I always have kindle books on my iPad for backup incase I read all the books I bring on a trip - this trip, I had 3 “real books” and Wasted Pretty downloaded. It wasn’t great, but free is free.
Thanks, Prime Reading.
Wasted Pretty
by: Jamie Beth Cohen
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I liked the idea of this book, but it fell short.
The whole set-in-the-90s part excited me. It was unnecessary, but I liked all the references.
I also really didn’t understand Alice’s parents or brother. They were all genuinely horrible. As the child of a mother who put me on wild diets, I wasn’t totally surprised, but it was still sad to read. And the dad seemed like such a shady, sketchy asshole going out drinking with creepy baseball players and hating teenage soccer players and chastising his daughter. I mean, when she’s groped by an old man and he accused her of being drunk (at 17-years-old). The brother was frustrating because everyone worshipped him but I never saw what was so worshipable - he just seemed overbearing and into himself.
I can’t say I was a fan of the love story, either - 90s or not, she was still a minor and it still wasn’t appropriate, even if she thought he was the “hottest guy ever.” And I don’t believe a college guy in a rock band would fall for a moody teenage girl who shows up crying all the time.
The way Alice came and went from her house at all hours was silly to me, too. I mean, it happens, but she just seemed to have no direction or discipline and she didn’t make great choices with her freedom so I had a hard time sympathizing with her when I was supposed to.
I love the best friend, though: Meredith. She’s a great character.
“I guess we all need a crazy-bitch who’s a little bit drunk and a little bit hopped up on diet pills in our corner.”
Like I said, great concepts, not necessarily executed well. I felt like quite a few things were left unexplained and unfinished, but I didn’t *hate* it.
I’d recommend Wasted Pretty to anyone into teen drama, family drama, music lovers, forbidden love, and coming-of-age stories.
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