Member Reviews

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and Zoe Rosi for allowing me to read this ARC.
This book gave me Dexter vibes, and i LOVE Dexter.
This book had all the good stuff;
-Thriller
-gore
-suspense
- Serial killer- female also which you don't see very often
I enjoyed this book very much.
This is my first book by this author and i will be reading more from her.
I like the darkness in this book.
Thankyou
4/5 stars

Was this review helpful?

I loved this book!!! It was so enjoyable!! It had me hooked from the very first chapter. I couldn’t put it down. I loved everything about this book. The story, the characters, and the cover it was probably one of my favorites of 2023.

Was this review helpful?

Keyword: thriller, gory, suspenseful, glitzy, serial killer, female POV.

Wow, what a refreshing read! Glamorous, suspenseful, scary, tense... This one had it all. Camilla reminds me of heroines I love (comparable to Gillian Flynn and Joe Goldberg) in a new, luxurious & opulent setting.

I actually took my time with this book because I didn't want it to end! Amazing read.

A real sign that I enjoyed this is seeing the author wrote a few romcoms as well and wanting to read those. Rosi is such a good writer I'd follow her out of my genre just to read more of her words.

Full 5 stars from me & a new favorite! I need a copy on my shelf.

Was this review helpful?

This was honestly the first book where I hoped that the killer gets away with the crime. Camilla is not like most serial killers, she goes after sexual abusers. Whether it's the boss that puts sexual advance towards his employees or the man who publicly drugs, rapes and then brags online about it.

I enjoyed the plotline where Camilla kills and then has to go through the process of waiting out the investigation. As the investigation gets more public and there are instances of evidences that she committed the crime, there are moments of tension that are well written. The only negative in my opinion is all of Camilla's sex episodes which are written in detail. I understand where this might fit into the storyline. However, I don't think that it belonged in a thriller, especially when it is at least 1/3 of the story.

Overall, a solid 4 star..

Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

DNF at 68%

This book did not work for me at all. The writing style, the characters, and the plot just were not good. I really wished I liked this because it does sound good, but I felt myself losing interest.

Was this review helpful?

Right, I'm starting off by saying Pretty Evil is bloody fantastic! It's dark, twisted, clever, smutty (oh there is smut), and pure addictive reading.

Camilla, what a woman! A modern-day heroine with murderous tendencies. She was incredibly intelligent, strong, independent, and all round bad ass.
What she set out to do was for good, and I love her for it. I feel you can't help but side with Camilla.

The storyline was strong, I couldn't help but keep on reading, the anticipation if she would get caught, saving people from the wrong uns in the world.

If you are a fan of the Sweet Pea series, then this is for you!

@zoerosiauthor you're a legend!

Was this review helpful?

Suspenseful, dark and riveting. I loved this book and couldn't put it down! Highly recommend Pretty Evil to all thriller lovers!

Was this review helpful?

Pretty Evil by Zoe Rosi is a psychological Serial Killer Thriller and was so good. Full of twists and turns throughout and a great storyline. If You love the TV programme Dexter, this is a book for you - In this one Dexter wears high heels and dresses!!! etc.

So meet Meet Camilla.

She is a very successful and glamorous fashion magazine editor who has it all and lives it up in her beautiful Mayfair apartment.
Her glamorous life is all a lie!! She has a secret. A big secret! Underneath her poised exterior lurks a cold dark heart and an insatiable need to kill.

She is a murderer, a cold dark heart of a vigilante killer, a murderer hell-bent on wreaking vengeance upon bad men. and expects to get away with it She is always careful. And anyway, it’s worth the risk. She’s making the world a better place with each predator she kills. But when one of her victims’ bodies is unexpectedly found, their gruesome death is splashed all over the papers.

However, when Camilla murders Julian Taylor, she’s sure she can escape justice, but a new detective is given the case and is closing in.

Can Camilla get away with murder or has her luck finally run out?

I highly recommend this book. This book was called Predator when it first came out.

Was this review helpful?

An easy read with a gripping plot. Ms. Rosi is a very talented writer who hooked me from the very first chapter. Loved the ending of the book, too. However, she went overboard with the sex scenes. The fashion talk was a turn-off for me, as well, but I will definitely read Ms. Rosi's next book.

