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All the Pretty Things
"A skillfully plotted mystery, bursting with the glare and feverish energy of its summer amusement park setting. The atmosphere creeps up on you...[and] dark secrets await."--Holly Jackson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
For fans of Sadie and One of Us Is Lying comes a thriller about a boy who turns up dead under suspicious circumstances and the one girl who may be the key to solving the mystery of his untimely death.
For Ivy, summer means roller-coaster season, spinning cotton candy at the Fabuland amusement park, and hanging out with her best friend, Morgan. But this summer is different.
One morning, Morgan finds a dead body. It's their former classmate Ethan, who was alive and working at Fabuland only the day before. To make matters worse, Morgan is taken to a hospital psych ward only days later, and she's not saying much--not even to Ivy.
The police claim that Ethan simply took a bad fall, but Ivy isn't convinced and realizes it's up to her to get answers. What she finds is unsettling--it's clear that some people aren't being honest about Ethan's last night at Fabuland. Including Morgan. And the more secrets Ivy uncovers, the closer she gets to unraveling dark truths that will change her life forever.
"A dark and timely thriller."-Amelia Brunskill, author of The Window
For fans of Sadie and One of Us Is Lying comes a thriller about a boy who turns up dead under suspicious circumstances and the one girl who may be the key to solving the mystery of his untimely death.
For Ivy, summer means roller-coaster season, spinning cotton candy at the Fabuland amusement park, and hanging out with her best friend, Morgan. But this summer is different.
One morning, Morgan finds a dead body. It's their former classmate Ethan, who was alive and working at Fabuland only the day before. To make matters worse, Morgan is taken to a hospital psych ward only days later, and she's not saying much--not even to Ivy.
The police claim that Ethan simply took a bad fall, but Ivy isn't convinced and realizes it's up to her to get answers. What she finds is unsettling--it's clear that some people aren't being honest about Ethan's last night at Fabuland. Including Morgan. And the more secrets Ivy uncovers, the closer she gets to unraveling dark truths that will change her life forever.
"A dark and timely thriller."-Amelia Brunskill, author of The Window
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2020
90 people are currently reading
5341 people want to read
About the author
Emily Arsenault
12 books403 followersI haven’t had a terribly interesting life, so I won’t share too many details. But the highlights include:
• When I was a preschooler and a kindergartner, I had a lazy eye and I was Connecticut’s “Miss Prevent Blindness,” appearing on pamphlets and television urging parents to get their kids’ eyes checked. I wore an eye patch and clutched a blonde doll wearing a similar patch. I imagine it was all rather maudlin, but at the time I wouldn’t have known that word.
• I wrote my first novel when I was in fifth grade. It was over a hundred pages and took me the whole school year to write. (It was about five girls at a summer camp. I’d never been to a summer camp, but had always wanted to attend one.) When I was all finished, I turned back to the first page, eager to read it all from the beginning. I was horrified at how bad it was.
• At age thirteen, I got to go to a real sleepaway camp. It was nothing like the book I had written.
• I studied philosophy in college. So did my husband. We met in a Hegel class, which is awfully romantic.
• I worked as an editorial assistant at Merriam-Webster from 1998-2002, and got to help write definitions for their dictionaries.
• My husband and I served in the Peace Corps together, working in rural South Africa. I miss Losasaneng, miss many of the people we met there, and dream about it often.
• I am now working on my third novel. It is tentatively titled Just Someone I Used to Know, named after and old song Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton used to sing together.
• When I was a preschooler and a kindergartner, I had a lazy eye and I was Connecticut’s “Miss Prevent Blindness,” appearing on pamphlets and television urging parents to get their kids’ eyes checked. I wore an eye patch and clutched a blonde doll wearing a similar patch. I imagine it was all rather maudlin, but at the time I wouldn’t have known that word.
• I wrote my first novel when I was in fifth grade. It was over a hundred pages and took me the whole school year to write. (It was about five girls at a summer camp. I’d never been to a summer camp, but had always wanted to attend one.) When I was all finished, I turned back to the first page, eager to read it all from the beginning. I was horrified at how bad it was.
• At age thirteen, I got to go to a real sleepaway camp. It was nothing like the book I had written.
• I studied philosophy in college. So did my husband. We met in a Hegel class, which is awfully romantic.
• I worked as an editorial assistant at Merriam-Webster from 1998-2002, and got to help write definitions for their dictionaries.
• My husband and I served in the Peace Corps together, working in rural South Africa. I miss Losasaneng, miss many of the people we met there, and dream about it often.
• I am now working on my third novel. It is tentatively titled Just Someone I Used to Know, named after and old song Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton used to sing together.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews
November 24, 2020
Well, I want to name my reads with Bryan Adams’ “So far so good”album but unfortunately I name them with my favorite U2 song and “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”
This book seemed like a promising mystery. One young boy, Ethan who is also staff member, suffering from Down Syndrome found dead at an amusement park by his coworker Morgan.
After the incident, Ivy, our heroine, daughter of park’s owner, returns back from her holiday at NC and she finds out her friend climbed and hid herself at one of the rides, psychologically in bad shape, telling Ivy some mysterious words made us thing there is something supernatural about Ethan’s dying. Then they took her to the psychiatric ward.
So I start to think something so big, twisty, shocking will come out about Ethan’s death. Aliens? Serial killers? A cult? Wow amusement park massacre! Or Ethan’s soul will come back and haunt the people at the park!!! So the story turned into Haunting at Hill Amusement Park kind of horrific and bleak combination.
Nope! No! Nada! It cannot be! Because we’re tricked! There is no big mystery or something spooky about this story!
We may understand who is the bad guy from the third chapter. He’s carrying a big shiny signboard above his head pointing at him! I feel like Billie Eilish’s “ Bad Guy” starts playing in my head at each page the guy appears. Duh!
And Ivy playing Nancy Drew, taking so much responsibility for her age, co-manages park at the same time, interrogating everyone about the mystery ( okay there’s no freaking mystery, let’s call it just “mys”: something trying to be creepy but answer is written in front of us! Actually it screams us from the first pages! Saying Hello! Please see me idiot! ) and everyone giving her spooky, weird answers, trying to do their best to be seen cool and more enigmatic! Come on guys please grow the hell up!
So yes, so called twisty revelation comes at the end.
So a group of underage kids act mysterious, talk in riddles and Ivy acts like she is Sheryl Holmes and so obvious, predictable bad guy (Oh boy, JERK word is already imprinted to his forehead and you still call it a big revelation!!) is caught. Yayyyy!!! The book finally finished! I couldn’t be so glad because my throat is so sore for screaming at Ivy: “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
So I gave my two stars and wanted to forget everything about this book!
Let’s move to the other one!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s - Delacorte Press for sharing this Arc copy in exchange my honest review. I wish I liked it more and could write a praising review.
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This book seemed like a promising mystery. One young boy, Ethan who is also staff member, suffering from Down Syndrome found dead at an amusement park by his coworker Morgan.
After the incident, Ivy, our heroine, daughter of park’s owner, returns back from her holiday at NC and she finds out her friend climbed and hid herself at one of the rides, psychologically in bad shape, telling Ivy some mysterious words made us thing there is something supernatural about Ethan’s dying. Then they took her to the psychiatric ward.
So I start to think something so big, twisty, shocking will come out about Ethan’s death. Aliens? Serial killers? A cult? Wow amusement park massacre! Or Ethan’s soul will come back and haunt the people at the park!!! So the story turned into Haunting at Hill Amusement Park kind of horrific and bleak combination.
Nope! No! Nada! It cannot be! Because we’re tricked! There is no big mystery or something spooky about this story!
We may understand who is the bad guy from the third chapter. He’s carrying a big shiny signboard above his head pointing at him! I feel like Billie Eilish’s “ Bad Guy” starts playing in my head at each page the guy appears. Duh!
