Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had some reservations about reading this. It lies in the mention of an infant in the blurb –being a mother (for the second time around) quite recently; I’m extra sensitive about babies these days. Thankfully, bub and I are doing extremely well but I flinch and my heart just aches when I read about babies who aren’t doing well. I still gave this read a chance anyway since I really liked Mary Kubica’s previous work, The Good Girl.
Pretty Baby is told in three perspectives: Willow, Heidi, and Chris. Willow and Heidi are two strangers brought together by chance. They provide their sides of the stories including the past that brought them to their current situations. Events which were out of their control sent them spinning helplessly into a deep dark abyss of the hopeless. Chris played quite a minor role in this story but his perspective is necessary to provide Heidi’s portrait and to balance her side of the story.
I don’t like sad books especially knowing that something awful is to come. I generally can’t handle such a pressure if I already know a terrible thing is definitely coming but who knows when in the story. This made the book to be a very intense read and I can only read 2-3 chapters per day with a break every few days. You’ll probably thinking that I’m weird now! But I can’t help it… 😦 Nevertheless, I was truly drawn into the story and I feared for the wellbeing of both Heidi and Willow. My heart was broken, slowly, into smaller and smaller pieces as I read. Whilst I didn’t find the twists to be surprising, I must say that I am grateful for the tiny light of hope at the end.
Pretty Baby is a story of the broken. It is also a story of strength, courage, and resilience. Mary Kubica has spun an enticing web of stories which at once enthrals and entraps the reader. My heart is slowly healing though I still find it hard to breathe sometimes…
Thanks to Harlequin MIRA via NetGalley for eARC in exchange of honest review
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