What a great book! I love books that have twists and keep you guessing. I loved reading about Nina and Vanessa! I couldn't put this book down!

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. I had read Brown's previous book Watch Me Disappear. Pretty Things will BLOW YOU AWAY. First off, please note the length of this book at 496 pages. Admittedly most of the books I read are around 300-400 pages, so perhaps a little daunting to a reader. However, the plot moves at a very good pace, so it doesn't feel dragged out, slow or too wordy.

Brown spends her time introducing us to Nina Ross, who is decidedly of the "have nots". Her nomadic growing up with her mom as a grifter and opportunist lead her to her current lifestyle of Robin Hood eque cons with her shady boyfriend Lachlan. Nina is between marks when she sets her sights on Vanessa Liebling, an Instagram influencer who she has a personal history with, as she "dated" her little brother Benny. The book mosts between past and present seamlessly, gathering suspense as she brings her alter ego Ashley to get access to a safe at the Liebling family "home" where she recalls the password and the million dollars cash. Then we get Vanessa's point of view and back and forth gradually as we see what each really knows about the other until you aren't sure who is playing who. (Whom?) The ending with some surprises as to betrayal and alliances is brilliant. Not once did I feel like I wanted the book to end. I highly recommend this book.

You will think that this book is about one thing, but then it changes, and is about something else. Then it changes again. It is exciting, fun to read, and fascinating.

Nina is a con artist, who uses her “earnings” to help her mother, who is undergoing expensive cancer treatments. One big job is the key to their future... Nina is counting on her sometimes boyfriend/con partner Lachlan to help her pull it off.

This story goes back in time and tells how Nina got to this point, and comes back to the present in several viewpoints.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC of this book.

This was such a fun read. Janelle Brown does an excellent job with dark and twisty books. She strikes the perfect balance of avoiding predictability without things feeling too unbelievable. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her books in the future. If you liked books like The Wife Between Us or The Last Mrs. Parrish this will be right up your alley.

I am conflicted with my feelings on this book.

I found myself highlighting so many quotes in the first half of this book. The author hit the nail on the head when it comes to social media and the psychology around those whose lives revolve around the fake life that is social media. I was enthralled with that plot point of the story.

However, that is where it kind of ended for me. Even though the social media aspect was interesting, the rest of the book itself fell flat for me. The story was slow. There was a lot of filler that didn't contribute to anything. I found myself skimming from time to time, just wanting the book to end.

I found I ended up not liking any of the characters in this book. They are all self absorbed and out of touch with reality. I can't find a redeeming quality in any of them.

The ending was one of the best things about the book. Revenge and retribution are always a great thing for an ending. And two of the characters get theirs in the best kind of way.

Overall, this book was okay. It moved slow. It had a handful of good parts. I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it either.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book. Yes!! What a fantastic page turner. I enjoyed the story from two polarizing perspectives which was made all the more powerful by omitting other perspectives which would have just added white noise to the story. The story line was unpredictable and full of plausible twists and turns that pulled me in deeper with every chapter. until it exploded into one F'd up mess. Excellent.

Nina is a professional con woman living in Los Angeles. Having learned the trade from her mother (a longtime con artist herself), Nina spends her days stealing from the rich in heists cooked up with her boyfriend Lachlan. But when her mother has a relapse in her disease and needs to start an expensive treatment, Nina realizes she needs to step up her game and make some money fast. She comes up with an elaborate plan to swindle Vanessa, an old-money heiress turned Instagram influencer living in a massive, inherited mansion in Lake Tahoe. Nina and Lachlan create new identities and quickly begin to weave their way into Vanessa’s privileged life. But it turns out Vanessa has some secrets of her own. This book was a fun, thrilling, unputdownable romp with twist after twist. Virtually every character vacillates between sympathetic and unlikeable, and every one of them will surprise you at some point in the story. Pretty Things is a light, quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Think of it as the perfect beach read for your Spring Break vacation!