Was this review helpful?

Starting with the cover. I really like it. It stands out and definitely made me want to pick it up. The blurb just drew me right in! The idea of a woman that no one would suspect being a vigilante killer. Yes please!

The story did not disappoint. Yes it has some dark themes that some may find triggering but this provides the motive for Camilla. She is successful but has a dark secret. She likes sex (as you’ll read!) but not relationships. She likes the finer things in life but will get her hands dirty for things she deems the right reasons. She is devious and clever and definitely a planner. And yes, I was routing for the serial killer.

It is an intense and dark read but clever and I didn’t know how it was going to wrap up. I liked the ending. Some might say a bit abrupt but I didn’t expect it. I can’t say what I want without a spoiler but I can say I really enjoyed this one and definitely recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

This book had no idea what it was doing.

Camilla the vigilante, hero, fashion icon, kills people who have done wrong.

Usually this would be up my street, unfortunately it came nowhere close.

The book details some incredibly distressing crimes and I have read many books previously where this was done (and then dealt with sensitively), only here it served very little purpose and in my view was used to either make the book seem more serious or for shock value. Neither of these things worked as this book had no substance whatsoever and seemed to be an early draft of a book that was halfway Anna Delvey and half way Dexter.

I would not recommend this to any reader.

Was this review helpful?

Wow! This is a must read. So well written and such a page turner. I can't stop thinking about it. Admittedly, it is gruesome in some places but actually that just drives home the importance of what Zoe is writing about (the drugging and assaulting). Written in a way that reminded me of Sweetpea, I found this hard hitting book easy to read and I became engrossed in the story. Camilla's world is vastly different to mine but I can fully imagine I'm sitting on her expensive sofa while reading this. As well as then shopping for hardware for her latest..shall we say project!

A really amazing read that I'll be thinking of for a long time yet.

Was this review helpful?

I'm sorry to everyone who loved this book and had a higher rating, but what the heck did I just read? I wanted to love this book much more than I have as you can see by my rating, the synopsis sounded so intriguing and all of my friends have enjoyed this book. In my opinion, some chapters were just too long and filled with useless information. I thought the first chapter was really good, it gave us insight of the characters, but after that everything fell flat for me, I felt bored until the last twenty percent picked up and gave me hope, but it was just too little too late for me to rate this book higher. We knew so much about the main character from what her apartment looked like, the brand of clothes she wore, the brand of wineglasses she drank out of, the brand and color of her knickers, we even knew the brand of the vibrator she used, like what? I didn't need to know nor did I care. I'm not in anyway bashing this book or the author, but this book just wasn't for me. Pretty Evil written by Zoe Rosi, might not have been for me, but others have loved this book. Everything just went downhill after the first chapter and didn't pick back up until the very end.

First off, I want to thank Richard for being so kind and buddy reading this book with me and listening to my never ending nonsense rants💛.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND AMAZON PUBLISHING UK FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

Camilla Black is one badass brave woman. Camilla is a respected, influential fashion magazine editor, but her glamours life is all a lie. Camilla is a vigilante killer, a murderer hell bent on wrecking vengeance upon bad men, Camilla kills men who rape young girls, pedophiles who think it's okay to come in contact with young woman and little boys. Camilla expects to get away with murder, she's clean, she's careful, she cleans up her crime scenes, but after she kills one man he unexpectedly ends up in a park. Camilla thinks she's making the world a better place with each predator she kills. Once this predator's body is found and the detectives are on to Camilla she knows she should stop killing, but she can't just stop, Camilla believes some men just deserve to die. I feel like this book could have been shorter because there was too much information we didn't need to know, and the ending was completely rushed.

I'm sorry to those who loved this book, but it just wasn't for me. I believe Camilla did some amazing things getting rapists off the streets, but I didn't need to know she much about her apartment. I also thought it was thoughtful that the author gave readers and insight on Camilla's childhood and why she felt the need to kill rapists. There were a couple things I agreed on with this book, but there were also things that I felt were not needed to be in this story. I often found myself nodding off with the longer chapters. I thought this book would have had potential based off the first chapter, but I just felt like I lost interest, I don't know if it was because of the useless information or what not, but I just didn't love this book like I wanted to. I liked Camilla in the beginning, she was such a badass woman who wanted to make the streets safe, but then in my opinion she just became petty and snobby because of her job, maybe? I don't really know.