And Ivy playing Nancy Drew, taking so much responsibility for her age, co-manages park at the same time, interrogating everyone about the mystery ( okay there’s no freaking mystery, let’s call it just “mys”: something trying to be creepy but answer is written in front of us! Actually it screams us from the first pages! Saying Hello! Please see me idiot! ) and everyone giving her spooky, weird answers, trying to do their best to be seen cool and more enigmatic! Come on guys please grow the hell up!
So yes, so called twisty revelation comes at the end.
So a group of underage kids act mysterious, talk in riddles and Ivy acts like she is Sheryl Holmes and so obvious, predictable bad guy (Oh boy, JERK word is already imprinted to his forehead and you still call it a big revelation!!) is caught. Yayyyy!!! The book finally finished! I couldn’t be so glad because my throat is so sore for screaming at Ivy: “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
So I gave my two stars and wanted to forget everything about this book!
Let’s move to the other one!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s - Delacorte Press for sharing this Arc copy in exchange my honest review. I wish I liked it more and could write a praising review.
blog
June 14, 2022
I'll admit, going into All the Pretty Things, I had reservations. There's a lot of mixed reviews and I wasn't quite sure what to expect for my own reading experience.
Unfortunately, it wasn't great, although I've had worse.
First off, the synopsis describes this book as an all new thriller about a boy who turns up dead under suspicious circumstances.
So, obviously, with that description in mind, I am expecting a Thriller or Mystery.
I would not classify this as a Thriller, nor a Mystery, and the death of the boy, which wasn't even the most significant part of the plot, in my opinion, didn't seem that suspicious.
Certainly not so much so, that a girl not even involved in the incident, would make it her life's mission to investigate.
Okay, I think I am getting too far ahead of myself. Let's go back.
High Schooler, Ivy, spends her summers working at her Dad's amusement park, Fabuland, in rural New Hampshire.
She mainly makes cotton candy, but sometimes helps out with other positions. It's her home away from home, as dramatic as it can sometimes be.
After a quick trip to visit relatives with her Mom, she returns to find the park in utter chaos.
While she was away, one of the park's employees, Ethan, died. Her best friend, Morgan, was the unfortunate one to have discovered his body.
Morgan, understandably distraught, gets drunk and climbs to the top of the ferris wheel, where she refuses to come down. Authorities, fearing she may try to take her own life, contact Ivy and have her go to the top of the wheel to talk Morgan down.
Plausible?
Morgan promptly gets sent to a psychiatric ward, where she refuses to speak further about the causes for her distress.
Ivy then begins an investigation into the death of Ethan.
There were some moments of interest for me within this story. I wouldn't necessarily say this was a bad book, it's not. For me, it just seemed poorly planned out; like it couldn't decide what kind of story it was trying to be.
This is really, if you look at the actual biggest issue in the book, which I would not say is the death of poor Ethan, a hard-hitting YA Contemporary. Why it would try to be spun as a Murder Mystery is beyond me.
The more I think about it, the more I am turned off by the whole thing.
There were some fairly serious issues touched upon in this book, disturbing issues that weren't examined after the fact and in my opinion, not handled well.
Yeah, that's really all I have to say. Sorry I can't provide more clarification. I certainly do not want to spoil anything for people who want to pick this one up.
Let me be clear, just because this book wasn't for me, I know there are readers out there that will enjoy this a lot. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
Although this wasn't necessarily the story for me, I still greatly appreciate the opportunity!
Unfortunately, it wasn't great, although I've had worse.
First off, the synopsis describes this book as an all new thriller about a boy who turns up dead under suspicious circumstances.
So, obviously, with that description in mind, I am expecting a Thriller or Mystery.
I would not classify this as a Thriller, nor a Mystery, and the death of the boy, which wasn't even the most significant part of the plot, in my opinion, didn't seem that suspicious.
Certainly not so much so, that a girl not even involved in the incident, would make it her life's mission to investigate.
Okay, I think I am getting too far ahead of myself. Let's go back.
High Schooler, Ivy, spends her summers working at her Dad's amusement park, Fabuland, in rural New Hampshire.
She mainly makes cotton candy, but sometimes helps out with other positions. It's her home away from home, as dramatic as it can sometimes be.
After a quick trip to visit relatives with her Mom, she returns to find the park in utter chaos.
While she was away, one of the park's employees, Ethan, died. Her best friend, Morgan, was the unfortunate one to have discovered his body.
Morgan, understandably distraught, gets drunk and climbs to the top of the ferris wheel, where she refuses to come down. Authorities, fearing she may try to take her own life, contact Ivy and have her go to the top of the wheel to talk Morgan down.
Plausible?
Morgan promptly gets sent to a psychiatric ward, where she refuses to speak further about the causes for her distress.
Ivy then begins an investigation into the death of Ethan.
There were some moments of interest for me within this story. I wouldn't necessarily say this was a bad book, it's not. For me, it just seemed poorly planned out; like it couldn't decide what kind of story it was trying to be.
This is really, if you look at the actual biggest issue in the book, which I would not say is the death of poor Ethan, a hard-hitting YA Contemporary. Why it would try to be spun as a Murder Mystery is beyond me.
The more I think about it, the more I am turned off by the whole thing.
There were some fairly serious issues touched upon in this book, disturbing issues that weren't examined after the fact and in my opinion, not handled well.
Yeah, that's really all I have to say. Sorry I can't provide more clarification. I certainly do not want to spoil anything for people who want to pick this one up.
Let me be clear, just because this book wasn't for me, I know there are readers out there that will enjoy this a lot. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
Although this wasn't necessarily the story for me, I still greatly appreciate the opportunity!
February 21, 2020
Well this is tough, because I loved the premise behind All the Pretty Things and it had some truly creepy moments, but the whodunnit is quite obvious from the early stages of the story. That, coupled with the stilted dialogue and dads who say "Ummm...?!" at the beginning of every sentence truly wore me down. I'm not the target audience for this book, so perhaps this is what the teens are into these days, and if it sounds interesting to you then I recommend trying this one out for yourself.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.
March 16, 2020
Actual Rating - 2.5 Stars
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Random House Children’s, via Netgalley for an honest review.
Wow.
I mean…
…
…what the actual f**k?
There were about a dozen different ways I saw this story going, but the way it DID go?
Wow.
This lovely little tale is told by Ivy, the daughter of the owner of the Fabuland amusement park. After her grandparents had successfully opened multiple chains of their popular doughnut shop, her father decided to think bigger and purchased Fabuland. Now Ivy works every summer at the park in the cotton candy booth, surrounded by smells of fried food and the screams of terrified and joyous park-goers zipping by on roller coasters. It is usually always a summer to remember, and this summer is no different. While out of town with her mother, Ivy gets a call that a well-known young man and Fabuland employee, Ethan, had been found dead. The police suspect that he had fallen off the train trestle in a nearby park on his walk home, but when Ivy’s best friend Morgan alludes that something more shocking may have happened, Ivy begins digging for answers.
[image error]
Who doesn’t love an amusement park and a little murder, right? The smell of freshly popped kettle corn, fried dough, and colorful cotton candy mixed with elated screaming from a roller-coaster drowning out the real screams of someone being killed?!
*Drip. Drip. Drip.*
Is that rain I feel coming down?!
Nope! It’s the blood draining from a body!
No.
…
That’s not how this story goes at all.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re scared of the wrong things.”
All the Pretty Things was NOTHING like I expected. Even more than halfway through the book I was assuming it was going to turn out one way, and then it veered off the tracks and plummeted into a crowd of chaos and epicly wretched confessions. I wasn’t blindsided per se, I was just…left completely speechless. But even after I sat there in my super uncomfortable chair with my mouth a little agape from shock, and slightly hinged to the side from disgust, I knew I was going to have trouble expressing my feelings on this one.
