Pretty Girls is the story of two sisters, one whom has just found herself widowed and the other a single mother of a teenaged daughter. They've long been estranged but have recently found themselves in communication again. Little do they know that uncovering their past will uncover way more than they ever could have expected - including some new clues regarding the 20 years ago disappearance of their oldest sister. I simply cannot say enough good things about Pretty Girls. The plot is terrifying yet makes you want to read on because you have to know what happens. Literally every chapter gives you a new twist. The characters are so real I could picture them inside of my mind as I read and the scenery... I could see it all.

Overall, I thought that it was a fantastic story. It was suspenseful and kept me in a hyper-vigilant state until every question had been answered. I had chills while listening to this story. This has got to be one of the most screwed up, disturbing stories that I've "read". This book was so damn freaking spectacular that I don't even know where to start. This has climbed to the top of my list as my favorite psychological thriller ever. This tops Dark Places and That Night and I never thought that would happen! For any book to triumph over those is a win for me :) although they are still right behind this book. This book might need a trigger warning for those with genuine PTSD because of its brutal violence. Normally I'd steer clear of suggesting that someone might have a hard time with a book, but this one is particularly gruesome and gory. Now this is happening in the middle of so much other stuff that your mind is racing at this point of the book. You have Claire's sister Lydia telling some of the story from her viewpoint, a break in at Claire's house, and a sister that had gone missing years ago. Which is too bad, because the book started strong. 24 years ago, Julia Carroll disappeared. The disappearance shattered her family. Her father killed himself (his letters to his missing daughter are the closest thing to a heart this book has). Her mother retreated inward; she stopped talking about Julia, but she kept her bedroom exactly the way the 19-year-old left it. Sisters Lydia Delgado, a single mother, owner of a pet grooming business and recovering addict, and Claire Scott, the pampered wife of a successful architect haven’t spoken for 20 years. The estrangement wasn’t because of Julia-it happened after Lydia accused Claire’s husband of something awful.

I just want to start by saying I don't want to list any spoilers here; I think this book was so powerful that I would hate to discourage someone from reading it because I took away from their experience before even beginning the book.

Not everyone will like the subject matter. Unfortunately things like this can and do happen each and every day. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. I've never read a book like this. There are so many twists and turns a race car driver would have trouble navigating. I literally cannot stop thinking about all of the people and events in this book. I went into it with just the knowledge that this was about a woman and her sister that hadn't spoken for years and that was about it. Holy moly did this get good! Oddly enough, the purest bits, the best and profound parts are the journal entries that dot the path of this terrible story. They are from a grieving father to the missing daughter he can never give up on. I read each one, grateful, because THOSE kept me going, pushing me to the end. All the characters seemed real, even if they are the worst kind of people you can think like yeah this type of person can exist in real life too.

Ok so without giving anything away, I'll just tell you guys that there is a very satisfying ending. Note again that this is not a romance (at all) but everything is wrapped up in the ending and actually the last line was absolutely perfect. Seriously, just really STRONG writing! But Pretty Girls is a book about women being hurt. Nameless, terrified, hopeless women being brutalized in every way possible. And then they think of more ways to hurt them. Tied to meat hooks, disemboweled, whatever you can think of. It’s like if Criminal Minds went on a coke bender. And yes, the book is written by a woman and mostly told through the perspective of two women. I’m sure to some that mitigates the issue of the over-the-top violence against women. But I can’t get past the gratuitous, almost gleeful sexual sadism that permeates this novel.