Review: So Much Pretty - Cara Hoffman

So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman
Read from July 18 to 21, 2011
304 pages


I feel like this book was trying to have substance, trying to have a deep dark message, but it missed. I felt like it was so wrapped up in trying to describe how horrible the world was, but mixed that in with characters we were supposed to feel compassion for but didn't. Maybe, had I actually been able to bond with at least one of the characters I would have felt a little more pull to the story, it might have grabbed me a little more, and it might have left me with the resounding fury toward mankind a story like this deserves to force upon it's readers.

Our world is ugly and unkind. There is not only black and white, but there is a gray area that exists and this story draws pretty much exclusively from that idea. I dont deny any of this, and much of this book left me frustrated at the actions of just about every narrator (and there were about 10 or so of those). And 99 percent of those narrators were guilty of something in a way that impacted the events in this story. They were all the bad guy in one way or another, some more disturbing than others.

Though I'm tempted to go so far as to give this book 2 stars, I'm going to have to say 3, mostly because of the attempt. Sort of the whole adage "it's the thought that counts." Hoffman is going for something really deep. She's tackling a subject that many of us readers feel strongly about, and she supports our side of the controversial issue. At some points she plays devils advocate, others she merely presents us with evidence and leaves it to us to make our own decisions and conclusions.

That being said, I feel like she is addressing a problem so big that the reader gets lost in the shuffle of facts and "witnesses", what the characters did or didnt or maybe did do through out the whole thing.

I dont think that 304 pages was enough to develop this story and conclude it in the best way possible, but the writing style was such that I really couldnt take much more of the bouncing from one character to another.

It's worth a read, and it's pretty intense as far as subject matter goes, so I'm going to recommend it to anyone who thinks they might be interested. If you stick with it, you will get at least something out of it. You might just love it. I didn't.
★★★☆☆