Customer Reviews

Perfect

Excellent reading I would recommend to friends. I love the language. I will definitely try author`s other books. Fully recommended

Interesting ... I read 'Perfect' to within the last quarter of the book feeling vaguely saddened that Rachel Joyce's latest book was not a patch on The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry ... and I confess even writing this review in my head, placing it at around a three to four star read ... when; Hey Presto! The book suddenly turned around somewhere in my psyche, and bowled me over !!!

Beautifully written. Turned me from half-bored, into tears in a couple of passages. A Definite FIVE STARS !!!

If you liked The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, you'll love this quirky and unusual story. The characters of Byron and James are expertly developed and the twist at the end is subtle and imaginative - another great story from this author, I loved it.

I read Ms Joyce's first novel "the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and was bitten. She is excellent, she paints pictures with her words so clear and vibrant, she is a pleasure to read. Please keep up the good work. A fan for life.

Couldnt put it down once I started reading. I will certainly be giving copies to close friends for Xmas.Very kindly written, with great wisdom and compassion. I also loved her book 'the Unlikely Pigrimage'. Looking forward very much to reading more of her work in the future.

This is yet another fantastic read. The story holds many twists and turns which keep you hooked at each chapter. Well written and emotionally charged this is a brilliant read.

I read this compelling story in the space of a weekend - once I had started it I couldn't stop until I had reached the end. It is a very touching story and required a good few tissues in the last few chapters. I will be recommending it to all my friends and can't wait to read Joyce's other book.

Rachel Joyce's debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was an international bestseller. It was one of my top reads for 2012. (my review)

Her second novel is Perfect.

1972 England. Twelve year old Byron and his friend James are incredibly bright young men - their parents have earmarked them for great things and have set them on a path to their perfect destiny. But when James hears about two seconds being added to the global clock as a result of a leap year, he worries. And worries.

" Two seconds are huge. It's the difference between something happening and something not happening." Byron, his mother and younger sister are driving in the car when something does happen - something that changes everything in Byron and James's lives forever.

"It was all because of a small slip in time, the whole story. The repercussions were felt for years and years. Of the two boys, James and Byron, only one kept on course. Sometimes Byron gazed at the sky above the moor, pulsing so heavily with stars that the darkness seemed alive, and he would ache - ache for the removal of those two extra seconds. Ache for the sanctity of time as it should be."

Joyce cuts her narrative between 1972 and present day, where we meet Jim, wiping down tables in a supermarket café.

"He has spent his adult life in and out of care. Years have passed, and some of them he can't even remember. After treatment he could lose whole days; time was merely a selection of unconnected empty spaces. Sometimes he had to ask the nurse what he had eaten that day and if he had been for a walk. When he complained about memory loss, the doctors told him it was his depression. The truth is, he found it easier to forget."

Oh, how do I even begin to describe how much I loved this book. I raced through the first few chapters, then forced myself to put it down - I didn't want it to end too quickly. But I was inexorably drawn to the story of James and Byron, past and present. How was Joyce going to connect the two? What happened - what was going to happen? And I put the book down because I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to Jim. His attempts to cope and his thoughts had me in tears. Jim captured me much as Harold did in Joyce's first book. And then there's a small glimpse of what could be....if only....

The title figures into so much of the book. The boys are expected to be perfect, as are their parents, their lives, their surroundings et al. And when it breaks down, the drive to perfection still lurks, insidiously stealing from the lives of everyone.

I thought I had everything figured out going into the last pages of the book, but was pleasantly caught off guard by the ending that Joyce chose. Not what I saw coming at all.

Joyce's exploration of the human spirit is by turns heart breaking and life affirming. Perfect is an eye opening testament to both the frailty and the resilience of the human spirit and the power of redemption.

Perfect is a five star read for me and one of my top books of 2013. Absolutely recommended

In 1972, two seconds were added to the clock in order to correct the rotational force of the earth. Under normal circumstances this change wouldn't be especially noticeable, but to eleven year old Byron Hemming and his friend James Lowe, the outcome of these extra two seconds will have a devastating effect on both their lives. In order to protect Byron's gently dysfunctional mother Diana from the consequences of a tragic chain of events, the boys launch `Operation Perfect', in the hope of protecting Diana from further harm.

Throughout the narrative there is a clever blending of two time frames. In 1972, we have the evolving and compelling story of Byron and James. Whilst in the present day, we have the story of Jim, a man struggling with mental health issues, who has not yet found his rightful place in the world. At first there is no indication why these two stories should be joined together but over time the connection between the two is sympathetically revealed. The characterisation is excellent with a real sense of them taking you into their lives; they could so easily be people you know.

The story is beautifully written from start to finish, and although rather sad in places, there is a real uplifting feel, and the ending when it comes is, quite simply, perfect.

A thoroughly enjoyable book, good characters and ithe story kept me interested right up to the very last page, highly recommended!