A GROWN-UP KIND OF PRETTY is a powerful saga of three generations of women, plagued by hardships and torn by a devastating secret, yet inextricably...
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Feb 05, 2012
Jennifer
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I am a huge fan of Joshilyn Jackson's novels, and I think A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty might be her best yet. Ginny, Liza and Mosey Slocumb are instantly lovable characters and their shared story is at turns pee-your-pants hilarious and heartbraking. The plot has more twists and turns than a storyline from Days of Our Lives (which Jackson references a lot in this book--I love that!)--and she keeps the pacing fast but not breakneck. Jackson gives her characters such honest, self-aware voices, esp
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Feb 06, 2012
Debby
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If you've never read a book by Joshilyn Jackson (Gods in Alabama; Between, Gerogia; The Girl Who Stopped Swimming; or Backseat Saints) you are missing out on a most phenomenal experience!
Jackson's newest book, A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, was everything that I like in Jackson's books; being swept up into the story and the characters and enjoying every minute of it! I couldn't put this book down.
The characters are definitely outside the bos: The Alabama matriarch of this famil More...
Jackson's newest book, A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, was everything that I like in Jackson's books; being swept up into the story and the characters and enjoying every minute of it! I couldn't put this book down.
The characters are definitely outside the bos: The Alabama matriarch of this famil More...
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Feb 19, 2012
Christa
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A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty was a very touching book about three females - Ginny, her daughter, Liza, and granddaughter, Mosey. These three characters found their way quickly into my heart, and this is a story that will stay with me. The three main characters are all flawed, yet very sympathetic. I was rooting for good things for the three of them.
Ginny, "Big," knows that every fifteen years holds a trying time for her. When she was fifteen, she had a baby. When that baby dau More...
Ginny, "Big," knows that every fifteen years holds a trying time for her. When she was fifteen, she had a baby. When that baby dau More...
Feb 15, 2012
Mary
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A GROWN-UP KIND OF PRETTY by Joshilyn Jackson
Is the simplest answer always the right one?
Mosey has grown up in a house with her mother and grandmother, two women that have been scandalizing their Baptist community for 46 years. She is a great student, and a good kid but her family is one kind of obsessive about keeping her that way to the point of ridiculous. Mosey has no desire to be 14 and pregnant she has bigger goals set for herself if only the self-righteous would step More...
Is the simplest answer always the right one?
Mosey has grown up in a house with her mother and grandmother, two women that have been scandalizing their Baptist community for 46 years. She is a great student, and a good kid but her family is one kind of obsessive about keeping her that way to the point of ridiculous. Mosey has no desire to be 14 and pregnant she has bigger goals set for herself if only the self-righteous would step More...
Jan 29, 2012
Susan
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Every 15 years bad things happen to the Slocumb women. It started when Ginny got pregnant at 15, and continued when her daughter Liza also become a mom at 15 and ran away from home. Now that Liza's daughter Mosely is 15, things are already falling apart. Liza has suffered a stroke that has left her unable to speak. Ginny watches Mosely like a hawk, watching for signs that she is about to go wild. But when Ginny hires someone to cut down the willow tree in the back yard of their small Missis
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Feb 01, 2012
Cara
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From Joshilyn Jackson's website:
"Every fifteen years, trouble comes after the Slocumb women. Now, as their youngest turns fifteen, a long-hidden grave is unearthed in the backyard. Headstrong young Mosey Slocumb is determined to find out who used their yard as a make-shift cemetery, and why. What she learns could cost her family everything. As forty-five year old Ginny fights to protect Mosey from the truth, she’s thrown back into the arms of the long-lost---and married---love More...
"Every fifteen years, trouble comes after the Slocumb women. Now, as their youngest turns fifteen, a long-hidden grave is unearthed in the backyard. Headstrong young Mosey Slocumb is determined to find out who used their yard as a make-shift cemetery, and why. What she learns could cost her family everything. As forty-five year old Ginny fights to protect Mosey from the truth, she’s thrown back into the arms of the long-lost---and married---love More...
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Feb 10, 2012
Jaime
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Unlucky Fifteen
A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson (Grand Central Publishing; 336 pages; $25.99).
Fifteen is not a lucky number in the Slocumb family. Fifteen is, in fact, the unluckiest of years for Slocumb females in Joshilyn Jackson's A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, her fifth novel. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty has now replaced Gods in Alabama as my favorite of Ms. Jackson's novels. Ms. Jackson writes her newest saga with sass, hilarity, and a whole lotta love as More...
A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson (Grand Central Publishing; 336 pages; $25.99).
Fifteen is not a lucky number in the Slocumb family. Fifteen is, in fact, the unluckiest of years for Slocumb females in Joshilyn Jackson's A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, her fifth novel. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty has now replaced Gods in Alabama as my favorite of Ms. Jackson's novels. Ms. Jackson writes her newest saga with sass, hilarity, and a whole lotta love as More...
Feb 03, 2012
Chelsea
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Jackson has done it again.
I am a long-time fan of Joshilyn Jackson, as is noted here and here. Her writing takes me away into the worlds in her book, and the characters always feel so instantly like I've known them my whole life. Would it be weird to call her books "comfortable"? Because right from the prologue of this newest novel, I knew I was going to be stuck in my chair until the end.
Wow, was the drama in this story heavy! And powerful, like a punch to the stom More...
I am a long-time fan of Joshilyn Jackson, as is noted here and here. Her writing takes me away into the worlds in her book, and the characters always feel so instantly like I've known them my whole life. Would it be weird to call her books "comfortable"? Because right from the prologue of this newest novel, I knew I was going to be stuck in my chair until the end.
Wow, was the drama in this story heavy! And powerful, like a punch to the stom More...
Jan 16, 2012
Gina
rated it:
LOVE IT!!
Typically a book that changes from one character telling the story and back is not my favorite, but I could not put this book down. The weaved lives of Ginny, her daughter Liza and her daughter Mosey are amazing. This story is told both from the current day happenings and piece of the past to illustrate the picture of how we got here. I love the relationship between these women and the mysteries that abound in the book. My first conclusion as to the answer of the big mystery w More...
Typically a book that changes from one character telling the story and back is not my favorite, but I could not put this book down. The weaved lives of Ginny, her daughter Liza and her daughter Mosey are amazing. This story is told both from the current day happenings and piece of the past to illustrate the picture of how we got here. I love the relationship between these women and the mysteries that abound in the book. My first conclusion as to the answer of the big mystery w More...
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Feb 05, 2012
Jae
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I think very highly of Joshilyn Jackson--she knows her way around a turn of phrase, but always in a way that adds to, rather than detracting from, the fascinating people she creates and the stories she tells about them. I have either loved or liked everything I've read by her. So keep this in mind when I say that this is without a doubt her best book yet. It sucked me in from the very first chapter, and when I finished it, I turned right around and started it all over again because I knew there
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Feb 16, 2012
Brenda
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I think this is a new author for me. I listened to this book while doing some knitting. This story was full of twists and turns. The language was very grown-up, so this book really should only be read by people who can overlook the "bi---" and "fu--." I realize it was language like this that filled out the characters in this story, but a little part of me wishes that the author would have found a different way to fill them out. this author did not curve away from stereo-
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Feb 10, 2012
Colleen
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Really 4.5. I reviewed this for luxuryreading.com.
The Slocumb women are superstitious about the number fifteen and, given their experiences, they should be. When Ginny “Big” was fifteen she gave birth to her daughter, Liza “Little”, and had to leave her parents, church and town behind to escape their censure and disdain. When Liza was fifteen she gave birth as well and, weeks after bringing her baby girl home, ran away in the middle of the night without so much as a word to Big.
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The Slocumb women are superstitious about the number fifteen and, given their experiences, they should be. When Ginny “Big” was fifteen she gave birth to her daughter, Liza “Little”, and had to leave her parents, church and town behind to escape their censure and disdain. When Liza was fifteen she gave birth as well and, weeks after bringing her baby girl home, ran away in the middle of the night without so much as a word to Big.
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Aug 30, 2011
Karen
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I am a huge fan of Joshilyn Jackson and this does not disappoint! Big (Liza's mama and Mosey's gramma), Liza and Mosey are connected in more ways than meet the eye. When Big decides to cut down long the standing willow in the backyard, she unearths more than just roots. A buried silver treasure box of Liza's contains secrets that no one imagined, sending us on a whirlwind of a journey. Quirky characters abound in Jackson's books, oozing with sass and Southern charm. Her characters are flawed but
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Feb 08, 2012
Jenni-Lynn
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I loved this book. It was the first book I read with my new Book Club Girls. This book is about strong women!!Big is big and strong and loving and will do anything to protect her girls. Shes been on her own all her life but doesnt let that fact keep her from being a great mother. Liza (Little) is strong in her weaknesses. Throughout the story she is fighting her way back to the world, first from the pull of drugs and the street and then from a debilitating stroke. And Mosey is strong in her c
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Feb 02, 2012
Jennifer
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This book will capture you. You will find yourself thinking about the characters during the day and rushing home in order to get your nose back in the pages and find out what happens next. Yup, it is really that juicy. Having read many of Joshilyn Jackson's works, my favorite had been Gods in Alabama; but I think A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty just won that prize. The main characters Big, Liza, and Mosey are so real and emotional and hearfelt that it is impossible not to get caught up in their lives.
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Feb 19, 2012
K2
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This book had great potential but lost its way by the end.
I'm just old enough to find the teen-aged texting at the beginning of the book to be tedious.
She is a good writer, I loved her sense of humor but it was as if she heard the deadline approaching and the book took a turn or two that didn't match the rest of the book. It needed a better editor. I was almost reluctant to finish it after a 200+ page reading investment. Disappointing.
Three generations of women und More...
I'm just old enough to find the teen-aged texting at the beginning of the book to be tedious.
She is a good writer, I loved her sense of humor but it was as if she heard the deadline approaching and the book took a turn or two that didn't match the rest of the book. It needed a better editor. I was almost reluctant to finish it after a 200+ page reading investment. Disappointing.
Three generations of women und More...
Sep 27, 2011
Karen
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I love stories involving strong, eccentric women characters. This is a great example. This story, set in Mississippi, is narrated in first person by two of three generations of Slocumb women. There's Ginny, also known as "Big" to her daughter, Liza, who has suffered a stroke and is struggling to regain her ability to communicate. Liza's daughter, Mosey, is the focus of both Big and Liza's lives, especially when a deep dark secret from Liza's past begins to emerge. Liza's story is told
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Feb 01, 2012
Trudy
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A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty is another fabulous book by Joshilyn Jackson. The story is a superb mystery pieced together through the viewpoints of the three major characters: Mosey, Liza, and Big. Laced with unexpected flashes of humor, this novel is compelling and thought-provoking.
I have one more of Joshilyn Jackson's books to read, and I sincerely hope she will continue to write (hurry, please), as she has become one of my favorite authors of all time.
I don't like to p More...
I have one more of Joshilyn Jackson's books to read, and I sincerely hope she will continue to write (hurry, please), as she has become one of my favorite authors of all time.
I don't like to p More...
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Feb 17, 2012
Book Sp(l)ot
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A Grown Up Kind of Pretty was not quite as outrageous as the other two Joshilyn Jackson books (Between, Georgia and Gods in Alabama) that I've read, but it certainly wasn't about your quiet unassuming, average everyday folk, either.
Mosey Slocumb is fifteen, an age that would be hard enough on its own without the whole town watching you, just waiting for you to get pregnant. After all, it's what the Slocumb girls do when they're fifteen, they have babies. Mosey's mama did, Liza did an More...
Mosey Slocumb is fifteen, an age that would be hard enough on its own without the whole town watching you, just waiting for you to get pregnant. After all, it's what the Slocumb girls do when they're fifteen, they have babies. Mosey's mama did, Liza did an More...
Oct 25, 2011
Carol
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A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty
Joshilyn Jackson
Grand Central Publishing
Jackson's characters are so full of life that her books grab you from the first page, and so enjoyable - even when traveling through some very dark territory - that you don't want to let them go at the end. In A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, a buried secret from the past - literally buried - threatens to tear apart the Slocumb family - grandmother Big, mother Liza, and teenager Mosey - each of whom pieces together t More...
Joshilyn Jackson
Grand Central Publishing
Jackson's characters are so full of life that her books grab you from the first page, and so enjoyable - even when traveling through some very dark territory - that you don't want to let them go at the end. In A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, a buried secret from the past - literally buried - threatens to tear apart the Slocumb family - grandmother Big, mother Liza, and teenager Mosey - each of whom pieces together t More...
Sep 10, 2011
Genevieve
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I'd never read anything by Joshilyn Jackson before and was honoured to receive an ARC from our shared agent. I'm now a fan. I'm off to buy the rest of her books today.
"A Grown-Up Kind Of Pretty" dives fearlessly into the lives and psyches of three completely different women, including one who has suffered a massive stroke. The personalities of these women, shaped through hard, grasping lives, are so real, so accessible it makes it entirely natural to love and hate just as fie More...
"A Grown-Up Kind Of Pretty" dives fearlessly into the lives and psyches of three completely different women, including one who has suffered a massive stroke. The personalities of these women, shaped through hard, grasping lives, are so real, so accessible it makes it entirely natural to love and hate just as fie More...
Feb 03, 2012
Renel
rated it:
This is my first Joshilyn Jackson noveland it won't be my last! Jackson writes like I think. As I read this book I kept thinking, "wow, I wish I had said that." I was very impressed with how seemlessly she wove together the three very different life stories of "Big", her daughter Liza, and Liza's daughter, Mosey. There's never a dull moment in this story as events keep unfolding from the lives of these women. I felt compelled to keep reading and find out the truth which wa
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Feb 01, 2012
Jennifer
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I think this is Joshilyn Jackson's best novel yet. The issues that she deals with in this novel are not as harsh and gritty as most of them in her past books, but they are intense and gripping. I love her writing style which combines that interesting southern way of efficiently turning a phrase that gets right to the point with a very poetic prose. On the first page, she talks about the rich Mississippi soil growing secrets and those secrets unfold to the reader bit by bit until the very end.
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Jan 30, 2012
Jodie
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This one is to be highly anticipated. A well thought out mystery/suspense that'll leave you in shock. Jackson has thought of everything you could ask for in a book! Full of danger, love, heartache and hope.
In this remarkable story you will meet all three Slocumb women. Everyone calls the oldest in the family Big. Next we meet Big's daughter Liza, and finally the remarkable Mosey. Mosey is Liza's daughter, following in the bad line of Big's theory of the fifteen year doom.
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In this remarkable story you will meet all three Slocumb women. Everyone calls the oldest in the family Big. Next we meet Big's daughter Liza, and finally the remarkable Mosey. Mosey is Liza's daughter, following in the bad line of Big's theory of the fifteen year doom.
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Jan 15, 2012
Julie
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This review first appeared on my blog: http://www.knittingandsundries.com/2012/...
The novel starts out with Big (Virginia), 45 years old and her fears that something bad is going to happen. After all, something bad seems to happen every 15 years. She had her daughter Liza when she was 15 years old. In turn, Liza had her own daughter Mosey when SHE was 15. Liza had a massive stroke at Mosey's school dance when she was 30, and she is still recovering, unable to communicate and stru More...
The novel starts out with Big (Virginia), 45 years old and her fears that something bad is going to happen. After all, something bad seems to happen every 15 years. She had her daughter Liza when she was 15 years old. In turn, Liza had her own daughter Mosey when SHE was 15. Liza had a massive stroke at Mosey's school dance when she was 30, and she is still recovering, unable to communicate and stru More...
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Feb 13, 2012
Darcy
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When you start this book you feel one way about these women, but when you get to the end you will feel differently about them. For me Liza changed the most. I didn't like her at the start, thought she was very selfish and never really left her teen years. When you get to the end, you may have those similar thoughts, but you see another side of her, one she keeps hidden and isn't really sure how to bring that one forth.
I loved Big, she did the best when she was a kid and all along. More...
I loved Big, she did the best when she was a kid and all along. More...
Feb 07, 2012
Lora
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My first, be not gonna be my last, Joshilyn Jackson book! OMG this was wonderful. Witty, poignant love story of strong women from teeanage (Mosey) Liza her mom and Big, Liza's mom! What a family, the Slocumbs. Each chapter is told by one of the women. Every 15 years bad things happen to the family...well, to two generations who get pregnant 15 years apart. Now Mosey is almost 15 and she has been drilled about not getting pregnant. But the real mystery of the book is who is the baby buried i
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Feb 16, 2012
Danielle
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This book was excellent! I have read and loved all of Joshilyn Jackson's books before this one, and I have to say this is her BEST book so far. It's so refreshing to read a best-selling author who actually continues to write really, really, really good books, instead of just churning out the next one and expecting us to like it because they've written other good books.
My only complaint is that now I have nothing new of hers to read for a while. All I can say is that I hope she's More...
My only complaint is that now I have nothing new of hers to read for a while. All I can say is that I hope she's More...
Feb 06, 2012
Recommended by Alice Bradley of finslippy:
"Joshilyn Jackson is a master. I didn't know this for far too long. I've enjoyed her blog for a while, I figured she was an entertaining writer and I should check out her novels--and then I did and then I read them all and I was so tired and hungry and amazed. This one may be her best yet. I have to warn you, if you think you can read a couple of chapters before you go to bed, you are incorrect. You'll get sucked in and then it will be dawn."
"Joshilyn Jackson is a master. I didn't know this for far too long. I've enjoyed her blog for a while, I figured she was an entertaining writer and I should check out her novels--and then I did and then I read them all and I was so tired and hungry and amazed. This one may be her best yet. I have to warn you, if you think you can read a couple of chapters before you go to bed, you are incorrect. You'll get sucked in and then it will be dawn."
Jan 31, 2012
B.D.
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Joshilyn Jackson just get's better and better. I highly recommend her latest book. The three main characters (Southern women), Big (grandmother), Little (mother) and Mosey (15-year-old child) are vivid and interesting. She includes just enough feistyness and humor to keep the trouble times from getting you down. And "Secrets" are revealed like flower petals along the path, so it makes it VERY hard to put this book down.
I've read everything Joshilyn has published and loved th
I've read everything Joshilyn has published and loved th
