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MY REVIEW

Perfect by P J Gudka starts out with a Prologue that immediately captured my interest, and I do love a great Prologue. It takes place in a small town, and we all know how difficult it is to keep a secret, especially in a small town.

I love a book with characters that have a lot to be desired. I don’t think there was one ‘good’ character. It does make for some interesting reading.

I love a surprise ending, and Perfect by P J Gudka supplied that.

All in all Perfect is a read worthy novel, supplying enough of a mystery to keep me engaged, needing to know how the story will end. I’m not sure why I couldn’t really connect with the characters. I love villains, and there was no short supply of them. I guess I’ll have to leave it to you to decide if this one’s for you.

My thanks go out to P J Gudka for the opportunity to share Perfect with you.

GOODREADS BLURB

A mother protecting her son.

A boy spiraling into darkness.

A girl who never stood a chanceSally thinks she’s succeeded in breaking generational curses until she finds out her eldest son, James, is the prime suspect in Lily Johnson’s murder. After years of bliss, she’s forced to revisit dark family secrets she believed she had left behind. Even more unsettling is that the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that she may not know James as well as she thought.

James is certainly not the perfect son his mother believes he is. In fact, he has always felt painfully different from everyone around him- until he meets Lily Johnson. Initially, their relationship seems flawless, but soon the cracks begin to show, leaving James questioning everything- including his own sanity and just how far he’ll go to protect the girl he loves.]

After her father’s death, Lily’s mother marries Paul- a man Lily despises. And if that wasn’t devastating enough, Paul moves their family to the small town he grew up in. They thought Lily would be safer there, but little did they know that the small town holds secrets none of them could have ever imagined. Secrets some would kill to protect. And Lily finds herself in the middle of it all.

Perfect is an emotionally gripping psychological domestic thriller that explores the impact of dark family secrets and the generational trauma it leads to. It will have readers questioning how well any of us know those we love and how far we’re willing to go to protect them.

Genre: Fiction, Police Procedural, Psychological Thriller, Suspense
317 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2026 by Wild Ink Publishing

ABOUT P J GUDKA

P. J. Gudka is a writer, blogger and freelancer. Her journey as a blogger began when she created her multi-niche blog, Lifesfinewhine, at eighteen, to share her experiences with life, mental health, travel and more. Since then, her blog has captured the interest of thousands of people around the world. With almost thirty thousand followers on her blog and over ten thousand followers across social media platforms, she has been able to turn her hobby into her full-time passion. Her writing has been published in bestsellers like Hidden In Childhood: A Poetry Anthology as well as multiple magazines.