4 stars*

T. Greenwood is in a category by herself. She has not written a single book that I did not devour, enjoy, and spend significant time pondering once I finished.

Such a Pretty GIrl is no exception. At its heart, it is a mother-daughter story, but it is so much more.

Ryan Flannagan is a child model/actor in the 1970s whose mother, Fiona, gives her life over for her success/fame. If you believe Fiona's version, that is. If you look a little closer, its more likely that Fiona used Ryan to achieve fame and success and financial stability when she realized her own dreams of acting success weren't going to pan out.

The tale is told in varying timelines, going between the 1970s in an artist colony/building in New York City to Ryan's life in 2019 when she returns to New York with her own daughter to reckon with the fallout when the FBI comes looking for Fiona in the wake of a child sex scandal dating back 40 years.

Reminiscent of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, aspects of Brooke Shields' fame, and with just enough raw vulnerability of the mother/daughter dynamic thrown in...this book is a winner.

Like everything by T. Greenwood, I highly recommend this one.

3.5 Stars

I was drawn to read this book by the setting of New York City in the summer of 1977. I had seen a documentary about how on a very hot evening in August 1977 there was a NYC blackout resulting in chaos and looting, an incident that looms large in this story. I was a teenager during this time and related to a lot of things discussed in the book like television shows (Sonny & Cher, Donny & Marie), movies (Taxi Driver, Rosemary's Baby) products (Baby Love, Jean Nate) and places (Studio 54). Also, the idea of a pre-teen young girl being used in modelling and acting media inappropriate for her age reminded me of Brooke Shields. Shields was in the movie "Pretty Baby" in 1978 (at the age of 12) playing a child prostitute. I have a lot of nostalgia for the seventies and hoped to drink in all of those warm and fuzzy feelings. I later realized this same author wrote "Keeping Lucy", a previous book of hers I had rated five stars.

The main character Ryan is an eleven year old girl living with her fledgling actress mother Fiona in a quaint sort of Summer Stock resort in Vermont, but they live there all year round. Ryan has never known the identity of her father, but she thrives in this gentle community flanking a river where actor friends join them in the summer months. Ryan is very content in this quiet refuge, but is suddenly upended when her mother wants to move to New York City for acting opportunities. Ryan and her mother are invited to stay with actor friends in their iconic artist community apartment Westbeth flanking Bank Street in NYC. Although quite large, it was a familial atmosphere where everyone kept their doors unlocked and you could just pop in. Ryan made many friends here, especially the French photographer Henri. He was very friendly and helpful, and had a key to the rooftop where he fed a family of cats.

The book has dual timelines of 1976-1977 and 2019, with the dual locales of Vermont and New York City. As the book begins Ryan is now an adult with a college age daughter of her own, and has just found out that Henri is dead. She must return to NYC for the funeral/memorial, but circumstances are further complicated by the resurfacing of a scandalous photo Henri took of Ryan during the 1977 blackout. It is now a media scandal, dredging up Ryan's very first (controversial) movie "Midway Girl".

I enjoyed reading about the apartment building and its welcoming courtyard, which was a private place for all the tenants to be communal, relax, and for the kids to play games. I didn't like the character of the mother Fiona, who was very selfish, cunning, and manipulative- but was necessary for the conflict in the story. It took until about 80% into the book to reveal the exact details of the blasphemous photo taken of Ryan during the blackout, and by then I felt really put out for keeping me on a string that long. I found the ending a bit nonsensical after all that waiting, and was just like, "Oh, OK"- and the book was over. As an aside, this may sound petty to some but I find it annoying when you have a female character and the author uses a name normally associated with males. Why confuse things for the reader? Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, but it's not the author's best work. It still was a cool idea to draw from iconic moments in the seventies.

Thank you to the publisher Kensington Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

Such a Pretty Girl follows Ryan, a former child star, who is forced to re-examine her childhood. After discovering a controversial photo from her pre-teen years has been in possession of a recently revealed pedophile and sex trafficker. To complicate things, he is known to her mother.

The book alternates between 1970’s New York and 2019. It ultimately explores child sexual exploitation, particularly in the film world and also focuses on the theme of chosen family.

I was expecting the novel to focus a little bit more on the West Village and living an artists life, and delving deeper into her relationship with her mother.

The novel fell a bit flat in places and didn’t quite satisfy me. I didn’t feel as though the relationships in the novel were well fleshed out and the novel seemed to rely heavily on tropes. I also felt as though the ending was a bit rushed.

I enjoyed the themes and the pace of the novel was quite fast but it didn’t live up to my expectations and I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

For fans of My Dark Vanessa and Taylor Jenkins Reid. Stunning, hypnotizing, and impactful.

