HOLY COW--just like Darling Rose Gold, Pretty Things is one of those thrillers that will get you.

If psychological pageturners are your jam and you love dysfunctional families as much as I do, I'd highly recommend this wild April 2020 new book release.

Plus, the novel plays into the current Instagram influencer life, which is highly relevant today.

See our full review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/april-2020-book-releases/

I enjoyed this book. Pretty Things by Janelle Brown is a thriller about Nina, a con artist, who uses her wide knowledge of art history to steal expensive pieces and other items from wealthy people to fund her lifestyle. I found Nina likable. She seems to feel justified in stealing from the rich. However, her job with her boyfriend, Lachlan, requires her to steal from Vanessa. Vanessa is an heiress who is related to a sad experience in Nina's teenage years. This job makes Nina confront her beliefs and feel some guilt for her actions. I think Nina was terribly unsympathetic towards Vanessa . This surprised me because Vanessa was initially a very shallow character. However, this was because we are seeing her through Nina's perspective. Vanessa's character shocked me. We are initially introduced to Vanessa as a spoiled heiress and a social media influencer. However, the book humanizes and made me root for her despite Nina's strong dislike and disdain for her.

I really enjoyed how Janelle Brown discussed the impact of social media on influencers and how it can encourage unhappiness because you are constantly trying to please people who do not know you. They only know the image you present. I also liked how she switched perspectives between Nina and Vanessa since they are such different characters and it is interesting to see how they view each other. However, this switch also makes the book lengthy. She describes the same events through both of their point of views so at times it is a bit redundant.

The ending of the novel and the events in the book were unpredictable without being unrealistic and rushed to me. I rate this book 8 stars. I really enjoyed it and liked all the twists and turns.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley. THIS was the book I've been waiting for. Psychological thrillers can become predicable, but THIS one was a surprise. Pretty Things is a tale of "who do you trust when you can't trust anyone." I loved the multiple points of view because it fleshed out the flaws and motives of both Nina and Vanessa. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Great book. Highly recommended.

I rarely do this, but I went into this book completely blind - I didn't read the description and had no idea what the book was about. And you know what? I am convinced that it added to experience of this twisty thriller! The characters were interesting. The relationships were intriguing and the twists and turns in the plot just kept coming. Favorite game - Plot in 5 words: Heiress + Con-artist = big scam!

After seeing a lot of comments about the length of this book, I was a little worried that I would be stuck on it for a while, but it moves so fast that you forget the page count!

Nina is a con artist who follows in her mother’s footsteps, despite growing up and dreaming of being so much more. Vanessa, an Instagram influencer with a safe full of a million dollars, is her next mark.

The book is told from both women’s point of view and while some may find the chapters repetitive, I really enjoyed reading the same scenes from two different perspectives. The first half of the book has a lot of backstory and helps to set up each character’s motives, and while that means it takes a while for the plot to really start moving, I enjoyed seeing all the layers of both Nina and Vanessa. Neither of them are necessarily good people, but you still find them interesting and likable as characters on a page. With social media being such a large part of Vanessa’s life, it just goes to show you that not everything is as it appears on the surface.


Thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc for my honest opinion.

I had a hard time reading this book. The author’s writing style was not to my liking, I did not like the characters and the repetition of the chapters was frustrating.

I would read another book by this author to see if it was just this book that I did not enjoy.

This novel was crazy from start to finish, in a good way! When I first started this book, I wasn't sure it was going to be for me, but after giving it a chance I really enjoyed it.
This story focuses primarily on two women. Nina, a girl who grew up with a single mother who found creative and deceptive ways to continuously get by. And Vanessa, a rich girl who has family issues of her own and struggled to find her own identity outside her family name.
Nina was a very interesting character and was given depth throughout the book that brought her to life. Vanessa was utterly frustrating to read about, but then reading things from her point of view really changed my opinion of her character.
Nina and her partner Lachlan are planning a con on Vanessa and for Nina it's personal. She was connected to Vanessa's family when she was in high school and has a grudge against them. During flashback chapters we get to understand more of how our characters got to where they are now and what events shaped them in their paths.
The twists in this book kept getting better the more I read, and I was on the edge of my seat unable to read fast enough to find out what was going to happen! The ending was unexpected and pretty well thought out. I was hoping for more with the Epilogue, but it was able to leave readers with imagining what they thought might happen next.
Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Janelle Brown for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

One of the best suspense no was I've read! Brown writes a suspenseful and brilliant emotional twist of a novel. I actually find myself sas that the novel was over. Such a masterful display of conning and suspense!

The writing was shallow, but enjoyable. This was a easy read for me. The characters you hate to love. They are terrible selfish and focus on their own images. All in all this is a perfect read if you need to pass time say at a doctors office or dentist.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were horrible, and yet you couldn't help but root for them. Nina is a con artist and Vanessa is a spoiled heiress obsessed with her insta-image. But the story takes you back to the root of their behavior, providing you with interesting insights into how and why they become this way. It really drives home that "appearances can be deceiving and no one is what they seem" theme the book has going. The story also goes back and forth between the two characters so you often replay the same event but from a different perspective. Rather than be repetitive, this does help drive the plot and I found it enjoyable.

In some parts, the writing is a little bit shallow and dragging, but for the most part it's smart, witty, and fun. And the twists? I enjoyed all but one. There's was one in particular that I didn't even see coming, and I always enjoy that. But one major twist I felt was lacking and almost too obvious. I think parts of it were just unnecessary, making a long story even longer, and could have been trimmed.

