Novel Review - The Perfect Girlfriend

Everyone has secrets but some aren’t as big as Lauren and Jay’s…

The Perfect Girlfriend is the debut psychological thriller from Hayley Smith who takes us on a rollercoaster ride of secrets from two people who meet at a music festival. Could this be a sleeper hit of the Summer? Come with me as I find out.

Smith focuses her narrative on the relationship of two characters; Lauren and Jay. We first meet the duo as they both separately attend a music festival, to then cross paths as their motivations and lives entwine. As their relationship develops

Lauren moves into Jay's dilapidated house which also happens to be in the middle of nowhere. With Jay often out performing errands, and Lauren far from home, and cut off from the wider world due to a poor phone reception, she spends most of her time and energy in bringing a bit of colour to her new home.

As the narrative develops we get great insight into the minds of these two characters. We learn that Jay is quite protective of Lauren, and often has his own friends over at the house where they spend the nights drinking ale and listening to music. Lauren on the other hand hasn't had it easy. Her past relationships with a married man ended quite badly, and she also lost her best friend Nell to suicide. However, this is just the crux of the complexity of the duo as they both have plenty more secrets that they’d rather stay hidden. The house also plays a big part in this narrative as Lauren stumbles upon a locked doors with writing hurriedly scrawled along the wall. Determined to find out what Jay is hiding, and who the mysterious ‘R’ is, Lauren will have to confront her own past.

Away from Lauren and Jay, we also have a few side characters who all bring their own problems and lives to the table. We have Rick - who is Jay's best friend who doesn't seem to take to Lauren. Maria & Phil, and Kevin & Lolly. Lolly is the more interesting out of these as she initially comes over a little strange. This is developed further as we learn that due to a past trauma, Lilly doesn’t speak until she trusts the people around her. Elsewhere we’re also shown Lauren’s well-to-do sister Lou who Lauren feels the need to impress due to Lou’s eclectic lifestyle. These different characters all come together in quite a big melting pot that allows Hayley Smith to give us plenty of twists and turns.

All in all, The Perfect Girlfriend is a well written book. While I found it a bit slow to start, the slow pace really helped to build the atmosphere, and the novels cast. As everything progressed it turned into a real page turner that goes to some pretty unexpected places that you don’t see coming. Smith manages with ease to make you say “okay, just one more chapter” as the desire to investigate with Lauren really takes over. While the majority of the book is written from Lauren's point of view, there is shifts in viewpoints that allow for the thoughts of the other characters to shine. There are however some tough subject matters involved within The Perfect Girlfriend with references drugs, suicide, abortion and abuse. However these are handled with care and attention as to not come over too abrasive.

For fans of psychological thrillers, The Perfect Girlfriend is one that needs to be at the top of your reading list!

Rating: 8/10

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