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trr51591's review against another edition
2.75
This is a short read that follows 5 high school girls living in a small town in Canada and using their reputations as good girls to enact minor schemes of revenge on those they see as oppressors. In theory, that sounds really entertaining. In actuality, I felt like I was missing parts of this book. It focused a lot on the day-to-day lives of these girls and not as much on the revenge or fallout. There's several pages at the start that list out every single character, their relatives, jobs, etc, and if you didn't reference this at all you'd be super confused, because it felt like every other page that a new character would be mentioned in a way that implied I should know who they were. It didn't help that there were so many similar names: Jen, Jenny, Maddie, Mags, David, Uncle David, etc.
The small-town dynamics of famililes that have known each other forever and things that have always been done a certain way were well-done and entertaining. It tackled religion, gender identity, sexuality, abortion, etc and handled them with grace. I get that this wasn't telling a big splashy story and that part of the point was that sometimes change takes little efforts and might feel futile at times. But I wanted a little more from this book, especially at the end. Thanks to Penguin Teen and the author for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
jules_not_dead's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
misha_ali's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was fairly unique. It's a sort of thriller about a bunch of "good girls" who use their reputation to do something about the injustice they see in the world as part of a birthday wish. Over the course of a year, each girl's birthday includes a wish, which is usually some sort of scheme to address a wrong they have seen in their community.
I enjoyed the premise and while it's quite non-sensational in terms of the usual thrillers (there are no murders or sexual violence, just ordinary prejudice and boys behaving badly), the girls gain a bit of empowerment and learn how to use their squeaky clean reputations to benefit others and work together to plan and execute these "wishes". This is certainly a unique premise and a fun one.
I removed one star because, as always, I love characterization and this book is too short and plot-focused to really dive deeper into the characters of each girl as I would like. We get the gist of their situation and character, but not much beyond that, which is a shame.
I enjoyed the premise and while it's quite non-sensational in terms of the usual thrillers (there are no murders or sexual violence, just ordinary prejudice and boys behaving badly), the girls gain a bit of empowerment and learn how to use their squeaky clean reputations to benefit others and work together to plan and execute these "wishes". This is certainly a unique premise and a fun one.
I removed one star because, as always, I love characterization and this book is too short and plot-focused to really dive deeper into the characters of each girl as I would like. We get the gist of their situation and character, but not much beyond that, which is a shame.
heyitsmeg777's review against another edition
2.0
I'm pretty furious I even got to the end of this book with disappointment still radiating inside me. Like.... why? How? How did I get through this book and feel so cheated by the fact that the revenge plot of five "good" girls was literally just petty acts like spreading rumors and messing up the sod on the ground and landing boys in suspension and then the "big" finale of lighting up a big sign calling out a girl for getting an abortion?
I personally prefer if the author stayed in her sci-fi genre lane because THAT is what she excels in. This was definitely not it for me.
I personally prefer if the author stayed in her sci-fi genre lane because THAT is what she excels in. This was definitely not it for me.
tatbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Book: PRETTY FURIOUS by E.K. Johnson (Thank you Netgalley and PYRG for the EARC: April 16th)
Review:
4 ⭐
PRETTY FURIOUS is so different from what I normally read, and still all the same: revenge for people who have done wrong. This book takes revenge to an entire new level: no M word only people reaping what they sow and being alive to face to consequences. PRETTY FURIOUS was a quick less-than-a-day read. It's not your typical mystery, but it's filled with suspense and harrowing acts that keep the reader intrigued and wanting more. I liked PRETTY FURIOUS. It was empowering and focused on issues for today's time. It shows that we as a society don't have to take anything from anyone. PRETTY FURIOUS is a must read for 2024.
What I Liked About It:
*the empowerment
Review:
4 ⭐
PRETTY FURIOUS is so different from what I normally read, and still all the same: revenge for people who have done wrong. This book takes revenge to an entire new level: no M word only people reaping what they sow and being alive to face to consequences. PRETTY FURIOUS was a quick less-than-a-day read. It's not your typical mystery, but it's filled with suspense and harrowing acts that keep the reader intrigued and wanting more. I liked PRETTY FURIOUS. It was empowering and focused on issues for today's time. It shows that we as a society don't have to take anything from anyone. PRETTY FURIOUS is a must read for 2024.
What I Liked About It:
*the empowerment
magneticice's review
3.0
There was something about this book. Like I had fun reading and I wanted to know what was going to happen. But it was not my favorite book. The girls and their birthday wishes got crazier as the time went one and you can tell they were feeling invincible because of that. And the ending I was like okay. Granted the girls were trying to help others and they clearly wanted who ever wronged someone to be punished. Some of the events just made me go, uh. But it was still a nice quick read, though I probably would not go out of my way to get it. I was super happy to have gotten this book as an arc from Penguin Teen which helped.
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