The Perfect Child

What the hell! That ending 😡 but wow This book was so well written I thought I was going crazy too. I felt my skin crawling every time Janie came up! That’s my biggest fear. Children are a blessing but it’s scary to think they can become evil.

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married orthopedic surgeon and nurse. They want nothing more than to be parents. After multiple failed pregnancies, they decided adoption was their best option.
Janie comes into the ER one evening after being found on the streets. She is dirty and bloody, malnourished, and had clearly been abused.
Christopher is asked to join Janie's care team and instantly bonds with the broken girl. He starts spending all his free time between surgeries with her. When he introduces Hannah to Janie, she doesn't take to her quite like she did Dr. Chris.
They bonded with Janie so much before she left the hospital that they decided to adopt the perfect, sweet little girl. Janie's recovery, emotionally and physically, show more is going to be hard, but they think they can do it better than anyone else.
How hard could one little girl be?
Christopher goes back to work after several weeks of settling Janie in, and things start to take a turn for the worse. Janie is increasingly difficult for Hannah to handle but sweet for everyone else.
Out of the blue, their dream has come true, and Hannah is pregnant. Christopher is worried about Janie and how she's going to react, Hannah doesn't think she will care.
Once the baby arrives, things become increasingly worse, and Janie starts to exhibit more and more disturbing behaviors.
How devious could a little girl be?
This book is dark and creepy and twisty, with one shocking event after another. This is by far my favorite book by Lucinda Berry yet! show less

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: Gore and some very disturbing elements.
A young married couple are desperate to have a child of their own, and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.
This is an intense, disturbing and very creepy story. A young couple, Hannah and Christoopher, adopt a severely traumatized child who as trouble bonding with the mother, Hannah.... but "overly bonds" with Christopher, the father. You will really feel for this young couple, especially Christopher.

The story is told through the perspectives of the three characters; Christopher and Hannah, who adopted the child, Janie, and Piper, their social worker. Christopher was just blind to the issues facing the family and in particular, his wife, Hannah. We're show more at first made to wonder if Hannah is just over-reacting and not very well prepared for her responsibilities for Janie. The social worker, Piper wonders if perhaps she had completely misjudged the family. The biggest question though was WHY was Janie abandoned in the first place? While reading you are forever wondering and dreading what Janie might do next and the impact it would have on Christopher and Hannah.

Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely. perhaps even overly devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is "drowning" under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see or acknowledge Janie’s 'true nature" The author, Lucinda Berry, is a child psychologist, so she definitely knew what she was doing when she created these characters.

It was a really good read. The only problem I had with the story, and what earned it the 4-star rating was when reaching the end, it just seemed to "stop"...what happened to the end? If you are not a fan of horror or weird fiction...this is not your "cuppa tea". It will leave you 'disturbed". show less

Oh man, I went through this book in spurts. Because once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I adore psychological thrillers, and this book made me think of the movie Orphan, except Janie actually is a little girl. Chapters were short so felt like the story moved quickly.

My God, Janie creeped me out! I don't think I've ever been as disturbed by a villain child as much as her. I even hated her toward the middle/end of the story, once her layers were revealed little by little. Really sympathized with Hannah and I could put myself in her shoes. Didn't like Christopher as much but I did understand how he felt.

Just took off one star because...the ending. It felt like it was the end of a chapter and I was looking forward to reading show more what happened afterward. And then nothing. Also, wasn't a fan of the animal abuse, however briefly it was described. Animal abuse never sits well with me.

Otherwise, well done and I would definitely be looking out for Ms. Berry's other works! show less

I almost feel awful giving this book such a high rating because of how sickly disturbing it is. But it really was a good book. It shows you just what humans are capable of when you get the right mix of factors. I don't really know what to say about this book because it is so tragic but I almost hate to say I enjoyed it. Beware to the faint of heart.

What the hell! That ending but wow This book was so well written I thought I was going crazy too. I felt my skin crawling every time Janie came up! That's my biggest fear. Children are a blessing but it's scary to think they can become evil.

4.5 stars
Current thoughts after just finishing: WTF!?
Ok, updating the next day after thinking more. This is such a wild, twisty, crazy ride of a story. The entire time I was unsettled, pissed off, and completely captivated. The twists just kept hitting and the nerves kept building. The ending didn't bother me but I will always ask for more from Dr. Lucinda Berry's world.