Book Review: Pretty Thing By Jennifer Nadel and Giveaway!!!

Name: Pretty Thing
Author: Jennifer Nadel
Publisher: Corsair- Little Brown Group
Summary: When fifteen-year-old Becs meets Bracken, she is convinced she's found her soul mate. So what if he's much older? He understands her, she feels free with him and when he holds her she feels safe.
But is she?
Some young women in the local area have recently been sexually assaulted. It's the talk of the school. And when Bec's best friend Mary-Jane becomes the latest victim, the true dangers hit home: just as Becs is starting to wonder about her future with Bracken - poor M-J rapidly shrinks away from life...

Review: First and foremost I would like to apologise for my absence from Dark Readers. To you our devoted readers and to this wonderful team that is forever growing. They truly are an amazing bunch and even though I only really know Casey I can see how hard you have all worked. There is no excuse, I have had some struggles in life, although I have never given up on my love for reading but I also haven't had the time and patience to sit and write like this. I am sorry and I am back.

So Pretty Thing, in all honesty this is not the sort of book I would go out and buy and it is definitely not something I would normally read. It is a little too deep on the abusive scale for me.
Although the synopsis intrigued me and I thought what the hell give it a go Hayley. I wanted a read that would keep me hooked but wouldn't take me too long to read, so this was perfect.
From very early on Bec's story became very intense and it had me intrigued to see where the story would lead and how much she would put up with. Becs is fifteen-years-old and she is extremely naive, so when Bracken an older attractive guy comes on to her she is on cloud nine. It's sad to think that these sorts of words and excuses come up again and again in real-life. Becs doesn't have a clue about love and she thinks that she should move onto the next step even though in her heart and soul she knows she isn't ready. She even hesitates which in my book counts as rape - I like how Jennifer has shown all the differing feelings that a girl will go through. Bracken says all the right things and Becs sees it as her friends are jealous when in truth they are worried about her. In this novel there is also all the usual school stuff bullying, jealousy, boyfriends, jealousy, loneliness, crowds and then it goes much deeper into rape, abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse, and that of loss.

I can't imagine going through all the heartache that Becs does in this novel. Love, loss, and unimaginable heartache on a number of levels.

I was so proud of myself for finishing this book as at a number of points I was thinking OMG! this is abuse and it's wrong and poor old Becs cannot see that how Bracken is treating her isn't right. A number of real issues are explored in this coming of age debut novel from Jennifer Nadel. In some ways I liked that the ending was open but in others it felt like a bit of a cop out. I would like to think that Becs did the right thing and moved on with her life.

What a page turner, although not always for the right reasons. A gripping read with a lovable heroine...

Now would you like to give Pretty Thing a read. If so leave a comment below saying why you would like to receive my copy of Pretty Thing and a winner will be chosen at random in a weeks time.