An electrifying debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls.
Bebe Baker is an ex-everyth... read full description
reviews
Feb 11, 2012
Sarah
rated it: 
Bebe Baker is in recovery, living in a halfway house in Los Angeles. She moved to California with a talented musician, Aaron, in hopes of starting a new life away from her dysfunctional family in Ohio. But when they reached LA, things didn't go according to plan. Bebe had always relied on her pretty looks to get by, but when they get wrapped up in drugs, and Aaron coerces her to start stripping, Bebe finds herself in a downward spiral. Things only get worse when a horrible car accident leave
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Jan 04, 2012
Deborah
rated it: 
"There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen
Jillian Lauren begins her brilliant novel with this gorgeous, well-known refrain, then she takes that Hallelujah and sings it as her story like a bird whose heart thumps to break through its throat. This is a magnificent book. It More...
Dec 25, 2011
Danna
rated it:
"Stop believing in one thing and you make room for believing in something else."
I was anxious to read Pretty because I was over the moon for Jillian Lauren's first book, her memoir Some Girls. Pretty is a novel, in the same vein as Lauren's first book, written in a first-person narrative by a young woman named Bebe. Bebe grew up in Toledo, OH and was anxious to leave town after her alcoholic father passed away. Her escape came when Aaron arrived in the local bar she tended More...
I was anxious to read Pretty because I was over the moon for Jillian Lauren's first book, her memoir Some Girls. Pretty is a novel, in the same vein as Lauren's first book, written in a first-person narrative by a young woman named Bebe. Bebe grew up in Toledo, OH and was anxious to leave town after her alcoholic father passed away. Her escape came when Aaron arrived in the local bar she tended More...
Oct 09, 2011
Caitlin
rated it:
When I was a little girl I used to tell people that I wanted to be an adventuress when I grew up. I'll admit that I was influenced by a Marlene Dietrich movie - Morocco (1930) - in which she plays a night club singer (Amy) who falls in love with Gary Cooper's character (Tom), a private in the French Foreign Legion. Although she is engaged to Adolphe Menjou's character (La Bessiere - a wealthy Frenchman), Amy realizes at the end of the film that she is truly in love with Tom. The film ends wit
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Sep 21, 2011
Susie
rated it:
I am so grateful to have the opportunity to read and review such wonderful books. It seems they keep getting better and better! I was given a copy of Pretty to review and I have a copy to give away. Check out directions for entering at the end of the post!
Pretty is the story of Bebe. The cover describes her as:
BeBe Baker is an ex-everything: ex-stripper, ex-Christian, ex-drug addict, ex-pretty girl.
What BeBe does very very well is tell her story. As she recove More...
Pretty is the story of Bebe. The cover describes her as:
BeBe Baker is an ex-everything: ex-stripper, ex-Christian, ex-drug addict, ex-pretty girl.
What BeBe does very very well is tell her story. As she recove More...
Sep 07, 2011
Val
rated it:
Pretty is the kind of book that takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. You instantly feel for the character and you almost develop a close relationship to Bebes.
This book deals with some really big issues, drug addiction, recovery and love. Although they are very big issues and sometimes tough to write about, I felt that the author wrote this book with elegance. The writing was fluid, and the character’s thoughts and words seemed very real. This book was honest.
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This book deals with some really big issues, drug addiction, recovery and love. Although they are very big issues and sometimes tough to write about, I felt that the author wrote this book with elegance. The writing was fluid, and the character’s thoughts and words seemed very real. This book was honest.
More...
Sep 06, 2011
Roxanna
rated it:
This is an incredibly sad, yet powerful story about a person who struggles with guilt, ADD, chemical dependency, and so much more. She aims to stay clean with the end goal of graduating from Cosmetology school. The title of this book is compelling because her struggles are as much internal as they are external. She is scarred physically and emotionally from a tragic accident and finds support in a halfway house so she can try and work through her addiction as well the emotional scarring from unh
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Aug 24, 2011
Peace Love
rated it:
It has a promising start. The scene was Bebe and her then boyfriend Aaron was in a bar playing pool, high as kite. Aaron was a musician and Bebe fell in love with him and followed him everywhere. Nothing went as planned and she became an addict and a stripper. That fateful night Aaron died in a car accident. Bebe ended up in a halfway house in LA where she is studying cosmetology to give her some skills when she gets released. She met another questionable character as her new boyfriend, Jake; a
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Jul 14, 2011
Bookworm
rated it: 
About:
Pretty is an edgy novel about a teenage girl named Bebe who leaves home with a musician named Aaron and ends up becoming a stripper and an addict. Aaron and Bebe's partying habits are out of control, they both drink too much and use drugs. One night, after a big fight between the two, Aaron is killed while driving under the influence. Bebe survives the car accident, but finds herself in a rehab facility trying to get her life together.
After she finishes rehab, Bebe goes to liv More...
Pretty is an edgy novel about a teenage girl named Bebe who leaves home with a musician named Aaron and ends up becoming a stripper and an addict. Aaron and Bebe's partying habits are out of control, they both drink too much and use drugs. One night, after a big fight between the two, Aaron is killed while driving under the influence. Bebe survives the car accident, but finds herself in a rehab facility trying to get her life together.
After she finishes rehab, Bebe goes to liv More...
Sep 03, 2011
Knitpurlgurl
rated it: 
Pretty is the story of Bebe (Beth) Baker. Bebe, raised by an alcoholic mother, whose father, an alcoholic jazz musician, dies while she is very young, meets Aaron, a confident trumpet player in a jazz band and leaves her town of Toledo, OH behind to follow him to California. While living in LA, a speedbump on the way to San Francisco, Bebe takes a job as an exotic dancer and becomes an alcoholic/addict. After a fight with Aaron in a bar, the two of them, wasted, get in the car and end up in a
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Sep 08, 2011
Anne
rated it:
PRETTY follows Bebe Baker, a young woman coming to terms with her boyfriend’s death and her rocky journey to sobriety. Bebe is an ex-everything: ex-stripper, ex-Christian, ex-drug addict, ex-pretty girl. It’s been one year since the car accident that killed her boyfriend left her scarred and shaken. Flanked by an eccentric posse of friends, she is serving out a self-imposed sentence at a halfway house, while trying to finish cosmetology school. Amid the rampant diagnoses, over-medication, compul
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Sep 12, 2011
Karen
rated it:
It is rare that I find myself reading an honest-to-gods paper copy of a novel these days, but I received the ARC of Pretty so I once again found myself with the cramping hand that comes from holding open a book for extended periods of time. In this case, with this book, I did not mind in the least.
While not the sort of literature I’d normally gravitate towards, I’m glad that I ended up reading Pretty, if for no other reason than to discover the brilliant author. Jillian Lauren writes w More...
While not the sort of literature I’d normally gravitate towards, I’m glad that I ended up reading Pretty, if for no other reason than to discover the brilliant author. Jillian Lauren writes w More...
Aug 11, 2011
Lara
rated it:
http://darkelvengirl.blogspot.com/2011/0...
Pretty by Jillian Lauren. Fiction. I had hard time figuring out what I wanted to rate this. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, and finally chose 4 out of 5 stars. Nice cover and the eyes are not open! I greatly dislike books where the people on the cover stares at you... And still stares at you. Release date August 30, 2011.
This book cover many topics from drug use to drinking problems to eating disorde More...
Pretty by Jillian Lauren. Fiction. I had hard time figuring out what I wanted to rate this. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, and finally chose 4 out of 5 stars. Nice cover and the eyes are not open! I greatly dislike books where the people on the cover stares at you... And still stares at you. Release date August 30, 2011.
This book cover many topics from drug use to drinking problems to eating disorde More...
Oct 16, 2011
Jade
rated it:
Originally published at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
This was such a heartbreaking novel but one that reminds everyone that there hope can lead to the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Good: The language of the writing was superb. From the very first line all the way to the end I was captivated by what Bebe had to say. There were some lines that were so visceral I had to reread the line again. Pg. 5 Bebe says, “My love for Aaron was so acid it scraped my veins raw.” Can y More...
This was such a heartbreaking novel but one that reminds everyone that there hope can lead to the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Good: The language of the writing was superb. From the very first line all the way to the end I was captivated by what Bebe had to say. There were some lines that were so visceral I had to reread the line again. Pg. 5 Bebe says, “My love for Aaron was so acid it scraped my veins raw.” Can y More...
Sep 06, 2011
Lorri
rated it:
I read this book in a day. It was a bit depressing and I didn't really see the point of the story, but I did like the friendships that developed among the characters. It seems like everyone living in the house is depressed and spends a good amount of time thinking about how bad life is. I've never been an addict so I don't know how recovery would be, but dwelling on all the bad things sure isn't going to move you forward!
Bebe is in a car accident with her boyfriend, who later dies. More...
Bebe is in a car accident with her boyfriend, who later dies. More...
Jul 14, 2011
Eileen
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 22, 2011
Amber
rated it:
Bebe is an ex-everything: an ex-Christian, ex-stripper, ex-addict, ex-pretty girl.
Bebe ends up at a halfway house after becoming physically and emotionally scarred from the car accident her boyfriend, Aaron, died from. She has been sober for almost a year although she has her moments of almost-impossible-to-control urges. She suffers through day after day of cosmetology school to give herself a goal. She makes it through with the help of goth girl Violet who also resides at the halfway More...
Bebe ends up at a halfway house after becoming physically and emotionally scarred from the car accident her boyfriend, Aaron, died from. She has been sober for almost a year although she has her moments of almost-impossible-to-control urges. She suffers through day after day of cosmetology school to give herself a goal. She makes it through with the help of goth girl Violet who also resides at the halfway More...
Jan 13, 2012
Joemmama
rated it:
Pretty is not a pretty story. Bebe has been in a horrible accident that killed her boyfriend and left her drug addled and scarred, trying to make a new life. Living in a halfway house, she is attending beauty school with a variety of characters. As she struggles to make her way, she encounters people who are both good and bad for her.
Breaking all the rules is a way of life for her and she finds some comfort with another bad boy. When her heart is broken, yet again, Bebe finds that her More...
Breaking all the rules is a way of life for her and she finds some comfort with another bad boy. When her heart is broken, yet again, Bebe finds that her More...
Oct 04, 2011
Chelsea
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 28, 2011
Leah
rated it:
Pretty is a novel that is hard to define. It doesn’t seem to really be able to place itself in any kind of genre, at least not one I read so I presume that that probably makes it literary fiction. It’s not a teenage read, it’s not really Chick Lit… so I think it’s trying to be a literary novel. It’s not a pretty novel, either. Here there are no pies in the sky, no happily ever after, just a girl struggling to get her life together after her boyfriend dies in a drug-fuelled car crash. Bebe is an
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Feb 13, 2012
Jenn
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 02, 2011
SHANA - Sizzling Reads
rated it:
3.5/5 STARS!
More YA book reviews at: Sizzling Reads YA Blog!
This novel starts off with a horrific bang, one that strangled me, and continued to captivate me throughout the novel. There was something raw and honest about this book, something showcasing the darkness inside of people instead of running away from it. Bebe struggles to hold onto something, and I feared the whole time she would slip away into the world that got her here. She fights grief, addiction, lonel More...
Sep 07, 2011
Lesley
rated it:
I just received the book yesterday. UPS was having issues. :( But I did start reading it and am about half way through. All I can say is WOW. This book is riveting. It's just amazing. I find it hard to put into words just how I feel. It seems very real. You find yourself wanting Bebe to do better and overcome. Truly emotional.
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Oct 25, 2011
Freda
rated it:
What a life Bebe lives.
This book is like an onion with many layers. Each intricate and part of what develops the story is all the intricacies.
I liked it, but am still feeling the impact, so am unclear whether I loved it.
I did think it very clever, but sometimes all over the place too.
I will say, Bebe, has the crappiest luck in the men department, and will make any woman feel better about herself. Sounds a tad harsh, but I don't mean that as a bad thing. She is a fictional More...
This book is like an onion with many layers. Each intricate and part of what develops the story is all the intricacies.
I liked it, but am still feeling the impact, so am unclear whether I loved it.
I did think it very clever, but sometimes all over the place too.
I will say, Bebe, has the crappiest luck in the men department, and will make any woman feel better about herself. Sounds a tad harsh, but I don't mean that as a bad thing. She is a fictional More...
Jan 10, 2012
Heather
rated it:
Again, Lauren sucked me in with her writing style. The story was somber, but the manner in which it was told kept me interested all the way through. I appreciate her attention to detail without being too cumbersome.
Oct 03, 2011
Kari
rated it: 
I got to the second disc and had to shut it off. I couldn't listen to it anymore. The narrator was fine, it was the story itself. I thought it was depressing and I really didn't care for Bebe at all. Not my cup of tea.
Sep 07, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
Definitely not a book for the faint of heart. It's raw, real, and not at all a feel-good story. You'll need a pick-me-up after reading this, but it's worth it.
Oct 11, 2011
Trinity
rated it:
I was really looking forward to reading this book after I won it in a blog giveaway.
I didn't not like it, but for the first time in a while, I struggled to finish a book. Part of me believes it's because of a person in my past with the same name as one of the characters. Though it's not a book for the fainthearted, that part hit me a little harder than it probably should have.
Over all, it's a good book. Just not near the top of my list.
I didn't not like it, but for the first time in a while, I struggled to finish a book. Part of me believes it's because of a person in my past with the same name as one of the characters. Though it's not a book for the fainthearted, that part hit me a little harder than it probably should have.
Over all, it's a good book. Just not near the top of my list.
Oct 17, 2011
RD
rated it:
I loved the way Lauren used language in Pretty. I would have given the book five stars had the characters been more fully realized and developed.
