Book Review: So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman

So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publish Date: March 15, 2011

Hardcover, 304 pages 
Fiction, Suspense
ISBN: 978-1451616750

My Review:
Why I read this: An interesting premise is what brought me to read this book.


My thoughts:
I've read this and enjoyed it somewhat, but I'm not sure I fully got this story.  And that is me personally because I have read rave reviews, so don't base your decision solely on me.  In fact I'll post some links at the end with varying reviews so you can make your own decision.

What did I like?  The storyline is interesting and there is a mystery that keeps the plot moving.  The characters are all different, some small-town and small mentality, some moved in from the big city and are just trying to improve life for themselves and others and this makes it interesting.  I like Alice, her free-spirited and ability to somewhat fit in even though she is obviously an outsider.

What didn't work for me?  I felt the story was choppy at times.  I realize the jumping it back and forth in time and between characters is important to the storyline, but I tended to get lost and a little bored.  The book just did not flow for me.  However I do understand that was the intention of the book.  It's just something that didn't work for me.

I think Ms. Hoffman does an excellent job crafting a story, the execution of it could have been done better in my opinion, but again that is my opinion.  It's not a story that will leave you anytime soon.  I am still thinking about the book and realizing new things so that gives it something in it's favor.  I will be sure to check out Ms. Hoffman's future books because I definitely think she has a lot of potential and is a good writer.

If you like deeper meaning stories that you really have to think about while you read them, then this book is for you.  So Much Pretty has 12 5 star ratings on Goodreads as of today, so it is obviously a book that resonates with people. 

So give it a try, you just might love it.  If you do, please come here and tell me that and tell me why you love it - I'm just curious and want to see if I just missed something completely (which is entirely possible).

My Rating: 3.0/5.0

Other reviews:
Head Butler
In the Next Room
Goodreads page for So Much Pretty with reviews


About the Book:

The Pipers are a family built on optimism. Claire and Gene moved with their precocious, beguiling daughter Alice to Haeden, New York for a fresh start. In doing so, they unwittingly re-write the story of her life.

Wendy White has strong roots in Haeden, a late-blooming young woman, mindful of family and home. Her story has a beginning and an end, but is missing the most important piece the middle. What happened to Wendy White?

Stacey Flynn is a reporter, both a seeker and a teller of stories. It is gritty, relentless and ultimately reckless Flynn who will chronicle Wendy White's existence from all the fragments she can find, and forge a path toward the end.

But only we will ever know the whole story.
About the Author: 

Cara Hoffman has won a New York State Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for her work on violence and adolescents and has worked as an investigative reporter covering New York State's rural and Rust Belt communities, where she reported on environmental politics and crime. This is her first novel.

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FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher for a honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.