Perfect Days

Raphael Montes — 2016

A twisted young medical student kidnaps the girl of his dreams and embarks on a dark and delirious road trip across Brazil in the English-language debut of Brazil's most celebrated young crime writer. Teo Avelar is a loner. He lives with his paraplegic mother and her dog in Rio de Janeiro, he doesn't have many friends, and the only time he feels honest human emotion is in the presence of his medical school cadaver--that is, until he meets Clarice. She's almost his exact opposite: exotic, spontaneous, unafraid to speak her mind. An aspiring screenwriter, she's working on a screenplay called Perfect Days about three friends who go on a road trip across Brazil in search of romance. Teo is obsessed. He begins to stalk her, first following her to her university, then to her home, and when she ultimately rejects him, he kidnaps her and they embark upon their very own twisted odyssey across Brazil, tracing the same route outlined in her screenplay. Through it all, Teo is certain that time is all he needs to prove to Clarice that they are made for each other, that time is all he needs to make her fall in love with him. But as the journey progresses, he digs himself deeper and deeper into a pit that he can't get out of, stopping at nothing to ensure that no one gets in the way of their life together. Both tense and lurid, and brimming with suspense from the very first page, Perfect Days is a psychological thriller in the vein of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley--a chilling journey in the passenger seat with a psychopath, and the English language debut of one of Brazil's most deliciously dark young writers.

Reviews

Matcha Donut@bowdonut

Jan 13, 2024

Poor Clarice and good for Teo for being a lucky bastard. This book feels mediocre for me.

Eve@eveofrevolution

Dec 6, 2021

3.5 stars. Ooooooh man, I have a lot of thoughts about this book. First of all, it's very well-written, with dark humor that reveals the delusions of the main character throughout the book; even though the book is written in third-person, there are frequent passages that are what Teo is thinking, specifically about how he's nonviolent and would never hurt Clarice (HA!). It's disturbing, enthralling, sickening, and addictive. I have to talk about that ending, though. (view spoiler)[WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK? I'm so angry. SO ANGRY. You know, I expected him to end up killing her and get away with it, or something, but this was SO MUCH WORSE. She has amnesia so thankfully, she can't remember all the fucked up stuff that Teo did to her, but they end up MARRIED AND PREGNANT? Teo never got what was coming to him, either for the kidnapping and torture, for Breno's death, or even for killing his mom's dog. Somehow, the doctors never realized he'd sliced her spinal cord, even though the wound was "surprisingly straight and deep"? How tf would a car accident cause that? UGH. Also, I'm really irritated by the number of times there was hope. When Clarice got the upper hand and handcuffed him to the bed and when she caused the car accident, I seriously hoped that would be the end of Teo's freedom. But NOPE. Montes just snatched those moments of hope away smh. (hide spoiler)] I was a bit hesitant to read this, because it sounded similar to You but written by a man. I said in my review of You that it works because it's written by a woman (lol jk I didn't actually say that, lemme go back and edit that into my review...), and I can't be certain about a man's motivation to write this kind of book. While he injected plenty of villainy into Teo (especially with the passages about his delusion), I'm still a bit uncomfortable, as it bordered on torture porn at times. Then, his author's note and acknowledgments sent me WAAAAY into creeped out territory. His author's note ends with "Also, it is perfectly possible to hide a petite woman in a large suitcase with wheels. I have tried it and it works." and at the end of his acknowledgments, he writes, "Finally, I would like to thank my mother. She was quite shocked after reading Suicidas and asked, 'Why do you write about such violent things? Try to write a love story.' Perfect Days, is the result of her request." While I think (hope) he's joking on both counts, I'm still thoroughly grossed out. Just...too much NOPE for me.