Wow, this one blew me away! I'm expecting this book to be huge in 2020. The story and characters were fascinating and well-defined with beautiful, gritty prose. The story is told in the perspective of two characters: Nina, a charming grifter; and Vanessa, an Instagram-famous heiress. The twists were unexpected, but felt organic. That's not always the case with mysteries/thrillers these days. I can't wait to read more from Janelle Brown!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing this ARC.

I am a new reader of Janelle Brown. Her style is concise and the pieces of story she reveals is enough to keep you guessing in a many ways. This book told the story of a girl who was given a chance to enact a con on a family who wronged her. Additionally it is about an heiress who turns out to be more flawed than her Instagram lets on.

What I can say about this book is that while none of the characters are in “good” on the surface (be it vapid or criminal) the trip you take to discover who they are really gives you a sense of empathy for most of them. That (and the twist ending) surprised me more than I thought it would.


You can see more in my video review:
https://youtu.be/Vie_jzpvdKY

Pretty Things was a slow-burning, character-driven, adventure. It was a little bit slow sometimes, but the detailed writing held my attention and kept me fully absorbed in this deceitful and cunning tale. You when the book opens up with a body in the lake that some stuff has gone down, but I can honestly say that I didn't know what was going to happen in the book until the very end and I love it when that happens in books! 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. Both of these women are written with empathy and care, though, so you really understand that you can't judge anyone's journey until you take a walk in their shoes. I really enjoyed this one and will read this author again. Also, I think many good points were made and lessons were learned regarding social media and the obsession the world has with it. A lot of novels this year have focused on that.

This book was interesting and kept my attention. It was intriguing to see the thoughts and how they affect the mental health of these characters. I liked the story, it was a bit long but would recommend if you want something to read that will take your mind elsewhere.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

A terrible book. I tried reading it twice, failed both times. This book just wasn't for me. Maybe for someone else.

Honestly, I loved this. This was a wild ride, a twisty, manipulative journey from start to finish. If you're looking for a (what's the audiobook equivalent of unputdownable?) enthralling, slow burn thriller about two women - look no further. Pretty Things, despite its bland and kind of cliché title, was my companion on long quarantine walks with the dog, hours of baking and cooking because I had nothing else to do, and time in front of my computer "working" (but actually just zoning out from work and listening to this). This is 15 hours well spent, and it'll feel like just a few hours when you're listening.

Maybe I loved this because I listened to the audiobook - masterfully narrated by three different women with fantastic voices deep in character - or maybe it's because Janelle Brown simply excels at delivering well-crafted plots that go deep beyond the trope of woman v. woman manipulation. There are so many books that fit into this trope (just to rattle off a few in recent memory: Precious You, You Are Not Alone, An Anonymous Girl, The Last Mrs. Parrish, The Other Mrs. Miller). Realizing that this was a trope I enjoy was not easy for me - at first, it made me feel as though this new genre of domestic thrillers only succeeds because women are stereotypically good at manipulation. However, I came to realize that I'm engrossed at the masterful mind games that really, only women can pull off - so many male-centric thrillers are just violent and brutish. It's all in the execution, though: if the trope is done poorly, it ruins the book for me - it relegates the book into trashy mystery-written-for-women territory. If done well, it rocks my world. Needless to say, Pretty Girls falls into the latter category.

This isn't a typical "woman v. woman" mystery either. Our two female leads are deep and complex, well-rounded and perfectly written. Nina Ross, the daughter of a somewhat low-class grifter mother, is now a con woman herself, stealing objets d'art from rich, clueless young billionaires in LA. Vanessa Liebling, daughter of the famous Liebling real estate family, is a former Instagram influencer who now lives a reclusive and lonely life in her family's historic, sprawling estate on Lake Tahoe. Their histories touch each other's, and they meet again in the present day, one unbeknownst to the other.

Although I'm not saying much about the plot here, I knew even less than I'm giving away in this review before reading the book. It's easy to pick up on the plot and become fully engrossed. If you're looking for a new thriller to keep you company on all your quarantine activities, please pick up this book. Thank you to Random House for the ARC via Netgalley!

Nina Ross is raised by her single parent, petty swindler, con artist mom.
When her liberal arts degree doesn't yield a promising job, she is lured into the life of deception by her Irish rogue boyfriend Lachlan.
And when her mom gets diagnosed with cancer, Nina needs a big score to help her with medical bills.
Enter childhood acquaintance,Vanessa Liebling, a rich, globetrotting Instagram influencer, who withdraws to her family home, Stonehaven in Lake Tahoe after a broken engagement.
Nina and Lachlan set up to scam Vanessa out of her family money, but things turn around and they discover she may not be such an easy mark!
This wonderfully written, slow burn thriller was just a bit too long, but otherwise lived up to its promise of one of my most anticipated books this year.
A brilliant, twisty plot with intriguing characters.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

I liked this thriller. I have to say that I did see a lot of the twists coming but I don't feel that is a reflection of the story. I read a LOT of thrillers so I can see twists coming a lot.