I describe many books as a rollercoaster ride, but imagine if at the end the operator told you to go again...and again....until you could barely breathe. That's what this book felt like to me! Nina and her mother are cons and grifters who find a mark and steal whatever they can get away with that won't be noticed. Nina's boyfriend, Lachlan who drifts in and out of her life is in on it too. When they find Nina's old high school boyfriend's sister Vanessa has inherited her parents' huge estate in Lake Tahoe, the pair are determined to make Vanessa their next target as Nina was humiliated by her boyfriend's father. So they begin their con and Nina believes, "This is what the internet has given my generation: the ability to play God. We can make man in our own image, birth an entire human being out of nothing at all." As they set up their fake Instagram and Facebook pages, we are captivated by this elaborate plan. But does anything ever pan out as it should? Vanessa has her own demons to face and when the three meet, all hell breaks loose! So don't plan on getting off that rollercoaster anytime soon! We see flawed characters who actually do have some humanity in the face of deceit and once you've climbed off the ride...well, you may just want to go again!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! While I love thrillers and mysteries of all kinds, I often find that their conclusions or revelations are predictable. I felt that Nina's story was anything but that -- every character was complex and hidden motivations were truly that: hidden. Definitely a book my library may pick up for our Popular Fiction collection.

Ooo already the title and cover of the book drew me in at first glance! Definitely glad I was able to read this one! Go ahead and try it out.

I really liked this twist filled page turner! It's a thriller, so a fast read, and I can't really resist anything about cons and crime.

I thoroughly enjoyed the roller coaster ride of this page turner. A story of a mother and daughter trying to make ends meet by running cons. They get entangled with a wealthy family from old money and re-visit this scene 12 years later. Everything is not as it seems. Whose conning who? You’ll have to wait until the official release on 4/21/2020 to find out. This is definitely worth the time to read.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this thriller in exchange for my honest opinion. This was really a fantastic read.

If you love twisty, juicy, and thoroughly satisfying fictions, pick PRETTY THINGS up!

Two women of starkly different backgrounds- Vanessa, a well-to-do heiress and Nina, the daughter of a con woman, get caught in a whirlwind scam. Told from both women’s perspectives, an aspect I particularly loved as the reader gets to experience identical scenes between both characters, what happens when Nina, along with her boyfriend, decides to run the scam of a lifetime against Vanessa Liebling, the older sister of Nina’s first love? Prepare yourself for high fashion, twisty turns, and take your breath away moments!

I would rate this 4.5 stars, docking it slightly only for wanting a more substantial climax. The resolution at the end left me wanting just a bit more. It felt a bit slapdash and uncoordinated so I desired a little finessing of the ending. I wanted to have that final shock but it left something to be desired.

All in all, a can’t miss, couldn’t put down type of read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book. This story was told from two different perspectives, which I always enjoy. There is Vanessa, the “wealthy” one and Nina the con artist. The best part of this book is when their stories come together.

"When you're documenting everything you do, you stop living life for yourself and start living it as a performance for others. You're never in the actual moment, just the response to the moment".

Con artist Nina has the ultimate con: to get back at those that wronged her many, many years ago. Vanessa is looking for new purpose, but still has the longing to love and more importantly, be loved by so many others around her. Their paths have only crossed once before, but this time their paths will cross in a dynamic, suspenseful, keep you guessing each page book.

I enjoyed how this book really captured the good, the bad, and the very ugly of social media. Showing all the hashtags used and realistic post descriptions really showed how society does bare their souls on social media. The instant gratification of "I am liked by many, loved by my followers" is something that is realistic and seeing Vanessa's struggle with being liked and adored without the "likes" was something people go through daily.

This book intrigued me from the jump. Nina was cool, calm, and calculated as she canvassed the first house in the first chapter. I wanted to get to know her better because she had that gravitating personality. She is why i started to really turn the pages.

I liked how there were two different perspectives, one of Nina's, and one of Vanessa's. You could see the different relationships and how they meant differently to each person (ex. Vanessa's mother. She would die for Vanessa, but was cold and dismissive towards NIna). It's like that saying, "There's three sides to a story, mine, yours, and the truth". Seeing both sides really helped change my perspective on what was going on and how I felt about others.

This book had a lot of twists and turns and they were great. I pride myself in guessing the "twists", but I will say there was one I did NOT see coming in this book. I loved it! This book is fairly long (about 400+ pages) but I felt as though it was only 200 with how quickly I was reading through the book.

Overall, I give this a 3.5 rating. Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This will be featured on my blog: https://milesofpagescom.wordpress.com/ the week of April 20th. Also will post on instagram/milesofpages and GoodReads the same week.

