gets to her due date. Elise's relationship with her sister, who is carrying her baby, becomes untenable and Elise's sister cuts off contact.

The climax of this story is unreal. I generally can predict most endings and this one blew my mind!! Highly recommended!

*with thanks to NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This high quality audio had me gripped from the first word. A perfect 5 star physiological thriller told from the pov of the 2 main female characters. It was full of twists and turns and red herrings. The narration for me made the story really raw and real. It cleverly touched on some difficult issues of surrogacy, survivor guilt and paitent doctor relationships. This gave me plenty to feel and think about. The real action was towards the end. However the ending left me hoping there might be a sequel as I felt there was much more mileage in this complex story. Thank you so much netgallery and publisher and author and narrators for this highly recommend 5 star listen.

Elise, joins a surrogacy group where she befriends Maya. Elise’s sister Julia is her surrogate, she is distant and cold to Elise, and avoids involving Elise in the pregnancy. This makes Elise join the group, befriending Maya, both of whom have secrets from each other. Maya is a surrogate to Nina and Will, who are controlling and don’t give Maya the space she needs. Both these women have some dark tangled secrets that make them behave and choose to do certain things. While Maya feels that she deserves to repent, Elise feels that she deserves the baby, constantly anxious that Julia would decide otherwise.

What I liked:
• The narration by Sofia Zervudachi and Katy Sobey, was mindblowing. From the little trembles and sighs, everything felt very real. Even the way Elise talked in a trembled quiet voice, or when Julia panicked.
• The writing was smooth and extremely immersive. I binged this book to the point I didn’t charge my phone for two days.
• The plot twist!! Just as I was getting the idea that I knew what was going to happen, the plot flipped on me, and everything made sense. I had to process not what was going on, but how the plot tricked me in a good way.
• How real the characters and their motives felt even though, I had no idea what they were hiding(Maya’s ex, her blaming herself, Elise’s pain at not being involved).
• The open ending!! I want more.

What I disliked:
• Honestly, no notes.

This was a short, fun listen, with immersive writing and amazing narration. Loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this one!

I love how this book unfolded. The way the secrets were revealed had perfect timing. I kept thinking I knew where the story was gonna go and then another twist got thrown in. The description of this book doesn’t give much information away and I think that’s good because going into this book with very little info made the reading experience unpredictable and exciting. The narration was great also.

Out of all of the surrogate movies and books I’ve ever watched/read this is the first one I didn’t predict the outcome. It was a phenomenal read and i thoroughly enjoyed every second of it and now I need more. This could easily have a second book and I really hope it does someday!
The whole time you really feel for both main characters, but especially Elise whose sister Julia is her surrogate. But while her sister is offering her this amazing opportunity to be a mother, she’s also leaving her out of the whole experience; not telling her about appts, being very cold to her, ignoring her calls, not inviting her in when she shows up. This creates tension causing Elise to be so afraid that Julia is going to change her mind and keep the baby in the end so she’s desperately trying to stay in the loop without pushing too hard.
Then we have maya who is acting as a surrogate for another family Nina and Will who hover over her every second trying to bond with their baby while in the womb but can maya handle how many rules are set into place per Nina and Wills contract that she signed without another glance or is she forced to follow through their every command? Because of her past she feels this is something she has to do for another family to right her wrongs but can she go through with it? I mean the baby is her blood since it’s her egg and donor sperm since Nina’s eggs were bad and Wills sperm was no good so can she really give away HER baby?
These two women meet in a surrogacy group and soon become friends. As their friendship evolves Elise starts to suspect Maya may want to keep her baby which frightens her because it makes her think more about how cold Julia has been to her and how she may do the same thus creating this little bit of tension in the friendship but none the less she’s still there for maya when it matters most.
And then we get to the twist… the twist I did NOT see coming and would have never suspected!! I could barely put it down before but after that my tired eyes popped right open and I was not putting it down until it was finished.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to read this twisty thriller!

As someone with ADHD, it can be difficult to get immersed in a new book with all of life’s distractions. However, Sam Vickery’s The Perfect Baby had me drawn in from the moment I hit play on the audiobook. I found myself making up chores just to have an excuse to hear more of the story. Like mowing the lawn until my grass was begging me to stop. And then mowing the neighbor's lawn. And their neighbor’s lawn. You get the idea. But hey, at least the neighborhood looks nice!
The Perfect Baby delves into relationships between surrogate mothers and those who wish desperately to become parents, creating emotional twists and turns similar in style to authors like Freida McFadden and Stacy Willingham. Vickery introduces plot twists, suspense, and emotion in a way that keeps the plot constantly moving and shifting, keeping readers on their toes. I was on my toes so much I considered taking up ballet classes.
Vickery has a way of making you care about the characters. You feel like you know them rather than knowing of them. You become involved in their lives, their needs, and their flaws. The characters in this novel aren’t perfect and that is what makes them so interesting. They feel human and very real. The characters are brought to life in the audiobook version by the two wonderful narrators that do a fabulous job of portraying emotion and personality at just the right moments.
Overall, this is one of the best books I have read this year. Even though I typically find it difficult to get immersed in a new book, the unique theme of surrogate mothers and their dynamics with those waiting for a family, the character development, and the phenomenal narration of the audiobook kept me hooked. I’ll be planting grass seed in preparation for Vickery’s next novel.
Thank you Bookouture Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. And a huge thank you to Sam Vickery for writing this fantastic novel!