*Sigh*
Here goes.
Ivy is seventeen. She seems chill, seems responsible, and seems patient as hell with a dad like that. But that’s pretty much all I know about her. Yeah, no s**t. That’s about it. Sure, I knew her parents were divorced, and that her brother didn’t come back from college that summer to work at Fabuland, like he normally did. And okay yes, I also knew her best friend Morgan was the one who found Ethan’s body in the park (YUH–IKES). But apart from that, the girl really doesn’t have much of a personality or any scheme of emotions other than blasé and MORE BLASÉ.
I’m almost offended on Kristen Stewart’s behalf for me even putting this Kristen Stewart gif in here, as if I’m assuming Kristen Stewart has no personality.
…
Which I’m not…
I just really needed a gif of a girl in a carnival.
But the point is this: Ivy is a little bit dull, and honestly, it’s okay that she is for most of the book. But by the time that shocking ending came around, I NEEDED the girl to give me SOMETHING! But instead, she had BARELY. ANY. REACTION. to what had just happened. All I got was a little bit of shocked realization, her going to get closure from a friend, and a confirmation of some past childhood memories from her even more under-developed mother. Suffice it to say, the characters in this book are about as interesting as cardboard. They are developed just enough to be passable in a story, but you never make a connection to anyone or end up caring about their well-being. There’s no substance, no feeling and no emotion.
But what I really need to talk about, is Ivy’s father.
“I always knew you wanted to stay small.
Just a small person, I guess.”
The guy is a jackass and had me cringing five pages in. He is written in such an awkward way that doesn’t seem at all intentional, and every time he had a “scene” my face smooshed itself up into this formation of disgust, annoyance and perma-confusion. It was like the author was trying to make him cool and witty, but was failing miserably at it. He’s just that type of person that has so many personalities but can’t seem to pick one to run with. And I kid you not, the entire page of notes I have written for this book is all about her dad and my feelings on him from beginning till end, and that’s all!
Here, let me show you:
Ivy’s dad is legit f***ing creepy and disgusting.
He just drooled over a twenty-year-olds ass…nice.
He is super annoying and all over the place.
He legit just called his employee a dumbass. Twice.
So. Much. Crude. S**t.
Okay this guys is seriously so f***ing creepy, I can’t stand him.
What an asshat.
His offhand comments are so random and weird, it makes me super uncomfortable.
IS THIS GUY EVEN A PERSON?!?
Oh.
Look. I know this review probably doesn’t make a lick of sense to you, but don’t worry. I don’t even know what I just read. Which is upsetting, because it’s not like this is a horrible book by any means. It was just…strange. The characters felt thrown together, the premise was not even the actual premise because it was just a cloak and dagger show for what the real premise was, and the ending didn’t give me enough clarity or leave me feeling like it was securely tied up. I think the only thing that saved this book for me was that it was set in an amusement park, and I was so curious to figure out how Ethan died.
But at least there were some good quotes.
“It had been here from this perspective the whole time – creaking away in the background, behind all the good-natured screaming. I’d always heard it, humming along in the distance, day in and day out.
I was just afraid to open my eyes and look.”
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Random House Children’s, via Netgalley for an honest review.
Wow.
I mean…
…
…what the actual f**k?
There were about a dozen different ways I saw this story going, but the way it DID go?
Wow.
This lovely little tale is told by Ivy, the daughter of the owner of the Fabuland amusement park. After her grandparents had successfully opened multiple chains of their popular doughnut shop, her father decided to think bigger and purchased Fabuland. Now Ivy works every summer at the park in the cotton candy booth, surrounded by smells of fried food and the screams of terrified and joyous park-goers zipping by on roller coasters. It is usually always a summer to remember, and this summer is no different. While out of town with her mother, Ivy gets a call that a well-known young man and Fabuland employee, Ethan, had been found dead. The police suspect that he had fallen off the train trestle in a nearby park on his walk home, but when Ivy’s best friend Morgan alludes that something more shocking may have happened, Ivy begins digging for answers.
[image error]
Who doesn’t love an amusement park and a little murder, right? The smell of freshly popped kettle corn, fried dough, and colorful cotton candy mixed with elated screaming from a roller-coaster drowning out the real screams of someone being killed?!
*Drip. Drip. Drip.*
Is that rain I feel coming down?!
Nope! It’s the blood draining from a body!
No.
…
That’s not how this story goes at all.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re scared of the wrong things.”
All the Pretty Things was NOTHING like I expected. Even more than halfway through the book I was assuming it was going to turn out one way, and then it veered off the tracks and plummeted into a crowd of chaos and epicly wretched confessions. I wasn’t blindsided per se, I was just…left completely speechless. But even after I sat there in my super uncomfortable chair with my mouth a little agape from shock, and slightly hinged to the side from disgust, I knew I was going to have trouble expressing my feelings on this one.
*Sigh*
Here goes.
Ivy is seventeen. She seems chill, seems responsible, and seems patient as hell with a dad like that. But that’s pretty much all I know about her. Yeah, no s**t. That’s about it. Sure, I knew her parents were divorced, and that her brother didn’t come back from college that summer to work at Fabuland, like he normally did. And okay yes, I also knew her best friend Morgan was the one who found Ethan’s body in the park (YUH–IKES). But apart from that, the girl really doesn’t have much of a personality or any scheme of emotions other than blasé and MORE BLASÉ.
I’m almost offended on Kristen Stewart’s behalf for me even putting this Kristen Stewart gif in here, as if I’m assuming Kristen Stewart has no personality.
…
Which I’m not…
I just really needed a gif of a girl in a carnival.
But the point is this: Ivy is a little bit dull, and honestly, it’s okay that she is for most of the book. But by the time that shocking ending came around, I NEEDED the girl to give me SOMETHING! But instead, she had BARELY. ANY. REACTION. to what had just happened. All I got was a little bit of shocked realization, her going to get closure from a friend, and a confirmation of some past childhood memories from her even more under-developed mother. Suffice it to say, the characters in this book are about as interesting as cardboard. They are developed just enough to be passable in a story, but you never make a connection to anyone or end up caring about their well-being. There’s no substance, no feeling and no emotion.
But what I really need to talk about, is Ivy’s father.
“I always knew you wanted to stay small.
Just a small person, I guess.”
The guy is a jackass and had me cringing five pages in. He is written in such an awkward way that doesn’t seem at all intentional, and every time he had a “scene” my face smooshed itself up into this formation of disgust, annoyance and perma-confusion. It was like the author was trying to make him cool and witty, but was failing miserably at it. He’s just that type of person that has so many personalities but can’t seem to pick one to run with. And I kid you not, the entire page of notes I have written for this book is all about her dad and my feelings on him from beginning till end, and that’s all!
Here, let me show you:
Ivy’s dad is legit f***ing creepy and disgusting.
He just drooled over a twenty-year-olds ass…nice.
He is super annoying and all over the place.
He legit just called his employee a dumbass. Twice.
So. Much. Crude. S**t.
Okay this guys is seriously so f***ing creepy, I can’t stand him.
What an asshat.
His offhand comments are so random and weird, it makes me super uncomfortable.
IS THIS GUY EVEN A PERSON?!?
Oh.
Look. I know this review probably doesn’t make a lick of sense to you, but don’t worry. I don’t even know what I just read. Which is upsetting, because it’s not like this is a horrible book by any means. It was just…strange. The characters felt thrown together, the premise was not even the actual premise because it was just a cloak and dagger show for what the real premise was, and the ending didn’t give me enough clarity or leave me feeling like it was securely tied up. I think the only thing that saved this book for me was that it was set in an amusement park, and I was so curious to figure out how Ethan died.
But at least there were some good quotes.
