Pretty Girls: A Psychological Thriller Novel Exploring Secrets and Lies Among Sisters

WOW, what a ride. Haven’t read many psychological thrillers but this one good. I was going back and forth on who could be trusted, who was a good person, bad person or just getting in the way. Paul…..Paul Paul Paul, where do I begin, I thought maybe you had a redeeming bone in your body at one point in the story but NO you totally suck! Completely deserved what you got in the end. Thank you, Claire! Not only for Paul but for not giving up on Lydia even when she gave up on herself. Oh, and the torture scenes, creative on the author’s part but… urine waterboarding… GROSS! I can’t even imagine. This was a very emotional, raw story and I felt all the grief, hope and rage intertwined throughout. The letters from Sam to his missing daughter had me in tears! Helen at the end being strong for and accepting of both her remaining daughters, tears again! Well Done Karen… Well Done!

I’m quite often disappointed by thrillers, but I will dare say that this was one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. It was gripping, suspenseful and full of twists in all the ways you want a thriller to be. The characters and the story were both very well developed and the author truly did a masterful job with her writing. However, I cannot in good conscience omit the fact that this was a very hard/heavy read. The fact that I’m giving this book a 5-star rating does not take away from the fact that it is indeed messed up, dark, disturbing and definitely not for everyone. I had one too many emotions while reading it. Still do and probably always will. This book kept me on the edge of my seat.

Enely: 9/10, a little too much gore Yaya: 9.5, enjoyable Ashley: 9/10, totally unexpected plot twists Olga: 8/10, not done yet Mikaela: Mayela: 9/10, a little too much gore Vic: 9/10, so much to unpack

*DISCLAIMER* This book contains topics surrounding rape, murder, suicide, stalking, torture and very graphic imagery. Reader discretion advised.

Another phenomenal book by Karin Slaughter. The story grabs you from the very beginning and you quickly become invested in the story and following the life of the main character Claire. About 10 chapters in or the story really gets going where things out of the ordinary start happening and you really start to see there is much more to the story than you first thought.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is hearing the journals be read that were written by Claire's father to her kidnapped sister. They really help thicken the plot and they start to confirm some of the thoughts you get though the book. It is a rather large book and a pretty long audiobook to listen to (like 17 hours) but it is well worth the read/listen. This book has been added to my all time favorites list.

The story was very captivating and I had a lot of eye opening shocking moments. My one critique would be there was a lot of rambling, the characters reflected back to memories a lot, which caused the book to be longer. I’m not a fan of long chapters.