REVIEW: Dead Pretty by Joy Wood

Dead Pretty  by Joy Wood

Genre: Psychological thriller

Read: 29th October 2023

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Published: 17th October 2023

★★ 2 stars

DESCRIPTION:

1977 – Six student nurses embark on their nurse training at Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital. They are young, excited and soon develop a strong friendship bond within their cohort.

But there is a predator amongst them. 

A man that takes great delight in killing young, pretty girls. 

He’s done it before.

He watches their movements to decide which one is next.

And then he kills for the thrill.

A student disappears – quickly followed by another. 

There are no leads, no evidence, and no bodies. 

He’s clever.

But is he as astute as he thinks he is?

MY THOUGHTS:

I know I'm in the minority here but I really couldn't get into this book. I made it 30% through before skimming the rest of it and feeling like I didn't really miss anything anyway. I was looking forward to this read as it sounded so intriguing but most of it was nursing students and their exploits yaddah yaddah yaddah. The anonymous chapters of the killer in between whetted my appetite but then that petered out and I found myself growing impatient for something to happen. And then when it did, I'd lost interest.

Set in 1977, the story focuses on student nurses at an orthapaedic hospital near Nottingham. We follow primarily about half a dozen of them - Kym, Louise (both of who narrate chapters), Zoe, Vanda, Guy and Simon. When one of the set disappears, it makes news headlines and the others grow increasingly worried for her safety. Especially as it is so out of character for the young woman. When another goes missing, the young folk realise something more sinister is going on and begin to look over their shoulders, wondering who is doing this?

It was an OK read and I skimmed to the end, found out the killer's identity and pretty much thought I didn't miss much. In fact, it felt a little off kilter. Maybe it was just me and the mood I'm in, I don't know. But this one just wasn't for me. Not at this time.

I would like to thank #JoyWood and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #DeadPretty in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Joy Wood has worked as a nurse most of her adult life and turned to writing six years ago to ‘see if she could.’ Her earlier work was adult romance and intrigue, but more recently she has switched genres to romance with a crime element. Joy lives in the small but charming seaside town of Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and her writing ideas come from watching the tide turn daily, of course with the obligatory ice-cream – someone has to support the local economy!

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