Pretty Is

A Novel

De: Maggie Mitchell

Narrado por: Tavia Gilbert, Nicol Zanzarella

A fiercely inspired fiction debut in which two young women - an actress and an academic - face what really happened the summer they were 12, when a handsome stranger abducted them.

"Everyone thought we were dead. We were missing for nearly two months; we were 12. What else could they think?" (Lois)

"It's always been hard to talk about what happened without sounding all melodramatic.... Actually, I haven't mentioned it for years, not to a goddamned person." (Carly May)

When precocious Lois and pretty Carly May were 12 years old, they were kidnapped, driven across the country, and held in a cabin in the woods for two months by a charismatic stranger. Nearly 20 years later, Lois has become a professor, teaching British literature at a small college in upstate New York, and Carly May is an actress in Los Angeles, drinking too much and struggling to revive her career. When a movie with a shockingly familiar plot draws the two women together once more, they must face the public exposure of their secret history and confront the dark longings and unspeakable truths that haunt them still.

Pretty Is beautifully defies ripped-from-the-headlines crime-story expectations and announces the debut of a masterful new storytelling talent.

©2015 Maggie Mitchell (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great book but...

The ending kept me hanging. Kept waiting for a big reveal but it never came

Meh

In this book, we meet Lois and Carly May, who, at the age of 12, were abducted by a man they called Zed. They were held captive for two months, but not harmed, and actually desperately hope for Zed's attention and approval.

The book flips back and forth between then and now, between either girl's perspective. How had that experience changed them? What kind of adults have they become? Have they kept in touch? Would you?

The author's writing is intriguing and enticing. There's that level of mystery that leaves the reader wanting to know more. The overarching question being "what's the motive"? What was the motive then and what is the motive now? As their past brings the women back together again, we find out how much those two months of their childhood have shaped their life.

There were definitely parts of this book that I really liked, but then there were more that I could not connect with. This is a story within a story within a story. Lost yet? yep. I usually love a layered novel, but the back and forth of time and character voice made it difficult at times to enjoy. And while I usually love the underlying mystery to keep me intrigued, here it just didn't fit for me. I'm still left scratching my head after finishing the book.

Both narrators did an excellent job at bringing the characters to life.

Predictable

The ending was very predictable. Waiting for an exciting end. Then, the book ended. Narrators wera little too "stiff."

Voices were well done but not sure I liked it

The book takes a long time to hit a climax and it's a little odd and anti-climactic, was expecting a little bit more from it, however the author is beautifully descriptive

Not finished...

What a great story & details but the book just ends. It is almost as if the author got writers block. It was so full of possible twists but just fizzled. The author has great potential but unfortunately failed to drive it home in this book. I sincerely hope there is a sequel.