Pretty Things by Janette Brown is a roller coaster of a book with a very well calculated plot that makes one want to read it quickly so that you can find out how all the twists and turns will be resolved. I could not believe the end!. It was well worth reading into the wee hours of the morning. The four main characters are like snakes in a jar. They wrap around you and squeeze your heart until you find out that each is more dastardly than the other. My only issue was with Benny. He seems to go from sane to insane and back to sane very quickly.

A con artist is scamming an heiress in what she hopes will be the final job that will set her up for life. But is Nina targeting Vanessa for the million dollars cash sitting in her safe… or is it more personal than that?

The twists and turns in this cat-and-mouse book kept me hooked. Would Nina pull off the con of her life? Would Vanessa figure out who Nina really was?

I was torn between which of the women I was rooting for. Nina had been dealt a bad hand in life and was trying to pull her family out of medical debt. Vanessa was born with a silver spoon and the powerful Liebling name. But each woman had her own personal tragedy that humanized her character and made me change my ideal outcome multiple times throughout the book.

I don’t always love dual perspectives in books but I absolutely loved the way the author used this narrative device to show the same event from each character’s viewpoint making me question what I had read from the previous character’s chapters. There are so many layers and second-guessing as to who was the hunter and who was the prey.

After the slow burn of the book, the last bit seemed a bit rushed to me. But I would still recommend this book to lovers of twisty thrillers featuring smart and sarcastic women.

Thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3158520193

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lily is a grifter whose daughter,Nina, tries for the straight and narrow but resorts to the family business when times become desperate. Nina devises a con to help care for her ailing mother, but things do not go as planned. There are a multitude of twists and turns in the novel that I did not see coming. The ending is satisfying.

No one is who they present themselves to be, even to those they supposedly love.
Born and raised a grifter, Nina tells herself she had no choice but to fall into the trade. She learned from the best: her own mother. She met her partner in crime (and in bed), Lachlan through her mother. And she never suspected a thing. She was too busy being jealous of the Liebling family, a rich and powerful dynasty from her youth who ruined hers and her mother’s lives. She manifests all her anger towards the daughter Vanessa Leibling, so it makes perfect sense when she and Lachlan plan to make the Liebling dynasty their next victim. But maybe Vanessa isn’t the ultra-rich gullible, wide-eyed spoiled vixen she appears to be after all.
Janelle Brown creates believable and vibrant personalities of her characters then weaves them into such a tangled web of lies and deceit. The setting, a huge mansion full of priceless antiquities sitting on a beautiful lake, sets the perfect stage for this tangled tale of love and theft. I could not stop reading. It was simply that intriguing. And I wasn’t upset with the ending like so many delicious books leave me. This tale has it all: excellent plot, beautiful setting, and entrancing writing.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for making it available.)

2.5 stars

Well written, but boring. It started off promising and then ebbed off. Lots of long winded back story. It started to get fun again, but while the twists and turns were there, they weren’t as shocking as I was expecting. The author nailed the shallowness and farce of social media though.

I am a huge fan of Janelle Brown so I was super excited to get Pretty Things. I dove right in and wow this book started out with excitement! Then Janelle gave me the back story told in a two different point of views. It got a little slow but I knew she was building for something more. Then we went to present day but also the story told in two different point of views. That was hella interesting at points especially when poo was hitting the ceiling. Then when poo started hitting the ceiling Janelle dropped another jaw dropping twist and I honestly can stay I didn’t think this book was going to end the way it did

Pretty things was 3.5/4ish ⭐️ for me.⁣
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The cover of the book drew me in and the first few chapters about Nina I was invested. She seemed like a bad ass con artist and I loved it.⁣
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Then it became a slow burn for me. It went back and forth between Vanessa and Nina with a lot of character development and I felt like repeated paragraphs.⁣
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I thought about putting this book down a few times but then finally I got 70% of the way through and the drama and twists started picking up and I was left with a pretty solid, epic ending.⁣
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If you don’t mind slow burns, the intrigue is there and it is worth a read, just takes a little while.⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for an ARC for my honest review. #netgalley #prettythings #bookstagram

