Member Reviews
I kept hearing about this book.
I kept seeing on the "The books to Read" lists everywhere.
I was thrilled to read the ARC, and then I started reading and was thrilled for the entire book.
She (1) did it!
No she (2) did it!
No- She (3) did it!
No--SHE (4) did it!!
WHO did it??!!
5 college friends -4 of who shared an apartment since Sophomore year
and then became inseparable- reunite for a wedding week.
Old stories are told and relived, secrets are shared, and someone dies.
Good read!
I found this book to be intriguing enough but did not keep me on the edge of my seat. Although the premise is different, the narration, the interviews and the story focusing on women of different ages and classes was very similar to Big Little Lies. That being said I thouroughly enjoyed the author’s writing style and would not hesitate to pick up another one of her books in this genre. It was an easy read and it did offer some twists that I didn’t see coming. I enjoyed the epilogue which left me satisfied with the story’s conclusion.
Three women reunite at the wedding of their friend from college. From the outside, it appears each woman is living the “perfect” life but things aren’t always what they seem. At the wedding these three women are drawn to two new friends and end up being questioned in the death of a man at the resort where the wedding is being held and four of the women claim to be responsible.
Gina LaManna crafted an engaging tale of past mistakes, longing, and forgiveness in this book. The story was fast paced and kept me wondering who had died and which of the ladies were responsible until the end. I have never read anything by this author but will definitely be catching up on her works in the very near future.
Thank you NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I loved this book. For me it was a real page turner and I couldn’t wait to uncover the truth and everyone’s secrets. The layout of the book where each chapter began by police questioning and then the chapter unfolded with more information about that character, was very creative and not something I have seen before.
The characters were well developed and believable and spanned the spectrum on age, class, and background. A really enjoyable read.
This is the most addictive novel I’ve read in a long time!! Pretty Guilty Women starts out with a woman confessing to police that she murdered someone!! And eventually another woman confesses to murdering that same person, and another woman, and another woman!!! That’s right, four women confess to single-handedly murdering the same person...so what exactly is the truth!?!?! I was on the edge of my seat to find out!
Pretty Guilty Women twisted my thoughts and mind and I loved every page of it! I think it’s an understatement to say this novel will shock you with it’s unexpected twists and turns! Trust me when I say you will not see the ending coming—love that! I really enjoyed how Gina LaManna combined the women’s fiction and mystery genres perfectly. I recommend this 5 star read to EVERYONE! This is the first novel I’ve read from Gina LaManna and I am really looking forward to reading more from her in the future!
Four women all confess to the murder that occurred during the rehearsal dinner. The detective is trying to figure out who actually killed this man and why all four women would confess. Kate, Ginger, Lulu, and Emily all have a motivation to confess, but why would they lie?
Pretty Guilty Women was full of entertainment value and deeper meaning. While it has its light hearted moments and some even comedic relief, it really dives into the depths of four women trying to get the most out of their lives while not comparing their lives to others. It explores love, relationships, friendships, motherhood, infertility, loss, and heartache. It is much deeper than I expected going into it. 4 stars
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I like the premise of this book. A week-long wedding attended by college best friends who have lost touch for a variety of reasons, with a side of murder. And here's the kicker, they all admit to it.
Honestly, I found this book to be a little dull. At well over the half way point, we still barely knew about the murder, it is mostly the women's problems, it was very slow paced for a suspense/mystery.
This book takes place at a resort during week long festivities for a wedding and alternates between different characters' points of view. I quite enjoyed this book and thought the format allowed the reader to get to know each character a little better than they would had it only been written from one character's point of view. The murder storyline was well done and kept my interest. The plot moved along nicely with the exception of maybe a little in the middle and I did wonder if the epilogue was entirely necessary, but it was well written overall and I would definitely recommend it. It's the perfect vacation read when you have some uninterrupted reading time because you will not want to put it down!
Definitely heavily leans on the "domestic" part of domestic thriller. I found it quite dull, as despite the intriguing concept, the vast majority of the text was focused on the characters' vanilla problems. The end fell flat for me.
Pretty Guilty Women is the perfect beach read and it is a shame it is not coming out until September.
4 Women all admit to a crime. Now instead of figuring out who is the guilty party, the cops are left to find out who is the innocent. Who is telling a lie. This is not only a story about crime and murder, it is also a great story about friendship and what you would do to protect the ones that you love. Family is not always blood. Family is those that you chose to risk your life for.
This book had me hooked instantly wanting me to read more, but once I got to the middle of the book it seemed as though the author was trying to throw as many confusing twists and turns and revelations as possible, making the book difficult to follow. The characters were entertaining with the exception of Emily who I felt was a random person within the story with little reasoning as to why she was in the friendship. Her story was the least engaging.