Wow. What a breathtaking story with a surprising twist at the end! I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I just couldn’t stop listening! I loved the story and the narrators too make it such a great listen!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Sam Vickery, and Bookouture Audio for the audiobook. A great listen narrated by Sofia Zervudachi and Katy Sobey. This was a great thriller with so many psychological aspects. A tale of revenge to the fullest and maybe losing sight of reality along the way. A great story and a great listen!

A decent thrill ride with a well excited premise and plot. With the standard blue and yellow thriller -esque cover it was eye catching and conveyed well the genre of book. The narrator was a good choice and I liked the premise of the story. A canny little thriller and a good palette cleanser between heavier reads. Will listen to more from this author

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+⭐
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!

I listened to an audiobook narrated by Katy Sobey and Sofia Zervudachi and it was good. The only irritating thing was - speed! Both Narrators had different speeds when they were presenting the chapter. I am a fast listener, so my comfort speed is 2x and it was fantastic with Maya's narrator but the chapter was presented from Elise's point of view I needed to change the speed to 2.5x as it was too slow for me.
No other complaints, the voices felt suitable to the characters, a lot of emotions and intonations, so in general I loved it.

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!

Holy wow! The emotional roller coaster I went on when listening to The Perfect Baby - I should have tightened my seatbelt because I was NOT ready for all of the twists and turns. I love the way Sam Vickery laid out this story and delivered each of the character’s perspectives. Sam Vickery has a way of developing the characters so you instantly form connections with them - whether positive or negative. But this character connection also added a level of realism as I listened largely while putting my own baby to sleep… and I will say that I held my baby a little tighter each time. I simply could not stop listening!

The audiobook narration by Sofia Zervudachi and Laty Sobey was spectacular. They breathed life into the characters, adding another layer of personality and emotion to the already riveting story.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Sam Vickery for the opportunity to listen and review The Perfect Baby.

4.25⭐️

I had the audiobook read by Sofia Zervudachi and Katy Sobey who do a great job with the two main characters.

The main theme is surrogacy. So there might be triggers for some.
The two main characters are on opposite sides of the equation, Elise and Maya. Elise’s sister Julia is her surrogate, Maya is a surrogate for Nina and Will.

It starts in a similar vein to other books I’ve read on this topic, although it included some interesting insights that I hadn’t thought about before. From the beginning we know that Elise and Maya have their own personal issues and there are red flags within their surrogacy relationships.
I was impressed with the direction this one took which added something new to the trope, it’s different and very entertaining. Ok it relies on coincidence and something that is now unlikely to happen, but it depends on whether you want entertainment or likely events. I’ll go for entertainment any day of the week.
As it’s got a good pace, and is twisty I think this one would appeal to Freida McFadden fans. I’m keen to listen to more by this author.

Elise and Mia meet at a surrogacy support group. Mia is a surrogate, and Elise’s sister is her surrogate

Both women have big secrets - we learn a few things about Mia to be able to guess what her secret is, but Elise is more reticent and I was unable to even hazard a guess

Although infertility, surrogacy etc is the key subject, there’s a lightness to the writing which I enjoyed. It was still illuminating but also entertaining - definite popcorn feels

There’s a bunch of implausible coincidences but I was too gripped to mind. I really did fly through this and loved the audiobook narrators. They both did a great job of bringing the main characters to life

I didn’t guess the secrets, or the big twist and I really enjoyed the reveal. The pace was pretty steady until ‘the birth’ and then wham! What a ride

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

While this books synopsis describes a story on surrogacy, it is so much more.
Definitely gives you the perspective of all those involved and by the end I was kinda feeling for the main character.
I really enjoyed this book, honestly more than I was expecting. Very happy that I decided to read this book.
I “read” it by audiobook and the narrators were really good. Definitely made you feel the emotion going on within the characters and the story.

Looking forward to reading more by this author.

Wow! The Perfect Baby is a roller-coaster of a read with twists and turns and a jaw dropping ending! 
I gave it a strong 4  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A surrogate and a woman using a surrogate with deep, dark secrets meet at a support group and form a friendship. The roller coaster begins and the ride kept me guessing and needing to finish quickly to know how it ended and what happened to the babies and the connection that tied them all together. 

I'll definitely be looking for more books by author Sam Vickey.

Thank you to Netgalley and Booktoure for the ARC of The Perfect Baby which releases September 27, 2024.

READ THIS BOOK! The Perfect Baby by Sam Vickery had me hooked from the beginning! This is exactly what I want in a psychological thriller. What a roller coaster! Buckle up because this is twisty! I felt so many emotions while listening to this audiobook. The story is told from multiple viewpoints and read by two narrators (Sofia Zervudachi and Katy Sobey). The writing and narration were both done very well. Read (or listen to) it! Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the advance reader copy of The Perfect Baby audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Not all surrogate baby thrillers are created equal.

This pacey, twisty, and character-driven thriller takes the angst and drama of surrogacy to exciting and intriguing new levels.

What happens when a surrogate mother meets a woman who passionately wants a baby in a surrogacy support group?

Get ready to enjoy the ride!

I especially enjoyed the book's impossible-to-predict ending.

I listened to the audiobook read by Katy Sobey and Sofia Zervudachi.

Although both narrators did a superb job with the narration, the book unfolded from three POVs and a third narrator would have made "The Perfect Baby" a perfect audiobook.

This was my first book by female author Sam Vickery and I look forward to reading future titles by this talented author.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars