Helpful Score: 3
I received this ARC courtesy of Dead Good Books via Goodreads. Thank you so much! It pains me to think that I might have missed out on what is probably going to be the best book I read this year. There is so much I would like to say about this book, but I'm afraid it would take reams of paper to do so.
Try to imagine ... you've been married 18 years and you've just buried your husband after he was killed in a robbery. Now imagine that you find things that you never knew of .. tapes showing women being tied up, tortured, raped, murdered. And then you discover numerous files on women all across the country .. all rape victims at one time or another. And then you're told he embezzled millions of dollars from his company. So who exactly is this human monster you've shared your life with?
Who do you trust with this information? Where do you turn?
The book follows a father whose daughter disappeared many, many years ago and was never found. He spends his life journaling about his search for her. There are also two sisters affected by this disappearance. There are secrets between them and a lot of forgiving to be done.
The book is absolutely brilliant! I'd give it 10 stars if I could. I've followed Karin Slaughter for many years, starting with her Jeffrey and Sara books. This is a stand-alone book.. something entirely different for her ... and she did an awesome job of roping me in. I had moments of holding my breath .... even a tear here and there. It takes a very special author to wring those emotions out of me. The book is so well-written and the characters so believable.
I highly recommend this book!
Try to imagine ... you've been married 18 years and you've just buried your husband after he was killed in a robbery. Now imagine that you find things that you never knew of .. tapes showing women being tied up, tortured, raped, murdered. And then you discover numerous files on women all across the country .. all rape victims at one time or another. And then you're told he embezzled millions of dollars from his company. So who exactly is this human monster you've shared your life with?
Who do you trust with this information? Where do you turn?
The book follows a father whose daughter disappeared many, many years ago and was never found. He spends his life journaling about his search for her. There are also two sisters affected by this disappearance. There are secrets between them and a lot of forgiving to be done.
The book is absolutely brilliant! I'd give it 10 stars if I could. I've followed Karin Slaughter for many years, starting with her Jeffrey and Sara books. This is a stand-alone book.. something entirely different for her ... and she did an awesome job of roping me in. I had moments of holding my breath .... even a tear here and there. It takes a very special author to wring those emotions out of me. The book is so well-written and the characters so believable.
I highly recommend this book!
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first book by Karin Slaughter that I have read after hearing good things about her thrillers. Although I found this book to be very disturbing, it was also very compelling and kept me turning the pages. It tells the story from the perspective of two sisters, Claire and Lydia, who have been estranged from each other for years. Their older sister, Julia, disappeared without a trace 20 years earlier when she was nineteen and attending college. This event has haunted both sisters since then. Interspersed within the novel are excerpts from their father's journal that he writes to Julia as he tries to find out what happened to her. And then there is the disappearance of another young teenaged girl. Could this be connected to Julia's disappearance? So what happened to Julia? As the novel progresses, Claire and Lydia are thrown back together as they discover a very vile history of rape, torture, and murder that leads to a person close to them.
This novel contained some really disturbing descriptions of the terrible things that can be inflicted on pretty young women by sadistic psychopathic men. This was probably the most horrific novel in this regard I have read since AMERICAN PSYCHO. There were some twists to the story that I wasn't expecting and the narrative kept me reading to a rather satisfactory conclusion. The novel was long at over 500 pages which probably could have been shortened somewhat but overall it was a very compelling thriller. I have heard good things about Slaughter's other novels including her Grant County and Will Trent series. At some point, I'll be reading more of her.
This novel contained some really disturbing descriptions of the terrible things that can be inflicted on pretty young women by sadistic psychopathic men. This was probably the most horrific novel in this regard I have read since AMERICAN PSYCHO. There were some twists to the story that I wasn't expecting and the narrative kept me reading to a rather satisfactory conclusion. The novel was long at over 500 pages which probably could have been shortened somewhat but overall it was a very compelling thriller. I have heard good things about Slaughter's other novels including her Grant County and Will Trent series. At some point, I'll be reading more of her.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm a HUGE Karin Slaughter fan and have read all of her books. I probably enjoyed this one the least for one reason: it had FAR too much graphic torture for my taste. She's a great storyteller, don't get me wrong, but I could definitely have done without the incredibly detailed descriptions about the extreme torture endured by the young victims.
Helpful Score: 1
I've read 3-4 of the Will Trent series and I find Karin Slaughters books to be very disjointed reading which is irritating. Not only are they too grisly and gory and contain detailed descriptions of torture of women specifically, but the way she introduces characters in various chapters feels like she thought the whole book through, wrote a bunch of chapter and then tried to figure out how to put them in order. Disjointed at best.
This way out psychological thriller freaked me out! It was so gruesome at times, I had to force myself to read the descriptive parts of the murders. However, I couldn't take my eyes off this book until I finished in the wee hours of the morning. Then I couldn't sleep thinking about it?
This book had so many twists and turns, so many shocks and surprises, my anxiety level went over the roof as I rushed to the ending until I was literally out of breath!!
Outstanding.
This book had so many twists and turns, so many shocks and surprises, my anxiety level went over the roof as I rushed to the ending until I was literally out of breath!!
Outstanding.
Karin Slaughter takes another break from Grant County in her new standalone thriller "Pretty Girls." The initial chapters alternate between a father's writings to his daughter who went missing as a teenager, and third person narratives focusing on a wealthy house wife who is on parole after an incident at her tennis club, and a former junkie who is struggling as a single mother. Eventually the connections between the characters are revealed, and justice is sought for the missing girl.
