Thoughts on : Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding
Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding
Genre : Fiction, mystery
Stand alone
About the Book :
Frances Metcalfe is struggling to stay afloat.
A stay-at-home mom whose troubled son is her full-time job, she thought that the day he got accepted into the elite Forrester Academy would be the day she started living her life. Overweight, insecure, and lonely, she is desperate to fit into Forrester’s world. But after a disturbing incident at the school leads the other children and their families to ostracize the Metcalfes, she feels more alone than ever before.
Until she meets Kate Randolph.
Kate is everything Frances is not: beautiful, wealthy, powerful, and confident. And for some reason, she’s not interested in being friends with any of the other Forrester moms—only Frances. As the two bond over their disdain of the Forrester snobs and the fierce love they have for their sons, a startling secret threatens to tear them apart… because one of these women is not who she seems. Her real name is Amber Kunick. And she’s a murderer.
My Thoughts :
It’s interesting how expectations affect the way you feel about a book. Had I read a few more reviews beforehand, I might have enjoyed Her Pretty Face some more, but I went in knowing very little. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did; but I do feel I could have appreciated it much more had I known more about it.
What I expected : a suspenseful thriller about a murderer hiding in plain sight. What I got : a contemporary fiction about characters hiding important secrets, with a touch of suspense. I’ve heard it compared to Liane Moriarty’s novels (Big Little Lies and The Husband’s Secret, for instance), and it sounds right to me.
There is a mystery to resolve, yes, but the pace is much slower and unexciting than your regular thriller. It doesn’t have you on the edge of your seat, scared for the characters and gasping at unending twists; but it does do a great job of creating complex and realistic characters. They were what kept me interested. I quite liked Frances.
As for the plot, I found it very predictable, especially considering some choices the author did in her narration. I’m usually good at guessing when reading mystery novels – the result of reading too many of them, for sure. But here, combined with the complete lack of tension in the story, it made for a slightly disappointing reading experience.
I do think other readers might like this one more than I did. Her Pretty Face has its flaws, but it also has its strengths. If you prefer your mystery novels to be quiet and focused on characters rather than surprises, and if you enjoy contemporary fiction, this is one you might like to read.
Hm, a slow pace and a predictable plot? This might not be for me.