missamandamae's review against another edition
4.0
Juliet works at a dumpy one-star motel as a maid, stuck in life, when her high school best friend and track team rival Maddy shows up after ten years. Juliet checks her in for the night, but in the morning discovers her former best friend hanging from a railing. Small town politics and high school drama comes to the forefront as Juliet becomes determined to clear her name and find out what really happened to her friend now and ten years before.
It's not the most complicated of murder mysteries, but Juliet is a likeable and relatable character to follow, and as each piece of the puzzle is uncovered you get drawn in a little more to find the killer along with her. Anyone who grew up in a small town will understand the world Juliet lives in, and anyone who's had or is having a quarter-life crisis will also relate. Good, enjoyable read without knocking you over sideways.
It's not the most complicated of murder mysteries, but Juliet is a likeable and relatable character to follow, and as each piece of the puzzle is uncovered you get drawn in a little more to find the killer along with her. Anyone who grew up in a small town will understand the world Juliet lives in, and anyone who's had or is having a quarter-life crisis will also relate. Good, enjoyable read without knocking you over sideways.
teklalind's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this book but it was just to easy to guess. I did entertain the idea of several people, but the plot of the book was pretty easy to figure out quickly. I kept reading it and hoped for other subplots and I got them. Not disappointed but I won't rave about this book. It was good.
_lj_'s review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
4.0
A 2015 staff favorite recommended by Connie.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Slittle%20pretty%20things%20rader-day__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Slittle%20pretty%20things%20rader-day__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
asymm0's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this story as it is different than most story lines in the typically murder/thriller books I’ve read. However as Juliet is solving this murder she always found herself in trouble which was always wildly illegal. This ended up getting mundane and monotonous. I did appreciate how we were not “lead on” to one murderer like most stories do.
tabandvelcro's review against another edition
3.0
mystery is the genre I get most into, but it is simultaneously the most disappointing. I often reach the end of a mystery feeling dissatisfied. This was ... OK, I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
cinqcentcinq's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
mojostdennis's review against another edition
4.0
I was provided with an advance copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
After I won an advance copy of the author's first book last year, I thought that it might be in my best interest to pick this one up as well even though I wasn't a huge fan of the first one: I am so glad that I did. Little Pretty Things is much better than The Black Hour, which was by no means a bad book.
The book tells the story of kleptomaniac Juliet Townsend, who works a dead-end job at a scummy hotel in her boring hometown, and what happens to her after her glamorous ex-best-friend turns up dead in a room at that hotel. There are high school track stars, villains who are creepy in their believability, and a twist at the end that I thought I had all figured out but totally predicted wrong.
All-in-all, I recommend this book to thriller or mystery writers, even if you were on the fence about the last book.
After I won an advance copy of the author's first book last year, I thought that it might be in my best interest to pick this one up as well even though I wasn't a huge fan of the first one: I am so glad that I did. Little Pretty Things is much better than The Black Hour, which was by no means a bad book.
The book tells the story of kleptomaniac Juliet Townsend, who works a dead-end job at a scummy hotel in her boring hometown, and what happens to her after her glamorous ex-best-friend turns up dead in a room at that hotel. There are high school track stars, villains who are creepy in their believability, and a twist at the end that I thought I had all figured out but totally predicted wrong.
All-in-all, I recommend this book to thriller or mystery writers, even if you were on the fence about the last book.
kdhanda's review against another edition
1.0
Tossed it after two chapters. Marginal writing, overdone story line
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
So the mystery here isn't really Why Did Maddy Hang Herself (or Was Maddy Murdered) but what hold our teen selves have over our lives years later, and how to resolve that - is that a bad thing? Not really. Many of us have seen ourselves as the also ran, the best friend of..., only to be left behind. In this case, Juliet has really become Less Than, cleaning rooms at a run-down local no-name motel, with an interesting sideline in kleptomania. When her BFF, Maddy, shows up looking glamorous and successful, of course there's jealousy; even better, it's the week before their high school reunion, just adding to the angst. Maddy's death brings all of Juliet's anxieties to the fore, as well as bringing people like Courtney (former "blur", current police deputy) back into her life. Solving the why of Maddy's death also solves some of Juliet's current day issues.
Juliet as accidental detective works moderately well, Juliet as "not quite good enough" works better. It's there that readers will find themselves remembering what their high school lives were like and maybe find some understanding of those they went to school with.
ARC provided by publisher.
Juliet as accidental detective works moderately well, Juliet as "not quite good enough" works better. It's there that readers will find themselves remembering what their high school lives were like and maybe find some understanding of those they went to school with.
ARC provided by publisher.