Pretty Girls

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Nothing about this book is 'expected'. Even the nature of the crime itself is one that I honestly hadn't ever seen before (at least not this extreme) on any crime-fighting TV show. *shudders* The story keeps you on your toes, catching you off guard with it's surprises over and over again. There's never a dull moment. Julia had a happy family life – she was the eldest of the siblings and in part felt responsible for her sisters’ wellbeing. But living at the college dormitory gave her a sense of independence – she and her roommate had been best friends for a long time. Was Julia about to put herself in danger with her relentless and paranoid pursuit into the unsolved cases? I was deeply moved by the family dynamics. My favorite part in this book is the father’s POV/letters to the girls. I wish I’d gotten more of the three sisters so that I could see more clearly the shift in their bond before/after the tragedy and their split. Now another teenage girl is missing, and the circumstances of her disappearance are hauntingly similar to Julia's . . .

The bottom line here is that you will be ripping through this book, dying (well, almost) to see how things turn out. Pretty Girls is an outstanding thriller, a very engaging, entertaining, and disturbing read, and that is a beautiful thing. A lot of people like that sort of thing, but I personally felt overwhelmed beginning around the 30% mark, and it didn't really let up until the end. I didn't have a problem with the violence until that point, but then it just got to be too much, especially because the nature of the brutality toward the rape and murder victims is extremely unsettling. Pretty Girls is the story of two sisters, one whom has just found herself widowed and the other a single mother of a teenaged daughter. They've long been estranged but have recently found themselves in communication again. Little do they know that uncovering their past will uncover way more than they ever could have expected - including some new clues regarding the 20 years ago disappearance of their oldest sister. More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed. The author did an excellent job with the plot and character development which had me totally invested in what I was reading as the suspense and tension developed.Offering a bit of further discomfort, after reading this book you might find some of these listens a bit disturbing She goes to classes where her teacher’s a birruva perv. Her roommate’s a bitch. She feels marginalised as a woman when pitching stories to her editor in a male-dominated newsroom. She goes dancing. The cute boy she likes asks her out and they do it. She has irritating sisters.

You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about the missing teenage girl. Sixteen years old. White. Middle class. Very pretty. No one ever seemed quite as outraged when an ugly woman went missing.” I love this author. I fangirl so hard over her Grant County/Will Trent books so much that if I go anywhere that has them I must be restrained from recommending that people read them. Yes, Library ladies I will try and behave. A hell-raising thriller…a genuinely exciting narrative driven by strong-willed female characters who can’t wait around until the boys shake the lead out of their shoes.” I’ve read two of Slaughter’s books and I’m pretty sure I’m scared of her. Actually, when I looked up the meaning of the word graphic, her picture popped up. One thing is for sure, Slaughter knows how to grab a reader’s attention. This is quite detailed to the point of discomfort, but it still didn’t deter me from finishing this book to the end.First, I'm going to share the blurb with you (because it was the blurb that made me want to read it): After I was well into the book I started to realize that the gruesomeness might be too much for me. I was starting to skip over the descriptions (very graphic descriptions) and feeling quite bothered. Other readers may not have an issue with it but I just felt a bit overloaded with details of such horrific acts. I ended up having to skip over quite a few parts. A stunning family tragedy and a hold-your-breath pedal-to-the-metal thriller...certain to be a book of the year." This book was so damn freaking spectacular that I don't even know where to start. This has climbed to the top of my list as my favorite psychological thriller ever. This tops Dark Places and That Night and I never thought that would happen! For any book to triumph over those is a win for me :) although they are still right behind this book.