In the end I felt that the book was worth the read but not worth a second glance.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book
So so entertaining wonderful characters terrific story line twists and turns kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime.#netgalley #sourcebookslandmark,
Circumstances bring five women together for a wedding at a luxurious spa. Lulu is older and has a host of former husbands. But, she’s afraid that she’s losing her true love. Ginger is a frazzles mom who is afraid of losing her fifteen-year-old daughter. Kate is successful and struggling with infertility. Emily is hiding a dark past and unable to move on. Sydney is a young, struggling, single mom who is running from something. When four women all claim to be the murderer, the Detective knows that that they are all lying. But, who is dead and who did it?
The host of intriguing characters will make it so that you can’t put this book down. There is a character for everyone to relate to. The story is well put together and the writing is gripping. Gina LaManna’s latest book will keep you reading just to figure out the answers. This is a great read for fans of cozy murder mysteries. Review copy provided by NetGalley and Source Books.
Book Court - Where I'm the Judge and Jury
CHARGE (What is the author trying to say?): To solve a murder after four women confess to the killing.
FACTS: A society wedding party books an exclusive spa and resort for a week of festivities. The action switches back and forth from the perspective of four wedding guests who ultimately confess to the same murder. Old college rivalries, family dysfunction, abuse, and financial crimes all contribute to the mystery. Expected solutions are derailed as the facts fall into place. It’s not great literature, but it is a pleasant read.
VERDICT (Was the author successful?): Guilty, as charged. Imaginative twists and turns.
#PrettyGuiltyWomen #NetGalley
I was provided an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Fans of "Big Little Lies" will find a large similarity between these two books. The ladies in this book were enjoyable to get to know, although I did struggle with Emily as the book progressed.
Maybe because the plot was so familiar, but this didn't have a strong suspense feel to me. It was an okay read.
This is supposed to be a suspenseful murder mystery, but, sadly, I found that to be a bit lacking. I would've liked a lot more suspense. The characters were okay, with the exception of Emily, who was just plain annoying. This book had the feel of a quick beach read, even though it's releasing in September. There was a bit of a twist, so the ending wasn't quite as I'd expected. I found this book to just be "okay" overall.
I read the book in 3 hours. Easy read, stories of women that link together later on. Twisted and unexpected ending. I definitely recommend that book.
3 women that went to college together, and an older woman that they meet when they're all thrown together at a wedding cum reunion, end up confessing to a murder, all with slightly different variations on how it happened. Guilt from past mistakes, heartache, desires in the present day, teenage angst, domestic violence, and a healthy dose of alcoholism coalesce into the perfect mess of a whodunit and a whydunit? There are a lot of moving parts to this story, but the author does a fantastic job of keeping the plot moving, keeping all of the characters and their intricate individual story lines separate and important to the story line without turning the plot into a bewildering maze of people. It's a pretty masterful piece of storytelling and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt, but it didn't detract from the story enough to make it unsatisfying.
Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna is a suspenseful murder mystery. Four women confess to murdering the same man. Throughout the novel secrets come to light and relationships are tested.
I enjoyed the premise of the story and liked some of the characters. However, Emily was very annoying, and I disliked her the more I read. The other characters were your average, neighbourly type so they were easy to relate to.
The story progressed quickly, and I appreciated how Ms. LaManna interspersed the investigators question / answer sessions with the current events of the scenes. It worked well!
If it’s a quick murder mystery without a predictable ending that you’re after then read this novel – you won’t be disappointed!
#prettyguiltywomen #netgalley #ginalamann
I thought the concept was interesting. Some parts were slow and I felt like one less character would have made the book even better. I really enjoyed the ending and overall was a fun and fast read
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a free advanced reader copy of Pretty Guilty Women in exchange for an honest review.
An over the top wedding brings 3 ex college friends back together, with a few unexpected friendships blossoming as well. That’s basically what the book is about, these women and their friendships, their lives outside of the wedding, and some good old life lessons. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get interesting until 3/4 of the way into the book. By then I was a tad frustrated with the lack of thrills and intensity.
I felt the book was slow and repetitive. It failed to hold my interest and took me longer than normal to finish. I know this labeled as general fiction, but I felt it could have been so much more than what it was.
That being said, the character development is good. And the journey to the end may be worth it to you. Because even though I was struggling to read this, I did have that itch to find out what was going on, who was dead, who did the deed, and how things turned out for the women and their life predicaments.
The ending was actually shocking and there were a couple twists that really surprised me.
But overall, it just kind of fell short for me, missing some opportunities to be more thrilling than it is.