Was this review helpful?

Avenging angel?
As a survivor of sexual (as well as physical and mental) abuse, Camilla seeks to avenge the wrongs of other sexual predators for the victims and their would-be victims. Her first kill was mostly an accident but she got the taste for it and couldn't let go.
This was an intense and crazy story. Wow.
Camilla became annoying to me because she was such a fashion snob. As an editor of a fashion mag she has to be but still... everything had a brand name to it before anything else and she looked down on anyone who dared to wear less. But that was what made Camilla, Camilla. It was how she trained herself to be to live her best-ish life.
It was, just, wow. I liked it but it's hard to find the right words to describe this craziness of a serial killer with a purpose story.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley)

Was this review helpful?

I don't usually read Thrillers (I'm normally a fantasy girl!) But this one intrigued me and I wasn't disappointed!
Camilla gave me female Dexter vibes only going after bad guys. I liked how Camilla described her past and what lead to her being a serial killer.
The ending definitely had me on the edge of my seat.
If your a fan of Dexter/serial killers this is worth checking out though definitely check out content warnings due to the subject

Was this review helpful?

Pretty Evil by Zoe Rosi
You've done a bad thing. She has you in her sights. Now you're going to pay.
Meet Camilla Black: an affluent, respected, influential fashion magazine editor who lives in a beautiful Mayfair apartment.
But Camilla's glamorous life is a lie.
Camilla expects to get away with murder. She's careful. She's making the world a safer place with each predator she kills. But when one of her victims' bodies is unexpectedly found, his gruesome death is splashed all over the papers.
She knows she should stop, but she can't. Some men deserve to die. Will Camilla's insatiable appetite for justice be her downfall, or can she outsmart the police?
Zoe Rosi's Pretty Evil is a taut and pacy thriller and an all-embracing explosive read with violence and bloody slaughters; it's a delectable dark tale of revenge. Zoe's writing is impressive and creative, and she guides us through a uniquely satisfying plot.
Camilla, the protagonist, is a character you shouldn't like but do; you can't help rooting for this cold-blooded serial killer as she crawls under your skin.
I want to thank publishers Thomas & Mercer, author Zoe Rosi and Rachel's Random Resources for a spot on tour and a copy to read and review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you @rararesourcea and @zoerosiauthor for letting me part of this tour snd reviewing this book. Wow the opening line in the first chapter of Pretty Evil gripped me straight the way.The reader is just hooked straight the way. I was wrestle all the waythrough the book weather i agreed with what she was doing and wheather i wanted her to get caught not but i was gripped. I had to get to the end to found out what happens with Camilla. This is great psycholocal book and it did not disappoint i loved it. I do love good psycholocial book. This is the first book i have read from Zoe Rosi will be reading more from her future. Great plot. I dont know if i liked Camilla or not i kept changing my opion of her through the book. The story is snout Camilla who a fashion Editor but shes not what she seems. Thete is sine hard topics that run through the book. The story is fast paced and can be disturbing in places not gor the faint hearted. Great read strongly reccommed 5 stars.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely loved this read! A female vigilante aka serial killer taking out all the bad men who rape women. Men should fear her but how could they as she’s a fashion editor by day! Great premise and story I couldn’t put it down.

Was this review helpful?

Pretty Evil is a book centred around Camilla - by day, the editor of a fashion magazine and by night, a hunter of abusers.

Let me start by saying that if you don't like your heroines to be hard as nails, you won't like this. But, if you want to read about a woman that takes no prisoners, suffers no fools, and gives as good as she gets - this is it.

The writing is sophisticated: adult in style and edited well. The plot is fast-paced from start to finish.

Other reviewers mention the focus on her clothing being too much, but she's a fashion editor with a self-professed love of designers. It's her armour; what do you expect?

There were a couple of quite steamy scenes that on one level felt like they added to understanding Camilla's character, but on another, did begin to feel OTT. Other than that, I have nothing but praise for this book.

Was this review helpful?

This book was just OK for me there was a lot of sexual content so that turned me off a bit not that I'm against that but it was pretty graphic and was a trigger for me ..

Was this review helpful?