Oh where do I start? 'Dangerous' ... 'scam of a lifetime' ...I don't think that's how I'd describe this one. Two ladies lives come together over some history with a Lake Tahoe home, joining them on the messy ride is Nina's boyfriend Lachlan. I don't think the synopsis is a good representation of this book & really it makes it sound much more exciting than the book actually was. As far as Nina learning from the best, although Nina's mother Lily does not earn an honest living, Lily & Nina's ways of scamming are quite different so I'm not sure I'd say Nina learned anything from her Mom besides being dishonest. And how dangerous can it be when you're basically the big dog vs. a little innocent kitten? I think it took me probably close to two weeks of (trying) to read this every night to finally finish it. I had to make myself finish this one, usually a good book I can't turn the pages fast enough to find out what's next. The beginning of this book, her first heist in the book, made for a strong start but it didn't take long for that to burn out. Somewhere close to the middle she went back to the past when Nina was a teenager and although the background was necessary (honestly probably my favorite part of the book was Nina & Benny as teenagers) & I enjoyed that part of the book it went on so long that it had me thinking where are we in this storyline? Distracting & since I wasn't really invested in the book to begin with it made it that much harder to get into. Easily the first half of this book is spent developing the characters but it could have been done in half the pages while still maintaining her thorough descriptiveness. A lot of the book was very very detailed descriptions of furniture, an outfit, a character -overkill. Many times I found myself feeling like I just read this page/part of the story ( I felt like I was rereading a chapter because they were so similar)...lots of repetitiveness in descriptions & events that took place. Some of the 'repeats' were Vanessa's point of view & then the next chapter the exact same scene but through Nina's point of view. I like the concept of doing that to clarify something that maybe wasn't obvious if seeing through one or the others eyes but it wasn't like that, just more of one of them observing the others actions/reactions not uncovering any wow moments or providing any real twists.Maybe this book blurred together & I'm remembering incorrectly but I feel like Vanessa told Nina (aka Ashley) two different times that her parents died, specifically her Mother's death, like the first time she told Nina/Ashley never took place. What about the scene where all three of them were having the fancy dinner & the person telling the story in that chapter sounded like an observer, a 4th person watching through the window. That person never developed or became anything so it really was just some random chapter. The entire book was either Vanessa or Nina's pov so for me this was confusing because I was waiting for that chapter to materialize into a character in the book..maybe a family member or detective or someone? I guess the very first chapter was written almost as if it were an observer writing it but I feel like since it was the 1st chapter it worked to start the book. I think maybe around 75% into the book it got a little exciting so I was like a horse running to get to the hay in the barn, I wanted to see if this book that I spent the last 2 weeks of my nights reading was worth the ending. I like some of the end "twists" if you want to call them that, if it didn't have them then the book would be a complete dud for me but even in the end, the big picture of the book, it was a pretty weak storyline & to be frank I thought the ending was pretty ridiculous. I'm also left with a ton of questions as to the 'why's' of Lachlan, some of his choices, what he was actually doing behind the closed doors & who was he really talking to on the phone? As long as this book was I feel like I have zero closure on Lachlan's character. With Nina I feel like she was consistent throughout the book, where Vanessa's character was all over the place. When you first meet Vanessa she's shown to be that sterotypical rich girl, stuckup/judgemental...then later her character was shown to have more of a soft side like that was the real Vanessa... more genuine, morals (not the girl to steal another womans bf/husband) but then her character shifted back into the girl that thought she was 'better' & became slightly vindictive. Reason/no reason it doesn't really match with how she was being portrayed or work for me. I did really enjoy the connections the author was trying to give the two women (like she was trying to bond them) but it shifted quickly to the both of them with their agendas.

I actually really enjoyed Brown's writing with the exception of how she put in additions like she was editing/commenting on her own story. Example, she commented on some of her characters comments saying "I like this one!".. "this one not so much". As the author or the character I'm not really sure but it was weird. I could see potentially loving a story by Brown if it wasn't as drawn out & got to the point/to the excitement quicker.

I'd love to hear from anyone that has read a previous book of Janelle Brown's. Did you love any of her other books & not enjoy this one? I'm curious if this is just her style or if this one fell way short. Or maybe it's me & her books aren't for me? I read quite a few reviews of this book saying how it was exciting, twisty, similar to Gillian Flynn (no way!!)? I didn't get that at all, this was a snoozer for me. I unfortunately really struggled to finish this one.

2-1/2 stars rounded down.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity! :)

This was an incredible and thrilling novel that drew me in and never let go. I felt emotionally invested in the characters’ lives and couldn’t stop reading.