’m just here to add to what Jordy, @beauty_andthebook_ @scaredstraightreads have already said about this one because it was just as amazing as they all said it was! This has everything a great psychological thriller needs, unreliable narrators, twists, lies and most importantly, fantastic writing. The author weaves the most delicious tale of deceit and betrayal and I can’t even wait for everyone to read this one next month!

Wow! I gotta say, Pretty things was a little slow to start but I think that’s by design and it was so worth it! There is definitely a lot of buildup getting to know Nina and those around her, And then when I first began to read from Vanessa’s point of view, I became a little frustrated. All of the characters seemed so shallow, and I have a hard time staying involved in a story when I don’t like the characters. But that’s when it got really good. Because people are so complex, as are the characters in Pretty Things, and when the author really starts breaking down all of their flaws and attributes, it is nothing short of gripping. I am walking away from this book with a true appreciation for the characters, their journeys, the story, the themes, and the lessons held within the pages. Thanks to NetGalley, Janelle Brown, and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I finished Pretty Things last night, and what a wild ride it was! Thanks so much to Random House for sending me this crazy read!

Pretty Things is about Nina, the daughter of a grifter and career con woman, who grows up to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She seeks out the wealthy by lurking on their Instagram feeds, she watches them (and their possessions) and then steals their antiques and art.

Then, when Nina needs to get out of town and find a new mark, she sets out to Lake Tahoe to rent out the caretakers cottage of an Instagram fashion celebrity, Vanessa. Nina and Vanessa’s lives intersect and then collide into a train wreck that you can’t help but watch!

There are seriously so many wild twists in this book, just when I thought I knew how it was all going to pan out, bam! It takes a turn that I never expected and one which make my jaw literally drop!

In addition to the great plot and crazy reveals, Janelle Brown has created two brilliant characters with Nina and Vanessa. I loved reading about them.

Pretty Things is wonderfully crafted and perfectly paced. With social media reaching its peak, this is a timely novel that I see as a big hit this year! Pretty Things publishes 4/21/20, be sure to add it to your TBR, friends!

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

This book was fantastic! I found it to be extremely well written and really enjoyed how the author repeated so many scenes from different perspectives. This technique added depth to the story and made the reader feel a greater connection to the characters. And, what an interesting array of characters they were! No one was quite who you thought they were, and that journey of discovery was one of unending surprises.

3.5 stars. I loved the idea of the story, but I felt the back stories of the characters were too much. I started to get bored. I felt like the first 40% of the book could have been cut down by half and still achieved the same thing. On the upside, the characters were at least interesting, and I enjoyed it once the plot got going.

Pretty Things by Janette Brown is a roller coaster of a book with a very well calculated plot that makes one want to read it quickly so that you can find out how all the twists and turns will be resolved. I could not believe the end!. It was well worth reading into the wee hours of the morning. The four main characters are like snakes in a jar. They wrap around you and squeeze your heart until you find out that each is more dastardly than the other. My only issue was with Benny. He seems to go from sane to insane and back to sane very quickly.

A con artist is scamming an heiress in what she hopes will be the final job that will set her up for life. But is Nina targeting Vanessa for the million dollars cash sitting in her safe… or is it more personal than that?

The twists and turns in this cat-and-mouse book kept me hooked. Would Nina pull off the con of her life? Would Vanessa figure out who Nina really was?

I was torn between which of the women I was rooting for. Nina had been dealt a bad hand in life and was trying to pull her family out of medical debt. Vanessa was born with a silver spoon and the powerful Liebling name. But each woman had her own personal tragedy that humanized her character and made me change my ideal outcome multiple times throughout the book.

I don’t always love dual perspectives in books but I absolutely loved the way the author used this narrative device to show the same event from each character’s viewpoint making me question what I had read from the previous character’s chapters. There are so many layers and second-guessing as to who was the hunter and who was the prey.

After the slow burn of the book, the last bit seemed a bit rushed to me. But I would still recommend this book to lovers of twisty thrillers featuring smart and sarcastic women.

Thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3158520193

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lily is a grifter whose daughter,Nina, tries for the straight and narrow but resorts to the family business when times become desperate. Nina devises a con to help care for her ailing mother, but things do not go as planned. There are a multitude of twists and turns in the novel that I did not see coming. The ending is satisfying.

No one is who they present themselves to be, even to those they supposedly love.
Born and raised a grifter, Nina tells herself she had no choice but to fall into the trade. She learned from the best: her own mother. She met her partner in crime (and in bed), Lachlan through her mother. And she never suspected a thing. She was too busy being jealous of the Liebling family, a rich and powerful dynasty from her youth who ruined hers and her mother’s lives. She manifests all her anger towards the daughter Vanessa Leibling, so it makes perfect sense when she and Lachlan plan to make the Liebling dynasty their next victim. But maybe Vanessa isn’t the ultra-rich gullible, wide-eyed spoiled vixen she appears to be after all.
Janelle Brown creates believable and vibrant personalities of her characters then weaves them into such a tangled web of lies and deceit. The setting, a huge mansion full of priceless antiquities sitting on a beautiful lake, sets the perfect stage for this tangled tale of love and theft. I could not stop reading. It was simply that intriguing. And I wasn’t upset with the ending like so many delicious books leave me. This tale has it all: excellent plot, beautiful setting, and entrancing writing.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for making it available.)

2.5 stars

Well written, but boring. It started off promising and then ebbed off. Lots of long winded back story. It started to get fun again, but while the twists and turns were there, they weren’t as shocking as I was expecting. The author nailed the shallowness and farce of social media though.