The story was engaging and I really wanted to get to the ending to see what would happen.

This is a good thriller if you enjoy a good story and a good ending.

Nina, despite having an unstable childhood, was brought up believing that going to college and getting a degree would change everything. But when that dream became a false reality, Nina turns to stealing from rich people in Los Angeles in tandem with her boyfriend Lachlan. After all, Nina learned from the best; her mom was a con artist too.

Vanessa, who has lived a lavish life traveling the world as an Instagram influencer, finds herself incredibly broke and resorts to figuring out her next step in life after being dumped by her ex-fiancé. She returns to her family’s mansion in Lake Tahoe, CA: Stonehaven; filled to the brim with antiques. It just so happens that Nina lived in Lake Tahoe for a year in high school. Eager to get revenge on people who made life difficult for her in the past, Nina turns to Stonehaven (and Vanessa) as her next victim, hoping to rob her for all that she is worth.

Despite its hefty page-count, PRETTY THINGS is quite the page-turner. I found myself finishing this book in 3 days flat, and easily drawn in by the storyline. As a native Californian, and a frequent visitor of Lake Tahoe, I found it interesting for a book to be set in what is normally a ritzy, ski/summer town. I didn’t find myself being spooked by the ~bodies floating along the bottom of the lake,~ but maybe that’s because I have never associated Lake Tahoe with bloodshed.

I loved how unreliable the narrators are, and that as a reader, you never quite know their true identities…until the very end. The characters are flawed, which adds dynamism to the storyline along with twists and turns that are predictable, but shocking nonetheless. This book is bound to keep you turning pages and eager to find out how it all ends.

Thanks to @randomhouse for this one! // This was just the twisty, surprising, unpredictable read I needed to mix up all the romances I’ve been reading lately! Cons and marks and grifters and theft and secrets abound in this one, and it kept me guessing until the end.

What a unique and suspenseful story! Two cons are forced to try and pull off their biggest job yet when they try to outwit a lonely heiress in her ramshackle family estate. This didn't feel like a traditional thriller- the author took her time with the build up of the story and despite their flaws, you come to understand the characters' and their motivations. For awhile I did not know where it was going to go- but it didn't ruin the experience when I started to figured things out. This definitely goes on my recommended thriller/suspense list!

Nina didn’t have the easiest childhood, but she did well in high school and managed to graduate college with a B.A. in art history She thought that would be her ticket to a better life. Instead she ended up working as an assistant to a decorator in New York City, helping buy antiques and art for the insanely rich, while she struggles to make payments on her student loans. That easy life she’d been dreaming of never materialized on the East Coast, so when she got the call about her mother’s cancer, she packed up and left for California.

Back at her mother’s home, she met a friend of her mothers, a con artist named Lachlan, and ended up in an easy relationship with him. Nina needed money, and Lachlan was generous enough to offer her some work scoping out partying kids of millionaires and billionaires through the hottest clubs in Los Angeles. After she followed the marks on social media for a while, Nina would try to get in their homes so she could see just what might be worth their time to take. A painting here, some antiques there, maybe some of the less expensive jewelry. They don’t want to take too much and force anyone to go to the police. Nina just needs enough money to pay her mother’s medical bills, her student loans, and maybe put a little away for a rainy day.

But life is never that easy, and a series of setbacks has Nina looking for a new idea, a big score, and maybe somewhere to lay low for a month or two. Her mind wanders back to Instagram influencer Vanessa, someone Nina had been keeping an eye on for years. Vanessa comes from old family money, and her home is filled with generations of expensive art and antiques. There is even rumored to be a million dollars in cash in the safe.

Lachlan starts dreaming up a scheme to separate Vanessa from that cash and some of those valuable family treasures. He includes Nina in the plan, and while Nina has never been that deep in the game, she has her own reasons for going along with this longer con. But the deeper she gets in, the more her emotions try to pull her out. She needs to figure something out in order to create the kind of life she wants to live . . . unless it’s already too late for her.

Pretty Things is the latest novel by Janelle Brown, whose Watch Me Disappear wrecked me when I read it. Both of these novels are layered with intelligence and complexity, imbued with genuine human emotions. Pretty Things takes a story of a con artist and a mark and adds depth, beauty, and grace. As a reader, I am standing back to admire the whole as if it’s a valuable painting, but also marveling at the texture of the art, noting the smart details that add so much to the whole. Brown’s novels are beautiful and moving, and I can’t wait to read more of her work. This is truly lovely, from page one all the way to the end.

Galleys for Pretty Things were provided by Random House through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I started reading this book, I loved the start and I was instantly pulled in. 55% in and I just could not get through the book. I did not care about the characters, the book felt very shallow

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the free advance copy in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

I know you’ve all heard of Pretty Things by now as there’s been some major hype over it lately! I think all the hype really helped keep me going. It’s not obvious when you’re reading the ebook, but this book is a brick at just under 500 pages! It was slow to start for me. It had a gripping opening, but then there was quite a bit of back story for our two main characters that was slow going for a bit.

