Pretty Things
By: Janelle Brown
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 496
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Two wildly different women - one a grifter, the other an heiress - are brought together by the scam of a lifetime in a page-turner from the New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Disappear.
Nina once bought into the idea that her fancy liberal arts degree would lead to a fulfilling career. When that dream crashed, she turned to stealing from rich kids in L.A. alongside her wily Irish boyfriend, Lachlan. Nina learned from the best: Her mother was the original con artist, hustling to give her daughter a decent childhood despite their wayward life. But when her mom gets sick, Nina puts everything on the line to help her, even if it means running her most audacious, dangerous scam yet.
Vanessa is a privileged young heiress who wanted to make her mark in the world. Instead she becomes an Instagram influencer—traveling the globe, receiving free clothes and products, and posing for pictures in exotic locales. But behind the covetable façade is a life marked by tragedy. After a broken engagement, Vanessa retreats to her family’s sprawling mountain estate, Stonehaven: a mansion of dark secrets not just from Vanessa’s past, but from that of a lost and troubled girl named Nina.
Nina’s, Vanessa’s, and Lachlan’s paths collide here, on the cold shores of Lake Tahoe, where their intertwined lives give way to a winter of aspiration and desire, duplicity and revenge.
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.
First Impressions
Something about this cover kept drawing me back to it. I almost picked it as a book club book a few times. The summary intrigued me as well, but it definitely was the cover that sold me.
What I thought
So, I started reading this book in September. Then I had a bit of a crazy life event that caused me to not want to read for a while, or at the very least not read anything heavy. I had gotten this book from the library so, of course it needed to be returned before I could finish it. However, even 2 months later I still wanted to know how the story ended and finally picked it back up.
Nina has turned to the life of a con artist to pay for her mother’s medical bills. Vanessa is an heiress living alone in Lake Tahoe. Nina and Vanessa have a complicated and connected past that draws Nina back into Vanessa’s life when her mother’s cancer comes back.
I did ejoy this book but, I can’t figure out if because of the fact that I had to read it at two different times made it a little harder for me or if it was the book itself. I enjoyed the first half of the book, getting to know Nina, Lochlan (Nina’s con artist boyfriend), Nina’s mom and learn all about Nina’s past and how she ended up where she was. After Nina and Lochlan arrive at Vanessa’s family’s estate, it switches to a few chapters told from her perspective.
What I really liked about the perspective switches was that they tackled some of the same scenes. So, you got to see what Nina was thinking and feeling when she and Lochlan arrive and their first few days there and then later you get to relive those events through Vanessa’s perspective.
What I didn’t like about the first perspective shift was how boring Vanessa’s story was. I had gotten attached to Nina and invested in her story so when I was thrown into Vanessa’s story it took a little while to adjust. I didn’t start to enjoy Vanessa’s perspective until Nina came back into it. However, the second perspective shift I was very excited for because I wanted more information about what was playing out.
Again, I don’t know if this is partially due to the way I read this book but I really enjoyed the first 25%, the second 25% was a bit slow for me, and the last half of the book flew. I never quite struggled to pick the book up but I definitely read a little bit slower in the middle. Once it picked up again I was shocked at how quickly I was over.
This one would maybe be about 3.5 stars for me, but I enjoyed the writing so I bumped it up a little bit. The characters are strong and the mystery moves the book along at a quick pace. It is different than most things I have read and definitely stands out in that way. However, because of that I’m not sure if I can quite say “if you like… you would enjoy this book” I would say if the summary sounds interesting to you, then you should pick it up because it was definitely worth the read.