Perfect People

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I recall reading this whilst on holiday in Croatia, having already finished all the books I’d taken with me I had a look in the hotel library. The concept would probably have been better handled and expanded by a sci-fi author. We're not given much to think about in terms of nature/nurture, the ethics of genetically altering your children or the social difficulties, other than it's probably not a good idea. That's a shame. The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. ― Stanley J. Randall

Having a child should be some of the happiest times in a parents lives, but for one, John and Naomi are still trying to recover from the fact that even though they only wanted one child they have twins, also they have to get used to the fact that Phoebe and Luke are unlike any other child of their age. I liked the Sussex and Brighton locations (places I've lived for years) and it's interesting seeing the Royal Sussex County Hospital show up (somewhere I've worked). That's not enough to make a good book though. Plus, as a doctor, some of the medical info in this is highly suspect. The c-section scene without anaesthesia was laughable. Faced with failure, “perfectionists tend to respond more harshly in terms of emotions. They experience more guilt, more shame,” says Hill. They also experience more anger. Javascript is required to use Joomla Social Comments and Sharing Joomla module for Social media integration , The book is as usual a good example of how skilled Peter James is as a writer and within the first few chapters I was completely absorbed. The two main characters were a couple; John and Naomi, and all they want is a child that will not be born with the same disease their last little boy had died from. Having lost their little boy, this normal couple decide to put their faith into the hands of geneticist Dr Leo Dettore. Right from the beginning I couldn't stand Dr Dettore but as the story progresses and you see the couple follow the procedures to choose what they do and don't want their future child to have, you can understand with how badly they want this. I could even understand how they put Dr Dettore's scientific brilliance before his less than appealing personality.

2. You want to avoid the possibility of getting hurt again.

So far so good — this should be the realistic tale of a couple not wanting to pass on a deadly disease to their child. Although given there are already tests that can be done to screen for such diseases, it is not clear why the Klaessons spent their life savings and more going to Dr Dettore. Even when we strive for perfection , life is nothing more than an attempt to achieve it through a series of greater or smaller imperfections. ― Peter Prange Damian LE, Stoeber J, Negru O, Băban A. On the development of perfectionism in adolescence: Perceived parental expectations predict longitudinal increases in socially prescribed perfectionism. Pers Individ Diff. 2013;55(6):688-693. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2013.05.021

A professional can also provide some tools that you can use to challenge some of the reasons listed above. I have read a couple of books by this author which I absolutely loved, so was very much looking forward to reading this one P Sederlund A, R Burns L, Rogers W. Multidimensional models of perfectionism and procrastination: Seeking determinants of both. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(14):5099. doi:10.3390/ijerph17145099 Naomi becomes pregnant with not one but two babies and with the series of bizarre events leading to their birth, we, the readers, know something is amiss. When the babies start behaving abnormally, the couple reaches out to the good doctor only to find he'd disappeared. However, as Naomi and John are going from one therapist to another other including language experts, Hard Gatward the new owner of the Island that house Tis Panagias monastery where he, Gatward bought to serve as a safe haven for him and his Third Millellium Disciple as he wages a secret war against scientist like Dettore and what he considered to be their evil products such as the twins.

16. You’re a cynic.

Find good people and leave the bad ones.” But I say, find the good in people and ignore the bad in them. Because no one is perfect. ― Unknown When it comes to the most dramatic example, suicide, numerous studies also have found that perfectionism is a lethal contributor all on its own. One found that perfectionism made depressed patients more likely to think about suicide even above and beyond feelings of hopelessness. A recent meta-analysis, the most complete on the suicide-perfectionism link to date, found that nearly every perfectionistic tendency – including being concerned over mistakes, feeling like you are never good enough, having critical parents, or simply having high personal standards – was correlated with thinking about suicide more frequently. (The two exceptions: being organised or demanding of others). I’ve experimented with some of that letting go myself. It’s gone hand-in-hand with becoming aware when I’m taking on too much and exhausting myself in my attempt to do ‘enough’ (an amount, I’ve realised, that for me doesn’t actually exist).

If there was nothing wrong in the world there wouldn’t be anything for us to do. ― George Bernard Shaw

12. You hate small talk.

Perfect People after the slow start is one that literally had me on my seat. Not only does John and Naomi have to learn to cope with being parents to two highly intelligent twins, they are also living in fear as there are people out there who are very much against what they have done. The writing itself is fine but that's about it and I couldn't recommend this unless you're a big Peter James fan.