This is a difficult book to review without giving too much away. Karin Slaughter is on my auto-buy list, and as always the quality of the writing stands above the rest of the crowded thriller market. Long time fans will know not to expect a cozy, but I do think that this is her darkest book yet. The descriptions of sadistic crimes are unflinching and will leave disturbing images in the readers' minds. Some suspension of disbelief is necessary: a few times I found myself thinking "No way, that is way over the top!" but those thoughts were fleeting as I turned the pages to see what would happen next.
Pretty Girls is not an easy read because of the grisly crimes it describes. Fans of the author who have long-since forgiven her for the Jeffrey thing and also have strong stomachs won't be able to resist "Pretty Girls."
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a difficult book to review without giving too much away. Karin Slaughter is on my auto-buy list, and as always the quality of the writing stands above the rest of the crowded thriller market. Long time fans will know not to expect a cozy, but I do think that this is her darkest book yet. The descriptions of sadistic crimes are unflinching and will leave disturbing images in the readers' minds. Some suspension of disbelief is necessary: a few times I found myself thinking "No way, that is way over the top!" but those thoughts were fleeting as I turned the pages to see what would happen next.
Pretty Girls is not an easy read because of the grisly crimes it describes. Fans of the author who have long-since forgiven her for the Jeffrey thing and also have strong stomachs won't be able to resist "Pretty Girls."
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book written by Karin Slaughter that I've read, and I have to admit that I was a bit underwhelmed. This is a story with occasional chapters from the point of view of Sam, a father grieving over the loss of his daughter Julia. The family dynamics are the best part of the book. Readers witness a tragedy and the implosion of a family, then watch as the two remaining sisters form an alliance to uncover the truth.
But as good as the story of those family dynamics is, Pretty Girls suffers from "too much middle" that slowed down the book's pace and bogged down the story. Perhaps too much exposition is why I thought the bad guy was too over the top, and why I wasn't really surprised by any of the revelations. I can see how some readers would find this book too violent and misogynistic, but those elements really didn't bother me that much. What bothered me was knowing that a first-rate thriller was buried beneath way too many words.
But as good as the story of those family dynamics is, Pretty Girls suffers from "too much middle" that slowed down the book's pace and bogged down the story. Perhaps too much exposition is why I thought the bad guy was too over the top, and why I wasn't really surprised by any of the revelations. I can see how some readers would find this book too violent and misogynistic, but those elements really didn't bother me that much. What bothered me was knowing that a first-rate thriller was buried beneath way too many words.
i f*cking love the way she writes. all these complaints about overly graphic violence surprise me. she always takes you to the next level and makes it hurt. she wants that visceral pain that the victim feels to be felt by the reader. i cried like a baby when it went down and i could only picture my sisters, made me sick to my stomach.. i love love love books that create that much of a feeling in me.
Nice to know she's an orphan black fan too! (shot out to ally)
Nice to know she's an orphan black fan too! (shot out to ally)
3 * * *. Thriller. Without giving too much away, the book involves the disappearance of a teenage girl and how this news item affects two different women miles apart.
This book could have been 30% shorter. As the wheels spun faster and the stakes got higher, the book suddenly stopped midway. The entire second half is all spent mostly pondering regrets, plotting courses of action, ruminating on possible outcomes and obligatory threats of violence.
I could hear myself saying, "Ok, I get it! Can we move on to something new?"
Granted, the finale is a page turner, but you have to work your way through 200+ pages.
Also the conclusion felt like a rush job, like the written text at the last seconds of a movie summarizing "Where are they now."
Lastly, as an avid fan of horror movies and books, the bloody scenes did not disturb me, but be warned, they are descriptive and visceral.
This book could have been 30% shorter. As the wheels spun faster and the stakes got higher, the book suddenly stopped midway. The entire second half is all spent mostly pondering regrets, plotting courses of action, ruminating on possible outcomes and obligatory threats of violence.
I could hear myself saying, "Ok, I get it! Can we move on to something new?"
Granted, the finale is a page turner, but you have to work your way through 200+ pages.
Also the conclusion felt like a rush job, like the written text at the last seconds of a movie summarizing "Where are they now."
Lastly, as an avid fan of horror movies and books, the bloody scenes did not disturb me, but be warned, they are descriptive and visceral.
I liked the twist and turns of this story. The subject matter could be a little too much for some. Not sure I could watch a movie based on this book.
For the most part the book kept you engaged in the story but there were some parts that could have been cut.
For the most part the book kept you engaged in the story but there were some parts that could have been cut.
The first half of this book, I did not want to set it down. After much invested in the story, the book becomes very graphic in the second half. If you have not been forewarned, it is not just a mystery, a kidnapping or even a murder, rather there is something called snuff porn. Book goes into graphic detail about this, therefore 3 stars instead of 4 or 5, as I scanned or skipped as many pages as I could to finish the story, but not have to fill my memory with such filth. Hard to say if I would have read the book for the well written story, if I had known.
Book Description
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss--a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
My Review
I found this book to be very powerful and gritty. It is intense and hard to put down and the subject matter is most disturbing. Karin Slaughter is such a good writer that you can feel the horror and pain right along with the characters. It is full of twists and turns and the characters are well developed. This book is not for the faint of heart but if you are a Karin Slaughter fan, like I am, you will love her writing!
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss--a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
My Review
I found this book to be very powerful and gritty. It is intense and hard to put down and the subject matter is most disturbing. Karin Slaughter is such a good writer that you can feel the horror and pain right along with the characters. It is full of twists and turns and the characters are well developed. This book is not for the faint of heart but if you are a Karin Slaughter fan, like I am, you will love her writing!
4 stars. The story is very captivating & definitely kept me reading wanting to know what was going to happen next. Would have been 5 stars, but the content is too dark & disturbing for me to feel good about 5 stars. It's pretty graphic about rape, torture & murder.