“It had been here from this perspective the whole time – creaking away in the background, behind all the good-natured screaming. I’d always heard it, humming along in the distance, day in and day out.
I was just afraid to open my eyes and look.”
February 23, 2020
This one is a bit of a slow burn, for fans of "slice of life" YA contemporary who like messy characters and bits of suspense. I was drawn in initially by the "set at a small town amusement park" angle, which indeed is the book's strong suit. Fabuland felt so real, and I love all the weird quirks of the world.
Even though it starts off with a death of one of the park's employees, the book isn't a typical "someone died and I must investigate!" thriller because Ivy's drive is to get to the bottom of things on behalf of her friend Morgan, who found the body but is out of commission, mental health wise, for most of the book. That plus the entanglement of Ivy's dad owning the amusement park and that conflict of interest (daughter of owner snooping around colored a lot of her interactions), gave the first half an oblique, slow burn quality. Ultimately this isn't a thriller that's a straight-forward whodunit. It's more of a "how messed up are all these relationships and what is everyone hiding" book.
Once the book got going and all the threads started coming together, I was all-in. I loved all the complicated emotional entanglements, and even though Ivy was frustrating at times in how passive she was, her emotional arc felt organic and was fascinating. That said, LORD, was Ivy passive sometimes! It was all in the service of character, but there were moments where she just rolled over and took people's abuse. I was definitely on her side in those scenes, and wanted to see her stand up for herself, but she didn't. Her character arc ultimately feels earned, though I do think she'll frustrate some readers.
Even though it starts off with a death of one of the park's employees, the book isn't a typical "someone died and I must investigate!" thriller because Ivy's drive is to get to the bottom of things on behalf of her friend Morgan, who found the body but is out of commission, mental health wise, for most of the book. That plus the entanglement of Ivy's dad owning the amusement park and that conflict of interest (daughter of owner snooping around colored a lot of her interactions), gave the first half an oblique, slow burn quality. Ultimately this isn't a thriller that's a straight-forward whodunit. It's more of a "how messed up are all these relationships and what is everyone hiding" book.
Once the book got going and all the threads started coming together, I was all-in. I loved all the complicated emotional entanglements, and even though Ivy was frustrating at times in how passive she was, her emotional arc felt organic and was fascinating. That said, LORD, was Ivy passive sometimes! It was all in the service of character, but there were moments where she just rolled over and took people's abuse. I was definitely on her side in those scenes, and wanted to see her stand up for herself, but she didn't. Her character arc ultimately feels earned, though I do think she'll frustrate some readers.
January 24, 2020
Ivy comes back from vacation to find her small town in turmoil. An acquaintance and fellow Fabuland co-worker has died, and Ivy's best friend, Morgan, had the misfortune of finding his body. Even worse, Morgan has barricaded herself on one of Fabuland's rides after hours, and is refusing to get down.
It's up to Ivy to get Morgan down from the ride, and then solve the mystery of what really happened to their co-worker, Ethan.
The atmosphere in this mystery is exactly right. Fabuland (which happens to be owned by Ivy's father) is sparkly and filled with families during the day, but beyond the surface feels creepy as heck. Her own family also feels unstable, with Ivy's parents divorced and her brother staying far away during his first college summer. Ivy pinballs between her parents' houses, clutching memories of happier times.
Digging through the events leading to Ethan's death means interviewing co-workers and acquaintances, and even getting her long-distance brother involved. Ivy's psyche as she works her way through what happened is fascinating. I only wish the novel kept going - but hey, I'd be happy with a sequel!
It's up to Ivy to get Morgan down from the ride, and then solve the mystery of what really happened to their co-worker, Ethan.
The atmosphere in this mystery is exactly right. Fabuland (which happens to be owned by Ivy's father) is sparkly and filled with families during the day, but beyond the surface feels creepy as heck. Her own family also feels unstable, with Ivy's parents divorced and her brother staying far away during his first college summer. Ivy pinballs between her parents' houses, clutching memories of happier times.
Digging through the events leading to Ethan's death means interviewing co-workers and acquaintances, and even getting her long-distance brother involved. Ivy's psyche as she works her way through what happened is fascinating. I only wish the novel kept going - but hey, I'd be happy with a sequel!
October 18, 2020
A whole lot of yikes.
This was incredibly predictable, even with the attempted two 'mystery' storylines, and so uninteresting - I only finished this book because I was reading it through audio on 2x speed and I apprently like to waste my time.
Our lead character Ivy has no depth, along with every other person we encounter. Also, I always find it hard to believe when a female doesn't have at least some kind of intuition surrounding potential sexual/abusive tendencies in someone around them (attempting to be vague for spoilers for some reason) because in my experience the majority of us are hyperaware and always at least a little suspicious when something seems off.
This was incredibly predictable, even with the attempted two 'mystery' storylines, and so uninteresting - I only finished this book because I was reading it through audio on 2x speed and I apprently like to waste my time.
Our lead character Ivy has no depth, along with every other person we encounter. Also, I always find it hard to believe when a female doesn't have at least some kind of intuition surrounding potential sexual/abusive tendencies in someone around them (attempting to be vague for spoilers for some reason) because in my experience the majority of us are hyperaware and always at least a little suspicious when something seems off.
February 18, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of
All The Pretty Things.
I was intrigued by the premise (and the cover! Can I say how much I love this cover?) and excited when my request was approved.
But, then my excitement waned.
This isn't so much a thriller than it is about a young woman struggling to come to terms with the harsh realities of her life and family.
* Minor spoilers ahead *
When a young, mentally disabled man who works at her dad's amusement park is found dead, Ivy plays Columbo and tries to find out what happened.
To make matters worse, her BFF Morgan, was the one who discovered her body.
As Ivy interviews the staff and classmates, she doesn't realize she is on the road to discovering painful truths about her own family, and what that may cost her.
Ivy as a character was okay, though she was only 17, at times, her thoughts and actions were painfully immature, or maybe I'm officially too old for YA books.
The writing was fine, but the story was uneven, disjointed, as if the author wasn't sure what she was trying to say.
Is she referring to #MeToo when she brings up sexual harassment and predatory behavior in the workplace?
Is the book about domestic drama and family relations, in that we see only what we want to see?
The fact that Ivy's dad was a major skeez was hard to stomach, but perhaps that was the author's intention, to demonstrate how we turn a blind eye to so many things, especially when it concerns those closest to us.
I was hoping for a mystery to solve, a suspenseful story, or spooky, and though there are dark themes here including sexual violence, All the Pretty Things wasn't for me.
I was intrigued by the premise (and the cover! Can I say how much I love this cover?) and excited when my request was approved.
But, then my excitement waned.
This isn't so much a thriller than it is about a young woman struggling to come to terms with the harsh realities of her life and family.
* Minor spoilers ahead *
When a young, mentally disabled man who works at her dad's amusement park is found dead, Ivy plays Columbo and tries to find out what happened.
To make matters worse, her BFF Morgan, was the one who discovered her body.
As Ivy interviews the staff and classmates, she doesn't realize she is on the road to discovering painful truths about her own family, and what that may cost her.
Ivy as a character was okay, though she was only 17, at times, her thoughts and actions were painfully immature, or maybe I'm officially too old for YA books.
The writing was fine, but the story was uneven, disjointed, as if the author wasn't sure what she was trying to say.
Is she referring to #MeToo when she brings up sexual harassment and predatory behavior in the workplace?
Is the book about domestic drama and family relations, in that we see only what we want to see?
The fact that Ivy's dad was a major skeez was hard to stomach, but perhaps that was the author's intention, to demonstrate how we turn a blind eye to so many things, especially when it concerns those closest to us.
I was hoping for a mystery to solve, a suspenseful story, or spooky, and though there are dark themes here including sexual violence, All the Pretty Things wasn't for me.
