Perfect Days: A Novel

Raphael Montes's novel Perfect Days was 'hugely celebrated' in his native Brazil. Thirteen other countries have snapped up publishing rights, including the US, where Perfect Debut releases on February 16/16.

Book covers are the first thing that grab my attention. How does the image used relate to the story? Vacation? Marriage breakup? It could be anything. But I doubt you'd ever guess the connection in this case. Let me explain.....

Teo is a loner, living with his paraplegic mother. He is quite brilliant and does well at medical school. Well, technically, he does well, but socially not so good. "He learned that if his playacting seemed real, it was all a lot easier." Teo counts the cadaver he works on as his best friend. Uh, huh, starting show more to get creepy isn't it? Not done yet...

Teo is surprised when he spots Clarice at a party - he actually feels something - he's attracted to Clarice. He begins following her, imagining how perfect their relationship is going to be. And of course there will be a relationship - why wouldn't there be? Except Clarice isn't quite on the same page....but Teo takes things into his own hands. Ready?

"By stuffing Clarice in a suitcase and bringing her home, had he become a criminal? It hadn't been premeditated, nor was he interested in a ransom. He just wanted what was best for Clarice."

Now, you may be thinking I've given away the entire plot and spoiled the book for you. Nope, not even close! Teo just needs a bit more time to convince Clarice that they're meant to be together. Road trip maybe?

Perfect Days is twisted, creepy and completely unpredictable. I had no idea where Montes was going to take the story (and was somewhat frightened to see what was next) but was unable to put the book down. You know, like watching a scary movie and telling the characters to not go down the basement stairs. Teo's inability to see that what he is doing is wrong and his rationalizing is downright terrifying. Or perhaps I should be more worried about the author? Perfect Days is definitely one of the creepiest books I've read in a long time. And there's one last gotcha in the final pages that was unexpected. Perfect Days is probably not for the faint of heart..... show less

If you're looking for a book that makes the city of Rio de Janeiro and the vast country of Brazil come to life, look elsewhere. Perfect Days could take place in any urban setting. However, if you're looking to spend some time in the passenger seat with a psychopath at the wheel, you've certainly come to the right place.

You know from the get-go that Teo is one strange-- and potentially very sick-- young man-- unless you believe sharing your secrets with a cadaver is normal. Teo carries out his plans, convinced that he's completely in the right, and his actions almost become dream-like, carrying the reader along on a growing tidal wave of unease and dread. Clarice makes that tidal wave grow, and when Teo kidnaps her, we know she's certain show more to become a corpse.

Or is she?

As the days of her captivity pass, readers learn more about her character, and hope begins to sprout. The balance of power keeps shifting between these two characters until the outcome is not certain at all. Speaking of that outcome, it was totally unexpected, and I'm sure it won't be to everyone's taste. I'm not sure that it's to mine to be honest. What I do know is that Raphael Montes had me hooked from beginning to end. I'm really looking forward to reading his next book. show less

So creepy and disturbing and utterly fantastic. I devoured this book and loved the psychological perspective of Teo. I wish Clarice had been a little more appealing - I didn't really like her at all - but the story and writing was brilliant.

This was a crazy ride! There were so many twists to it. It opens with Teo, a med student, talking about his obsession for a corpse used in one of his classes. She, presumably, is his first “love.” He then meets Clarice, a live girl who gives him a drunken kiss. He decides to kidnap her to “help” her finish her screenplay called Perfect Days. He imagines they will have perfect days together and she will fall in love with him. Then comes marriage in his fantasy. From that moment on it’s just absolute insanity. At one point, I didn’t know who was captive and who was torturing who. You need to read it to find out how that occurred and if anyone survives. I will say the ending had me hyperventilating a little with how crazy it show more could go.
To be honest, the only character I really liked was the dog and maybe Clarice’s father. I normally don’t enjoy a book where I dislike so many characters. In this one, though, I was caught up in the craziness of everything. The author either has an amazing imagination or is in need of therapy. If you are looking for a crazy thriller, try this one. show less

This was just a whole bunch of meh.

I first learned of this book through a promotional video. It did its job and intrigued me. In case you're wondering, I believe the three pages in question from the video are pages 196-198 of the hardcover version, which to be honest, I didn't find all that shocking, but they're the only three pages that could possibly elicit that kind of a response.

If you liked [b:Gone Girl|19288043|Gone Girl|Gillian Flynn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg|13306276], or even the movie Boxing Helena, you might enjoy this.

Might.

Depends on whether you can excuse the mostly plotless plot, or the oceans of tell, don't show (that I'm not sure whether to blame on the author or the translator). The show more entire book is stuffed to the brim with He did this. He did that. He knew this. He felt that. He said this. He understood that. I found myself craving some actual action, some specific dialogue, or for the plot to finally advance.

I will say, it did pick up some steam around the halfway point, when finally...something happened. But, then the author must have realized he was getting into some actual thriller writing and quickly shut that shit down again, right about at the point where the promotional video chose to showcase those three pages.

So, don't fall for the video. For a thriller, this is one of the more toothless ones I've read. show less

When Teo meets Clarice at a party he's been dragged to by his mother with whom he lives, he sees his future. Clarice may not yet feel the same, but Teo knows that relationships go through phases so he will give it time and show her what a catch he is. Teo is clever, he is a medical student, but some things are difficult to understand; emotions and people, in general, for example. But he's learnt from an early age to pretend and he's good at it. I didn't quite love him like I loved Joe (there's a very obvious comparison) but I really enjoyed reading this. Some of it was dark and disturbing, but I felt the majority of it was actually outright amusing, in a satirical sort of way. Not sure whether that is what the author was going for, but show more I couldn't help laughing. It wasn't really the psychological thriller I was expecting, but went more from slightly strange to utterly weird, with some very dark moments. There was one particular moment when Teo makes a life changing decision and I actually screamed. But overall, I smiled a lot. Definitely a fast read that kept my attention throughout and I was kind of sad when it ended. But, the ending was perfect.
I would definitely like to read more from this Brazilian author and hope his other works will be translated.
I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

I enjoyed this novel. I liked being inside Teo's head, and I found it interesting that the "bad guy" (or is it love) wins in the end. I only gae it four stars because everything was spelled out; there was little left to the reader's imagination- perhaps that was an issue in translation.