Pretty Girls

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A hell-raising thriller…a genuinely exciting narrative driven by strong-willed female characters who can’t wait around until the boys shake the lead out of their shoes.” Rating: ahhh I have no idea how to put these thoughts to a rating. I'm disturbed by the some of the content of the story but I loved the book and loved the writing. Can you guys just accept "really freaking great thriller" to be my rating, please? I don’t know if you’ve managed to piece this together yet, but I read a lot. Good books, bad books, romance books, crime books, I don’t judge. Of course, I have my favorites. But I try to approach each book with an open mind. I don’t necessarily mind violence in books. Or misogyny. I don’t even mind if a book has sexual violence in it, as long as there’s a compelling reason. Julia Carroll was a beautiful nineteen year old, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Studying at the local college, not far from her family’s home, she also worked and wrote articles for the college paper, which she loved. Another missing girl led Julia to do some research on missing girls and what she found horrified her. As she pitched her idea to her editor, she was stunned at the comments from a colleague – and also the results. Karin Slaughter truly has some of the strongest writing I've read. Like seriously. It doesn't matter if you end up loving or hating the story, it doesn't change the fact that the writing itself is top notch. The reason I rare read other genres is that they're rarely able to hold my attention -- I crave the emotional connection in romances -- so it's a real testament to how good this writing was that I was that into this story.

The story is atmospheric from the beginning with a palpable sense of foreboding, and by the end of this short story, I was very, very uneasy and disturbed.

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I like how we got a lot revealed quite early on in the book, but that didn’t really make me lose interest. It just made me want more to be explained, and therefore, my eyes were glued to this one. I was somewhat confused in the beginning because of a lot of details that were given without much connection, but it all made sense in the end. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. The story revolves around the lives of two sisters, Claire and Lydia, who have been torn apart by a tragic event that occurred over two decades ago. Claire's husband, Paul, an upstanding citizen and loving partner, unexpectedly disappears under mysterious circumstances. As Claire tries to uncover the truth behind his disappearance, she is forced to confront a past that has haunted her for years.

A stunning family tragedy and a hold-your-breath pedal-to-the-metal thriller...certain to be a book of the year." But Pretty Girls is a book about women being hurt. Nameless, terrified, hopeless women being brutalized in every way possible. And then they think of more ways to hurt them. Tied to meat hooks, disemboweled, whatever you can think of. It’s like if Criminal Minds went on a coke bender. And yes, the book is written by a woman and mostly told through the perspective of two women. I’m sure to some that mitigates the issue of the over-the-top violence against women. But I can’t get past the gratuitous, almost gleeful sexual sadism that permeates this novel. I can’t just walk away from this. I have to know. There isn’t anything left in my life except finding out the truth.” <--- my sentiments exactly! *keeps reading* Authors are always asked where they get their ideas, and the truth is that most of the time we don't know. An idea is a weird thing--usually, it's like a grain of sand that your brain worries into a pearl. When did the sand start to turn into something shiny and beautiful? No way to know. The two sisters join forces to continue searching for the truth about Julia’s disappearance, and must face the consequences of Claire learning some very disturbing secrets about her husband.

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You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about the missing teenage girl. Sixteen years old. White. Middle class. Very pretty. No one ever seemed quite as outraged when an ugly woman went missing.” Because it certainly wasn't the torture porn and the third act that ratchets up everything to a lunatic finish. This isn't your run-of-the-mill thriller. No, no. This is big kid stuff. The stuff that gets called "chilling" and "heart pounding" and "edge of your seat" and "thriller" and "psychological". Which is too bad, because the book started strong. 24 years ago, Julia Carroll disappeared. The disappearance shattered her family. Her father killed himself (his letters to his missing daughter are the closest thing to a heart this book has). Her mother retreated inward; she stopped talking about Julia, but she kept her bedroom exactly the way the 19-year-old left it. Sisters Lydia Delgado, a single mother, owner of a pet grooming business and recovering addict, and Claire Scott, the pampered wife of a successful architect haven’t spoken for 20 years. The estrangement wasn’t because of Julia-it happened after Lydia accused Claire’s husband of something awful.