The Perfect Mother promised high emotions. I thought it would more than deliver when in the very first chapter Dawn left her front door open in her unfamiliar new neighbourhood and went out walking. I'd hoped it was setting the tone but while the crushing levels of desperation resulted in great moments of tension and bad decisions, it wasn't quite that. However it was an incredibly easy read to be swept up in.

That said, while the strain of both Dawn and Evelyn's choices are brought to painful life, the narrative doesn't quite do it justice. The shift to more perspectives is a fantastic choice that really breathes life into the book. However it's also where an important character is sidelined after so much build-up, and a shocking cliffhanger. To deny us that character's reaction, that rip-the-bandaid unraveling, then, is a disappointing prioritisation of shock value over narrative thrust. And it's not the only instance. A chapter ends on the promise of a confession only for the catharsis of that character's emotional fallout that has been building for decades to be neglected and it's the last time we see him too. Arguably the pivotal reveal is given this treatment too.

Moodie has spent so much effort in crafting cliffhangers and gotchas. And they really, truly are excellent. But neglects the payoff. It's unfortunately likely the reason why a chapter has dialogue all in italics. It's a weird, misplaced emphasis and its weirdness jars you out of the story rather than engages you. What a pity. There's a great story here. It could have been magificent but i's just not quite supported well enough for that. Unfortunately not the only place in which not enough care was taken. Mispellings are all but inevitable and easily forgivable but the first five pages of a chapter being an entire previous chapter is far harder to overlook.

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Desiree Moodie. I leave this review voluntarily.