Disclaimers up front: Jillian is a pal of mine who has performed at my reading series, and she had her publisher send me a copy of her book.I really enjoyed Pretty and look forward to reading more fiction from Jillian. The prose is careful and glittery, with the weight of bad decisions and challenging life stuff all over the place. I love that the shitty and wild things have already happened to the main character, Bebe. The book isn't about partying, it's about what happens next, after you wake

Pretty is a novel that is hard to define. It doesn’t seem to really be able to place itself in any kind of genre, at least not one I read so I presume that that probably makes it literary fiction. It’s not a teenage read, it’s not really Chick Lit… so I think it’s trying to be a literary novel. It’s not a pretty novel, either. Here there are no pies in the sky, no happily ever after, just a girl struggling to get her life together after her boyfriend dies in a drug-fuelled car crash. Bebe is an

The summary on the back of the book made it sound like it was going to be the second coming of Invisible Monsters, but it was so tedious to read that I gave up about 80 pages into it because I just didn't feel any sympathy for the main character and had no desire to find out how it was going to end

I think to enjoy this book you have to be patient, appreciate quirkiness, and also relate to having been in a rut in your life where you look around and ask yourself, “is this it?!” Favorite moment of the book that had me LOLing: “You know I like you, Beth, but you have committed some very serious infractions here. Do you have an explanation for why you stayed out all night, violating your curfew and making your friends sick with worry? I’ve already called the police and reported you as a missin...

When I was a little girl I used to tell people that I wanted to be an adventuress when I grew up. I'll admit that I was influenced by a Marlene Dietrich movie - Morocco (1930) - in which she plays a night club singer (Amy) who falls in love with Gary Cooper's character (Tom), a private in the French Foreign Legion. Although she is engaged to Adolphe Menjou's character (La Bessiere - a wealthy Frenchman), Amy realizes at the end of the film that she is truly in love with Tom. The film ends with h...

Honestly, it took me forever to get through this book because I kept getting bored. Bebe is a compelling character, but the plot has no depth. I found myself skipping pages just to find out that I didn’t really miss anything.

I so wanted this to be good, but it's not. I don't think the author realised that she can write more than 1 book. Instead her main character has seen and done it all. The bad, the worse and the horrible. The main character sounded like she was trying to be bad-arse, but I found her grating and annoying. I gave it a good go, but at just over half way I disconnected and couldn't care less what happened in the story, so I gave up.. it's going back to the 2nd hand book store I got it from. I hope Ji...

This book will probably appeal to a specific reader and is definitely not a one size fits all. It may be too dark, dismal, and depressing for some readers. However, anyone who has felt the grip of addiction will have a silent and painful understanding of this book.

I read this because 'Some girls' wasn't what I expected and I wanted to give Jillian Lauren a second chance - I won't be reading anything else she writes. This book is about Bebe (Beth) & her delusional life in a half-way house, beauty school and sobriety while she dates a psycho. So fucking stupid. There's a little talk of God, drugs, and her obviously selective memories.... IDK I liked that she for the most part doesn't give into her old habits of drugging and stripping but overall - getting k...

Really, I think I would rate this more of a 3.5. This book was different. I actually really liked the writing, I think Jillian Lauren is a really great writer, but I don't know that the subject intrigued me as much as I thought it would. Parts of it were a little less interesting a little harder to get through, but overall, I didn't hate it.

Pretty is the story of Bebe (Beth) Baker. Bebe, raised by an alcoholic mother, whose father, an alcoholic jazz musician, dies while she is very young, meets Aaron, a confident trumpet player in a jazz band and leaves her town of Toledo, OH behind to follow him to California. While living in LA, a speedbump on the way to San Francisco, Bebe takes a job as an exotic dancer and becomes an alcoholic/addict. After a fight with Aaron in a bar, the two of them, wasted, get in the car and end up in a mo...

"There's a blaze of light in every wordIt doesn't matter which you heardThe holy or the broken Hallelujah" Leonard CohenJillian Lauren begins her brilliant novel with this gorgeous, well-known refrain, then she takes that Hallelujah and sings it as her story like a bird whose heart thumps to break through its throat. This is a magnificent book. It will take you through every emotion you have and some you may not have known you had. Lauren is a wise woman with a truth to tell that will set you

The concept of an addict falling off the wagon can be compelling depending on the writer. There were moments I could follow this story well, then there were moments I could not. Maybe it is due to the characters or could be the world of the writer. Kind of disappointed.

Eh...it was OK. It was interesting. There is a lot of unnecessary repetitiveness that makes me think that either the author mistakenly thought that would be good to add to the experience of the book basically being the main character's train of thought or she just isn't that great of an author yet and should have had a bit more practice before getting published. It's the kind of book that's suppose to seem unpolished but it's clear the author didn't do that on purpose, she just didn't get the wr...

*Loud sigh* 🤦🏼‍♀️ I honestly don't even know where to start. It's not that the writing was horrible because it wasn't, I think this just isn't my type of novel. Recovering drug addicts in half way houses working their way through cosmetology school dating people who literally think they are Jesus just isn't my cup of tea 🤷🏼‍♀️

Snappy dialogue and clear individual and entertaining voices of her supporting characters. I suppose this is the "new" lost generation, a story of redemption among young-ish female addicts who are trying to find their way out of caged helplessness to meaning. She does a good job of painting a bleak yet ironically humorous observant picture of her transition from detached depression to hope. Fast read. Now I'm curious of her other novel, "Some Girls."

Meh. I skimmed this book like a pro. Writing about mental health and alcoholism was intriguing but I felt there wasn't enough, enough of what I'm not sure. The book was just lacking. I kept wondering what would happen to Bebe. I obviously cared enough to finish the book but wish that I stopped reading it when I first felt I should. Once I get more than a few pages in my book guilt sets in and I finish unless it's that bad. Since i forced myself to finish, I'll give it two stars.

I just received the book yesterday. UPS was having issues. :( But I did start reading it and am about half way through. All I can say is WOW. This book is riveting. It's just amazing. I find it hard to put into words just how I feel. It seems very real. You find yourself wanting Bebe to do better and overcome. Truly emotional.

I abandoned this book and I’m not sorry. As much hope as I had for it, the book didn’t seem to have much of a plot and it seemed like it has been done time and time again. The redeeming factor that kept me going as far as I did (about 60-70% through) is that the author has a way with words. This isn’t a book I’d recommend personally.

Ms. Lauren writes very well and this book checks a lot of boxes for me, and I should have loved it but for some reason I didn't. I can't quite put my finger on why, but there's just something here that didn't quite do it for me. Maybe it's the fact that i found Bebe's life before to be much more interesting than her current situation, and just didn't find the whole thing with Jake to be very believable. This aside, I do want to read the author's other books.