by Katie,
Diving into the world of wealthy influencers, Nina works to help “relieve” them of their wealth as a scam artist. Vanessa becomes one of these marks when she crosses paths with Nina. The two woman are brought together in what Litlovers calls a “twisty page-turner.” This may help feed into your desire for some mystery, Nancy!
I found these questions on randomhousebooks.com and thought they would be enjoyable to answer:
1. What motivates Nina to act the way she does? Do you think her actions are justified? What does her story say about class and privilege?
2. Did the book make you think differently about social media?
3. There are several “points of no return” in the book. Which did you find to be most critical?
4. How did you feel about the novel’s alternating voices and perspectives? How would the story be different without them?
I have tried not to read too much from the various synopses I found online because I don’t want the book to be ruined for me. From what I did read though, I am quite intrigued. I hope this isn’t as intense a thriller as Behind Closed Doors.
HI Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry to hear about all that horrible flooding you’ve had to endure. Philadelphia had a terrible flood last summer. I hope your neighbors can get back on their feet quickly. How is your family in Latvia holding up? I’ve heard Putin is beginning to move toward the Eastern Donbas region. I hope this war comes to an end quickly before more civilians are harmed.
I found March’s book to be the “twisty page-turner” Litlovers said it would be. I was enthralled for most of it. Sometimes I found it irritating to read the same scene over from a different point of view. Other times I loved seeing how Vanessa and Nina’s point of views differed on the same event. I know they say there are two sides to every story and Ms. Brown really tries to push that in this book. I feel she did it well.
I have to say that I was completely shocked when Nina’s mother turned out to be faking her reoccurrence. I never guessed that Nina would be a mark. I also had no idea that Lili was trying to con Mr. Liebling. I wasn’t surprised at all when Lachlan turned on Nina and began to hustle Vanessa alone. I found him to be a horrid character and never understood how Nina liked or loved him.
While I understand how Nina could feel so hurt from the actions of Lieblings, I don’t feel that her attempt to hustle the family were justified. So often people look for an outside reason for their failures and shortcomings instead of looking in on themselves. Nina spent too much time blaming the Lieblings. Her story is pretty classic to how the class system functions in America. The middle class is a dying breed and it is because of the unequal distribution of wealth. I grew up with much less than I have now. I worked hard to get have a good career that helps me provide for my family. I feel Nina’s desperation that lead to her lifestyle.
I disliked Vanessa for most of the book. It wasn’t until the end that I began to like her as a character. What were your thoughts on her? I look forward to your thoughts on this book.
Just a separate thought Cloud Cuckoo Land is quite long and I have been warned that we hit a lull in the middle section. What do you think about separating it over two months instead of its currently set one? Let me know.
I hope you and the family are doing well. Much love to you!
Katie
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
Happy Easter! I hope you and the family have a fun and happy season. We are heading to Brisbane for a few days with Sam and Michelle which I’m very excited about. Since we last spoke we have had another flood, hard to believe, not as big but still damaging for so many people. Such crazy weather is worrying.
The further I read into Pretty Things the more I became enthralled and enjoyed it. I found the beginning interesting and certainly I was questioning my own social media activities, but I was hoping it would expand into something more and boy did it.
I really loved the contrast between Nina and Vanessa and found reading events from both points of view really well done and informative. Very much a contrast between privilege and poverty, but with similarities in issues of gender and how women in general are treated and both not apparently measuring up to their partners families expectations, with the Leiblings disapproval of Nina and Victor’s families rejection of Vanessa and her social media career.
I started cheering for Vanessa late in the story also. I guess I sometimes easily dismiss people like her as shallow and fake because of how they appear on social media platforms, but that doesn’t invalidate their feelings and neither do they deserve the treatment she received from Lachlan and Nina.
I felt a lot of empathy for Nina and what she felt she needed to do to survive. Ms Brown created a character I could relate to even though I didn’t like her most of the time. Interestingly, I had no such empathy for Lily or Lachlan even though they came from poor backgrounds and were doing the same as Nina to get by. It certainly could lead us to a whole other discussion of the ever widening class divide in our modern world.
I was also, like you, shocked at Lili’s fake relapse and con of her own daughter. Ms Brown again cleverly showing how the lines can blur .
Nina’s pursuit of the Leiblings is interesting. It brings up the issue of trauma in teenage years, how we view it and deal with it and the accuracy of the memories as we make our way into adulthood. Mostly it seemed Nina was looking for someone to blame for her circumstances.
Thankyou for choosing this book, there are so many contemporary issues covered, especially the highlight on social media. Janelle Brown has a Q&A up on Goodreads which isa really interesting read. She said her inspiration for Pretty Things came after she read about the Kim Kardashian robbery in Paris a few years ago. The thieves knew where she was staying, what jewellery she had with her and when she was out of her room all because of her prolific instagram postings.
Love you all
p.s: yes I'll move Cloud Cuckoo Land to two months
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