Sarah A. Denzil

My Perfect Daughter

Jenna Pascale 

- alternating timelines 
- shorter chapters 
- mother daughter bond 
- fast paced 

Wow! This book had me hooked within the first five chapters and that should say A LOT. The synopsis was intriguing and the execution was impeccable. 

The strained relationship between Maddie and Zoe as mother and daughter was extremely frustrating at times and heartwarming at others - which I assume was the author’s goal. There were times I totally understood Maddie and her dark sense of humor, inability to behave appropriately in uncomfortable situations, and overall morbidity she carried with her. But there were also times where I was frustrated and didn’t understand why she couldn’t just fully accept the love being given to her. However, when you learn more and more about Maddie’s childhood, it starts to make sense. 

I really enjoyed the alternating timelines between “then” and “now” and getting a glimpse at how the relationship between Maddie and Zoe began and how it go to be where it was at present time. I’ll admit I figured out the twists (yes, plural) pretty easily but there were still smaller surprises contained within each twist that really made the whole plot come full circle. If you figure out the twists, it won’t ruin the whole story for you. 

This was my first read by Sarah Denzil and will not be my last. Highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a fast paced thriller - both full of suspense and psychological twists. 

My Perfect Daughter is available to the public on February 27, 2022.

Samantha Kalany Hughes

First of all I wanted to thank Insta Book Tours and Victoria Hyde for a chance to participate in the early reviewing and Book Tour for Sarah A. Denzil's My Perfect Daughter. 

What a whirlwind of a ride that was. I started flipping through this eBook on Sunday and haven't been able to set my tablet down since then. Told in two different timelines, we see the stories of young Maddie and Zoe Osbourne intertwine as they come to know each other in a violently horrible beginning, featuring a mad serial killer and his tortuous chamber. After the two are able to escape the horrors of Peter McKenna's looney-barn, the Zoe works with the girl to become her adoptive caregiver and finally "Mummy" that looks after and loves her as she grows. 

As Zoe remarries and welcomes a child of her own into the world, girls in the town around them start to go missing and turn up dead, and all fingers get pointed at Maddie for her violent ties to her biological father can't seem to go away. 

In a speedy, but twisting turn of events, new characters get introduced for the good and the bad that left me wondering who I could trust, as the reader. I do enjoy a good thriller, where I hardly know which way is up, because just as the ending was beginning to thread itself out for me, the last page threw me a zinger. 

This was an excellently crafted book, and if you're looking for fast-paced read, this is the one for you!

5/5 Stars

My Perfect Daughter

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