the regulars
Georgia Clark
Pretty. It’s a purple liquid that can change the way you look without diets or face lifts. It gives you a whole new body with just one explosive session in the bathroom. The catch? It only lasts for 7 days, and it gives you a body so good that no one ever recognises you so you have to make a new identity for yourself. It’s another chance to do things over.
This is some Women’s Fiction with a bite! This actually clearly attempts to take down societal norms, even if it is in-you-face with obviousness of what is being taken down. There’s a lot of drama, some of which is probably needless, and that fits in with this genre too. Contrary to normal for me though, I actually really enjoyed this novel.
Now that I looked at other reviews, I realised that the three main characters are a little cliched in the roles they have in life and what they have done with them (angry lesbian, tortured artist and reckless actress). For that, I docked a little bit of my love without even realising it. It could have taken someone REALLY ugly in my opinion and fixed that. Also, it could have followed up with Penny more and the biology/origins of Pretty.
I’m giving this 4 stars because I enjoyed reading it so much. Ok, so the characters weren’t unique, and the plot line was a bit transparent, but it made me laugh with the absurdity of some of what happened. It’s not quite a ‘light beach read’ as some might say, but it is light-hearted enough for pure enjoyment.
Simon & Schuster | 1 August 2016 | AU $29.99 | Paperback
This is a thoughtprovoking novel for anyone who has seen a loved one in pain. Instead of watching your loved one in pain, they can take a suicide drink to end it all. We see Evan witness a variety of situations, and personally I think his job is an important one. It’s not the easy way out at all, a lot of thought goes into it.
Sigh. The blurb gives away the whole story. I mean, everything of it. So if you’re going to read this novel, please don’t read the blurb. Why are people so useless at writing blurbs that don’t give away everything?
Why is there no next book? I need one. Why was this so short? I need it to be longer! I didn’t want to step away from the characters.
Unfortunately the blurb gave away pretty much everything in the past sections of the novel. I was promised a suspenseful novel, but from the outset I knew what would probably happen. Then, finally, I HATED the ending of this novel.
Liv is a cute little character that isn’t very bright. Oh wait, she’s only 14. So we can excuse a wide number of things she does wrong, except maybe that theft. What were you thinking Liv? I think her brain just went into overdrive sometimes with the sheer amount of mess she had gotten herself into.
Having just read a novel where there is a difference between nice guys and good guys, River makes a good contrast of it. He starts out nice, passes through completely useless, then maybe to good. It’s that character evolution of being just another guy to being one who has gotten a bit of self-awareness happening.
I wanted to like this novel, I really did. But instead it reminded me of 
I really like how the story develops with only hints of Annabel’s problems. It keeps the reader interested, and then invested in both of the characters. Julia too takes some time to get used to, and most of the time I found myself sympathising with her and wishing that she had more guts!
Kendra! I love you! I love you every time I read you. You’re plucky, irritating, and yet becoming more human all the time. I do wish you weren’t so stubborn, you should know that your friends will go first, but ah well. Everyone has their blind spots right? [How punny!]