I flew through this book, I loved the storytelling switching between past and present timelines, it was the perfect narrative to tell in that way. It is particularly hard hitting to get to know the protagonist, Ryan, as a child and sympathize with her and then to see her grown and dealing with the fallout of her mother’s actions from forty years past.

It’s so relevant during this time of uncovering child exploitation, from the Epstein trial to conversations about Brooke Shields questionable underage roles which were piloted by her own mother.

This is a hard hitting topic and it takes a lighter, more hopeful tone by the end. I wanted retribution to be honest, but sometimes that’s not what is needed to heal.

I loved it, and I cautiously recommend it.

Content warning for grooming, child pornography, and on page sexual assault.

A reflection of a woman’s childhood, recounting the relationships that shaped her including understanding her mother’s role in her fame and coming of age, I enjoyed the story unraveling events of the past and the impact on their current lives. There’s mystery, betrayal, love and friendship. Great tale of family dysfunction and community strength. Sometimes family isn’t a blood relative but the village that truly supports you.. Loved the book.

3.5 Stars

I couldn't help but think of Brooke Shields in Pretty Baby and of course, I remember those Loves Baby Soft adverts from the 70s'. They were creepy then and they are creepy now.

The book is also reminiscent of the Jeffery Epstein scandal, but this story focuses more on the mother/daughter relationship than the scandal itself and that's what I enjoyed most about it. The mother in this story is bad, really bad. She is negligent, a narcissist, selfish, self-centered, and exploits her daughter in many ways, she was an awful stage mother too. I am sad to say she reminded me of my own mother, who was selfish as well, just in a different way and she never exploited me. It was a tough subject to read about but things like this happen every day. I enjoyed the two timelines that are narrated by our main character, Ryan. She was one tough cookie and became the type of mother her own wasn't.

This was such a thought-provoking read with an excellent plot that takes on the #metoo movement in a unique way. The characters weren't always likable they were definitely interesting and very real, I actually felt their raw emotions.

This is such a disturbing book . . . until you realize how likely it is that things like this happened (and still could). Models/actresses are exploited all the time and the main character, Ryan, is no exception. Her mother is negligent to say the least and the dynamic between mother and daughter is really well written. The book goes between the 70’s before Ryan was discovered and became famous as a child to when she is an adult. In present day Ryan’s mother is implicated in a very Jeffrey Epstein-like scandal that rocks Ryan’s world and forces her to take stock of both her past and present.

I was pulled into the tale quickly and was gripped right to the last page. This was my first T. Greenwood book but it isn’t likely to be my last.

Any book that is set in the 70s - I am here for it. 100% of the time.

This was a really great story about a not so great situation. TW: pedophile/sex trafficking

The loss of a child’s innocence mixed with a mothers dream pushed on her child. A mixture of different characters - the gay best friend, neighbor/father figure, terrible mother who looks out for herself and puts herself first always, the family that takes them in. Easy read, easy to follow the characters and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Kensington books and Net Galley for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book!

I would like to thank Kensington Books and Net galley for the opportunity to review this book as an ARC. Such a Pretty Girl tells the story of Ryan Flannigan, a child actress from the 70's recently thrust into the limelight in 2019. The story is told in 2 timelines, Ryan's story in the late 70's and her current life in 2019. It is a story told on several levels. It begins with the arrest of a wealthy older man for child pornography, pedophilia and sexual abuse of minors. ( Think the recent Epstein case). An older woman is also charged, with procuring the young girls for the older man.There is also a person of interest- Fiona Flanningan. Her daughter, Ryan, was a child actress and model in the late 70's and a picture of Ryan ( inscribed by Fiona) is found in the collection of the pedophile. Fiona had wanted to be an actress, and moved to New York in 1976 to achieve that goal. It was her 10 year old daughter, Ryan, who was discovered and set on a path to stardom. When we meet Ryan in 2019, she and her teenage daughter are living in Vermont. Ryan has left the professional acting world and is also estranged from her mother. It is a story told on several levels. The story of the stage mother who lives through her talented child is an oft told one. Mama Rose, in Gypsy, is a a true role model for Fiona. Although the story has been told before, it rings fresh and true in this telling. Ryan has no interest in stardom, her mother has enough for the both of them. Ryan is happy to leave Vermont and live with the family of her best friend Gilly. Gilly is older and is starting to see himself as gay, although he is reluctant to to label himself, or even discuss it. Gilly's family, and the quirky inhabitants of the New York apartment building fill Ryan's days and she is happy. Then she is discovered by Margie, who runs a modeling agency for children. I really enjoyed the stories of Ryan in NY of the 70's, when it was a much different place than today. It is dirty and gritty and enthralling. Ryan meets Henri, a photographer, who takes pictures of Fiona and of Ryan. It is one of Henri's photos that is found years later in the pedophiles collection. It is very much a story of a mother daughter relationship, one with loss, sadness and unhappiness at times, mixed with total love and devotion. I wanted to hate Fiona, but could not. She was indeed living out her life through her daughter, but on another level, really did want the best for her. Much of the 1970's storyline points the night of the blackout in 1977. It is clear that something happened that night to Ryan, but it is the mystery focal point until almost the end of the book. There is another layer to the story, that of the sexualization of young girls in our culture. Ryan is 10 , with a woman's face and child's body. She is photographed in a way that is exploitative, by current standards and quite frankly even by past ones. It is a difficult image to forget. This is a thought provoking book, and I highly recommend it.