March 6, 2020
I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Random House/Delacorte Press. Ivy has always been the boss’s daughter, first at her father’s doughnut chain, and now at Fabuland, an amusement park full of roller coasters, cotton candy, and princess parades. Everything changes one summer when her best friend, Morgan, discovers a body and ends up in the psych ward the next day. Everyone is convinced that Ethan fell from the bridge on his way home from Fabuland, but Morgan and Ivy aren’t so sure. Ivy is convinced that finding answers will help her friend, but the more she learns about Ethan’s last night at Fabuland, the more she realizes that everyone has secrets, and most things are secret for a reason. Trigger warnings: death, suicide attempt, severe illness, sexual assault, physical/emotional abuse, slut-shaming, mental illness, trauma, grief.
I don’t like to give low ratings to books, but this doesn’t have a lot going for it. I’m not even sure All The Pretty Things should be marketed as a YA thriller, since it lacks anything in the way of thrills, and there’s very little mystery to be had. Most of the plot consists of Ivy walking around and talking to people, and the progress of her amateur investigation is glacial. (Never once does she think, “Maybe I should go to the police with this information.”) It’s also obvious pretty early on that there’s only one person with the motivation to commit a murder or cover one up, which takes all the punch out of the ending. What the book really does, rather than create a compelling murder mystery (if there’s even been a murder, which isn’t clear), is strip away the sugar-coating of Ivy’s life and force her to see the more gritty, adult world in which she actually lives. Sadly, that life is not particularly noteworthy. Everyone has secrets, and none of them are interesting.
Ivy’s character development is fair. Over the course of the novel, she realizes that, like a child, she’s been willfully ignorant of some pretty important things, and she takes steps to change that. As a character, we don’t know her that well outside her role as “the boss’s daughter”. (Though she despairs that people think of her that way, there just isn’t much else.) She’s her dad’s Girl Friday, and she overlooks most of his bad behavior. I’m trying to think of a word for Mr. Cork that’s less strong than “abhorrent”, but nothing comes to mind. In short, he’s a creep, and it’s clear from the beginning that you wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him if you were a girl. Though Ivy insists that he makes things fun and larger than life, I was never able to see it. He’s an abuser with no sense of boundaries. And that’s pretty much it for main characters. I’m a sucker for carnival/amusement park settings, but even that couldn’t save it.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
I don’t like to give low ratings to books, but this doesn’t have a lot going for it. I’m not even sure All The Pretty Things should be marketed as a YA thriller, since it lacks anything in the way of thrills, and there’s very little mystery to be had. Most of the plot consists of Ivy walking around and talking to people, and the progress of her amateur investigation is glacial. (Never once does she think, “Maybe I should go to the police with this information.”) It’s also obvious pretty early on that there’s only one person with the motivation to commit a murder or cover one up, which takes all the punch out of the ending. What the book really does, rather than create a compelling murder mystery (if there’s even been a murder, which isn’t clear), is strip away the sugar-coating of Ivy’s life and force her to see the more gritty, adult world in which she actually lives. Sadly, that life is not particularly noteworthy. Everyone has secrets, and none of them are interesting.
Ivy’s character development is fair. Over the course of the novel, she realizes that, like a child, she’s been willfully ignorant of some pretty important things, and she takes steps to change that. As a character, we don’t know her that well outside her role as “the boss’s daughter”. (Though she despairs that people think of her that way, there just isn’t much else.) She’s her dad’s Girl Friday, and she overlooks most of his bad behavior. I’m trying to think of a word for Mr. Cork that’s less strong than “abhorrent”, but nothing comes to mind. In short, he’s a creep, and it’s clear from the beginning that you wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him if you were a girl. Though Ivy insists that he makes things fun and larger than life, I was never able to see it. He’s an abuser with no sense of boundaries. And that’s pretty much it for main characters. I’m a sucker for carnival/amusement park settings, but even that couldn’t save it.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
March 23, 2020
***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of ALL THE PRETTY THINGS by Emily Arsenault in exchange for my honest review.***
When Ivy’s best friend Morgan finds the body of a special needs young man, the teen ends up in a psych hospital leaving Ivy a cryptic message about Ethan’s death. Ivy, determined to help her friend and solve the mystery, questions her coworkers at Fabuland, the her father’s amusement park.
Ivy is a good kid, hard working, dedicated to her father, loyal to her friends. She’s more adult than her father, who’s a bit of a sexist pig and makes comments like, “it looks like tits, but not in a bad way.” Ivy knows how inappropriate her dad behaves, but I don’t think she truly understands the hows and whys and the impact of such behavior on others. As good a friend as she is to Morgan, Ivy doesn’t always appreciate the impact she has on others, particularly when she’s startled with information later in the story.
I had an inkling where ALL THE PRETTY THINGS was headed, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of this important, topical story. I also had questions as to why Ivy didn’t communicate with her mom more and why her mother, knowing what she did, didn’t check in with Ivy more often. They had a good relationship.
You can’t go wrong with a mystery set in an amusement. ALL THE PRETTY THINGS is a book I will reread.
When Ivy’s best friend Morgan finds the body of a special needs young man, the teen ends up in a psych hospital leaving Ivy a cryptic message about Ethan’s death. Ivy, determined to help her friend and solve the mystery, questions her coworkers at Fabuland, the her father’s amusement park.
Ivy is a good kid, hard working, dedicated to her father, loyal to her friends. She’s more adult than her father, who’s a bit of a sexist pig and makes comments like, “it looks like tits, but not in a bad way.” Ivy knows how inappropriate her dad behaves, but I don’t think she truly understands the hows and whys and the impact of such behavior on others. As good a friend as she is to Morgan, Ivy doesn’t always appreciate the impact she has on others, particularly when she’s startled with information later in the story.
I had an inkling where ALL THE PRETTY THINGS was headed, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of this important, topical story. I also had questions as to why Ivy didn’t communicate with her mom more and why her mother, knowing what she did, didn’t check in with Ivy more often. They had a good relationship.
You can’t go wrong with a mystery set in an amusement. ALL THE PRETTY THINGS is a book I will reread.
June 7, 2020
ALL THE PRETTY THINGS tries to be this intense mystery, like it shows in the blurb. But it really does fall flat. The build-up to the big reveal is rather lackluster. Instead of tension it provides uncomfortable awkwardness as Ivy tries to find answers in all the wrong, and obtuse, ways. And the secondary plotline isn’t surprising, leaving me going ‘duh’ at the end of the book. And being generally skeeved out on behalf of Morgan.
Ivy comes across as rather wooden and lacking her own personality. Thing is, she doesn’t much develop one by the end of the book. In fact, I don’t see her having gone through much of a character arc at all. The big reveal for her came at the very end, not allowing her to really adjust to the information. While I don’t begrudge her the time it took for her to come to a very hard conclusion (I’m trying not to spoil here, it’s not easy), I feel like if she had to grapple with that over the course of the book it would have given her something to adjust to. As it was, the overall mystery definitely didn’t provide that, so Ivy flatlined throughout the course of the book.
As for the main mystery, it wasn’t much of a mystery. The big reveal on that was rather ‘. . . oh.’ It’s sad, but it’s not much of a mystery. It’s actually only a mystery because Ivy forced the issue and really hurt people in the process. And her only reprimand for doing that, over and over again, was her being cowed, hiding behind her hair, and teeing up to do it all over again. So she learned nothing and just kept intruding in peoples’ lives to the point of it being difficult and awkward to read. It was uncomfortable, and not in a ‘getting out of my own comfort zone’ kind of way. Ivy was just an intrusive character who didn’t know when to cut it tf out.
