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A review by meghan_plethoraofpages
Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
4.0
Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
We start out following Nina, who is making ends meet by targeting the absurdly rich and insta-famous, planning her heists with business and romantic partner Lachlan, by pouring over her target’s Instagram feed. The second point of view storyline is told by heiress and Instagram fashionista Vanessa, who happens to be the target of Nina’s next heist. As with most suspenseful novels, the less I knew going in, the better, so I won’t recap beyond that!
There were lots I really enjoyed about this book. Stonehaven and Lake Tahoe was an excellent, moody setting. Nina and Vanessa had discrete strong voices, and I enjoyed having both viewpoints. Both were balanced characters with endearing traits and big flaws. Also, some of the commentary on social media felt really timely and offered a surprising depth to the story.
Where it fell a little short for me was the pacing and length. I love a good character-driven story, which this is, but it sort of masquerades as a thriller. There are fast-paced scenes and twists, but things felt really lengthy to get there, at least to me. It’s definitely a slow-burn plot. I read this over a week; I think it would work better if you’re able to binge it in a few sittings!
I would recommend this if you enjoy suspenseful novels, especially if you like your thrillers to have more psychological suspense, family drama and/or a character-driven plot. This is also a great choice for someone who reads only the occasional thriller, I think it will appeal to readers of many tastes!
3.5 rounded up to 4⭐️ on good reads.
Thank you so much to Random House and Netgalley for free access to an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
We start out following Nina, who is making ends meet by targeting the absurdly rich and insta-famous, planning her heists with business and romantic partner Lachlan, by pouring over her target’s Instagram feed. The second point of view storyline is told by heiress and Instagram fashionista Vanessa, who happens to be the target of Nina’s next heist. As with most suspenseful novels, the less I knew going in, the better, so I won’t recap beyond that!
There were lots I really enjoyed about this book. Stonehaven and Lake Tahoe was an excellent, moody setting. Nina and Vanessa had discrete strong voices, and I enjoyed having both viewpoints. Both were balanced characters with endearing traits and big flaws. Also, some of the commentary on social media felt really timely and offered a surprising depth to the story.
Where it fell a little short for me was the pacing and length. I love a good character-driven story, which this is, but it sort of masquerades as a thriller. There are fast-paced scenes and twists, but things felt really lengthy to get there, at least to me. It’s definitely a slow-burn plot. I read this over a week; I think it would work better if you’re able to binge it in a few sittings!
I would recommend this if you enjoy suspenseful novels, especially if you like your thrillers to have more psychological suspense, family drama and/or a character-driven plot. This is also a great choice for someone who reads only the occasional thriller, I think it will appeal to readers of many tastes!
3.5 rounded up to 4⭐️ on good reads.
Thank you so much to Random House and Netgalley for free access to an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!