In Such a Pretty Girl, It's the mid-1970s, New York City, and it's the hot mess I remember. One of the continuing stories in both the story and history is the child actresses; the question of whether the work they are doing is exploitative if the parents are sacrificing their children to live off their children's fame, and if the children are forced to become tiny adults.

Ryan Flannigan stands in as a pastiche of these children, and 30 years after her career ended, she thinks she has left all the painful memories behind; then the FBI shatters her world, asking about a provocative photo taken as a child in 1977 is evidence in a pedophilia investigation.

All of Ryan's memories come spilling back, forcing her to relive her childhood, her now missing exploitative stage mother, the modeling, the acting, and the trauma.

Such a Pretty Girl isn't an easy read, but it's a good story and keeps your interest and thought after you've finished the book.

Recommended: four stars

T. Greenwood knows how to create real life characters that grip your heart and don't let go. I really loved this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the copy of Such A Pretty Girl. I felt like the story didn’t have a focus until near the end. I usually enjoy dual timelines, but this time the past chapters didn’t always connect with the present so the story didn’t really resonate. The idea of this book was great, but the execution was off for me. It was a great story about a narcissist but I would have liked to get to know the other characters better. It wasn’t a bad read, it just didn’t really move me.

This was original and well written, but at times felt a little direction-less, or perhaps I was craving a stronger pull into the story. It had hints of My Dark Vanessa, the subdued melancholy was expertly crafted, yet at times it seemed to lack definition. Things that were hinted at were never explored. I did feel it began to run out of steam and I wanted more of a sucker punch to the gut than it provided, but overall it was quite impressive. Perhaps a bit of editing would make the story feel more powerful. I also felt it built up to… not that much. Either this or the provoking of emotion waned as the story went on. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Disturbing parenting is the focus here, but also something bigger with connections to exploitation of child actors and connections to the "Me Too" movement. An interesting take on a coming-of-age story.

Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Books, and T. Greenwood for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I struggled a little bit to get into this book, but I think some people would really enjoy it. It’s a thought-provoking novel that focuses on the relationship between mothers and daughters. I liked that it went between the past and present and it definitely brings a lot to the table to think about, but for some reason I couldn’t really connect to it. I recommend giving it a chance though!

I really wanted to enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Rust & Stardust, but it was a letdown. The storyline had so much potential, but it felt like there were so many plot points that were never addressed. At the end, my only thought was "What's the point?"

This was a tough read! Not because the writing was bad (it was beautiful and nuanced) but because the story is deeply uncomfortable. Luckily, I love a book with complicated, dark plot points and themes, but would caution potential readers to read the summary before diving in. The setting was vividly realized with lots of precise details. I felt like I was there! Ryan was so compelling and different enough from any initial inspirations (Brooke Shields and Drew Barrymore, anyone?). This was a great recent historical book about power, consent, and the sexualization of girls. Highly recommend.

Suspenseful and well-paced but lacks compelling, authentic-feeling characters. I struggled to connect to our narrator, Ryan, a former child star who, despite her exhilarating life, felt bland and devoid of personality. The only truly intriguing character was Ryan’s mother, a fame-hungry failed actress who initially envies her daughter’s success in showbiz before discovering the thrill of living vicariously through her—and going to extreme lengths to further her budding career.

Ryan is grown now, living with her daughter in a place where she spent happy years as a child.. in an actors commune. She gets devastating news of the death of an old friend and the stance of a suggestive photo he’d taken off her as a child. The police are looking for Ryan’s mother in connection. Ryan goes to NYC to see to the death and affairs of her photographer friend, while forced to face what happened to her during the blackout summer of 1977. Her mothers ambitions have come back to haunt them both, years after a successful modeling and film career for Ryan.

I loved this book. It was beautiful, but gritty. Messy. It highlights the sometimes complicated relationship between mother and daughter, both between Ryan and Fiona and Ryan and her own daughter. It sheds light on the tough world of the artist and how you sacrifice to succeed. I would read this over and over again. Definitely recommend.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. It moved too slowly to hold my interest. I didn’t like any of the characters. I DNF at 41%.