The Perfect Child

Christopher and Hannah, a married surgeon and nurse, seem to have it all, except for a child. When they meet Janie, a six-year-old abandoned at their hospital, Christopher immediately bonds with her and persuades Hannah to adopt her. However, Janie turns out to have deep psychological issues, becoming obsessively attached to Christopher while acting out aggressively towards Hannah. As Janie's disturbing behavior escalates, Hannah struggles to connect with her and fears that Janie's manipulations will tear their family apart, revealing a dark past that threatens to destroy them. A Welcome Reunion is the follow-up novella to The Perfect Child. I won’t be giving any plot summaries to avoid spoilers. Rating for The Perfect Child: 4.5 Rating for A Welcome Reunion: 4.5 Breakdown: Lucinda Berry’s works are captivating, with engrossing plots and excellent storytelling that kept me hooked from start to finish. Her characterization is particularly terrifying, as she draws from her own experiences to blur the line between reality and fiction, resulting in a truly creepy effect. I loved her suspenseful writing style, especially the short chapters, though I wished for a more neatly tied-up ending. While the concept of a disturbed child isn’t unique, both stories feel fresh and original. As for the emotional impact of "The Perfect Child," it had me both enthralled and creeped out, but its resolution was abrupt and left many questions unanswered. There is an opportunity for a little more closure, Lucinda Berry’s Facebook page features a 2021 reading of the intended epilogue that was cut from the book. I highly recommend you check it out. "A Welcome Reunion" provided more answers but it had enough material that it could have stood alone as its own book. I would have enjoyed reading a sequel instead of a novella. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed both works and look forward to reading more from Dr. Berry.

Readers will fall in love with Lucinda’s style due to the ease of her writing style that transports you into each character. I feel with the way this book ended, Lucinda must be planning a second edition. Please tell us that you are!