Summer Reading | Book Chatter

The Perfect Family
By Robyn Harding
Gallery Books, 9781982169398, August 10, 2021, 352pp.

The Short of It:

An addictive read that you will read straight through.

The Rest of It:

Thomas and Viv Adler have a beautiful home. Manicured lawns and beautiful interiors. On the whole, a perfect family. It’s a comfortable way to live with their two nearly adult children, but then one morning they wake to their house being egged by pranksters.

But what starts off a juvenile prank quickly becomes something else. Tires are slashed and their home is set on fire. Security cameras show dark figures in hoodies. Why would someone target them? Why won’t it stop?

As Thomas and Viv begin to evaluate recent events of their own, ones which might cause someone to act out, they each keep their thoughts to themselves while turning to their son and daughter for answers. Could something have happened at school? Could they have enemies of their own? Their son returned from college, adamant that he is not going back. Could that have something to do with it?

I don’t know if there is an actual term for this type of fiction but I call it Domestic Suspense. I am obsessed with suburbia anything. I live in a suburb that is literally referred to as Awesometown and when the cracks appear in the facades we so carefully put up around us, things get real, fast. That is how this story is. This family is far from perfect. Everyone has a secret and as things escalate, I found myself returning to my Kindle over and over again to find out what happens next.

Each member of this family has a story to tell and it all comes together in a very satisfying way. This is THE perfect summer book. Toss it in your beach bag, be done with it by the afternoon. It will have you flipping through the pages and ignoring everything around you. Plus, as a suburban mom, I get nervous regularly about things going on in the neighborhood and Harding really zeros in on that subtle paranoia that surfaces when things at home are a little off. Ask me about the lady who keeps letting her pup use my lawn as her toilet.

I am a Harding fan. I find that she really nails the family dynamic, especially when it comes to teens or young adults. The Perfect Family will be on my fave list for the year.

The Perfect Family comes out tomorrow, August 10, 2021. Order yourself a copy.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Neighborhood It’s been warm. About 104. Not horrible if you can get most of your errands and walks done early. The pup and I try to take our walk at 7:30 a.m. As you can see from the photo, it’s nice and shady for a good chunk of our walk. She tends to dawdle though so sometimes it’s quite warm by the time we return.

I have quite a bit going on this week. Two in-person meetings in the evening which in and of itself is not much but more than I am used to these days. Plus, my daughter and I share a car right now so I will have to figure out the ride situation since she will still be at work by the time I need to leave.

I am surprised at how early some schools are starting this year. I have two friends whose kids have started already! I mean, they started in July! That is unheard of. I started to see first day of school pics and my brain imploded. I know it’s a stressful time too because some states are not requiring masks for those young students and of course they are unvaccinated. This has caused a lot of anxiety for some of my friends. I pray that these littles stay safe!

As for me. I got that memo about a return to work but never any details so I suppose I will be back in some form in September. I hope PJs and yoga pants are acceptable. I kid you, but I am also dead serious. I lost the Covid-19 (pounds) that I gained over the past year and a half but I do not care to go shopping for clothes and it would be weird to wear the same things I had when I left work so long ago. Like, time stopping. Anyone else in the same boat? Does anyone even care what I look like?

This past Monday I reviewed The Paper Palace. It is a Reese pick and once again, a solid pick it was. It was very good but a very tough subject. I included a trigger warning for sexual abuse so be aware of that going in. I am now almost done with Where The Truth Lies and hope to have the review up by this Friday.

I keep putting it off but I really need to have a list of dorm essentials by the end of this week. I know lists exists and the school even sent one but I want to keep it trim since the idea of moving all her stuff out and back every semester gives me hives. Not easy to do from afar.

I hope you are all doing well and that your reading is great. I am getting excited for fall and crossing all my fingers that the R.I.P. Challenge happens.

Chatting with friends about books and life…