From the publisher: This dazzling, twisty, mesmerizing novel showcases acclaimed author Janelle Brown at her best, as two brilliant, damaged women try to survive the greatest game of deceit and destruction they will ever play.

I found the above synopsis perfectly described Janelle Brown's Pretty Things. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of the twists and turns it created with the two perspectives. Brown used unreliable narrators extremely well, and I found it hard to dislike either one of them despite their very obvious flaws. This book kept me on my toes up until the end and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers that have more depth than the usual quick read has.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this great ARC!

"Wealth is a Band-Aid, not an inoculation; and if the disease runs deep enough, it will cure nothing at all."

Two very different women ... one is a con artist and the other an heiress and Instagram Influencer. Both women are on a course of destruction and soon to collide when they meet.

The story alternates back and forth between Nina and Vanessa. The characters are flawed but believable and keeps you engaged. Nina is always looking for the next big con by tricking billionaires out of their money. Vanessa is a trying to be a socialite and her family money is dwindling fast soon after she inherits the family estate in Lake Tahoe.

Nina wants to run another high-stake scheme in order to pay for her mother's expensive cancer treatments and Vanessa is now her target. With the help of Lachlan, a friend of her mother, they set out on a dangerous scam together. But will they succeed? Or do they get the short end of the con? The more you read the more you begin empathizing with all of them to the point that you cheer for each of them to succeed with their cons and revenge.

This is not a thriller, but it does offer enough twists to keep a you interested and going to the very end. At almost 500 pages, it's a long and very slow burn, but I didn't get bogged down by the length at all. Readers that like Gillian Flynn and Ruth Ware will devour this book. Definitely add this to your 2020 TBR list!

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
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Thank you to Random House for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
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❤️- the plot of this book was right up my alley! I loved how con artists were our main characters and in some way you were cheering for them. Nina, our main character, was flawed in ways but when you read about her mom you can tell why! Brown’s writing is well done and the complex female characters were 👌🏼
🤷🏻‍♀️- What stopped this book from being a five star read was the repetitiveness. I don’t enjoy when books rehash scenes. This book was just under 500 pages, which I don’t think most books in this genre can be without dragging on or being repetitive.
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Even with that being said, I would recommend this book!

I just finished the ARC of Pretty Things by Janelle Brown. Thank you so much to #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroup for this opportunity. I have read 27 books to date this year and I have to say that Pretty Things has got to be one of my absolute favorites. I found myself immediately drawn to the characters and invested in their stories. Janelle Brown created characters that I was simultaneously fascinated by yet was also appalled with. I couldn’t get enough of this twisted tale. Without giving anything away, I will say that at different points during the book I was rooting for both Nina and also Vanessa. It was interesting to read the story from each of their points of view. I would, hands down, recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a psychological suspense story that will pull you into its tangled web from page one.

Deception, lies, secrets, revenge, and money. This book is a combination of all the things I love about psychological thrillers with a few unique elements thrown in. It has a twisty plot, unreliable narrators, and at the center of it all is a big con. The secrets and lies are almost the basis for the plot and we learn that more than one character has a boatload of them. The plot seems simple enough but the way the story is told is what makes it interesting. There are two narrators: Nina and Vanessa. Through their eyes the story unfolds. Nina is the daughter of a grifter and has become one herself. She and her boyfriend/partner Lachlan are con artists. Vanessa is an heiress turned instagram influencer who is going through a rough time. On the surface these two would not have anything in common but along the way we learn of their connection. At the heart of the story is the art of deception and sometimes it is hard to know who to trust. That is one of the things I enjoyed most about this book. I liked not really knowing who to trust and the author did a great job with the twists and turns that were revealed. I liked that the story was dependent upon any major twists but the ones that were added were in there for a reason. I found myself genuinely surprised and when you read a lot of thrillers, that can be hard. I don't want to say too much about the plot because (as I always say) it is best to go in blind.

This book deals with the themes of privilege and how sometimes money isn't all its cracked up to be. Pretty things at the end of the day are just things and things don't make you happy. I liked how the author dealt with social media and how satisfying and unsatisfying it can be. We sometimes seek validation from other people when we only need it from ourselves. I also liked how we got to see some of the same events told by both Nina and Vanessa. Perception, in my opinion, is also one of the themes of the book. By telling the same events by the two narrators, we see how different a situation can be perceived.

