I just finished a book that gave me equal parts horror and delight. It was entertaining, twisted and more than a little outrageous.

It felt like an absolute train wreck you couldn’t stop, and I savored every bit of it. I’m not sure what that says about me as a person.  While I ponder that… keep reading to hear more about the book!

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton is a suspense novel centered around Juliette.  At least, that’s her name right now.  She’s changed it, you see, because she has a plan.  A big one, that will make life just perfect again.  Here’s the situation:

Juliette loves Nate.

She will follow him anywhere. She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline, so she can keep a closer eye on him.

They are meant to be.

The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back.

She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants.

True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain…

Juliette is totally the focus of this book and narrates the events.  We are inside her head to hear her feelings, justifications, and train of thought for all of her stalking and obsession.  And she’s one amazing character.  I felt like she was really well written.  Nuttier than a fruitcake?  Sure… but also deep and complex.

The reader is taken on a rather wild ride through Juliette’s strategy to win back Nate and finally have the perfect life.  As things are tied together and we see the depths of her planning and scheming, we get glimpses of her past and how it influences her present actions.

I’ve seen a few negative reviews of this one that say the character and her actions are too unbelievable. Well… sure.  Juliette has gone WAAAAY beyond extreme.  That’s kind of the point, though, and that’s what makes it so outrageously delicious!

Honestly?  Although I was horrified at many of the things she did, I felt some admiration for Juliette.  She was DEDICATED, and her level of commitment to her goal was quite impressive.

Really, there were only two things I didn’t just love about the book. First, I lost track of all the flights and trips to various locales. I understand that was part of the story but it seemed like there were so many described that I lost track.  The second was actually the ending. Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that… it seemed a little abrupt and anticlimactic… I felt like it was missing something.  But we can all use our imagination to decide what happens next, and the rest of the story and the incredible main character more than made up for it.

My friend Rae read this at the same time, so we compared notes.  We were of one mind at being strangely in awe of Juliette’s dedication!  Here’s a quote from her review:

“This book was crazy in the very best of ways! The whole book was a trip, and I loved following Juliette’s life as she masterminds her way into Nate’s life. At times Juliette’s actions were cringeworthy, but mostly, I was impressed by her complete and total commitment to her plan.”

This is Karen Hamilton’s first novel and I will definitely pick up her future books.  I found The Perfect Girlfriend to be compelling, entertaining, and just wild!  Four and a half stars to this debut… if you’re looking for a suspense novel with an incredibly twisted love story, give this one a try!  Happy reading!

Find “The Perfect Girlfriend” at:

Bookshop.org     Amazon

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My thanks to BookSparks and the publisher for a complimentary review copy of this title.  All opinions are my own.

This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info