Review: Perfect Days by Raphael Montes

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes
Genre: Novel
Publisher: Penguin Press
Date: February 16, 2016

Teo Avelar looks like your normal average medical student. He lives with his disabled mother and goes home every evening to a routine with her and her faithful dog. It’s normal and, to tell the truth, it’s pretty boring. He spends his days talking to Gertrude, his friend from school.

Gertrude is an older lady who has really experienced life and Teo loves talking with her. She’s his best friend. She’s also the cadaver that he’s cutting into every day to learn more about the human body.

Yeah. Let that sink in a little. Teo’s best friend is the cadaver he’s systematically slicing up for medical school. He talks to her. He dreams about her. She is, for the most part, the biggest reality in his world.

And that, right there, should give you a pretty strong indicator of what this book is going to be like. When the opening shows a friendship between a cadaver and a medical student, it can only go wonkier (yes, I just made up that word) from there, right?

Then Teo goes to a party, not expecting much, and he meets an aspiring young screenwriter. That’s when things took a bit of a creepy turn. Just a bit. For now.

This book was stunning. I mean incredibly, amazingly, stunning. Like “did he really go there?” sort of stunning. The writing was tight. The plot was fast paced. The dialogue (both internal conversations and between characters) are spot on. This was a really well written book. I admit that I had a hard time working my way through it. There were moments it was so overwhelmingly intense that I had to walk away for a little while. Not hours – days. It took me longer to read this book than the average because of that.

When I finally finished it, I was absolutely stunned nearly speechless by the ending. What an amazing and disturbing twist. This book made Gone Girl look like an animated Disney Film. If you like that sort of tension, suspense, and drama, then DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK. Raphael Montes is a writer to watch. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if this story got optioned for film. It plays out that well.

Be well aware, this is not a family friendly book. It’s scary as heck. It will creep into your mind and taunt you for days after you’ve read it. But if you like that sort of genre, pick up your copy now. You won’t be disappointed!

Rating: R – Definitely some disturbing images in this one!

Review copy provided by the publisher.