I liked this book, but I didn't love it.

I thought the premise was super interesting and the first 3/4 of the book really drew me in. Then I felt like the resolution to the mystery was sort of anti-climactic and was really overshadowed by the fact that <spoiler>Ivy's dad was a sleaze bag who was basically sexually assaulting his female employees and had been abusive to her mom AND THEN forced another employee to cover up the accidental death that Ivy was trying to investigate</spoiler>.

I didn’t hate this book, but there was a lot in it that I thought was very disturbing and poorly talked about.

The story deals with the mystery around the death of a young man with down syndrome who worked at the local amusement park. The daughter of the owner takes it upon herself to start asking around and to solve the mystery of his death. Unintentionally, she uncovers more than she thought possible, and more than she can handle.

The way the author writes about mental health in this book I personally thought was disgusting. It is 2020 and no one should be referring to mental health as something to hide and or be ashamed of. The start of the story deals with a young girl who ends up in the hospital due to some issues. There are crude jokes made about the mental department of the hospital like “don’t take sharp objects” and things of the sort. I honestly wanted to put the book down. It would be wise of the author to rethink those pages and write it in a way that better reflected a more positive outlook on mental health in this day and age.

As well, I know the father was incredibly cringey and that was a big part of the story line and mystery but I couldn’t stand reading about him and watching the daughter ignore it all and brush it off.

All together the mystery was surprising but wrapped up incredibly fast at the end. I would have enjoyed a more cohesive ending and less cringe full material throughout the story.

I liked the books concept, but I'm hoping some revisions have been made as I noticed a discrepancy in the story that didn't make sense pertaining the character Reggie. Very interesting, but it felt kind of choppy or rough around the edges if that makes sense as well. Like some of the foreshadowing felt out of left field and didn't really "hint" to me at what eventually does come out as what happened. Felt a bit forced for me.

When I saw the blurb for this and it said for fans of Sadie and The Cheerleaders, I was sold! Two books I really enjoyed so I wasn't going to to pass up on the opportunity to request this. It did keep my interest throughout but it was lacking in a few areas.

I'll start off with the positives. The one thing I like about mysteries/thrillers is that you don't have to connect with the characters. The book is mostly plot driven. This book was engaging and I was quickly swept into the mystery surrounding Ethan's death. I felt like Ivy who was trying to piece everything together. To be honest, I never saw the ending coming. I had suspicions of people it could be but the author does a great job of reverting your attention away.

My biggest complaint would be that the premise feels different than what I had read. I guess I understand the title now after dwelling on it for a bit. I also felt that, besides most of the characters working there, the amusement park wasn't as big in the book. I know others have felt the same so it isn't just a me thing.

The ending was fine. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I think that it takes away from it being a thriller and the only mystery is the death which I can't say much about because of spoilers.

Other than that, the writing was great! The pacing was also nicely done. I will definitely be watching this author for more books.

This was a really great read! I really enjoyed reading this book, would definitely recommend. This is a good book for all ages.

Pretty good YA mystery. If you are looking for a mystery without lots of gore or sex, this would be a good choice. Don't discount it because it is YA- it's from the perspective of a teen but well written and interesting.
Ivy is a normal teenage girl whose father owns Fabuland amusement park. While she is out of town, another teen with Downs syndrome is found dead near the park. Ivy tries to find out what really might have happened when her best friend is greatly affected by the tragedy. Along the way Ivy makes friends and sees people she works with and her family in a different light.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I would probably not have found this one on my own and it was good.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

TW: death, overdose, sexual harassment and assault, suicide thoughts

Ivy Cork is the daughter of the owner of Fabuland, the amusement park in her city and during summer she usually takes care of the spinning cotton candy machine and she hangs out with her best friend Morgan. But when Morgan finds one of their former classmate and coworker, Ethan, dead, everything changes and Morgan has a mental breakdown, refusing to talk to Ivy. So Ivy decides to understand what exactly happened the night Ethan died and why Morgan (besides finding his body) is so upset she wouldn't talk to her. Set in the amusement park, the reader follows Ivy while she talks with her coworkers, trying to piece what happened, who saw Ethan last, how was the boy, trying to solve the mystery surrounding his death, getting herself involved into a investigation that will uncover ugly truths about people she loves.

All the pretty things, told in first person, is a dark thriller, beautifully written and plotted, an intricate mystery that led the reader to read the book at once, because he/she feels the need to know what happened to Ethan, to Morgan, to Ivy. Through Ivy's eyes, we get to see her relationships with her parents and brother, with her friend Morgan, with her coworkers, thinking about her role in her father's "empire" and job. Asking questions, discovering relationships and secrets, Ivy is a brilliant main character, curious, inquisitive and ready to do anything to understand the situation, even when it will hurt her.
Skillfully, bits are revealed through each "interview" Ivy makes, leading her and the reader to piece everything together, or at least to try to, until the shocking and brilliant ending.

This was a well written, intense story once you got to the end. Many heartbreaking moments within, even though the author lays them out so that you don’t know exactly what they’ll be. Well written, character development was amazing, and it was important when you got the full story the author was conveying! Definitely worth the read, but prepare yourself for some tears, shocks, and chills!
Will make sure I buzz up on all the different platforms!

Following our main character, Ivy, we spend a lot of the book in the very atmospheric amusement park that her dad owns and runs. This set up naturally gives access to a ton of different characters and opportunities. When a boy who works at the park dies, and her best friend falls into a depression she can't seem to climb out of, Ivy takes it upon herself to ask some big questions. She steps on a lot of toes and brings up a lot of hard issues for a lot of people. The biggest fault I had with Ivy was the way she abrubtly ended conversations by fleeing from the scene when she gets overwhelmed. Unfortunately that seems to happen right as we're getting some answers. In the end though, she uncovers more than she bargained for and we realize our story is more than the tragic story of a boy's death. Trigger warnings for sexual abuse and harassment should be recognized before reading this novel.

Loved this book. Very topical and layered. It’s really a lot more than a mystery or “thriller” so if you are looking for a straight stereotypical mystery this might not be your book. It’s well written and well paced with a depth and character development that a lot of YA mysteries are lacking.


It’s really about a young woman realizing a lot about the truths in her family, community and herself as cheesy as that sounds. Can’t recommend it enough if you enjoy quality fiction with a dash of mystery.

I was definitely not a fan of this book at all. It was completely different than what i expected going in. The summary isn't really an accurate representation of the plot. I've read books that were similar in that way before, but the story ends up being really good. This one I just didn't like. It's a pass from me for sure.

Like other reviews, the description of this book is misleading. It's hard to figure out what it's trying to be. The slow suspense element worked in some ways but really hit the mark in others. I also think so much of the plot rested on things the best friend (Morgan) said, though those elements are not resolved at all at the end. There's also a giant plot point around the paperweight that's also forgotten about in the resolution. I enjoyed the setting of this book, but hoped for more overall.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis for this book sucked me right in and I was so excited when I was approved for it on NetGalley. Plus, that cover! It’s so ominous and really gets you thinking about what All The Pretty Things could be about.

I feel like I expected a thriller with tons of twists and turns that was set in an amusement park and something that was just going to leave me shocked. In realty I wasn’t all the surprised and I was actually kinda bored through 75% of this novel.

All The Pretty Things has a lot of potential, but it just fell short of it. Based of the summary the reader thinks they are getting into to one thing, when in reality the summary is a bit misleading.

I am stuck in between my rating so i am going with 3.5 stars

This book was not as dark as Sadie but still on that level, it dealt with death/loss and sexual assault/harrassment.
and i also never want to read the word Sprinkles ever again.

*SPOILERS*

Ivy is the main character and comes home from a trip to her best friend Morgan in another state of mind. Morgan had recently found a coworker Ethan who had down syndrome dead leaving questions unanswered and her in a state of mind that Ivy was trying to figure out.

Ivy went into detective mode to get stories on Ethan about that night he died and started asking too many questions that got people upset. after so many questions and putting things together she accepts that Ethans death was accidental but there is more to the story.

in the beginning Ivy's dad gives major chomo vibes and you can tell her father is a perv and Ivy just doesnt want to see it like most children/teens tend to be, even most adults. you start wondering when he is going to get caught up, how the story will unravel for her father. You think the victims would get justice but as real life goes most victims never get justice from the sexual predator. instead it goes into full circle with ethans death and revealing that Ivy's dad was a part of it.

This book was good, i read it in a day so i was interested to know what happened i just was not expecting that ending. I wanted more since majority of the time Ivy was just playing detective and i wanted her to discover it ina much bigger way than what had happened. The dad creeped me out the entire time and i wish he got what he deserved than what was given at the end. And i just wanted the victims to have a voice but it got pushed aside to uncover a cover up in Ethans death. i am still trying to decide how i feel about this book and what i want to say.

Thanks Netgalley and Random House for the e-arc

Ivy Cork has spent part of her summer visiting family, and gets the news that her best friend is in crisis and a teen boy is dead. She returns home to a world far different that she left.

This book was kind of like riding a rollercoaster for me. There were things that it did well, and I loved the creepy aspect of investigating the death of an amusement park’s teen employee, and Ivy’s fierce dedication to her best friend, Morgan, that found the body.

I think Ivy, whose dad owns the amusement park, goes on an important journey of discovery, even if she gets more than she bargained for.

But I also think there are things that could have been done differently, or wrapped up better. This was an easy, fast read that’s good, but it leaves you wanting more.

I think this is a three star novel, especially since I feel so ambivalent about how things ended. It was very drawn out, then rushed.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and to Random House and Delacourte Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.**

***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of ALL THE PRETTY THINGS by Emily Arsenault in exchange for my honest review.***

When Ivy’s best friend Morgan finds the body of a special needs young man, the teen ends up in a psych hospital leaving Ivy a cryptic message about Ethan’s death. Ivy, determined to help her friend and solve the mystery, questions her coworkers at Fabuland, the her father’s amusement park.

