Blog Tour: The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan – Review

To everyone who knows her now, Zoe Maisey – child genius, musical sensation – is perfect. Yet several years ago Zoe caused the death of three teenagers. She served her time, and now she’s free.

Her story begins with her giving the performance of her life.

By midnight, her mother is dead.

The Perfect Girl is an intricate exploration into the mind of a teenager burdened by brilliance, and a past that she cannot leave behind.

Zoé and her mother Maria moved from Devon to Bristol to start a new life following a big tragedy. Maria is now married to Chris and along with his son, Lucas, Zoé and Maria seem to be getting their lives back on track. Tessa, Maria’s sister is also living near by.

Zoé finds that she isn’t going to really find protection from her old life when it very much catches up with her. When more tragedy strikes the family, Zoé is worried she is going to become suspect number one but is she really to blame?

I loved Burnt Paper Sky so I have been waiting patiently and excitedly for Gilly’s new novel, The Perfect Girl which is due its paperback release on Thursday (22nd September.)

The Perfect Girl has a great build up of suspense across the novel. It is set in a very short but very tense space of time. The lives of the characters are complicated and fascinating.

Zoé is trying to rebuild her life whilst trying to keep quiet about her past which makes her a very conflicted character. She’s not the only one.

For me, almost every character at some point became a suspect.

It did take me a couple of chapters to settle into the constant change in narration but the writing style pulls you in quickly so it didn’t take me long to get into mainly because I couldn’t put it down.

All in all, this is a really great suspense/psychological thriller novel where people are not what they seem and which had me hooked. It very much lives up to its predecessor. If you’re a fan of Before I Go To Sleep or The Girl on The Train then I recommend The Perfect Girl .

(Thank you to Piatkus for the advance review copy.) 

The blog tour continues tomorrow over at Rea Book Reviews – http://reabookreview.blogspot.co.uk

About Gilly: 

Gilly Macmillan is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of BURNT PAPER SKY (also published as WHAT SHE KNEW) and THE PERFECT GIRL.

Gilly grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and lived in Northern California in her late teens. She studied art history and worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery in London before starting a family. Since then, she’s worked as a photography teacher but now, very happily, writes full-time. She lives in Bristol.

More information about Gilly can be found at http://www.gillymacmillan.com

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.