Pretending: A Novel
"Thoughtful, smart and painfully true." --Cosmopolitan UK
He said he was looking for a "partner in crime," which everyone knows is shorthand for "a woman who isn't real."
April is kind, pretty and relatively normal--yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that men aren't looking for real women--they're looking for Gretel.
Gretel is perfect--beautiful but low-maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not too easy. She's your regular, everyday Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl-Next-Door with no problems.
When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun--especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control. It's refreshing. Exhilarating, even. But as she and Joshua grow closer, and the pressure of keeping her painful past a secret begins to build, how long will she be able to keep on pretending?
"The most freeing, reassuring book on dating after #MeToo I've read. Perceptive. Hilarious. Brilliant." --Laura Jane Williams, author of Our Stop
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Community Reviews
By Holly Bourne
What's in a name? After all the trauma April went through and the horrible dates, why bother? The men are nothing but horrible beasts who take what they want and beat their chest doing what they want when they want. She hates men! She hates the way they use her, not be respectful of her time, and most of all, sexually get what they want and then dump her. Simon, being the last of them, tries to have his way with her and then dumps her but wait for it, ⦠"isn't the bad guy" because he just wasn't feeling it but yet still wanted to sleep with her and then buy her breakfast. He didn't even have the decency to clean his place up for her and there are skid marks on his toilet!
SO April hates all men. She will take back the power and be someone else. Someone who will take the power and dump the men after she gets what she wants, which is to have a good time. In comes Greta, her alter ego. She is a carefree, fun-loving woman who all men adore and want. She will make you fall for her only to dump you with great glee.
Enter Joshua. He is sweet and kind and dang, he rushes things. It is just the man Greta's looking to devour and spit out. Double personalities are fine at first because April is in control. As the deceptions continue, April isn't sure who is truly in control, her or her alter-ego, Greta.
A must-read for any who has been burned in relationships. This is not, repeat, not a fun, contemporary rom-com fiction. It delves deep into April's psyche and what awaits her is not what she was expecting. It does give you the playbook on how to get a mate initially but doesn't show you how to sustain a real relationship. Did I mention April HATES MEN...but she hates the fact that she needs their attention and affection to feel complete?
Very captivating reading and I did not want to finish this book as I was nearing the last chapter. I knew what lies ahead and I wasn't sure if I could handle it. I was right as I had to have my box of facial tissues to wipe my tears. I'm not crying, it's the onions.
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