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A review by mintomillk
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
2.0
i wanted to like The Perfect Couple, and i walked away from it with mixed feelings. credit where credit is due, Hilderbrand's writing is really good and draws you into the world and family she's created. she's descriptive enough just to make her characters feel real and to give you an impression of the kinds of settings and events they participate in, and the relationships she constructs between each individual is masterful and carefully thought out, so that there are no gaping holes in believing why someone would care for someone else, someone would dislike another person, etc.
however, when i finished this book i ultimately felt a bit mislead. it's written as a police murder mystery with the involvement of a murder and the policeforce, but the murder and the police all take a backseat to the complicated family drama of the Winburys. there could have been more balancing of the police figuring out secrets and the family trying to either cover up or expose one another to their own benefit, but ultimately it became a case of the police catching on only after the Winbury family has made certain revelations.
finally, and a big reason why i rated this novel so low, the main character. Celeste Otis is SO infuriating and i cannot for the life of me figure out why everyone in the book likes her so much -- every single person has nothing but good things to say about her, all the men fall in love with her and her beauty, and anyone who is against her is written off as either jealous or vindictive. yet Celeste is about as exciting as watching paint dry -- she does nothing for herself, and mopes instead about how awful and hard her life is to be marrying a millionaire and having so many men chase after her and all that. she doesn't even seem that upset about her best friend's death -- we are told she is, but her internal monologue is too busy idolising her parents' relationship and lamenting over the man she can't have than worried about there being an actual murder right outside of her house. just an awful character that ruined my enjoyment of the story entirely because of the central focus around her.
however, when i finished this book i ultimately felt a bit mislead. it's written as a police murder mystery with the involvement of a murder and the policeforce, but the murder and the police all take a backseat to the complicated family drama of the Winburys. there could have been more balancing of the police figuring out secrets and the family trying to either cover up or expose one another to their own benefit, but ultimately it became a case of the police catching on only after the Winbury family has made certain revelations.
finally, and a big reason why i rated this novel so low, the main character. Celeste Otis is SO infuriating and i cannot for the life of me figure out why everyone in the book likes her so much -- every single person has nothing but good things to say about her, all the men fall in love with her and her beauty, and anyone who is against her is written off as either jealous or vindictive. yet Celeste is about as exciting as watching paint dry -- she does nothing for herself, and mopes instead about how awful and hard her life is to be marrying a millionaire and having so many men chase after her and all that. she doesn't even seem that upset about her best friend's death -- we are told she is, but her internal monologue is too busy idolising her parents' relationship and lamenting over the man she can't have than worried about there being an actual murder right outside of her house. just an awful character that ruined my enjoyment of the story entirely because of the central focus around her.