Chelsea Humphrey's Reviews > Pretty Girls

I just want to start by saying I don't want to list any spoilers here; I think this book was so powerful that I would hate to discourage someone from reading it because I took away from their experience before even beginning the book.

Wow! This book was heavy. I just can't think of a better word to sum up how I feel after finishing this. I'm glad I spaced it out instead of devouring it like I wanted to initially. I've seen many people torn on this book and I understand why; it is EXTREMELY graphic and disturbing. Content and descriptions. I know some of the subjects are triggers for many people, especially women. For me, I felt the extreme graphic violence was necessary to put the power behind the punch of the storyline. I have felt lately that nothing really "shocks" me in a book anymore, almost like I've read too many graphic stories. This one was different.

The plot is connecting the stories of 2 young women who have gone missing decades apart- Julia Carroll and Anna Kilpatrick. Without giving too much away, the journey is told from the viewpoint of Julia's two remaining sisters- Lydia and Claire, while inserting occasional diary entries from their father, Sam Carroll.

I loved the layout of how the story was told; the diary entries interwoven between chapters of the current storyline. I had to go back once to reread because it was so clever. I think we can all agree whether we like her brutal style or not that Karin Slaughter is an excellent storyteller and master of her craft. I'm an avid fan but am willing to admit that in her previous standalone, Cop Town while a great story, had a bit of excess descriptive fluff IMO. I was pleased to see this one didn't seem to have that; I felt every word was needed. I found myself literally holding my breath and sitting upright at times.

I felt she did a good job relaying the anguish of a family who has lost a child. A loss this deep affects everyone and it literally tore them apart. I did feel it a little hard to connect with Lydia/Claire at times and I really would have liked to have seen a little more development with Rick and Dee. One of my favorite chunks of the book was near the end with Helen and Claire as we are reaching the climax of the action; I felt this was the most well written part of the entire book.

Overall, I wavered between giving this one 4-5 stars and ended up rounding up. I felt this book was extremely well written, the story kept my attention constantly-this is the definition of a suspenseful thriller. While the graphic violence was extremely disturbing, I felt it did not distract me from the story (personally) but can understand why it would have for anyone. Overall, if you are a Slaughter fan, I would HIGHLY recommend. If you are new to her as an author, I would recommend starting with Blindsighted in the Grant County series.