#ATBR2020 Review: Perfectly Famous by Emily Liebert @jessmapreviews
Perfectly Famous
by Emily Liebert
Thank you to Gallery Books for these advanced gifted copies for review.
Publisher: Gallery
Publish Date: June 2, 2020
Paperback
320 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Thriller
As a mother and a famous author, Ward DeFleur has it all. She lives in a beautiful estate in picture-perfect Connecticut, along with her teenage daughter, Stevie, where nothing can go wrong. Until, one night, when Stevie is brutally murdered and Ward’s entire world is shattered. Consumed by panic and grief, Ward vows never to put pen to paper again.
Enter Bree Bennett.
Bree is a recently-divorced, former-journalist-cum-housewife, desperate to fill her days with something other than Pilates classes and grocery shopping. So she decides to start writing for the town newspaper. What begins as Bree’s effort to tell Ward’s tragic narrative turns into a fixation with finding her favorite author. Unfortunately, Ward doesn’t want to be found. Even worse, Stevie’s killer is still on the loose…
Enter Bree Bennett.
Bree is a recently-divorced, former-journalist-cum-housewife, desperate to fill her days with something other than Pilates classes and grocery shopping. So she decides to start writing for the town newspaper. What begins as Bree’s effort to tell Ward’s tragic narrative turns into a fixation with finding her favorite author. Unfortunately, Ward doesn’t want to be found. Even worse, Stevie’s killer is still on the loose…
My Review:
I'm having a hard time finding words for this review. The reason is that I'm in a mood so this may directly affect how my reading experience went. And we all know moods can dictate sometimes. At the beginning of this read, we are introduced to our leading ladies. The woman who wants to disappear (Ward) and the woman determined to find her (Bree). The back and forth between their POVs kept me interested and for a majority of the book I was curious. I wanted to know what Bree was going to find and why Ward was so bent on being withdrawn from society. Then the ending just kind of blew up and went left and I'm not quite sure how to reconcile it all.
This Lifetime movie goodness read is great fun for entertainment purposes. While I did feel the ending got a bit convoluted and left me with more questions than answers, I do appreciate what it was trying to do. However, it just didn't work for me at this moment in time. I would even put this more on the lighter thriller side of the genre. Pop that popcorn!
Liebert does write in a way that really keeps you moving along with the read. This is my second by her and both times I've had issues with the endings. Despite that, I'll still be picking up her next release and see where I stand after that.
★★★
Jessica's Review:
Last year, I flew through Emily Liebert's debut, PRETTY REVENGE. So naturally, I was really looking forward to her next book. PERFECTLY FAMOUS had that same pacing to it that I loved about her first book, it's one you can pick up and easily devour the first half without even realizing it. I will say though, this one is harder because I'm not entirely sure on how I feel about it.
I loved the alternating POV's because it keeps the pacing up and continues to raise questions as the book progresses. However, things seemed to lose me towards the ending. Some of the story lines didn't seem to have any resolution. I was so invested and loving the book up until the last quarter and that's when things took a turn. I can see that some other reviewers felt the same way, so I'm glad I just didn't miss anything.
Overall though, it was a great little thriller/mystery book! Like I mentioned, Liebert had me hooked from the very beginning but I just can't seem to get over that ending. However, I still think it's definitely worth a read. I did enjoy her other book a little better but I will continue to pick up more from her to see where she takes us next!
3 stars
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