Pretty Things was so well done. This thriller felt fresh and relevant to current times and is one that lingered in my mind after finishing. From the very first sentence I was utterly enthralled. I loved the contrast between the two points of view and thought there were some deep messages of classism, current society, and family dynamics (particularly the bonds between mothers and daughters) nestled within the pages of this thriller.

I live a couple hours away from the main location of the story in Lake Tahoe and thought this was such a fun element. Although it will always be one of my favorite places in the world, I may never look at Lake Tahoe quite the same. This book was perfectly layered and despite being a bit of a slow burn, it was nearly impossible to put down.

Thriller fans, do yourself a favor and grab your copy when it’s published on April 21st. It’s excellent, and the writing was top notch. You should definitely pre-order this one. When I finished all I could think was that I NEED to read more books by this author.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC of Pretty Things by Janelle Brown. This book. Woooo-weeee. I think I spent the entire book muttering to myself, "whoa. I didn't expect that!" Strong character and plot development. Twists and turns throughout that by the time I finished late at night I was exhausted (in a good way). Put this on your to-read this.

We have a grafter conwoman, Nina Ross, having a chance for con of her lifetime, getting back at the family who scorned her. Not only for revenge, but also affording her mother’s cancer treatment bills, she needs money and her target is family’s shiny social media star Vanessa.

We have an Instagram Influencer(Vanessa) with admirers, followers swimming around her but she still surprisingly suffers from loneliness and abandonment. She needs real friends. Could it be her con woman also her friend?

And don’t forget, we have Irish boyfriend a.k.a partners in crime of Nina, named Lachlan. Can Nina truly trust him for helping her to stick to the plan?

Let the games begin. But be prepared to be fooled and be careful because somebody can pull the rug from under your feet. This book is layered with some many turnarounds and twists. Sometimes you think who is the bad guy who is the good guy?? The con artists we know or the victim? Sometimes the hunter can turn into a prey and prey can take his place.

Too many twists to count. This Thriller doesn’t disappoint

I received a free e-copy of Pretty Things by Janelle Brown from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book is a story about two women, Nina and Vanessa. Nina, who was raised by a single mother.
Life was never easy for them and money was always scarce. Vanessa was born into a family of old-money. Life was always an advantage for her. Their lives end up intertwined when Nina decides that Vanessa will be her next person to con.

A wonderful book of mystery and intrigue!

This is a slow burn saga of some very spoiled and unhappy people. Not much joy in this one. The book is almost 400 pages long yet this talented author kept me turning the pages just to see what these self absorbed characters scheme to do next.

The cast is a small one which I really like so I don’t become confused. And the personalities of each are vivid and strong. I challenge you to try and like any of them. I guess if I had to pick, it would be Benny.

The plot revolves around two women on opposite ends of the wealth spectrum. Nina was raised by a single mother, where the simple act of living was a continuous struggle. Beautiful Vanessa was born into a prominent old-money family and given every advantage.

Nina is a con artist, having learned this from her mother... such a wonderful talent to pass on to your offspring. Here’s Nina’s rule for stealing, “Only people who have too much, and only people who deserve it.” Of course that justifies everything!

With her art history degree, Nina targets expensive antiques that can be lifted without the rich suckers even noticing they’re gone.
But life throws curves, and now Nina's mother is at death’s door with cancer. She needs very expensive medicine to try and beat her disease. Nina develops a plan to steal $1 million in cash from a former boyfriend’s estate. Benny, the boyfriend of 12 years past, is now living in a mental institution. He mentioned the cash to her some 12 years ago when they were secret young lovers. Now she and new boyfriend Michael devise an intricate plan to get in the good graces of Vanessa, Benny’s sister who is now living in the old mansion. He said the cash was in his father’s safe all those years ago. Can it still be there?
At this point the complicated caper begins to unfold and get messy.

I finished the book at 4:08 am and felt a bit relieved to have these people out of my life. Oh, but I jest here. This is a great read!

You will enjoy disliking the double-crossing little double crossers!

Well written with rich and descriptive vocabulary.

This was my first experience with a Janelle Brown book. Thank you Netgally for this opportunity to add another fantastic author to my repertoire.