Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding, 3.5 Stars

Have you ever read a book and the WHOLE time you think you may have read the book before? This totally happened to me with Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding. It was so weird. It was a little reminiscent of Jar of Hearts, which I reviewed last month. But it wasn’t the feeling I had read something similar, I felt like I had read Her Pretty Face before.

And I have totally done that before. A year or two ago my book club read a book that had come out a year or two ago and I was excited to read it…thinking I had somehow missed it the first time around. Well, about 2/3 of my way through the book, I realized that I had in fact read it before. Oops. I guess that is the problem with reading 75+ books a year, not all of them can be memorable.

And that’s why I now keep a record of what I’ve read on Goodreads. And of course this blog gives me the chance to reflect a bit too before just moving on to the next book.

But reading Her Pretty Face was not that. Because I checked and the hardcover comes out today–July 10, 2018. So there is no way I could have read it before. So weird. Maybe it was just a drawn-out form of deja vu?

From the Publisher

The author of the bestselling novel The Party—lauded as “tense and riveting” by New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda—returns with a chilling new domestic drama about two women whose deep friendship is threatened by dark, long-buried secrets.

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 Kunik. And she’s a murderer.

In her masterful follow-up to The Party, Robyn Harding spins a web of lies, deceit, and betrayal, asking the question: Can people ever change? And even if they can, is it possible to forgive the past?

My Review:

We’ve all had situations in life when we feel like we are left out. And when you meet that one friend that saves you from that feeling, it’s like winning the lottery! This is how Frances and Kate meet. Frances just doesn’t fit in with the other moms at her son’s school. She feels overweight and awkward. She feels dowdy next to her attractive husband. She just doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. Kate, who seems perfect on the surface–attractive, smart, witty–saves her.

Their friendship is one for the ages–both women find in each other a kinship and partner in crime that is unmatched. But both women, Kate and Frances are also harboring secrets. And things just aren’t adding up.

There are two other narrators that help piece the story together. One is Kate’s daughter Daisy’s–a 14-year-old girl who exudes confidence but doesn’t get the attention she wants from her mom. JD is a mystery narrator. His story is the most intriguing and the one that puts the pieces together in the story–but his present day identity eludes the reader.

The book is very well crafted. Harding creates just enough mystery to keep the pages turning, and provides enough details that a reader can really second guess their instincts as to what is truly going on in the story.I did feel that there were issues in Frances’ marriage that were left unanswered. Which made me wonder why the author put them in the story to begin with…but for the most part I felt the ending was a good one.

A must-read for any fan of the suspense genre.

Special thanks to Netgalley, Gallery, Threshold and Pocket Books for the advance e-galley.

This one releases today. Check out an excerpt available on the publisher’s website.

Get your copy:

Indiebound