Editorial note: I received a copy of The Perfect Girlfriend in exchange for a review.
The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton is absolutely a wild ride! You won’t want to put this one down.
There’s been quite a few psychological thrillers hit the market already this year. And while this one also stars a sociopath, she’s compelling in many ways. And at some points, you almost sympathize with her. The key, my friends, is almost as there are plenty of OMG and WTF moments as you read this. The story follows Juliette as she seeks to win back over her ex-boyfriend, Nate. He dumped her but Nate didn’t fully understand who she truly is—he’s in for a rude awakening. Juliette goes to extreme lengths to ensure they’ll get back together. She has a plan and will make sure nothing will get in her way.
Juliette’s perspective
Karen Hamilton really mastered the voice for Juliette—we stay in her perspective the entire time and she does not let up. While sometimes I feel it’s tiresome to be 100% in the sociopath’s perspective in these kind of reads, it completely works in this novel. Karen wrote the story mainly in first-person present so everything happening in the story is immediate. It works quite well for this story as the reader is constantly guessing about what happens next.
Juliette also has a well-developed backstory. There’s a series of traumatic events that help produced the person she is today. Pay close attention because you’ll see how it all eventually connects. It was also important to give more context to Juliette because if she’s simply seen as a “crazy ex-girlfriend” that’s not so interesting. But to really show her motivation, despite how insane it is, makes for such a stronger story.
Since Nate is a pilot, Juliette joins his airline to get closer to him. Her experiences as a flight attendant are quite entertaining, too. And Karen’s bio lists that she worked as a flight attendant for many years so now doubt she used some of her experiences while crafting this story.
I don’t want to give any spoilers but if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, you must check this one out!