The only thing that kept me reading was wanting to find out why Morgan was pushing Ivy away. I had it guessed somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2-way into the book and I ended up being right there. Blech. Can’t say I blame her. What I didn’t like was the way she coddled Ivy at the end. Maybe it’s just me. I’ve been in a very similar situation as Morgan and it brought up some uncomfortable feelings and while I’d like to think I could understand Ivy’s reluctance to accept what was going on, I certainly wouldn’t be like it’s okay, let me make you breakfast. No. But coddling Ivy is a regular thing throughout this book, not just by Morgan. It’s something Ivy recognizes and just kind of brushes off, as if the act of recognizing she gets special treatment is enough.
There’s just way more not going for ALL THE PRETTY THINGS than there is going for it. Setting something at an amusement park or a carnival is a total shoo-in for me. I’m a sucker for it. But even that came off lackluster in this story. There was just no heart here. At all. I would have much rather been in Morgan’s or Winnie’s head than Ivy’s. In the brief instances they were on the page they showed a ton more personality than Ivy did over the course of the entire book. And the thriller part wasn’t all that thrilling. Or shocking. It was just meh.
2
Ivy comes across as rather wooden and lacking her own personality. Thing is, she doesn’t much develop one by the end of the book. In fact, I don’t see her having gone through much of a character arc at all. The big reveal for her came at the very end, not allowing her to really adjust to the information. While I don’t begrudge her the time it took for her to come to a very hard conclusion (I’m trying not to spoil here, it’s not easy), I feel like if she had to grapple with that over the course of the book it would have given her something to adjust to. As it was, the overall mystery definitely didn’t provide that, so Ivy flatlined throughout the course of the book.
As for the main mystery, it wasn’t much of a mystery. The big reveal on that was rather ‘. . . oh.’ It’s sad, but it’s not much of a mystery. It’s actually only a mystery because Ivy forced the issue and really hurt people in the process. And her only reprimand for doing that, over and over again, was her being cowed, hiding behind her hair, and teeing up to do it all over again. So she learned nothing and just kept intruding in peoples’ lives to the point of it being difficult and awkward to read. It was uncomfortable, and not in a ‘getting out of my own comfort zone’ kind of way. Ivy was just an intrusive character who didn’t know when to cut it tf out.
The only thing that kept me reading was wanting to find out why Morgan was pushing Ivy away. I had it guessed somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2-way into the book and I ended up being right there. Blech. Can’t say I blame her. What I didn’t like was the way she coddled Ivy at the end. Maybe it’s just me. I’ve been in a very similar situation as Morgan and it brought up some uncomfortable feelings and while I’d like to think I could understand Ivy’s reluctance to accept what was going on, I certainly wouldn’t be like it’s okay, let me make you breakfast. No. But coddling Ivy is a regular thing throughout this book, not just by Morgan. It’s something Ivy recognizes and just kind of brushes off, as if the act of recognizing she gets special treatment is enough.
There’s just way more not going for ALL THE PRETTY THINGS than there is going for it. Setting something at an amusement park or a carnival is a total shoo-in for me. I’m a sucker for it. But even that came off lackluster in this story. There was just no heart here. At all. I would have much rather been in Morgan’s or Winnie’s head than Ivy’s. In the brief instances they were on the page they showed a ton more personality than Ivy did over the course of the entire book. And the thriller part wasn’t all that thrilling. Or shocking. It was just meh.
2
July 10, 2022
Mkay so does anyone remember the character off of The Amazing World of Gumball.... who was so... boring the world thought she was a mistake? They had to go find her where the universe kept things that should be forgotten... she always told super long over explained stories that made people want to be taken out by dodge balls? I literally can't even remember her name....... well I feel like she helped write this book. There's so many unneeded details for stuff that add nothing to the story. And it started with so much talking too. Idk I feel like it wouldn't have been so bad if it was edited better. I honestly wasn't really expecting the ending how it happened and I stayed up all night finishing it so I give it 3 stars. The MC dad was so cringe which I know is the point but it stopped me everytime he was being gross especially towards his own kid. I feel like it just needed some tweeking and editing and it could have been a lot better. The ideas were there just needed some help.
February 16, 2022
I stayed up far too late finishing this, which would seem to contradict my general feeling that I didn't like it as much as When All the Girls Are Sleeping. Rather than actively enjoying it, I feel like the book held me hostage, forcing me to see if my worst suspicions were fulfilled.
Spoiler Alert: they were.
Spoiler Alert: they were.
April 14, 2020
Hello!
It's a new week! I am losing track of my days a little bit but it is a new week and I am hoping for some exciting things this week. I am reading a lot of books right now and playing a lot of video games (mostly animal crossing but my husband and I just finished playing Horizon Zero Dawn the other night). I have also been watching a lot of television and movies (I watched Onward the weekend it hit Disney Plus with my husband, and I loved it, I also just finished watching Cheer on Netflix and I have no idea why I was sleeping on that one because I loved it). In the midst of intaking all of this stuff, I also picked up All the Pretty Things, I was really wanting a good mystery, thriller story and I felt unfulfilled after my last mystery/thriller read, so I was hoping this one would be what I was looking for.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Fabuland is a smalltown amusement park, where Ivy works in the summer to help her dad out (the owner of the park). Being the daughter of the owner can be a bit tough sometimes (like no one at the park really trusts you with secrets) but it's still a good life. Every summer Ivy spends one week with her mother at her grandparents house out of state (Ivy's parents are divorced however, they still live in the same town). While Ivy was away at her grandparent's house this summer some big stuff happened, first of all, her best friend Morgan (who also works at the park during the summer) found the dead body of Ethan (another park worker with special needs) on her walk to walk one morning. Then when Ivy is on her way home, she learns that her best friend Morgan is now missing. By the time Ivy arrives back in town, they have found Morgan but she is at the top of the Ferris wheel and refusing to come down. Once Morgan is down she is in the hospital, from there Ivy learns that there is so much more to Ethan's death than she heard while she way away. Ivy wants to help Morgan so she decides she is going to figure out what happened to Ethan on his last night at the park and on that walk home.
I loved this story! At first a was a little unsure, I had been burned so recently by another book that was supposed to be a mystery/thriller but definitely turned out not to be. It took me a minute to get into the plot, I honestly expected the plot to be Morgan missing but when it turned out to be Ethan's last night at the park and his walk home in combination with what happened while Ivy was away, I got very interested. I loved the twists and turns this story took and definitely did not foresee the ending coming at all. I highly recommend this book and I am giving this five stars on Goodreads.
**Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC
It's a new week! I am losing track of my days a little bit but it is a new week and I am hoping for some exciting things this week. I am reading a lot of books right now and playing a lot of video games (mostly animal crossing but my husband and I just finished playing Horizon Zero Dawn the other night). I have also been watching a lot of television and movies (I watched Onward the weekend it hit Disney Plus with my husband, and I loved it, I also just finished watching Cheer on Netflix and I have no idea why I was sleeping on that one because I loved it). In the midst of intaking all of this stuff, I also picked up All the Pretty Things, I was really wanting a good mystery, thriller story and I felt unfulfilled after my last mystery/thriller read, so I was hoping this one would be what I was looking for.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Fabuland is a smalltown amusement park, where Ivy works in the summer to help her dad out (the owner of the park). Being the daughter of the owner can be a bit tough sometimes (like no one at the park really trusts you with secrets) but it's still a good life. Every summer Ivy spends one week with her mother at her grandparents house out of state (Ivy's parents are divorced however, they still live in the same town). While Ivy was away at her grandparent's house this summer some big stuff happened, first of all, her best friend Morgan (who also works at the park during the summer) found the dead body of Ethan (another park worker with special needs) on her walk to walk one morning. Then when Ivy is on her way home, she learns that her best friend Morgan is now missing. By the time Ivy arrives back in town, they have found Morgan but she is at the top of the Ferris wheel and refusing to come down. Once Morgan is down she is in the hospital, from there Ivy learns that there is so much more to Ethan's death than she heard while she way away. Ivy wants to help Morgan so she decides she is going to figure out what happened to Ethan on his last night at the park and on that walk home.
