If you’re looking for your next vacation read, I highly recommend adding Robyn Harding’s newest domestic thriller, Her Pretty Face, to your carry on. It’s the perfect thriller, one that will have you turning pages furiously until the very end.

I’m going to be fair here and say I read an enormous amount of thrillers and the result is I often see the plot a mile away. This is exactly what happened with this book. While it isn’t bad it isn’t a deep book, no shock all moments & just kind of ho hum. Maybe others who haven’t read anything like it might enjoy it more.

RATING: 4 STAR
2018; Simon & Schuster Canada

Robyn Harding, a Canadian writer (living in Vancouver), is new to me. The cover and synopsis drew me to requesting this novel, and I am so glad I did. This story hooked me right away. It reminded me a bit of Big Little Lies, in that parents seem to have crazier lives their kids and hormonal teens. While the plot grabbed me, the characterizations were what kept me reading. Harding created interesting and realistic characters. Even when you don't like some of them, or sometimes all of them, you feel invested to see how it ends. I will definitely be reading more of Harding's novels, in the future or the backlist. If you are looking for a solid good read, try Her Pretty Face.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

This book took me a while to finally pick up and read. Although it was an easy read, I would ultimately pass on this one.

This book was told from multiple characters and multiple points of view which kept it interesting. A decent suspense story line although it was fairly predictable. The character depth and reliability fell short.

Frances had plenty of other emotional traumas the author could have developed and expanded into, instead of focusing on her insecure weight problems. It left me wanting more.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and especially Robyn Harding.
Well written story that got me interested from the get go. Unexpected twists and turns with jaw dropping moments.
Lies and deceit. I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down.
Absolutely recommend
5 stars 🌟

Frances doesn't fit in with the perfect mothers at the Forrester School, but she will try and struggle through for the sake of her son. Marcus has a hard time fitting in and Frances and her husband are hoping things will turn around for him at this private and expensive school. Everything for Frances is going wrong, until she meets Kate. The two women bond over their mutual dislike for the other mothers. Kate is perfect. She is well put together, beautiful and knows just what to say. Frances thinks she finally has a BFF and Kate's son wants to be friends with Marcus. It sounds perfect, maybe too perfect. What is Kate hiding behind her pretty face?

I enjoyed this story. As I got to know the main characters and their families, I thought they would be people I would like to get to know. Yes, they had problems, but what family doesn't. The story is told from multiple POVs. Frances, Daisy and DJ, all share their POV. Daisy has problems making friends as her family moves around a lot. Frances has a secret in her past that seems to cause her low self-esteem, and DJ is the brother of a murdered, brutalized 15 year old girl. The storyline of the murdered girl reminds me very much of the Paul Bernardo/Karla Holmolka case from a few years ago here in Ontario. The various storylines run parallel to one another with me thinking I had it all figured out, but boy was I wrong. When the climax occurs, it was like, "I didn't see that coming", which actually surprised me. The story kept me listening when I should have gone to bed, but I wanted to finish the book. This book is part mystery, part family drama, and part domestic thriller. This is the first book I have read or listened to by Robyn Harding, but it will not be the last.

This is a story about an unlikely friendship between two very different women and the secrets they harbor.
Frances is a shy and insecure SAHM who just doesn't fit in with the "in crowd" of mothers at her son's elite school. Kate is the polar opposite of Frances in every way but something draws these two women together.
People are not what they seem and a devasting secret threatens the friendship of these two very different women.
The book was an exciting read though I did find myself becoming irritated with Frances character at times. I did have to put the book down from time to time as I found it a bit disturbing in a way (my own issue not the authors). I couldn't help but find parallels to Karla Homolka. All in all, I found the book to be a suspenseful read.

I did not have time to read this one before it was archived. It is no longer accessible on my device i can not give a proper review having not finished it.I read the beginning and loved it. It was a page turner.

Kate is everything Frances is not: beautiful, wealthy, powerful, and confident. And for some reason, she’s not interested in being friends with any of the other Forrester moms—only Frances. As the two bond over their disdain of the Forrester snobs and the fierce love they have for their sons, a startling secret threatens to tear them apart…because one of these women is not who she seems. Her real name is Amber Kunick. And she’s a murderer.

I binge read this one in a single evening and, days later, found myself thinking about it still! I love the writing style of Robyn Harding; she has the uncanny ability to captivate her reader with quick prose and eloquent storytelling. This novel is NOT a traditional domestic thriller and if you are expecting Gone Girl-esque thrills, you are opening the wrong book. However, if you are after complex characters, strong plot, and realism, then this is the book for you!

Essentially, the story unfolds through multiple narrators and throughout varying time periods. In the present, as Kate’s present unravels and mixes with her past, I found myself torn with a moral dilemma. Can someone change? Should people be judged based on their past? In true Robyn Harding style, like The Party, the chapters were short and sweet.

I am absolutely floored with some of the negative comments that I was reading about this book on Goodreads. I didn’t feel like this novel was even supposed to be a domestic thriller, instead, I found it to be a character study, a domestic drama and a snapshot of a psychopath.

I’d recommend this one, it got me out of my slump!

This was a very well written story with lots of twists that the reader does not see coming. It was entertaining and engrossing. I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to other who enjoy a good mystery.

Pretty good read!! It was a very unique plot which I really enjoyed, but I found that there was really no climax or big surprises in this book. I did really enjoy the different views from the characters! Great read overall!

An amazingly wonderful read! Grips you right from the start! No one is who they seem to be in this tale of a crime committed years ago, and where the story takes them today.

