{ about the book }
Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphystandalone novel
Publishes January 2, 2018 by Entangled: Teen
e-ARC provided via Netgalley
e-ARC provided via Netgalley
Beautiful. Perfect. Dead.
In the peaceful seaside town of Cape Bonita, wicked secrets and lies are hidden just beneath the surface. But all it takes is one tragedy for them to be exposed.
The most popular girls in school are turning up dead, and Penelope Malone is terrified she's next. All the victims so far have been linked to Penelope—and to a boy from her physics class. The one she's never really noticed before, with the rumored dark past and a brooding stare that cuts right through her.
There's something he isn't telling her. But there's something she's not telling him, either.
Everyone has secrets, and theirs might get them killed.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
{ my review }
♪
Spoilers ahead because I just don't give a fuck about this book.
Pretty Dead Girls is a Pretty Bad Book. One I don't even want to waste any more time talking or thinking about because it was wrong in all sorts of ways. Was it intentional? I don't know. Does it matter? Not really.
But what is it even about? Well. It's about the prettiest and the smartest girls in Penelope's graduating class, girls all part of some high maintenence group that basically reiterates that they are the Best and the Prettiest. It's about them being murdered because why? Essentially, because they're all just terrible people.
Guys. Look. I really wanted to try and like this one. But seriously. Everyone in the book was just plain old terrible. I can't think of a single redeeming characteristic for any of them. You know those mean girl turnaround stories? I was kind of hoping this book would be one of those but nooooo.
Because I don't really know where to start, expect this review to be sort of everywhere and messy. And in list form!
First up: the main character
I think her name is Penelope and I think she hates being called Penny but who cares. She's a hypocritical character who is The Worst. She slut shames people who she refers to as friends. She constantly belittles them behind their back, criticising them because of either who they hook up with or whatever action they do. Lemme tell you, that shit gets tiring quick. I have no patience for characters like these--who think, unwittingly or not, that they're above others because of their (the "friends", in this case) actions.
Not only that, but jesus, Penny here was so incredibly nosy. From wanting to see how a party that shouldn't have happened play out, to the life of her love interest. She wanted to know everything about him, including his hookups and whatnot, which just? You have to understand that they're just getting to know each other in this book. And, okay yeah, the circumstances are incredibly weird (I guess I'm using that word to define murdered students! but whatever), but seriously. She couldn't let anything rest.
Two: literally nothing about handling grief
I get that this is a mystery, whodunnit, kind of novel. I get it! But it also takes place in high school, and the girls murdered are also girls Penelope considered friends. (Friends, being, "oh we knew each other for so long but god, she could be so horrible!) In any case, it wasn't really handled well. There are a few of those school gatherings for the girls, but there's also a fucking party being thrown? You do you, though. If that's going to help you feel a bit better, that's fine, I'm in no position to judge. But none of the characters are really shown as upset by these deaths as they say.
Everyone is a garbage person
There's probably one or two characters in this entire book that are decent and they get a total of one-fourth of a page of action. Everyone else? Absolutely horrible. The girls are all epitomes of mean girls. There's constant talk of how one girl stole this other girl's man, hooking up and the occasional cheating, snarky remarks behind each other's backs, and moooooore. It sounds like a bad infomercial when you think about it. (I don't want to buy what you're selling). Most of them end up dead, of course, and as the reader, trust me, you'll literally feel nothing. Everyone says they're friends with each other but you hardly: a) see Penelope even being a best friend to hers, and b) say a nice thing to each other. Everything is so catty and horrible.
The love interest??? Why.
I didn't get it. If you ask me, this book might have been better without the introduction of one. The guy, whose name I have conveniently forgotten, is the boy that sits next to Pen in some science class. They've literally never talked but after the murder, suddenly they do. Their eyes meet across the room where the principal is talking about a dead student and grief counsellors. He sends her texts and snapchats from an unknown number, saying he has info on a girl who may or may not be a suspect--because of course! Go to some girl you like instead of the police! Anyway, he even decides to threaten her if she talks about their meeting--which, by the way, he called for, so okay!! Whatever. Just... here, take a look for yourself.
I'm tired.
But wait! There's more.
