18.1k reviews for:

Pretty Girls

Karin Slaughter

3.96 AVERAGE

nodesreads's review against another edition

2.0

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I took a stab at this book due to a tik tok recommendation and I unfortunately have to say that I was let down. This book falls into the most common cliches in thriller novels and wasn't thrilling since I guessed every twist. Right from the very start I was not impressed, how did she watch her husband bleed out and do literally nothing to help? They couldn't have been that far from the bar they were at and she just sits there? I knew right then that man wasn't really dead. If I read one more book with a junkie that no one believes I am going to riot. I understand that it is a common problem in the US unfortunately, but to rely on that as the trope and conflate addiction with being weak is played out!!! Once they got to the international snuff porn ring that was passed down from Claire's FIL to her husband this book really lost me. I understand there is shady stuff going on in the world but if this was real life Claire and her sister would've just been dead there wouldn't have been this huge cat and mouse game. Of course the loose ends are just so easily tied up at the end too and Claire and Lydia walk away easy AND still get Paul's money... I want to give thrillers a chance but when so much of the genre is made up of white women trauma porn it makes it really hard for me.

 

cberghaus's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

koben's review against another edition

2.75

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rachellyn337's review against another edition

5.0

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I’m shook that it was Paul the husband who was the mask masked man killing all of the girls! The fact that Lydia got changed in the basement just like her sister was stuck in the </sp. The oiler>
 
wild
!

myunn's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: N/A

alvarezmn's review against another edition

4.0

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Oh this was so good!!!

camaryn123's review against another edition

1.0

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so long and it was like the same thing over and over again. I don’ t know.
it played like a r rated hallmark with a happy ending. I don’t know. just weird vibes

pjay618's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I went into Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter with high expectations, because of all the hype…  unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to it for me.

To be fair, the mysterious aspect of the story was strong enough to keep me going. I did finish the book although not without taking a LOOOONG break in between. The pacing was a major issue for me; it dragged a lot, and while there were some gripping scenes that pulled me back in, they were few and far between.

One of my biggest issues was how graphic and overly descriptive some parts were. The more gruesome scenes were unnecessary descriptive and honestly made the reading experience uncomfortable. The book also felt too long, it could have easily been trimmed down without losing the essence of the story.

If you’re considering reading Pretty Girls, I’d strongly suggest looking into the trigger warnings first. This book tackles some very dark and disturbing content, and at times I seriously debated DNF-ing it. In the end, I stuck it out mostly because I had already invested so much time and just needed to know how it ended.

Maybe it’s just one of those popular books that didn’t do it for me. If you find yourself getting a quarter of the way and still uninterested, you might want to consider DNF-ing it because it won’t really pick up again until the last 15% or so of the book. 

afogarty9816's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

thenameslexel's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced