Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Pretty Things.

The premise intrigued me which is why I requested it; a female artist matching wits with an entitled heiress sounds like a movie I definitely want to see, but I want to read about it first.

Nora is a smart, competent young woman struggling to pay for her mother's medical bills. Her lowly job at an inferior auction house wasn't cutting it so she turned to crime to help her only parent.

When a con doesn't pan out, Nora and her partner in crime, Lachlan, seek a new mark, except this time, it is someone from Nora's past, and it's personal.

I really liked Nora; I loved her voice, her honesty, and her forthrightness. I couldn't see her as a con artist, she was too smart and self aware for that, but I sympathized and understood the desperation that forced her to turn to a life of crime. Crime doesn't pay, but it depends on the crime.

When Nora is in trouble, she doesn't rail at the forces that conspired to put her there. Instead, she does something shocking.

She holds herself accountable. She tells the reader that her own actions landed her between a rock and a hard place. It was her own choice that made her team up with Lachlan, to pursue a vendetta against someone from her past, and walk this particular path.

There is no one to blame but herself.

I would like to be Nora's friend.

There is a lot of exposition on both women, offering the readers their personal POVs, their background, their family drama and how they ended up at this particular point in time.

I didn't like Vanessa, at first, and I think that was the author's intention.

She came off as a desperate, whiny, dopey entitled brat who is famous for having a famous name.

But, Vanessa became more than that; she became more real, grounded, sympathetic, especially when she spoke of her brother with great affection, their bond even as his mental illness evolved and threatened their relationship, her love for her parents despite their family drama and trauma.

The ending was satisfying, but more so because Vanessa's character had evolved.

I liked how the author incorporated Instagram culture and the rise of Influencers who are famous for not doing much; how easy it is to track and stalk anyone online, and craft an online persona to be whoever you want to be, and how you want others to see you.

There are a few twists, which I guessed, but the twists are not so much the story as the women themselves, how Nora and Vanessa are more alike than dissimilar, how an uneasy truce is brokered between them, and how sometimes we have to leave the past and people behind, if we are to move forward.

Wow, not what I was expecting from a Janelle Brown novel but it was really great and so timely with the popularity of instagram and how everyone is flaunting their wealth. Lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I also loved how it was all wrapped up at the end.

Pretty enjoyable read with the exception of too many point of views. If it wasn't for that, I would have given it 4 stars. A bit too long with the povs.
Still, all in all, I liked it and read this author again.

This book was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest opinion.

Oh goodness! Pretty Things was so hard to put down. It grabbed my interest from the very beginning. It helped that I have been to Lake Tahoe and knew what the author was explaining.

The book follows two women, Nina and Vanessa. Nina is a con artist and Vanessa is a heiress of old money. Through some life circumstances they find their lives intertwined. Two lives that seem completely different, but come together by the unfairness that life can bring.

I was intrigued by the different worlds and not knowing how everything was going to turn out for both women. The author provided both of their point of views and this allowed me to feel sympathetic to both of their stories. It was a fast paced and thrilling story! My rating is 5 stars!

I have mixed feelings about Pretty Things. On the one hand, the premise is super interesting and the overall plotting is expertly handled. My concern is that the novel feels a bit too long and dragged out, in part because we have to "re-read" some scenes from another character's point of view. While this may be clever at times, at other times it feels clunky and serves to slow down the narration. Also, the character of Benny was a little odd - I wondered if we needed either more or less of him. All in all, this is an entertaining story with twists and turns I did not see coming.

This book was good. It had a lot of potential. It was quick paced and had some good twists and I didn't see the ending coming. It has multiple POVs and I found myself thinking that there was to many. Overall it was a 3.5/5 for me.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited about this book but it put me in a reading slump. I just couldn’t get into it and didn’t feel like I got thrown into the action quick enough.

This book grabbed my attention from the start. Right away I found myself rooting for Nina, who, along with her boyfriend Lachlan, steals from the rich. Although she was committing crimes, I felt for her, with her, being raised by a single mother who was a con artist. It seemed like nothing ever worked out for her, and she was simply trying to help her sick mother out by stealing enough to cover the medical bills.
When Nina and Lachlan arrange to stay at a mansion in Lake Placid from Nina's past, under false identities, they run the risk of being caught by Vanessa, whose family owns the estate.
Pretty Things had enough twists and turns to keep me interested and wanting to read more. The story moved along at a good pace. I liked how the beginning of the story was told primarily through Nina's point of view, and then later on we heard from Vanessa. It was interesting to hear both women's perspectives. This book comes out in April, it's worth checking out!

What a fun book and engaging book!!! We have Nina and her boyfriend Lachlan who are grifters, Vanessa the heiress who is an Instagram influencer, and sweet Benny who is Vanessa’s brother all embroiled together in this thriller. I loved every minute of Pretty Things, it was an entertaining page-turner with many twists and turns. Even though I didn't like all the characters, they were real and interesting. The descriptions of Lake Tahoe and Stonehaven were written so well, I felt like I was the one staying in that old and creepy mansion with Vanessa.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars.

This book is filled with con artists who play other people in order to get what they want. As you can expect, it is fun and entertaining.

There are numerous twists and turns that I *almost* saw coming each time, but just enough was/wasn't shown to where I didn't think too much into it until the events actually happened, and that pleased me.

I enjoyed the two main characters, Nina and Vanessa. They are both selfish, but extremely human. I mean, talk about flaws!

Typically, I don't like how social media is so present nowadays in new novels, BUT I didn't mind this one. It is a HUGE part of this story, so that made me nervous, but I think this author really found a way to make it work to where I wasn't rolling my eyes every two seconds like I normally do when a book mentions Instagram.

In terms of plot and characters, though, I am frustrated that Benny didn't get more attention as a character. I really wish there was more on him. He felt so important for a minute there (and he definitely is), but he was just more of a minor character than I expected him to be.

I got a little annoyed at times with the narration of the same scenes but from the other narrator's POV. This would be okay if they were slightly shorter maybe? The pacing got thrown off and the novel felt slower and harder to get interested in because of it.

Also, the dialogue is different between the different versions of the scene. Nina says specific words, but then Vanessa says others. I couldn't tell if this was supposed to mean that they heard their conversations go differently or not, but if it was, I didn't pick up on that. Literal dialogue isn't subjective.

There are advantages to the alternating POV, though, and it ultimately helped the story rather than hurt it. Very important to see where both girls are coming from.

I read this as an ARC, so obviously some things might change between now and publication (April 21, 2020), but there were some continuity errors that hurt me. If you are the type to be able to overlook them, then this will not hinder your reading experience.

Ashley Williams changes to Ashley Smith around the 50% mark. Vanessa's mother's birthday is 09/2/75.. yet Vanessa herself is 30-32 years old? Vanessa's little brother's birthday is 06/28/89. So, Vanessa had to be born in 1986-1987. The math just doesn't work here. I always think that it's best to avoid dates in writing unless it adds significance to the story and all of it has been checked out numerous times.

Overall, this was a fun read. I wasn't disappointed with the way it unfolded, and I actually felt a little pride for the women. I just wish Benny had more room to shine.

Happy Reading!

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown is one to add to your 2020 TBR list! I was so excited to have a chance to read and review her upcoming novel because I loved Watch Me Disappear whenever I read it a while back. Pretty Things features Nina Ross, a grifter who was raised by her con artist mother, Vanessa Liebling, an heiress turned Instagram influencer and Lachlan who is Nina’s partner in crime/boyfriend.

To earn money to pay for her mother’s cancer treatments, Nina and Lachlan move to Lake Tahoe and target Vanessa for their latest scheme. It turns out that Nina has a history in Lake Tahoe with the Liebling family and the book tells this backstory. Vanessa Liebling, although everything seems wonderful via instagram – is actually lonely and eager to make friends.

I won’t give any spoilers but suffice it to say there are secrets exposed; double crosses; and a number of surprises throughout the novel. Although this book was 496 pages long – the writing was really good and I quickly found myself unable to stop reading. This book was a 5 star read for me! I absolutely loved it.

A true page turner kept me reading late into the night.Multilayered kept me guessing from page to page.Chilling read #netgalley#randomhouse

This was a quick thriller. A lot of POV switching where I was constantly going back to reread and feeling somewhat lost sometimes. Overall ok.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.

Nina and Lachlan are a con artist couple, stealing from rich millennials who barely notice missing furniture or antiques. When the cops come knocking for Nina, the two take off for a new victim- Vanessa Liebling, an heiress living in her family's Lake Tahoe mansion. They pose as a humble, well rounded couple, Ashley and Micheal, who simply want to rent the caretaker's cottage for an extended stay. Vanessa, who is no longer to glamorous Insta-famous blogger she once was, craves the human interaction from Nina and Lachlan. Nina has an ulterior motive for pursuing Vanessa, a grudge that dates back to Nina's high school days and her first love, Benny, who is Vanessa's younger brother.

This book was excellent, and a different thriller than many others. It focuses in on how easily someone can get into people's lives simply by their presence on the Internet. It also highlights how what someone sees on an Instagram feed is far from reality more often than not. This book give depth to each main character, and the ending was thought out and tied back to the beginning. The emotional epiphany of Vanessa and Nina made them both easy to relate to and made their actions almost justifiable.

I would have loved so see more into the lives of each character in the Epilogue, but that is simply because Janelle Brown created such realistic and well developed characters.

Goooood! This was a page turner, alrhoigh a little long! The plot of this book is superb! Twists, turns and rollercoaster ride along the way but I do believe the book could have been just as good, minus a couple chapters! There were times that the background stories of the characters were almost too in depth?! Overall however, if you are fans of The Last Mrs Parrish type of books you will enjoy this! Definitely will read this author again! Thank you so much for the advanced copy!!!

PRETTY THINGS is pretty much the ideal beach read. It has great characters, a good plot, and an ending that you don't see coming. Nina is a con artist, not because she wants to be but because her degree in art history can't land her a job that with a salary sufficient to pay for her mother's cancer treatment. When Nina finds an opportunity to stick it to a wealthy family that made her miserable as a teenager, she jumps at it. But so much more is going on beneath the surface that Nina can't begin to imagine ... Thoroughly enjoyable.

I received Pretty Things by Janelle Brown, free, from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review
This is the story of two very different women who are brought together
One of the women is an heiress, while the other has had to struggle her whole life
Their paths collide and all hell breaks loose.
This is a mesmerizing novel about two women who are just trying to survive

Very enjoyable, dare I say satisfying? Yes. Bonus points because I barely wanted to murder most of the characters.

Interesting premise, average execution. This story follows Nina and Vanessa, one grifter one mark, as Nina tries to pull the “scam of a lifetime” (quote from synopsis - not what I would call it). I really enjoyed the plot but the writing dragged at points. I found myself urging the story along and eventually skimming paragraphs. Nina’s art history degree is referred to time and time again. The reference to the antiquities is meant to show expertise and I guess richness but really it was boring and slowed the story down so much. I was hoping I would be rewarded for my patience by an indulgent twist but the ending was predictable and a bit of a let down. I still enjoyed the author’s writing style...if only the book was 100 pages shorter. What made the book drag (showing the same situation from two points of view) did also prove to be interesting for certain plot points and at the end when the narrative started flipping every chapter, it was more interesting to read, but overall the book was too slow.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.