The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry — a book review

A tried and twisted formula.

The premise is predictable. Or so you think.

Hannah Bauer and Christopher Bauer, in their 40s, are married. Hannah works as a nurse in a reputed hospital where Christopher is an orthopedic surgeon. Both are in high paying jobs and when not working can be found lounging on their couch surfing adoption websites together. A contented life except for the presence of a youngling. One fine morning authorities find a child wandering alone in a deserted area, in her diapers. Six year old Janie’s state signals extreme case of child abuse. She is malnourished, dehydrated, with multiple fractures, & shows lack of contact with the outside world. By sheer luck Janie ends up in the hospital where Christopher is assigned her case. With time both Hannah and Christopher take liking to Janie’s sweet, innocent, bubbly nature. Finally they have a kid they can call their own. And the family portrait is complete.

With the get going you sense what to expect. Psychopath child is an explored theme in other acclaimed and bestseller books like "We need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver or "Bad Apple" by Zoje Stage or Ashley Audrain's "The Push". So how do you add twists to a tale as old as time?

Lucinda Berry has cracked the code here. The major difference is this story has multiple POVs rather than the norm adopted by books circling this particular theme i.e. having only the mother's POV. Berry being a psychologist herself knows considering the father's POV as well is important because he is as much a parent as the mother. The father also knows who their kids are, what they're going through. A father also makes the effort to comprehend the complexities of the psyche of a kid with severe psychological issues. So kudos for that, as the dad's role wasn't boiled down to a dotting, loving parent who overlooks each and every flaw or is naive enough to ignore or brush off their partner's growing concerns.

I flew through this one. It literally was unputdownable. This one so doesn't go the way you think it would. Berry leaves you predicting and drops the twists and revelations the moment you think you have figured it out. She has perfectly portrayed the despair, the claustrophobia, the helplessness of being in a quagmire situation.

The ending was abrupt as majority of the readers have shown discontent towards. Open ending is not something you always want. Sometimes you want the questions answered. And I am thrilled that Berry is ready to provide them with a sequel coming out soon. I couldn't have picked a better time to read The Perfect Child.

I had preconceived notions about the story even before starting it. Never judge a book by its cover or, in this case, by its premise. No matter how many times authors have attempted to decipher the formula to churn up a thriller revolving around a psychopath toddler and the parents coming to terms with it, there’ll always be a fresh perspective lurking in the darkest recesses of your imaginations.

And this is how you do a devil child.