Method in her MADNESS
THE OBSESSIVE HEROINE OF THIS NOVEL SIMPLY WON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER
There is a genre of fiction I like to call “horrible people doing awful things”. Best-selling examples include Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, and this book definitely fits into the same category, helpfully also including the word “girl” in the title.
The main character, Juliette, is a grade-one bunny boiler. She has been dumped by the man of her dreams, a good-looking pilot called Nate. He says he wants some space but she’s not going to let him escape so easily. Juliette believes she belongs in Nate’s life. And so she embarks on a fiendish scheme to hunt him down and get him back.
There are no lengths Juliette won’t go to. She tracks Nate, breaks into his apartment and acts like she lives there, stalks his family, changes her name and even trains as cabin crew with the company he works for so she can keep a closer eye on him. Meanwhile, poor Nate is blissfully unaware and has got himself a new girlfriend.
Juliette does have a back story of tragedy and hurt that goes some way to explaining why she has turned into such an obsessive nut-job, but her behaviour is so OTT that plausibility isn’t much of a feature here. If you’re looking for a novel about a believable character that you can relate to then The Perfect Girlfriend is not for you.
However, if darkly comedic thrillers are your preferred reading, then this book ticks that box for sure.
I found it a wickedly addictive read. It’s fast-paced and well written, never for a moment dull, often chilling and usually outrageous. What I thought particularly interesting was being taken inside the head of someone so unhinged and deluded, and witnessing her thought processes. Juliette justifies everything she does to Nate and at times in the earlier chapters I even found myself rooting for her.
The Perfect Girlfriend is as twisted a love story as you’re likely to find, a wild ride of envy, revenge and hate – the dark side of passion!