The Perfect Child

“For eager adoptive parents, getting what they always wanted has chilling consequences.” Genre: Psychological Thriller Thriller Suspense Mystery Horror Tropes & Themes: Foster-to-Adopt Buyer’s Remorse Orthopedic Surgeon & ER Nurse 💕 Adoption Paradox Adoption Hero Expectation versus Reality Department of Child Disservices Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse/Neglect; Animal Abuse ⚠ “No one would ever see Janie through my eyes.” Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 The Perfect Child, a psychological thriller by Author and Trauma Psychologist, Dr. Lucinda Berry, is a novel about Ortho-Surgeon, Dr. Christopher Bauer, and his wife Hannah, an ER Nurse, who seemingly have it all, but are desperate for the one thing they want most: a baby. Just as the Bauers are considering adoption after several failed IVF rounds, a young girl with substantial injuries and a dog collar on her neck is rushed by ambulance with a police escort into the emergency department, after the little girl was found wandering in a parking lot. “… it’s a lost kid or something, and she’s in really bad shape. Ambulance is bringing her in with a police escort.” The timing of the young girl, (Janie’s), arrival at the hospital where the Bauers worked, while they were nearly desperate for a baby, were the makings of a perfect storm (and the perfect psychological thriller!) While Hannah avoids Janie at first to protect her own heart, (injured kids are the most difficult cases, especially for a woman who’s only wish is to raise a child) Christopher and Janie instantly connect and share a special bond, made stronger after he performs Janie’s orthopedic surgery. Christopher, believing it’s fate that Janie be placed with them, enthusiastically convinces Hannah that Janie, a traumatized six year old, could be their “baby”. I felt like Christopher, while likeable, had a bit of a hero complex. His refusal to see the truth was not just because he believed that girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, it was also because it threatened the facade that Janie was a regular young girl and he “fixed” her, in my opinion. He did a lot alongside Hannah to get Janie help, like therapy, but it was more “parenting class” (with a Dr. who diagnosed Janie with reactive-attachment-disorder and wouldn’t budge) than it was “psychotherapy session”. Both Hannah and Christopher made choices that frustrated me, in their attempts to control and alter Janie’s behavior: THE CAT, REALLY? I gritted my teeth and just waited for the worst. Hannah was more of a realist when it came to Janie but unfortunately her husband, Christopher thought Janie could do no wrong. Unaware of Janie’s disturbing past, they foster-to-adopt her and are assigned to DCF caseworker, Piper, who oversteps the boundaries far more than she knows she should. Janie never discusses her mother (who was found deceased in a trailer park) leaving me wondering what on earth happened to Janie and why doesn’t she mention anything from her past? The dog collar, fused and broken bones — all a mystery. The suspense and final reveal is an absolute shocker. I loved the ominous ending. There are three alternating POVs: Christopher’s, Hannah’s, and Piper’s. I loved having the perspective of the DCF social worker too. I appreciate multiple POVs, especially with a complex story like The Perfect Child. Hannah was my favorite character, partly because she saw through Janie’s manipulative tactics, and there were quite a few. I felt terrible for Hannah as I saw her slowly losing herself, her dream became a nightmare. A surprise pregnancy further overwhelms her and Janie’s regression, aggression, and violence reach new levels, while Christopher is off in fairytale land, his head in the clouds. Hannah, the primary caregiver, is at her wit’s end. The Perfect Child is a page-turner. I absolutely loved this dark read. I’ve watched documentaries on feral children and severely abused and neglected children and find the psychology and stories like this that are built from real cases morbidly fascinating as well as horrific and shocking. Janie reminded me of a young German girl who was labeled as a sociopath at an extremely young age. She was downright frightening, much like little Janie, and said terrifying things in the sweetest voice while she batted her big beautiful blue eyes. “She’s just a girl. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” AWELLREADWOMANBLOG dot COM