Incredible! The start of the book was a little slow but as I got further into it, the story took an unexpected twist. Would definitely recommend it if you are into the "gone girl" type books. There are some tough moments to swallow but in the end, well written and definitely would read more from this author in the future.

The best way to summarize this book is that it is about friendships and past secrets. And I know this sounds intriguing. I mean, it's what drew me to the story in the first place. And in the beginning, it really was quite good. There was that typical start that I'm noticing in a lot of thrillers, where a woman who feels like she doesn't belong with other "moms" meets a glamorous "mom" who becomes her best friend. The author also created a good amount of tension that pulled the reader into the story.

But ultimately .... nothing really ... happened.

I mean, it was just so predictable. You've got these two women who both have "dark secrets" but it is quite obvious from the start who is the more "dangerous" one, just from the way the author relies on overused tropes. Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with this. It's a tried-and-tested trope that works so if it ain't broke, why fix it? But there was nothing unique about the story. There was lack of depth in plot and character interactions, and I didn't even really like the main characters.

But when I mean nothing happened, I literally mean that NOTHING HAPPENED IN THIS STORY. One character discovers the truth, and when the information gets out .... well, that's pretty much how the story ends. It just felt like there was all this buildup and it led to pretty much a pointless story. The other character also had a "resolution" of her ghosts but it was quite disappointing; it basically happened in the last 15-20 pages of the book and there was no introspection or depth to it. And I know that the whole point of hyping this character's past was to make readers suspect her intentions, but it was such a disappointing truth that I felt cheated out of an experience.

I know it seems like I hated this book. But my main problem was just with how things ended. I still think the idea behind the story is very interesting, and it reminded me a lot of the story of Karla Homolka (and that is all I'm going to say because NO SPOILERS). The actual writing of the story was quite good and it was a quick read. However, the ending left me unsatisfied and because the author had so hyped it up with all the tension, I just couldn't get over the disappointment. For that reason, I'm giving this a 2/5 stars.

4.5 stars.

Her Pretty Face was an absolutely fantastic domestic thriller filled with lies and deceit. Just when I thought I had things figured out, something would happen that turned everything upside down. The novel is told from three perspectives: Frances, Daisy & DJ, and part of the suspense of the novel is trying to figure out how these three perspectives are connected. I couldn’t put this book down (in fact, I read the entire thing in a few hours)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy of Her Pretty Face in exchange for an honest review.

"Her Pretty Face" by Robyn Harding

Great story. It was well rounded, good ending. In the first half I thought I had put some of the pieces together, was close but just not quite there. It was an enjoyable read that had me turning pages every night. Certainly would recommend it.

#NetGalley #HerPrettyFace
Book Published: July 10, 2018
Review Published: August 27, 2018

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really dark and interesting psychological crime/drama novel about the sins of the past, familial interactions, ostracism, discrimination, and some really messed up friendships.
The novel switches from past to present featuring storytelling from different points of view. It's a constant guessing game, at least it was for me, about which back story applied to which character. I was kept guessing until almost the end, though I had my suspicions.
It was an interesting read and I'll be checking out future works from this author for sure.

Received an advanced reader's copy courtesy of NetGalley. This was the perfect summer read. I didn't want to put this book down because I was invested in what the characters were experiencing and feeling. It's the perfect vacation read if you like thrillers.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I was thoroughly impressed! It's not quite as dark and mysterious as some thrillers can be. I don't think that was the point of it. There is indeed some mystery to it but to me it was more than that. It was a story about two people and how the smallest silliest thing and the biggest most terrible thing can change your life forever.

First and foremost I think the premise of this book may have been loosely based on Canada's most notorious killers, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka in the early to mid 1990's. Dubbed the, "Ken and Barbie" killers. I remember that case so well. The utter panic, outrage and extreme sadness it triggered. How many still to this day remember the, "Deal with the Devil" that Karla Homolka's legal team arranged. She only received twelve years in prison for participating in such horrendous acts of crime. This book seems to examine (fictitiously) how one can continue a life after such a horrific past.

Kate and Frances are both stay-at-home mom's whose children attend the same private school. Their two sons become friends and the two women form a close friendship. They are both hiding something. At first we do not know what they are hiding. It is a slow build-up of friendship and the writing is superb. It kept me glued to the story. I could not put it down.

The story is told through three voices. Frances, Daisy, and DJ. This story really makes you question what you know, who you know...

This is a five star winner that I highly recommend!

This is a great book that explores how well you know someone, Is the person you meet exactly as they appear or are there events in their life that you know nothing about. Would you begin a relationship with them if you knew what their past held or would you steer clear. Does their past define who they are or has it caused them to change to who they are now,

Frances Metcalfe has a hard time fitting in with the crowd of wealthy moms at the Forrester Academy. This is made even harder after her son commits an act of retaliation against one of his fellow students.
Then she meets Kate Randolph who seems to have it all. Everything that Frances feels she doesn't have, Kate is a beautiful, confident, secure women who all the other mothers want to befriend but Kate picks Frances.
After some time Frances begins to think that there is more to Kate than what you see on the surface. Little by little pieces of the puzzle of Kate start to fit together to give a clearer picture of just exactly who Kate is and what her past holds.

The suspense in this book is constant. I kept telling myself "Just one more chapter than I'll stop". This book had too good a hold on me to let that happen. The author, Robyn Harding, did a great job of slowly doling out little bits of information. Just when I thought I had every thing figured out I would be pointed in a different direction.