(I told you this was like a bad infomercial.)
Okay, no but seriously. This guy is incredibly suspicious and yet Penelope still follows him around. Because he's cute? Because he gets her? I don't know. He has a strange background that both involves the dead girls and the girl that's alive that Penelope suspects. That background involves some kind of addiction and rehabilitation thing and yes, it is messy, and yes Penelope is incredibly nosy about it, and yes, he 100% tries to hide it from her and acts even more shady about it. Yes, yes, yes, whatever you're thinking, it probably happens because DRAMA! Girls are dead, and that is what's important!
Anyway. There's this one scene where they're headed to a party (that, a) should not be happening; b) said they weren't going to but now are and also lying about not going; and c) they're both idiots) where he's all like "LET ME DRIVE" and she's like "Why?" and he's like "BECAUSE I WANT TO BE IN CONTROL TONIGHT" and instead of running for the fucking hills, she's like "But why me?" and, he, being the dreamy, swoony, oh-so-beautiful-and-tortured-bad-boy in high school, goes "Because I've liked you for so long now!"
What the fuck does that have to do with anything though? I don't know!! I really have no answer. I hate this book.
The mystery
I wanted to add AKA the thing that's supposed to be the plot but somehow got buried underneath all of that mess.
I'm bad at guessing who did the killings, so to be honest, I read the ending before I really got into the book. Sue me. When I went back to the beginning, I guess?? the author didn't do the worst job at letting readers know who, especially since for most of the fucking book, the main character is suspicious of another girl. In any case, it's not even about who killed the girls. The mystery itself is just... poorly done. It fell flat and you're never going to feel in suspense.
The murderer actually has their own POV, much like Jennifer Lynn Barnes' murders in her Naturals series. Unlike those books, however, this murderer is horrible (and not just because she's killing people. But that is bad so don't get me wrong or anything), and shames the girls they've killed because of those reasons I mentioned before.
The ending
Horrible. Cut and dry. Easily wrapped up. The murderer even has that whole cliché evil speech at the end. Not a fan and 0/10 would not read again.
As I understand it, this book was inspired by Scream Queens, a show that I have never scene. So if it has parallels? I wouldn't know.
TL;DR: Not a fan and 0/10 would not read again.
Pretty Dead Girls is a Pretty Bad Book. One I don't even want to waste any more time talking or thinking about because it was wrong in all sorts of ways. Was it intentional? I don't know. Does it matter? Not really.
But what is it even about? Well. It's about the prettiest and the smartest girls in Penelope's graduating class, girls all part of some high maintenence group that basically reiterates that they are the Best and the Prettiest. It's about them being murdered because why? Essentially, because they're all just terrible people.
Guys. Look. I really wanted to try and like this one. But seriously. Everyone in the book was just plain old terrible. I can't think of a single redeeming characteristic for any of them. You know those mean girl turnaround stories? I was kind of hoping this book would be one of those but nooooo.
Because I don't really know where to start, expect this review to be sort of everywhere and messy. And in list form!
First up: the main character
I think her name is Penelope and I think she hates being called Penny but who cares. She's a hypocritical character who is The Worst. She slut shames people who she refers to as friends. She constantly belittles them behind their back, criticising them because of either who they hook up with or whatever action they do. Lemme tell you, that shit gets tiring quick. I have no patience for characters like these--who think, unwittingly or not, that they're above others because of their (the "friends", in this case) actions.
Not only that, but jesus, Penny here was so incredibly nosy. From wanting to see how a party that shouldn't have happened play out, to the life of her love interest. She wanted to know everything about him, including his hookups and whatnot, which just? You have to understand that they're just getting to know each other in this book. And, okay yeah, the circumstances are incredibly weird (I guess I'm using that word to define murdered students! but whatever), but seriously. She couldn't let anything rest.
Two: literally nothing about handling grief
I get that this is a mystery, whodunnit, kind of novel. I get it! But it also takes place in high school, and the girls murdered are also girls Penelope considered friends. (Friends, being, "oh we knew each other for so long but god, she could be so horrible!) In any case, it wasn't really handled well. There are a few of those school gatherings for the girls, but there's also a fucking party being thrown? You do you, though. If that's going to help you feel a bit better, that's fine, I'm in no position to judge. But none of the characters are really shown as upset by these deaths as they say.
