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A review by secre
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
1.75
If you've ever read a Karin Slaughter book, you will know before starting that they aren't for the faint of heart. Pretty Girls is no exception, although the first half is actually pretty darn tame. Slaughter makes up for it and then some in the latter half of the novel though. So yeah, if you are wary of blood, gore, rape, torture, sexual assault, trauma etc, then I firmly and steadfastly recommend avoiding this book. I'd avoid Slaughter's entire catalogue in honesty.
In the present you have Claire and Lydia, two sisters living very different lives. In the past you have their sister, abducted and never found more than two decades previous. But when Claire's husband is murdered seemingly randomly, Claire makes discoveries that show her husband in a very different light. Her discovery of a series of torture porn videos bare a shocking similarity to a recent missing girl, but bring back memories of her own sisters disappearance all that time ago. The two sisters re-connect after the funeral, although the fact that Lydia is in the process of gleefully urinating on the fresh grave makes for a slightly awkward reunion. The relationship between them is strained, but their connection isn't something that can be easily dismissed.
I have to admit, I felt the first half of the novel was significantly better than the second half. It opens with a murder and then it's a slow build up of information and evidence. It builds up well and I was fascinated by the narrative and whilst the characters weren't always likeable, they were at least very believable. But around the 50% mark it... loses it's way. It becomes ridiculously unrealistic, the torture porn is ramped up to 120 for no real reason or benefit and I found myself just rolling my eyes. It just became laughable. To begin with the villains of the piece seem all too possibly real. By the end, they are cartoonishly caricatured.
All in all, this was a disappointment. I was expecting a certain level of blood and gore, so my low rating isn't due to that. It is however due in part to how pointless said blood, gore and torture porn was; it added little to noting to the narrative. It's also due to how unbelievably stupid the plot gets in the latter half, how convoluted yet predictable and how cartoonish the villains become. Not Slaughter's best work by a mile.
In the present you have Claire and Lydia, two sisters living very different lives. In the past you have their sister, abducted and never found more than two decades previous. But when Claire's husband is murdered seemingly randomly, Claire makes discoveries that show her husband in a very different light. Her discovery of a series of torture porn videos bare a shocking similarity to a recent missing girl, but bring back memories of her own sisters disappearance all that time ago. The two sisters re-connect after the funeral, although the fact that Lydia is in the process of gleefully urinating on the fresh grave makes for a slightly awkward reunion. The relationship between them is strained, but their connection isn't something that can be easily dismissed.
I have to admit, I felt the first half of the novel was significantly better than the second half. It opens with a murder and then it's a slow build up of information and evidence. It builds up well and I was fascinated by the narrative and whilst the characters weren't always likeable, they were at least very believable. But around the 50% mark it... loses it's way. It becomes ridiculously unrealistic, the torture porn is ramped up to 120 for no real reason or benefit and I found myself just rolling my eyes. It just became laughable. To begin with the villains of the piece seem all too possibly real. By the end, they are cartoonishly caricatured.
All in all, this was a disappointment. I was expecting a certain level of blood and gore, so my low rating isn't due to that. It is however due in part to how pointless said blood, gore and torture porn was; it added little to noting to the narrative. It's also due to how unbelievably stupid the plot gets in the latter half, how convoluted yet predictable and how cartoonish the villains become. Not Slaughter's best work by a mile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Child abuse, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Child death