The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Fall 2021 Group Read Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

I really enjoyed this book even though the twists were rather obvious about 1/3 of the way into the book. While it was difficult at first to identify with Frances and Daisy's POVs, Harding's characterization is excellent and I found myself invested in their fates.

I read this as the only one of the group read books that i haven't read before. I did like the synopsis and it was available in our library - all of it a bonus.

I have been struggling to read lately and I am grateful that this was an undemanding and pacy read. A book i have actually got through in 24 hours - something of a miracle for me just now

Frances and Kate both have secrets in their past, both have sons at Forrester Academy and neither have a boat load of friends, all these facts bring them together in a way that forms a firm friendship.

This author has obviously been to creative writing school and is following the current trends including, A then and now narrative, a nod to the LGBT society and neurological diversity. Her writing is good in pace and readability.

The impact of the book is less prepossessing and is in fact extremely predictable. I had ID'd the character with the larger secret and the character of "David" before the mid point of the book. The way it unfurled was unsurprising and lacked impetus. Even the final twist was more of a twitch.

I am far from convinced by this book which I am sure will be slotted neatly into the psychological thriller or suspense genre when in fact the level of thrill and suspense is so low as to barely register.

I rated it 2 stars

I found the book to be an okay, but interesting read; not a psychological thriller that I would be recommending to friends like I do with A Head Full of Ghosts.

I found Frances to be a bit stereotyped with her overweight insecurities, yet the school moms personalities to be spot on (while still being stereotyped). Yeah, mixed feelings.

I should have figured out who David was, but as his earlier self was barely mentioned, I forgot all about it.

Quick, easy, keeps your attention, but will likely never think about it again.

For some reason this book didn't appeal to me. I like mystery/thrillers but could not get invested in the characters. One of the things that bothered me most was how Kate was able to completely distance herself from her daughter. I guess i like my thrillers to conclude with justice being achieved but in this case the family just kept running each time they were exposed.

I really liked this one, but I found the description of a sociopath very convincing. I’m fairly certain that played a role in my enjoyment. Even at the very end when she contacts her “friend” I found myself internally telling her not to fall for it - a sociopath doesn’t change into a normal person. I suspect that’s not the reaction everyone has.

My review is below:
************
A fascinating, and as I remember my abnormal psychology, all-too-real representation of how a sociopath can appear to others. Both Frances and Kate are hiding horrible secrets, but only one of them is a sociopath. The other has a terrible secret which she has never forgiven herself for, and we find out exactly what happened right after the big reveal.

The second part of the book is the aftermath of the discovery and the author does an excellent job of making us wonder if the sociopath really has changed. They can’t change, but until you truly understand that, the suggestion that it’s possible is compelling and will pluck at the compassion normal people feel for those we believe are suffering.

Angela IL
I chose to read this selection since I already read two of the books chosen and I had a different Robyn Harding on my tbr, but this is my first book by this author.
I read this book in under 6 hours and I was engaged the entire time. Even though I figured out most of the twists early, I wanted to see if I was right ;) The plot kept me engaged even though some of the characters were annoying and unlikable when I do not think they were meant to be (looking at your Frances).
I gave this book a 3.5 stars and will be reading more of her earlier works.

Happy to see the book on the group reads as it’s been sitting on my to read list. Although very predictable I really like the book. The downside was that Frances was too timid not doing much once she found out Kate’s background and Kate didn’t seem evil enough. I liked Kate’s back story through the court case and showing her twistedness, I really wanted her to do something modern day to really show she’s crazy.

This book was just full of BAD girls. I found it to be a highly readable domestic drama, not quite a thriller, but certainly a page-turner. While some have mentioned its predictability, to me that isn't necessarily a negative here. I rather like figuring things out as I go along. As I discovered with a little research after finishing it, the story is closely based on a case from the 1990s in Canada, which makes it quite a lot more disturbing than a purely fictional account.

Readerboard name: Rebecca NJ

The book was very predictable and I think that as the story unfolded, you really got to see the depth of who both Frances and Kate really were. I was a little surprised that Frances back story was just a little blurb because I felt that could have been brought to the front to help explain some of her decisions along the way.

I gave this book a 3,5 star rating but the way the author ended the story allowed me to bump it up to 4 stars. I would consider reading more by this author.

I'm not sure what to think of this book. There was a quiet suspense, but it was no thriller. It was difficult to root for any of the characters except Daisy, since she is a teenager, but even that wasn't easy until I reminded myself I was a headstrong, trusting teenager as well.

Francis spent the entire book - and years of her life - stressing about and blaming herself for her sister dying. Then it gets resolved in a couple of sentences? And her guilt still doesn't explain why she was so forgiving of Kate/Amber. I could see right through Kate from the beginning, and as soon as the past storyline mentioned Amber, I knew that person was Kate.

All that said, I still enjoyed reading the story and will read more by Harding. There weren't any big twists or reveals, at least to me, but sometimes the twists are so implausible and thrown in there just to stand out. Maybe it was nice to know what was happening and just wonder how it will end.

I read this one because with the other choices, I've either read already or cannot reasonably source it. It's not my usual cup of tea and it took a while to get used to the multiple POVs. I was just a bit disappointed that nothing really happened in the book - all to do with the past. With a 'thriller' tag, I really expected something to happen so I'd see this as a good drama only.

I had zero expectations here and started to listen to the audiobook while cleaning my house.
After couple of hours I had cleaned everything, but couldn´t stop listening... so tense and captivating!

I really liked the story! 4 stars!
After reading all the thoughts/reviews in this thread I feel a bit dumb though, because I didn´t figure out who was who from the "past" in the "now" story (seems that I didn´t even read the synopsis properly). But it´s okay, because the bigger surprise for me :)

I really liked how the sociopath character was shown to the reader - through her past (being involved in a crime) and family (including daughter) relationships and not being able to letting go of the person she had chosen to manipulate with.

And I just loved how Daisy was shown as a teen who didn´t give a damn what her peers thought about her - if only more teenagers had such self-confidence in real life (left aside the stupidity to go along with a stranger ofcourse).

I also was so relieved by the way the story ended - it was rather positive conclusion with a tiny "what if" still left in the air.
Weird to say it, but I also feel gratitude towards the author for giving all the characters such a positive conclusion - not always has a story end with a new shock or unsolved pain.