I loved this story! At first a was a little unsure, I had been burned so recently by another book that was supposed to be a mystery/thriller but definitely turned out not to be. It took me a minute to get into the plot, I honestly expected the plot to be Morgan missing but when it turned out to be Ethan's last night at the park and his walk home in combination with what happened while Ivy was away, I got very interested. I loved the twists and turns this story took and definitely did not foresee the ending coming at all. I highly recommend this book and I am giving this five stars on Goodreads.
**Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC
March 1, 2020
I was really exited to read this. Unfortunately, it was another disappointing "thriller. It was pretty obvious just three chapters in that the dad was a creep. I still don't understand how the main character didn't notice or just pretended it wasn't a problem. She also seemed emotionless throughout the whole book and I don't get why, considering what her friend was going through. Nothing much happened and the writing felt really stilted and the dialogue was cringey.
December 28, 2020
Ignorance is bliss... Need I say more? All the pretty things aren’t always what they seem. Great plot and premise, average at best execution.
December 15, 2019
It seems I side with the majority in saying that this wasn't what it proclaimed to be. After reading the summary, the reader expects this to be a mystery set in an amusement park, and the story is that to a small degree. What the summary leaves out is everything else. How Ivy spends the whole book asking fellow amusement park workers questions regarding Ethan's death. How much time is dedicated to Ivy working at Fabuland and thinking. How there is never a mystery like the synopsis claims. The author attempted to build suspense with multiple characters speaking in riddles to Ivy, but the secrets fell flat upon their reveal.
The twist was easy to see from the first chapter since this character's words and actions screamed "look at me! i'm acting and talking inappropriate!" and so the reveal wasn't a reveal. The lack of suspense and mystery was instead filled with Ivy's train of thought and characters speaking in code to not reveal anything to Ivy.
The pros of this book were the amusement park setting, how it took place in New Hampshire, and Ivy's dedication to her best friend even though Morgan shut her out during the whole book.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.
The twist was easy to see from the first chapter since this character's words and actions screamed "look at me! i'm acting and talking inappropriate!" and so the reveal wasn't a reveal. The lack of suspense and mystery was instead filled with Ivy's train of thought and characters speaking in code to not reveal anything to Ivy.
The pros of this book were the amusement park setting, how it took place in New Hampshire, and Ivy's dedication to her best friend even though Morgan shut her out during the whole book.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.
May 2, 2020
Seriously, Goodreads, where are the half stars? I would rate this one 4.5 stars.
This book was not what I was expecting, but in the best possible way. There is a mystery, and yet it isn't the focal point of the novel despite the main character thinking it is for most of the book. In the end, though, Ivy comes to terms with something she has turned a blind eye on for far too long. The book also did not end like I was expecting, however the ambiguity of what happens after the book's pages end is more realistic than the way a lot of mystery novels play out. I really liked this. The setting, the characters, and most of all Ivy searching for truth without realizing what she will dig up. All the Pretty Things is realistic and haunting because of that.
*I received an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.*
This book was not what I was expecting, but in the best possible way. There is a mystery, and yet it isn't the focal point of the novel despite the main character thinking it is for most of the book. In the end, though, Ivy comes to terms with something she has turned a blind eye on for far too long. The book also did not end like I was expecting, however the ambiguity of what happens after the book's pages end is more realistic than the way a lot of mystery novels play out. I really liked this. The setting, the characters, and most of all Ivy searching for truth without realizing what she will dig up. All the Pretty Things is realistic and haunting because of that.
*I received an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.*
November 27, 2020
2 stars
As someone who has read Sadie and The Cheerleaders, seeing those two compared to All the Pretty Things is like comparing apples to apple seeds. Especially with a lackluster mystery AtPT has when it made it obvious who the culprit was.
Where this book fails is trying to make a 'whodunit' mystery. That is the biggest issue I and a lot of other people have with the overall book. All you have to do is read 20 pages and the culprit is already revealed. With that revealed, it makes reading the rest of the story feel somewhat redundant.
I will give it a few good points with how there are some creepy moments along with the setting taking place at a theme park.
Other than that, All the Pretty Things doesn't have much to go on.
As someone who has read Sadie and The Cheerleaders, seeing those two compared to All the Pretty Things is like comparing apples to apple seeds. Especially with a lackluster mystery AtPT has when it made it obvious who the culprit was.
Where this book fails is trying to make a 'whodunit' mystery. That is the biggest issue I and a lot of other people have with the overall book. All you have to do is read 20 pages and the culprit is already revealed. With that revealed, it makes reading the rest of the story feel somewhat redundant.
I will give it a few good points with how there are some creepy moments along with the setting taking place at a theme park.
Other than that, All the Pretty Things doesn't have much to go on.
March 20, 2020
1/5
- casually triple checked that this was supposed to be a thriller because there’s nothing thrilling about it
- barely anything happens
- Skip this
- casually triple checked that this was supposed to be a thriller because there’s nothing thrilling about it
- barely anything happens
- Skip this
March 21, 2020
i’m gonna be real i skimmed this but in my defense i was like ten chapters in and bored out of my mf mind
August 25, 2021
Ivy spends her summers spinning candy floss and hanging out at her dad’s theme park Fabuland.
This year something is different though…one of the employees Ethan has just died and Ivy is convinced it is not what it seems.
WOW! I honestly enjoyed this book a lot. I saw a lot of reviews saying it was super boring, but I am super impressed.
I really liked Ivy. She was quite an introvert (which is relatable) and I loved her brother Jason. Her friend Morgan was weird but I liked her towards the end. I liked all the characters toward the end except one.
I loved Fabuland. The idea was really cool and now I feel like eating candy floss and a donut. I would love to work at a theme park and this is the closest I’ve got to it. I also relate to the fact that Ivy is scared of heights and rides. I once went on a roller coaster and I will probably never go on one again.
The mystery was awesome. I was super shocked at the end. LIKE WHAT WAS THAT?? BECAUSE I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT! I really enjoyed this book, a lot.
The book was just lacking a bit. I did not enjoy the writing style and I found most of the characters slightly flat. I also wish the theme park was a bit creepier. It was all very happy and bright. I also didn’t like a lot of the ideas (i.e. The Princess Parade and The Giant Donut).
I love how the author portrays a person with Down syndrome. Ethan was treated and spoken about like he was normal and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m not sure if it’s me but the author did not describe the characters properly but I couldn’t find any characters of colour and that annoyed me.
Anyway, I would recommend it for anyone who loves theme parks and mysteries. 💕
This year something is different though…one of the employees Ethan has just died and Ivy is convinced it is not what it seems.
WOW! I honestly enjoyed this book a lot. I saw a lot of reviews saying it was super boring, but I am super impressed.
I really liked Ivy. She was quite an introvert (which is relatable) and I loved her brother Jason. Her friend Morgan was weird but I liked her towards the end. I liked all the characters toward the end except one.
I loved Fabuland. The idea was really cool and now I feel like eating candy floss and a donut. I would love to work at a theme park and this is the closest I’ve got to it. I also relate to the fact that Ivy is scared of heights and rides. I once went on a roller coaster and I will probably never go on one again.
The mystery was awesome. I was super shocked at the end. LIKE WHAT WAS THAT?? BECAUSE I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT! I really enjoyed this book, a lot.
The book was just lacking a bit. I did not enjoy the writing style and I found most of the characters slightly flat. I also wish the theme park was a bit creepier. It was all very happy and bright. I also didn’t like a lot of the ideas (i.e. The Princess Parade and The Giant Donut).
