Book Review: The ̶P̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ Marriage

Spoilers about this book, and Rose’s other book, You Shouldn’t Have Come Here.

I went the opposite direction with Jeneva Rosa’s work: I read her latest book, 2023’s You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, and this morning, finished her debut novel, 2020’s The ̶P̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ Marriage. The throughline? Aside from structurally being the same — alternating between the perspectives of the main male and female characters — is that the endings are essentially the same. The main female character turns out to be a killer. In the case of You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, Grace was a serial killer, so, she was able to best Calvin, who himself was a killer. With The ̶P̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ Marriage, Sarah killed her husband’s mistress and framed him for it, ultimately leading to his execution by lethal injection. I have to say, I don’t like having the rug pulled out from under me in that fashion. Which is to say, if for 95% of the book, I’m largely rooting for, and sympathizing with, the main character (Grace and Sarah, respectively), I don’t want to be betrayed at the end that they were in the wrong and/or evil in their own right all along. It doesn’t seem fair to the reader, in my humble opinion.

Of course, I say all that, but just like You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, I devoured The ̶P̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ Marriage because it was an intriguing set-up: Adam, who cheated on Sarah with Kelly, is charged in Kelly’s murder, and Sarah, a notable criminal defense attorney, must defend her cheating husband.

About a third of the way in, we learn randomly that Kelly allegedly killed her first husband, and absconded to Virginia with the police officer, Scott, who allegedly helped her escape charges, and then that officer is allegedly abusive toward her (thus, also looks guilty for her murder). Later, it’s revealed that an additional officer, the Sheriff no less, Sheriff Stevens, is also having sex with Kelly and tried to cover up his involvement. There’s also the matter of a third officer, Deputy Hudson, who keeps popping into the story, but we never learn … why. Unless it’s supposed to be implied that he’s watching Stevens’ back. Whatever the case, the department was terrible: Scott was able to attack Adam in the interrogation room, ostensibly be suspended, still be the one who helps arrest Adam when he steals a car and goes beyond the boundaries of his ankle monitor, attacks another suspect in the case (Kelly’s ex-husband’s brother, who turns out to be the asshole in Sarah’s office, Bob, because of course), be pronounced suspended again, and then still end up talking to Adam in the interrogation room again. Oh, and there’s the matter of Adam escaping from said interrogation room and the police department and being on the lam for at least a full day or so without any mention of the ankle monitor or the quick response of the police like the previous time.

There were a few weird plot issues with the book where I just had to not think about it too much:

• People who should know better still talking to the police. (But people are misguided when it comes to the criminal justice system, so this could be nitpicky.)
• A criminal defense attorney and a Sheriff’s deputy working together to the point where the latter even lets Sarah around the crime scene, i.e., contaminating it, but Sarah somehow finds crucial evidence the police department missed. (This is at least explainable by the incompetence of the police department.)
• I’m not sure Sarah was even qualified to be Adam’s attorney. Yes, she’s a criminal defense attorney, but that doesn’t mean she has murder case experience, much less experience in a capital case. In capital cases, defendants are afforded super due process given the possible punishment, and as such, are given at least two defense attorneys, not just one.
• Adam ignores the evidence box Sarah brought him (and when he finally looks at it, he finds evidence he thinks is exculpatory) and instead, stupidly befriends a random woman who comes to his door purporting to be a journalist. We later learn she’s a private investigator working with Sarah and Bob, but Adam doesn’t know that, nor us. In that moment, the “reporter” agrees to take money in exchange for helping Adam on his case. That would not happen, at least not with any real reporter.

One aspect that ended up making sense because Sarah had ulterior motives is that she brushes off her assistant’s suggestion of hiring a private investigator to look into the case from the defense side (customary). Because obviously, she wouldn’t want anyone but her looking at the case too closely.

Adam is also awfully dumb. The cheating: dumb. Suddenly going back to Sarah because she dangles having a baby with him: dumb. Talking to the police without a lawyer when he’s literally married to a criminal defense attorney: dumb. Absconding with an ankle bracelet on: dumb. Ignoring the evidence box Sarah gave him: dumb. Absconding again out of the police department: dumb. Making a move on the reporter despite everything else happening: dumb. And trying to turn this entire ordeal into a best-selling book: dumb.

The guy practically walked himself into the death chamber.

There was also a flag early on in the book, one which I wasn’t sure if it was a subtle foreshadowing or an actual red flag. When Adam couldn’t possibly have sent flowers to her, Sarah receives flowers at the office. Once we learn she’s with Bob (and they have a child together and get married at the end), perhaps they were from him?

I should mention, too, that Sarah didn’t just brutally kill Kelly and set Adam up for it so he’d be executed by the criminal justice system, she also, we learn at the end, killed her mother, who was addicted to drugs. What the heck?! Even if you wanted to take the Carrie Underwood song, “Before He Cheats” beyond damaging a cheating spouse’s vehicle into murder and execution, Sarah killing her mother is absolutely indefensible!

Finally, I’m also not sure what the point was of the Michael character, Sarah’s best friend from law school, who swoops in to help Sarah on the case. He seems to exist as a random minor character. If you removed him from the story, I’m not sure anything changes.

I also was prepared to rant and rave about the time jump at the end. The central character is a criminal defense attorney, and we get her opening statement, then suddenly we’re at the end of the trial, and then it’s 11 years later and Adam’s set to be executed. But given Sarah’s scheming, that aspect made sense. But I’m also a nerd who would enjoy legal minutiae.

So, I know I’m ranting and raving here, but I really liked the Sarah character, and I’m dismayed she was evil all along. Maybe that’s Rose’s intention? A sort of, both sides are to blame for a marriage going downhill, or not being perfect, as it were, kind of thing? Only, to the extreme, certainly. And now that I think more about it, there was at least one other hint along the way that Sarah viewed Adam with contempt; she admitted that deep down, she saw him as a “pussy.” Which his an awful thing to think about your husband.

As I said in my review of You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, Rose keeps me reading, turning the pages, and being invested in her characters, obviously, even I get frustrated at some unbelievable elements and plotting choices. That’s why I’d still recommend Rose to anyone who enjoys a fun read.