A review by hellokatya
The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

i went into this book fully into a reading lull, knowing that it would bring me out. freida mcfadden is fantastic at leaving an audience wanting more and building tension or suspense. her books are fast paced and guaranteed to capture your attention - this one however had a problem maintaining it. the book did not get good until well past halfway through. it was a bore for quite a while. 

i could not bring myself to think about it once i’d put the book down. it was not one that i felt the need to continue on reading for long periods of time, and i had to take breaks between chapters the first day. granted: that could be due to my reading slump and inability to stick to a book this month. 

either way, this one was not a personal favorite from freida, but i was more satisfied in the logic behind the plot twist/reveal. the entire book until that point had me pondering who it would be. i am familiar with her writing style and her penchant for twisty plots,

so already i knew it couldn’t have been liam, especially with how HARD she went at trying to misdirect. every other paragraph was about how evil he is and how it’s all erika’s fault.

a part of me wishes that it would’ve been from someone else’s perspective, maybe hannah?, it might have been more bearable of a read. 

i was not a fan of erika as a main character. she takes on far too much responsibility and guilt from the [men] around her. she was insufferable to read from. 

lastly, it was truly disheartening to see how flat the women cast is, once again. they are nowhere near dimensional and have no more personality than a rock. they also do not have any sort of respect from each other, their loved ones, or from the author writing them. 

the side story about liam

tying up the girl in kindergarten should’ve come up again somewhere. maybe she could’ve been the body that was in the hole with olivia, or she had been the one that was being taken now,

anything with her than just making liam look bad. 

frank should also have had a more substantial part in the ending. he was creepy and slightly offkilter but it doesn’t really pay off. 

overall, it was okay. it did the job it had to do. it was nice to have a book opposite to her normal formula [good plot bad end > bad plot good end] and get out of my reading slump. will continue to take her books into consideration when picking tbr.