You know those age-old sayings, "Be careful what you wish for," or "Things are not always what they seem?" Boy, have I got a story for you. In this book, you have Chris and Hannah Bauer, an early 40's couple that have been married for about a decade. They are both medical professionals, Chris an orthopedic surgeon, and Hannah, an RN. They have a healthy marriage, nice home, friends, and high paying careers. There's just one thing missing: they want a child. Hannah has had numerous miscarriages to the point where whenever she manages to get pregnant, she doesn't even get excited anymore and expects to lose the baby anyway. She and Chris consider adopting a child. One day, while Chris is at work, a child is found wandering the parking lot of the hospital. She's malnourished, visibly injured and disoriented. When people at the hospital examine her, the outrage builds. She has a host of injuries ranging from bruises to bones that have been broken and not healed properly. Everyone thinks she's three years old due to her size, but it turns out that she's actually a six-year old girl. Her name is Janie. Everyone feels compassion for Janie and wonder what sort of monster would do such a thing to an innocent little girl. Janie makes the news due to the nature of her case and because her mother was killed. No one knows who did it or why. What they found at the scene was evidence of Janie being restrained in a closet like an animal. Again, who would do such a thing to a little girl? Chris becomes Janie's doctor and fixes her improperly healed bones. He immediately bonds with her despite her severe issues; Janie is a very disturbed child. She throws fits and is obsessed with being fed; people attribute this to her abuse and accept that her behavior, while not desired is normal for a child who has gone through what she has. Hannah eventually meets Janie and she too falls for her and since Janie has no family to take her(her grandmother is in jail and wants nothing to do with her and no one knows who the father is), they become initially temporary foster parents. They get her home and that's when the trouble starts. She throws fits when she does not get her way(or sometimes just out of the blue), she breaks things, she urinates and defecates(she's not potty trained), she doesn't sleep, and she does this creepy thing where she just stands over them while they sleep. They learn how to deal with her due to going to child psychologists, but things get worse and worse. When it's time to start school, she deliberately does things to get kicked out; she went through several schools(hurting kids and smearing feces will do that). They get her a kitten, and well. .. you know the rest. She even says, "I like hurting people." It becomes apparent that she may be more than just some kid damaged due to abuse. Hannah(who Janie never truly warms up to) eventually begins to face the chilling reality that perhaps Janie isn't bad due to abuse, perhaps Janie was just. . .born bad. Someone that came out of the womb fundamentally broken. By this time, the Bauers have officially adopted Janie and Chris unfortunately no matter what, is pro-Janie and absolutely refuses to entertain the notion that his little Janie is a bad person no matter how many times Hannah presents him with evidence indicating otherwise; this causes a massive rift in their marriage; Chris always takes Janie's side and makes his wife out to be the bad guy. This is a well written book that is written in the first person and told from three points of view: Chris's view, Hannah's view, and Piper's(their social worker) view. My only complaint was that he ending was kind of unsatisfying. I can appreciate endings that leave you speculating about what may have happened later, but this one just kind of ended. I could keep writing, but I won't. There is a lot of material here and I don't want to fill this with spoilers. Just know that this one stays with you for a while and it's a chilling and disturbing read.

Lucinda Berry never fails to suck me in. Her books will make you question the way you view the world. This one was no different, I couldn’t stop once I started.. I felt every single emotion reading this book. To me, that is what makes a book great. This storyline deals with HEAVY but real topics.. be warned.

I enjoyed The Perfect Child. It was one of those books that pulled me in fast and kept me wanting to know what Janie was going to do next. The suspense and tension throughout the story were done really well, and Janie’s character was unsettling in a way that kept the pages turning. My only issue was the ending. It felt like a major cliffhanger, and I was left wanting more closure about what happened to Janie and the Bauer family. After everything they went through, I expected at least some answers. Overall, still a very entertaining psychological thriller, but the ending left me a little frustrated.