My overall feelings about this book is that I enjoyed it. This is the art of deception at its best. It is witty at times and mostly well paced. Its unexpected and fun. If I delve a little deeper into my feelings I can say that at the beginning I didn't enjoy reading from Vanessa's point of view and that is when the pace dragged a bit. I was eager to get back to Nina and see how things were going for her. However, towards the end of the book, the pace picked back up and I couldn't read it fast enough. I didn't have any trouble with the length and even though there were some parts that dragged, I found that they were necessary to the story. The characters are so layered and I always enjoy when an author gives us characters that we can both like and dislike at the same time. As far as the ending goes, I am glad that it wasn't rushed. It is the worst when a book is so good and then all of a sudden the ending is lackluster. This is not the case here and I was satisfied with the ending. All in all this is an extremely clever and well written book that thriller lovers will enjoy. This is the first book I've read by Brown but it will not be the last!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read this book.

This was my first Janelle Brown book and I was thoroughly impressed! Pretty Things was definitely more of a slow burn for me but that's okay. I felt like there was a lot of character development that needed to be done and Janelle did exactly that so we understood every character's role in the story.

I think that Benny's family and past is the reason he turned out to be schizophrenic. The Lieblings had a lot of crazy issues but then again, what family doesn't? I love how Janelle tied together Nina's past and the twist with her mom! I never would've guessed that her mom had faked cancer so Nina would go after the Lieblings after all of those years. That was wild.

Overall, this was a good book! I really enjoyed it and the chance to read and review before publication date!

I could NOT put this book down! This book contained all the right plot twists.. I honestly couldn’t figure out who did what, how things happened and constantly find myself saying WTF!!! This book is about two completely different women whose paths crossed when they were young and then again brought back together... a grifter and an heiress... brought together by a scan of a lifetime. This is a me vs you kind of book, sense of entitlement, thinking they are where they are in life because of what everyone else did to them. I can’t write more without giving away too much. A definite must read! 4.5/5 stars!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Janelle Brown for this wonderful ARC! Definitely my most favorite yet!

Nina's dream of avoiding following her mother's life of grifting and con games by getting a college degree falls apart when she finds herself under loads of student debt with a mother dying of cancer and in need of expensive treatments. With her boyfriend, Lachlan, she turns to Instagram to stalk filthy rich 20-somethings, seduce them, and "relieve" them of valuables. Eventually her sights land on major social media influencer Vanessa, a privileged young heiress who has just inherited her family's estate in Tahoe. While Nina and Lachlan come up with a con to finagle their way into Vanessa's life in order to take advantage of her wealth, the reader gets the backstory on just why Nina has a particular grudge against Vanessa, along with Vanessa's point of view about her difficult family and the present situation. While I did like how the same parts of the story were told from both Nina and Vanessa's points of view (so that you get two angles on the same situation, and it takes a while to decide which narrator you can trust), it sometimes felt a bit repetitive, so at first I wasn't sure this was going to be higher than a 3-star read for me - also because these characters weren't particularly likeable or sympathetic early on. Eventually they both really worked their way into my feelings though and I began to have more understanding of why they would be/act the way they are. So I really liked how in the end that provided some real depth, beyond just the twists and turns of the plot (which also turned out to be juicy), by exploring their histories and their psyches - makes it a good psychological thriller-lite that goes beyond "just" that. Also really liked the bit of art history mystery part (Nina's degree gives her expertise in this area, which facilitates her stealing/reselling of items) and the commentary on the facade/personas of social media influencers that Vanessa's character illustrates. 3.5/5 stars - liked it!

It has been years since I have been so utterly gripped by a novel from the first chapter.

Janelle Brown’s upcoming novel has everything that I have been looking for in a mystery/thriller.

With aspects that feel like a wonderful crime drama, I can absolutely see this novel being translated to the screen in the near future!

Full review to come upon publication, but suffice it to say this one will be a contender for my top 2020 reads!

What a great read! The story really hooked me in from the beginning and I loved reading about the pasts of Nina and Vanessa. It was great seeing their views of each other evolve during the book. It did seem repetitive at times since the same scenes were repeated, but by the different characters point of view. The twists and turns were great!

Such a great read! I was hooked on the story from the beginning and could not put it down! I loved that it was not very predictable and loved the ending.