Everyone is a garbage person
There's probably one or two characters in this entire book that are decent and they get a total of one-fourth of a page of action. Everyone else? Absolutely horrible. The girls are all epitomes of mean girls. There's constant talk of how one girl stole this other girl's man, hooking up and the occasional cheating, snarky remarks behind each other's backs, and moooooore. It sounds like a bad infomercial when you think about it. (I don't want to buy what you're selling). Most of them end up dead, of course, and as the reader, trust me, you'll literally feel nothing. Everyone says they're friends with each other but you hardly: a) see Penelope even being a best friend to hers, and b) say a nice thing to each other. Everything is so catty and horrible.
The love interest??? Why.
I didn't get it. If you ask me, this book might have been better without the introduction of one. The guy, whose name I have conveniently forgotten, is the boy that sits next to Pen in some science class. They've literally never talked but after the murder, suddenly they do. Their eyes meet across the room where the principal is talking about a dead student and grief counsellors. He sends her texts and snapchats from an unknown number, saying he has info on a girl who may or may not be a suspect--because of course! Go to some girl you like instead of the police! Anyway, he even decides to threaten her if she talks about their meeting--which, by the way, he called for, so okay!! Whatever. Just... here, take a look for yourself.
CLASSY 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽 pic.twitter.com/UIfsrfM2N0— mith, but cold ❄ (@guyliners) December 1, 2017
I'm tired.
But wait! There's more.
(I told you this was like a bad infomercial.)
Okay, no but seriously. This guy is incredibly suspicious and yet Penelope still follows him around. Because he's cute? Because he gets her? I don't know. He has a strange background that both involves the dead girls and the girl that's alive that Penelope suspects. That background involves some kind of addiction and rehabilitation thing and yes, it is messy, and yes Penelope is incredibly nosy about it, and yes, he 100% tries to hide it from her and acts even more shady about it. Yes, yes, yes, whatever you're thinking, it probably happens because DRAMA! Girls are dead, and that is what's important!
Anyway. There's this one scene where they're headed to a party (that, a) should not be happening; b) said they weren't going to but now are and also lying about not going; and c) they're both idiots) where he's all like "LET ME DRIVE" and she's like "Why?" and he's like "BECAUSE I WANT TO BE IN CONTROL TONIGHT" and instead of running for the fucking hills, she's like "But why me?" and, he, being the dreamy, swoony, oh-so-beautiful-and-tortured-bad-boy in high school, goes "Because I've liked you for so long now!"
What the fuck does that have to do with anything though? I don't know!! I really have no answer. I hate this book.
The mystery
I wanted to add AKA the thing that's supposed to be the plot but somehow got buried underneath all of that mess.
I'm bad at guessing who did the killings, so to be honest, I read the ending before I really got into the book. Sue me. When I went back to the beginning, I guess?? the author didn't do the worst job at letting readers know who, especially since for most of the fucking book, the main character is suspicious of another girl. In any case, it's not even about who killed the girls. The mystery itself is just... poorly done. It fell flat and you're never going to feel in suspense.
The murderer actually has their own POV, much like Jennifer Lynn Barnes' murders in her Naturals series. Unlike those books, however, this murderer is horrible (and not just because she's killing people. But that is bad so don't get me wrong or anything), and shames the girls they've killed because of those reasons I mentioned before.
The ending
Horrible. Cut and dry. Easily wrapped up. The murderer even has that whole cliché evil speech at the end. Not a fan and 0/10 would not read again.
As I understand it, this book was inspired by Scream Queens, a show that I have never scene. So if it has parallels? I wouldn't know.
TL;DR: Not a fan and 0/10 would not read again.
1 Comments
god YES, i am SO TIRED OF BAD BEST FRIENDS AND SLUT SHAMING. in the year of our lord, 2017, i cant believe this is the type of thing getting published. i just. i can't.
ReplyDeletei've never read any of her other books but i'm taking your word for one week girlfriend. no thanks, it's cancelled, goodbye.
and THANK YOU! for reading and for commenting <33