I have to start by telling you that this isn't really a "book." This is basically an extended prologue to the book "Pretty Girls" that Karin Slaughter is releasing or has already released, I think.. I'm not sure what it cost but it is a 67 page...teaser? Yes, teaser is the right word. I think based on the writing and the beginning to the story, the book "Pretty Girls" is going to be worth reading, I know I'll be reading it. I just don't know if I recommend you read this prequel.
So basically if you read the synopsis for this book you know what it's about so I won't revisit that. What I can tell you that you won't find in the synopsis is that the "heroine" in this book might not be the heroine for you. I got that the author was trying to depict her in a coming of age light. Julia is just 19 years old and is out on her own away from her parents for the first time. So I'll allow for the possibility that some of the things that annoyed me in these 67 pages, might be worked out in the full book. In the meantime, Julia was a bit irritating. In this book she goes through a whole issue about the burden of being beautiful and how hard that is for her. I get it, kind of, but nobody really wants to hear somebody complain about being perfect....
In terms of the actual story...there isn't really much of a "story" in this book. There were some issues that most women could relate to raised in the story. That is particularly true when it comes to the narrative on Julia feeling marginalized when she tries to enter the professional world. My real problem with the story, in addition to there not being much of one is that it wasn't gripping on it's own. It was thoughtful and maybe even a little analytical but it raised more questions than it answered. The writing is definitely good, no problems there but there just isn't much of a book here.
While writing this review I looked up "Pretty Girls" and found that it is being sold as a standalone. If you don't need to read this prequel first, I suggest skipping it and going straight to the actual novel Pretty Girls.
**ARC provided by Publisher**
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