Wow! This is a book that draws you in and doesn’t let go from the very start. I love when an author gives you an unreliable narrator written so well, you can’t trust what you’re reading. Because Penny suffers from DID, she can’t be entirely sure of her actions because she has multiple alters. Her mother, Grace, is doing what mothers everywhere do. She’s fighting to get to the truth, to free her daughter from the psychiatric hospital.
I didn’t really care for Grace, and I think Palmer wrote her unlikeability (which isn’t a word but should be) extremely well. Penny’s doctor, Mitch, must evaluate penny to decide if she even has DID, a diagnosis often disputed by many of those tasked with diagnosing it. If he can help Grace and Penny figure things out, Penny’s court case might go in a better direction. The Perfect Daughter is a thrilling and addicting read. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along!
Read and like this review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
The Perfect Daughter is available on Amazon for $14.99.
About the Book:
Meet Ruby, who speaks with a British accent.
Then there’s Chloe, a perfectionist who strives for straight A’s in school.
And along comes Eve, who is spiteful and vicious.
All of them live inside Penny…
Or do they?
Penny Francone, age sixteen, is a murderer. Her guilt is beyond doubt: she was found alone in the victim’s apartment, covered in blood, holding the murder weapon. The victim’s identity and her secret relationship to Penny give her the perfect motive, sealing the deal. All the jury needs to decide now is where Penny will serve out her sentence. Will she be found not guilty by reason of insanity, as her lawyer intends to argue? Or will she get a life sentence in a maximum-security prison?
Already reeling from tragedy after the sudden passing of her beloved husband a few years before, now Grace is on her knees, grateful that Massachusetts doesn’t allow the death penalty.
As Penny awaits trial in a state mental hospital, she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh, a psychiatrist battling demons of his own. Grace’s determination to understand the why behind her daughter’s terrible crime fuels Mitch’s resolve to help the Francone family. Together, they set out in search of the truth about Penny, but discover instead a shocking hidden history of secrets, lies, and betrayals that threatens to consume them all.
The perfect daughter. Is she fooling them all?
Rae's Reading Lounge 