Archive · 16 Nov 2025
You-jeong Jeong's 'Perfect Happiness' Explores Domestic Horror Through Victims' Eyes
Imagine a mom who really, really wants everything to be perfect, like a perfect house and a perfect family.
But to make things perfect, she can be scary and mean to the people around her.
This book tells the story not from her side, but from her husband, her sister, and her young daughter, who are all scared of her.
They try to understand why she acts the way she does, and how her need for perfection makes everyone else unhappy.
The author is really good at showing how scary it is to live with someone like that, and how the people affected by her actions try to cope.
It's like watching a storm from the outside, seeing all the damage it causes, without fully understanding why the storm started.
You-jeong Jeong's novel 'Perfect Happiness' explores domestic horror through the perspectives of victims of a narcissistic protagonist, Yuna Shin.
The novel deliberately excludes the villain's voice, focusing instead on her second husband, estranged sister, and young daughter.
Jeong's structural choice allows for a deep dive into the psychological impact of narcissism on those who are close to the perpetrator.
The narrative highlights themes of complicity, confusion, and the weaponization of love, while also critiquing the contemporary obsession with curated happiness.
Despite moments of brilliance and a chilling atmosphere, the novel's limited perspective can lead to a static portrayal of the perpetrator and occasional narrative redundancy.
- Who
- You-jeong Jeong, author; Yuna Shin, protagonist; Eun-Ho, Yuna's husband; Jane, Yuna's sister; Jiyoo, Yuna's daughter.
- What
- A psychological crime novel, 'Perfect Happiness,' that focuses on the destructive impact of a narcissist on her family through the eyes of the victims, rather than the perpetrator's psychology.
- When
- The novel unfolds across past and present, examining long-term effects of narcissism and childhood dynamics.
- Where
- Primarily within domestic settings and a secluded cabin at Half Moon Marsh.
- Why
- The author explores how one person's pursuit of 'perfect happiness' can obliterate the happiness of others, examining complicity, confusion, and the weaponization of love within family dynamics.
Structural Choice Limitations
Structural Choice Strengths
Character Focus
Structural Choice Limitations
By keeping the villain, Yuna, entirely offstage psychologically, the narrative is limited and risks becoming redundant by repeatedly circling the same emotional terrain.
Structural Choice Strengths
By refusing to enter Yuna's mind and focusing on the perspectives of those around her, Jeong compellingly highlights the destructive ripple effects of a narcissist and her obsession with perfection.
Protagonist Depth
Structural Choice Limitations
Yuna, the central character, becomes strangely predictable and static, embodying contemporary anxieties about happiness without illuminating them, making the novel thinner in its understanding of the perpetrator.
Structural Choice Strengths
Jeong's most impressive achievement is her portrayal of the child narrator, Jiyoo, rendering her with sensory clarity and emotional opacity, allowing the horror to seep in around the edges, and showcasing Jeong's mastery of atmosphere.
- Author
- You-jeong Jeong
- Title
- Perfect Happiness
- Translator
- Sean Lin Halbert
- Publisher
- India Penguin
- Page Count
- 488
- Price
- ₹599