It was pretty much right at the halfway point that it picked back up and really grabbed my attention again. It was also around this time that I guessed one of the twists, but I by no means had it all figured out.

I know many readers that would have given up if they were in my shoes; 250 pages in is a big commitment if you’re not really feeling it. But again, with all the recent hype and the countless 4/5 star reviews I’d seen, I knew I needed to stick with it. I know readers that have also been saying the audiobook is great, and I think that would have really helped keep my attention in the beginning.

Pretty Things has a unique premise with complex, well fleshed-out characters. There was some overlap as we see certain scenes play out through both of our two main characters’ POVs. I thought it was brilliant that in these same scenes, Janelle changed up the dialogue slightly here and there to really showcase the old saying “there are two sides to every story.” Two people are never going to agree exactly on how any event took place.

Once I got into the thick of it, I enjoyed how everything unfolded. The plot is extremely cinematic; I could definitely see Pretty Things making it to the big screen. If the length intimidates you, I’d definitely recommend going with the audiobook. Even though I haven’t listened myself, I heard it’s co-narrated by one of my favorites, Julia Whelan.

I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit more than I expected. It had just the right mix of storyline history and present day. The characters were well-developed and generally sympathetic. I was able to sympathize with both Nina and Vanessa at the same time. I appreciated the multiple twists throughout the book that were just enough to surprise me without feeling like they came totally out of left field. Some of it was relatively predictable, but not enough to spoil the story. For almost 500 pages, it didn't feel like a burden to read. I think my biggest complaint would have to be the ending - I think things were just a bit too tidy for the pace of the rest of the book. Even so, this was a great read, although I would call it less "thriller" and more "contemporary." Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing a review copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Want a thriller that you will not be able to put down?

Add this to your stack TODAY- it is INCREDIBLE!

First of all, Nicole Kidman & Amazon will be adapting this so you will want to read it before you watch it.

Secondly, who couldn’t use an escape from reality right now?

I loved Watch Me Disappear so I was anxious to get my hands on this one. Brown is such a gifted thriller writer and I had heard a lot of early buzz on this being the next thriller must-read.

The story is told from alternating perspectives of two women whose lives are intertwined in ways that they would never expect.

Nina’s mom is a con artist who does the best she can to keep Nina in a good school and has given her the best childhood she can, despite her profession.

When Nina finds friendship with a wealthy boy at school, they find comfort in being outcasts together. They spend afternoons hanging out, smoking weed, and feeling a deep freindship with one another.

As their friendship blossoms into something more, they get busted by his father and Nina is removed from the school and taken away from the one boy who loves her.

Now Nina works as a high-end con artist herself, in partnership with her boyfriend, Lachlan. She scopes social media accounts for the fabulously wealthy, drugs them up, and then takes all she can from their home.

It’s okay though- she’s doing it to pay for her mom’s cancer treatment.

When the two hit a rough financial patch, she remembers the boy she fell in love with…oh, and the passcode to the family safe that holds millions.

They discover there is a cottage they can rent, on the old family property, and try to become fast friends with Vanessa (the sister) who now owns the place.

Vanessa is a bit of a “con” herself because she has been leading a fake heiress Instagram life online.

The question is, who is going to con who?

This is SO TWISTY and SO DELICIOUS that I stayed up hours and hours past by bedtime to finish it.

The best part?

A GOOD ENDING!

The endings in thrillers often are disappointing, but this one does not disappoint in a single way.

I was captivated from start to finish, loved the intricacy that Brown was weaved, and her dialogue is smart and addictive.

Move this one ot the top of your stack and I can’t wait to hear how much you loved it too!

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!

Oh man you guys, I LOVED this one. It’s totally worth dropping everything to read it. You become so invested in these characters, you don’t even know who to feel bad for. I thought the book was headed in a certain direction before it totally changed on me and engrossed me all over again. It’s not hard to follow both storylines as both are necessary to really understand the depth and breadth of these characters. This is a must read for the summer! You won’t regret it.

3.25 stars

Interesting premise, but way too long... Nina’s mother is a grifter — she pays the bills as a small time con artist. Nina was meant to grow up to a different life but her mother’s rising medical bills lead her to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She and her boyfriend, Lachlan, have their sights on Vanessa — an heiress to a large estate and Instagram sensation. Nina, Lachlan and Vanessa end up forming an interesting triangle... As I said, the premise was interesting, but Janelle Brown dragged the story out for all it was worth — and more... And the story is a bit too dependent on a key coincidence. Entertaining but it could have been much tighter and shorter. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to an advance copy.

Cross, double-cross! This book rally hit the spot.

A seasoned and a rookie con artist set their sights on taking advantage of a spoiled socialite—and one of the cons aims to right some wrongs in their shared history along the way. The characters were largely unsympathetic, yet Brown kept me happily turning the pages to see who would get what was coming to them. The resolution was a little neat but also satisfying and made me happy.

NetGalley and Random House provided me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.