Pretty Girls

By: Karin Slaughter

Narrated by: Kathleen Early

Length: 20 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.
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 disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.

Included with this gripping thriller is Karin Slaughter's chilling short story "Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes."

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.  (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

Definitely needed the trigger warning, but..

Pretty Girls kept popping up as a recommendation but I guess I kept skipping it because so many of the reviews mention disgusting scenes of violent rape. It doesn't take much for me to squirm and that is definitely not a topic that I can think of lightly.
Despite all that, the story itself sounded good to me and I felt like I hadn't heard a truly suspenseful thriller in a long time, so I decided to finally give it a shot.
First things first, the reviews are absolutely true. You're made to immediately like characters that find their way into a violent killing. Then further down the line it gets worse. If you plan on reading this book, do prepare yourself for some seriously, seriously messed up stuff. Ive never had to take so many breaks from a book.
The reason I didn't stop listening, though, is that he story felt like it had a lot of unfolding to do and I wanted to know where all this was going.
The gruesome details are really spread throughout the book, so there isn't any avoiding them, but the story has lots of twists and was incredibly suspenseful during multiple chapters. It really kept me on my toes.
All in all, I did enjoy the thrilling story, but I can't "unsee" the disturbing images painted in my head. That definitely doesn't sound like a recommendation does it?
Narrator was excellent

350 of 364 people found this review helpful

Fantastic listen. Ignore bad reviews!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Once I started My To Do list got ditched and I could not stop listening.

Any additional comments?

I can not figure out why this book got so many bad reviews claiming it as too gory and the sexual violence was too much. The writer only included enough to make you realize how bad the perpetrator was. Without it you would never have known or gotten the full effect of the story. If you tend to be very sensitive to this subject matter, don't listen to this book. If you are not, you will probably love it!

124 of 134 people found this review helpful

F**€ this book! Horrific

I wish i could erase it from my brain, i'm seriously traumatized by this horrific story. There are some major triggers in this. Rape, sexual torture, kidnap, sniff porn, i mean it's seriously messed up. The author did a good job with the characters and i guess i wanted there to be some resolution, hence why i kept listening. This was a mistake however, it just kept getting more horrible until it ended. Think carefully before you take this one on!

40 of 43 people found this review helpful

Over-The-Top Violence, Hard to Stomach

"Pretty Girls" has a story line that starts out interesting enough but it quickly moves into scene after scene of relentless and descript violent scenes. Geez. I read so many rave reviews about this novel but I just have to disagree. When an author has to resort to repeated scenes of rape and violence, I have to wonder what is the author trying to compensate for? Is this really what mainstream readers are looking for? The story did keep me guessing, i.e., in terms of a mystery, it did keep me wanting some answers but, overall, it was not worth it. I do not recommend.

219 of 250 people found this review helpful

Too much

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, I don't recommend this book. Although well-written and absolutely gripping, the graphic descriptions (again and again) of over-the-top violence including rape and murder, was too much for me. At times I felt it was sensationalizing violence against women. It was very dark and took me to a sad and uncomfortable place. Now, I love Stephen King, the horror and crime genre, etc., and I don't have a weak stomach. But I couldn't even listen to the epilogue of this book. I couldn't hear another about another graphic rape and murder. Slaughter is an excellent writer. Unfortunately, I felt she could have limited the graphic violence. If she had, I would recommend this book. The previous reviewer was correct, this book should have a trigger warning.

257 of 294 people found this review helpful

Gratuitously, violently graphic

I was excited to listened to this book based on the reviews. I really wish I hadn't. The story arc was good, the narrator was excellent and the pacing kept the story interesting. It had the potential to be an excellent novel but, it was so disturbingly violent it made me wonder if the author was herself psychotic. I have enjoyed hundreds of books within the genre but this is the first time I felt sickened by the overly graphic descriptions of the crimes against the young women in this book. They go beyond story development. It saddens me that a woman would put this kind of material out there giving more ideas to the worst predators of society. Don't waste your credit unless you enjoy the worst degradation, mutilation and abuse of women possible. It makes me sad that a female writer resorts to essentially snuff porn to sell some book. Horrific. There is nothing pretty about this book.

259 of 297 people found this review helpful

Dark

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. Once I start a book, it is difficult for me to put it down, unfinished. At the point where I started questioning whether this one was headed in a direction that I wanted to handle,it was too late. It evolved into a form of darkness with which I am uncomfortable and I considered as unnecessary and distracting. Going there, temporarily, can work; staying there and wallowing in it, did not work for me.

What could Karin Slaughter have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

She could have left off some of the more gruesome details; a little of that goes a very long way for me. Also, leaving the impression that one of the characters was considering "hooking up" with a man whom she had previously, intuitively, felt was creepy/ slimy was a little disturbing and magnified the almost total lack of empathy I had developed for her.

Do you think Pretty Girls needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, the main character was fully developed. I do not think the author can "unring" that bell.

Any additional comments?

At the beginning of the book, I sent my sister a text and highly recommended it; it did get off to a really great start. By the end of the book, I sent her another text and told her it had gone off the grid and to disregard my earlier recommendation.

172 of 197 people found this review helpful

Violent & sexual nature of book not in preview

What did you love best about Pretty Girls?

The sisters overcoming their older sister's murderers

Has Pretty Girls turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was disgusted by the book. At no point in the written overview or audible sound preview was there any suggestion of this being a book about a sadistic group of rapists and murderers.

136 of 156 people found this review helpful

I feel Manipulated and Tortured After Reading This

The first half of this book had me on the edge of my seat - it's truly a fast-paced thriller and I did not want to put it down. But about halfway through, the graphic violence and descriptions of young women being tortured and killed became really, really hard to take. Descriptions of women's bodies being mutilated, their screams as they are tortured…..This is what the story becomes. I found that I was feeling very angry at the author, and wondered what kind of person comes up with this sick level of violence? Slaughter draws you in, captures your interest, and then she tortures you.

214 of 246 people found this review helpful

Disgusting

Very gory and graphic without warning in the provided synopsis. Would NOT recommend to anyone with even a shred of innocence.

136 of 157 people found this review helpful