I love how the author portrays a person with Down syndrome. Ethan was treated and spoken about like he was normal and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m not sure if it’s me but the author did not describe the characters properly but I couldn’t find any characters of colour and that annoyed me.
Anyway, I would recommend it for anyone who loves theme parks and mysteries. 💕
May 21, 2020
*** Note: I received e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to PRHGlobal for free copy. ***
All the Pretty Things was YA small town mystery that revolved around Fabuland amusement park, Ethan’s death and reason behind Morgan’s silence. It was about workplace harassment, health risks at amusement park, motivated perception and ignorance.
Mystery behind Morgan’s state was clear. I could figure out what might have happened to her. Within few chapters I also could see who might have caused her distress. As for Ethan’s death that was tricky in first half but easy to figure in second half. Best part of the book was setting. climax was perfect. Loved Ivy’s development and the way she accepted her ignorance and took right step at the end. End was perfect.
It wasn’t exactly thriller. Characters were interesting but not in depth. Dialogues were not good. All conversations started with huh, uh-huh, umm…! It really made conversations dull.
Overall, All the Pretty Things was simple and quick read with had great setting and interesting plot but predictable and not exactly a thriller. If you want an easy mystery, love amusement park and mystery in it with a little creepy feel, go ahead.
Read full review on my book blog by following this link - https://booksteacupnreviews.com/2020/...
All the Pretty Things was YA small town mystery that revolved around Fabuland amusement park, Ethan’s death and reason behind Morgan’s silence. It was about workplace harassment, health risks at amusement park, motivated perception and ignorance.
Mystery behind Morgan’s state was clear. I could figure out what might have happened to her. Within few chapters I also could see who might have caused her distress. As for Ethan’s death that was tricky in first half but easy to figure in second half. Best part of the book was setting. climax was perfect. Loved Ivy’s development and the way she accepted her ignorance and took right step at the end. End was perfect.
It wasn’t exactly thriller. Characters were interesting but not in depth. Dialogues were not good. All conversations started with huh, uh-huh, umm…! It really made conversations dull.
Overall, All the Pretty Things was simple and quick read with had great setting and interesting plot but predictable and not exactly a thriller. If you want an easy mystery, love amusement park and mystery in it with a little creepy feel, go ahead.
Read full review on my book blog by following this link - https://booksteacupnreviews.com/2020/...
September 17, 2022
This one started out a bit slow - not even in the sense that nothing was happening, I just wasn’t super into it. And then around page 120 or picked up and absolutely hooked me to the Point where I stayed up late on a work night to finish it. I hate Ivy’s dad so much - like the entire time I wanted to do exactly what Ivy does to him in the end.
November 9, 2023
That’s not quite how I thought that story was going to go but okay
August 1, 2022
Rated 3.5
January 12, 2020
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
TW: death, overdose, sexual harassment and assault, suicide thoughts
Ivy Cork is the daughter of the owner of Fabuland, the amusement park in her city and during summer she usually takes care of the spinning cotton candy machine and she hangs out with her best friend Morgan. But when Morgan finds one of their former classmate and coworker, Ethan, dead, everything changes and Morgan has a mental breakdown, refusing to talk to Ivy. So Ivy decides to understand what exactly happened the night Ethan died and why Morgan (besides finding his body) is so upset she wouldn't talk to her. Set in the amusement park, the reader follows Ivy while she talks with her coworkers, trying to piece what happened, who saw Ethan last, how was the boy, trying to solve the mystery surrounding his death, getting herself involved into a investigation that will uncover ugly truths about people she loves.
All the pretty things, told in first person, is a dark thriller, beautifully written and plotted, an intricate mystery that led the reader to read the book at once, because he/she feels the need to know what happened to Ethan, to Morgan, to Ivy. Through Ivy's eyes, we get to see her relationships with her parents and brother, with her friend Morgan, with her coworkers, thinking about her role in her father's "empire" and job. Asking questions, discovering relationships and secrets, Ivy is a brilliant main character, curious, inquisitive and ready to do anything to understand the situation, even when it will hurt her.
Skillfully, bits are revealed through each "interview" Ivy makes, leading her and the reader to piece everything together, or at least to try to, until the shocking and brilliant ending.
TW: death, overdose, sexual harassment and assault, suicide thoughts
Ivy Cork is the daughter of the owner of Fabuland, the amusement park in her city and during summer she usually takes care of the spinning cotton candy machine and she hangs out with her best friend Morgan. But when Morgan finds one of their former classmate and coworker, Ethan, dead, everything changes and Morgan has a mental breakdown, refusing to talk to Ivy. So Ivy decides to understand what exactly happened the night Ethan died and why Morgan (besides finding his body) is so upset she wouldn't talk to her. Set in the amusement park, the reader follows Ivy while she talks with her coworkers, trying to piece what happened, who saw Ethan last, how was the boy, trying to solve the mystery surrounding his death, getting herself involved into a investigation that will uncover ugly truths about people she loves.
All the pretty things, told in first person, is a dark thriller, beautifully written and plotted, an intricate mystery that led the reader to read the book at once, because he/she feels the need to know what happened to Ethan, to Morgan, to Ivy. Through Ivy's eyes, we get to see her relationships with her parents and brother, with her friend Morgan, with her coworkers, thinking about her role in her father's "empire" and job. Asking questions, discovering relationships and secrets, Ivy is a brilliant main character, curious, inquisitive and ready to do anything to understand the situation, even when it will hurt her.
Skillfully, bits are revealed through each "interview" Ivy makes, leading her and the reader to piece everything together, or at least to try to, until the shocking and brilliant ending.
April 2, 2020
eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
When I saw the blurb for this and it said for fans of Sadie and The Cheerleaders, I was sold! Two books I really enjoyed so I wasn’t going to to pass up on the opportunity to request this. It did keep my interest throughout but it was lacking in a few areas.
I’ll start off with the positives. The one thing I like about mysteries/thrillers is that you don’t have to connect with the characters. The book is mostly plot driven. This book was engaging and I was quickly swept into the mystery surrounding Ethan’s death. I felt like Ivy who was trying to piece everything together. To be honest, I never saw the ending coming. I had suspicions of people it could be but the author does a great job of reverting your attention away.
My biggest complaint would be that the premise feels different than what I had read. I guess I understand the title now after dwelling on it for a bit. I also felt that, besides most of the characters working there, the amusement park wasn’t as big in the book. I know others have felt the same so it isn’t just a me thing.
The ending was fine. I’m not really sure how I feel about it. I think that it takes away from it being a thriller and the only mystery is the death which I can’t say much about because of spoilers.
Other than that, the writing was great! The pacing was also nicely done. I will definitely be watching this author for more books.
When I saw the blurb for this and it said for fans of Sadie and The Cheerleaders, I was sold! Two books I really enjoyed so I wasn’t going to to pass up on the opportunity to request this. It did keep my interest throughout but it was lacking in a few areas.
I’ll start off with the positives. The one thing I like about mysteries/thrillers is that you don’t have to connect with the characters. The book is mostly plot driven. This book was engaging and I was quickly swept into the mystery surrounding Ethan’s death. I felt like Ivy who was trying to piece everything together. To be honest, I never saw the ending coming. I had suspicions of people it could be but the author does a great job of reverting your attention away.
My biggest complaint would be that the premise feels different than what I had read. I guess I understand the title now after dwelling on it for a bit. I also felt that, besides most of the characters working there, the amusement park wasn’t as big in the book. I know others have felt the same so it isn’t just a me thing.
The ending was fine. I’m not really sure how I feel about it. I think that it takes away from it being a thriller and the only mystery is the death which I can’t say much about because of spoilers.
Other than that, the writing was great! The pacing was also nicely done. I will definitely be watching this author for more books.
June 9, 2021
Predictable pervy dad drama.
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