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amsswim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was incredibly violent and graphic, so I'd recommend reading warnings before starting.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Child death, Death, Body horror, Drug use, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Sexism, Classism, Dementia, and Medical content
Minor: Cannibalism
elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
I gave this novel 0.25 stars because it was a book that was written. For a book lauded for its thrilling aspects and thoughtful family drama, there is no thrill and there is no thought, just bloody, useless horror that fails to do anything but shock. Unfortunately, instead of representing the rage of women victimized repeatedly by their society, Pretty Girls tortures its main characters for the pleasure of an audience clearly imagined as male while seeping its depiction of violence against women in privilege and glamour. An irresponsible and poorly done romanticization of torture. In a word: careless.
Also, I would ask Karen Slaughter to be more thoughtful in her depictions of mental illness. There are many resources online and in libraries for authors to read about mental health and therefore accurately and safely portray it in their work.
Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Car accident, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
sennaje's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Rape, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Fatphobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, and Grief
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
If I'm being honest this book wasn't what I thought it was going to be at all. It was one of the thrillers that everyone was talking about because of the crazy twist so I went in blind having no idea what the storyline was or any inclination on what the book was about. Going into it I was completely caught off guard. By going based on the title online I thought it was going to be some high school mean girl revenge story which had me super excited because I have yet to find a thriller that incorporates the horrors of mean-girl culture correctly. I was so excited to read this that I put it above all my books on my tbr. I guess jokes on me for being so overzealous and not just reading the synopsis.
After I realized it wasn't going to be the mean girls' thriller that I hoped it would be I still continued to read it because the missing girl premises still compelled me. I kid you not I did fall asleep a couple of times and as I was reading. I was just feeling very disinterested. Nothing shocking was really happening. I felt like the pacing was pretty slow, but I was already a good chunk in so I figured I'd finished because it was intriguing enough to where I still wanted to keep reading. I have to say this book was pretty gory and grotesque. I'm not really sensitive to stuff like that, but even I found myself wincing and closing my eyes while reading the gory details of what happened to those missing girls.
I have to say the "big twist" sort of slipped me by.
The twist was good, scary even, but it just didn't hit for me.
Graphic: Medical content, Torture, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Rape, Blood, Confinement, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Suicide, Addiction, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Vomit
autumnrls's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Torture, Trafficking, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
xmacabre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Mental illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia
gingerxkid's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Body horror, Murder, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia and Body shaming
gingerxkid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Rape, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
breezereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Torture, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Stalking, Suicide, Trafficking, Gore, Body shaming, Confinement, Child death, Body horror, and Blood
hcrawfo3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking