So Much Pretty
Hoffman, Cara. So Much Pretty. 2011. (Mystery Hoffm.C)
So Much Pretty, by Cara Hoffman, is a mystery with heavy themes: physical and sexual violence, lost innocence, corporate wrongdoing, and revenge, to name a few. It's also a novel about three women: Wendy White, a young waitress who has disappeared from the small, upstate New York town of Haiden; Stacy Flynn, a reporter looking for a big story about the environmental impact of the large dairy farm that is Haiden's primary employer; and Alice Piper, a teenaged genius living in Haiden with her quirky, back-to-the-earth parents.
Wendy's disappearance provides Stacy with a different big story to pursue: violence again women and society's unwillingness to take a stand against it. Told from multiple viewpoints and jumping around in time, the story of how Stacy's articles galvanize Alice feels a little disjointed, and Alice's extreme precociousness sometimes reads as obnoxious. Despite that, this novel is as suspenseful as it is disturbing and nearly impossible to put down. (Genevieve)
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