Ivy is a good kid, hard working, dedicated to her father, loyal to her friends. She’s more adult than her father, who’s a bit of a sexist pig and makes comments like, “it looks like tits, but not in a bad way.” Ivy knows how inappropriate her dad behaves, but I don’t think she truly understands the hows and whys and the impact of such behavior on others. As good a friend as she is to Morgan, Ivy doesn’t always appreciate the impact she has on others, particularly when she’s startled with information later in the story.

I had an inkling where ALL THE PRETTY THINGS was headed, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of this important, topical story. I also had questions as to why Ivy didn’t communicate with her mom more and why her mother, knowing what she did, didn’t check in with Ivy more often. They had a good relationship.

You can’t go wrong with a mystery set in an amusement. ALL THE PRETTY THINGS is a book I will reread.

It seems I side with the majority in saying that this wasn't what it proclaimed to be. After reading the summary, the reader expects this to be a mystery set in an amusement park, and the story is that to a small degree. What the summary leaves out is everything else. How Ivy spends the whole book asking fellow amusement park workers questions regarding Ethan's death. How much time is dedicated to Ivy working at Fabuland and thinking. How there is never a mystery like the synopsis claims. The author attempted to build suspense with multiple characters speaking in riddles to Ivy, but the secrets fell flat upon their reveal.

Well, I want to name my reads with Bryan Adams’ “So far so good”album but unfortunately I name them with my favorite U2 song and “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”

This book seemed like a promising mystery. One young boy, Ethan who is also staff member, suffering from Down Syndrome found dead at an amusement park by his coworker Morgan.
After the incident, Ivy, our heroine, daughter of park’s owner, returns back from her holiday at NC and she finds out her friend climbed and hid herself at one of the rides, psychologically in bad shape, telling Ivy some mysterious words made us thing there is something supernatural about Ethan’s dying. Then they took her to the psychiatric ward.

So I start to think something so big, twisty, shocking will come out about Ethan’s death. Aliens? Serial killers? A cult? Wow amusement park massacre! Or Ethan’s soul will come back and haunt the people at the park!!! So the story turned into Haunting at Hill Amusement Park kind of horrific and bleak combination.

Nope! No! Nada! It cannot be! Because we’re tricked! There is no big mystery or something spooky about this story!

We may understand who is the bad guy from the third chapter. He’s carrying a big shiny signboard above his head pointing at him! I feel like Billie Eilish’s “ Bad Guy” start playing in my head at each page the guy appears. Duh!
And Ivy playing Nancy Drew, taking so much responsibility for her age, co-manages park at the same time, interrogating everyone about the mystery ( okay there’s no freaking mystery, let’s call it just “mys”: something trying to be creepy but answer is written in front of us! Actually it screams us from the first pages! Saying Hello! Please see me idiot! ) and everyone giving her spooky, weird answers, trying to do their best to be seen cool and more enigmatic! Come on guys please grow the hell up!

So yes, so called twisty revelation comes at the end.

So a group of underage kids act mysterious, talk in riddles and Ivy acts like she is Sheryl Holmes and so obvious, predictable bad guy (Oh boy, JERK word is already imprinted to his forehead and you still call it a big revelation!!) is caught. Yayyyy!!! The book finally finished! I couldn’t be so glad because my throat is so sore for screaming at Ivy: “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
So I gave my two stars and wanted to forget everything about this book!

Let’s move to the other one!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s - Delacorte Press for sharing this Arc copy in exchange my honest review. I wish I liked it more and could write a praising review.

This book was a good mystery and trying to solve the death of Ethan.I enjoyed the friendships and working at a little amusement park and family owned. Great story. This my 1st time reading this author. Overall a good story.

I think the thing I appreciated most about this book was its slow reveals. The case element - though I liked that Ivy never really consciously decided to play detective - was neither exactly high intrigue or Veronica Mars levels of dangerous snooping, but I did like the way the book layered small clues into a greater picture as the story went on. That said, I wished the revelations of the last quarter of the book had more time to settle - a lot of big stuff happens, and although contradictory feelings about everything is discussed, I wish there had been a more thorough examination, more closure, or a concrete idea of how things would conclude. I did also appreciate how Ivy came across very clearly as a character without having to be either explicitly explained or given a gimmick or main descriptor; it's the sort of Character Building 101 thing that sometimes gets ignored in favor of explosive plot. Ivy's family members were also well designed, and this is certainly a different and perhaps more nuanced picture of domestic violence than is often shown in YA lit. (Along these lines, I was glad to see a portrayal of a character with Down syndrome that included little stereotype.)

I know that some readers have been disappointed based on the summary, but going in without expectations, I enjoyed the book.