The first thing I can say is that from the very start you have a pretty general idea of how it will end, but that does nothing to diminish the intensity of the journey. To my surprise, there was a bit of a twist at the end that brought the story full circle. The second thing: this story isn’t for everyone. It can be graphic in detailing abuses and sociopathic behaviors. If you are someone who “relaxes” with true crime documentaries and Law and Order SVU type shows, movies and books, then you will find the thrill in this book. All said, I can say this was one of the few times I missed having an epilogue to reflect on how these characters fared in the near future. This part will contain SPOILERS from the book, for those that have read it (or that don’t care about spoilers): this book is told in first person point of view, from the viewpoints of 3 different individuals ( Hannah, Chris, and Piper). I found myself pulling for Hannah throughout the book, and genuinely started wishing she would leave Chris (and by extension, Janie). I found myself very frustrated with Chris always taking Janie’s side and assuming his wife, from the getgo, was the one exaggerating or lying. There were a few major “red flag” moments to make me question Chris’ (and sometimes Hannah’s) intelligence. First being when Janie fully ignored Hannah after Chris went back to work, and Chris didn’t believe his wife (a reasonable adult) over Janie (a virtual stranger, child, and mentally ill individual). I was also surprised that Hannah would still be so eagerly in favor of the adoption (at the final “are you sure, no going back” phase) after many of Janie’s clearly questionable behavior toward her. The next major red flag was after Janie admitted she hurt a little girl repeatedly for the joy of seeing her cry, they decided to GET HER A PET! WTF!? So, clearly that wouldn’t end well (to be fair to Chris here, he had suggested a goldfish, it was Hannah who went full stupid and decided on a kitten). Of course, day one with the new kitty, and psycho Janie had stuck him with a safety pin (cause......fun 🤷‍♀️). While C & H were horrified, they KEPT THE CAT (oh, but no worries, Chris told Janie that wasn’t nice and not to do it again - problem solved 🙄). Never have I rooted so hard for a six year to get killed - specifically by Hannah!! Moving along, Hannah has a baby and Janie acts out, leading to a super awkward breast feeding situation, and a dark turning point for Hannah. Janie (who again, is 6 going on 7 - though developmentally much younger) decides she want to breastfeed, like the new baby. Typical bratty kid with new baby bro stuff, right? Hannah tells her no and explains it’s just for babies. Janie has a meltdown. Later after Chris is home, Hannah explains what happened and says she thinks she’s going to give in and breastfeed Janie. Chris is mortified but backs her play. This is a strange decision by Hannah, who already isn’t liking Janie much anymore. The next morning Chris goes to work (@ the hospital) and H goes through with breastfeeding Janie, who proceeds to intentionally bite her, resulting in an ER visit, stitches, no longer able to breastfeed, horrible pain, and eventually a terrible infection. This event changes everything for Hannah. I like to think she finally saw the light. Long story short, at one point Janie kills the cat (big shock there), she’s told again by Chris that it wasn’t nice. From here Hannah pretty much never puts her son down again for fear of the girl. She tells Chris that Janie’s got to go. He argues they adopted her, she’s theirs, they love her, she’s a sweet little girl, etc. Hannah’s not having it. By this point Hannah locks Janie into her room each day while Chris works, and never lets out, she’s figured out that the girl was likely not abused and she was tied up by her (now dead) birth mother for being evil (surprise - she’s right). Hannah has a full meltdown and tries to kill Janie and near fatally injures her son in the process. She goes into a mental facility for having a post partum psychotic break. Meanwhile, her and Chris are investigated for child abuse and their kids stay with Hannah’s sister and family rather than foster care. Things go bad. Hannah’s sister ends up dead, nanny cam catches that it was Janie, but not whether deliberate. Janie goes into a special home for RAD patients. Chris still visits her and loves her. Hannah isn’t having it. Then they find out the truth about Janie and that she killed her real mom. This is the end of the story. I really wanted the epilogue here to explore a little bit of how this new info changes Chris’ opinion of Janie and whether Hannah stays with him or leaves with the baby. In any event, a cat was killed, and C&H were responsible! Those should’ve been the real charges levied at them. Again, while a lot of the book was predictable, generally or specifically, the tension never wavered in the journey to a known end. I rather enjoyed it, and would give other books by this author a chance.

This book kept me guessing til the end. Great follow up to The First Lie. I would recommend this author.

Audio is great and very easy to read. Love Lucinda Berry! So entertaining! This book is everyone’s nightmare. Ver well written.

This was a very good book and left me on the edge of my seat! I was very disappointed with the ending…. It just stopped. I did google to see if there was a second book and found out there is a sequel! So i will be reading that next to find out the ending!

Non è poi malvagio, ma non aspettatevi un thriller. Di psicologico c'è moltissimo poiché la struttura narrativa inizia e finisce nei meandri dei disturbi sviluppati da bambini abusati ma, a parte la connotazione drammatica, non è una storia che vi farà sobbalzare. È tutto perfettamente inquadrabile nell'ambito di una tragica storia famigliare. Con un solo" inquinante" interrogativo finale: e se esistessero bambini nati "cattivi"? Abusanti prima ancora che abusati? Finale irrisoluto.

The author has crafted an intense, chilling, and unforgettable psychological thriller with The Perfect Child. From the very first page, I was hooked! Berry’s background in psychology adds so much depth to the characters, making their struggles feel heartbreakingly real. The emotional turmoil, suspense, and eerie atmosphere kept me on edge the entire time. Just when I thought I had things figured out, another twist shocked me! If you love dark, psychological thrillers with complex characters and a gripping plot, this book is a must-read. Highly recommend!

This is my first book by Lucinda. It was a crazy addictive ride. I couldn't keep it down and read it in one go. I didn't sleep trying to finish the book, and the ending doesn't help still. I'll be haunted by the story for weeks.

A dark story about adoption and and abuse that had me hooked throughout, even though to me it wasn't really a psychological thriller. It was very well written although I didn't like Christopher's character. The ending however was a big disappointment, such a shame.

Lo acabo de descubrir y es una de mis mejores lecturas