Thank you very much to NetGalley.com and Pushkin Press for allowing me to have the opportunity to read this book in exchange for honest feedback.

Unfortunately, this didn’t really click with me! I found I had some issues with the pacing of this novel and I wasn’t really invested in the narrative or any of the characters. I still think it was enjoyable and easy to read and the use of the story within a story is clever, but it did leave me wanting. This would make an excellent screen adaptation though.

Marissa Dahl has been assigned an editors
role on a film on Kickabout Island. She realises all is not as it seems when she is allocated her own security in the form of the formidable Isaiah. The film is the reconsideration of a murder that took place on the island years ago. Not long after arriving the female star of the film is found murdered.

Although the premise of this book sounded just what I look for in a psychological thriller I’m afraid this just didn’t hit the spot for me. I found the storyline was quite slow, although it picked up pace on the second half. There were a lot of characters to try and remember. I really liked Marissa’s character although it’s not spoken openly about in the book sure she either has OCD or ASD. I really like the relationship between her and Isaiah, it was really sweet and tender. I didn’t really enjoy the plot and found it all a bit flat.

A whitty novel with twists and turns along the way. Not your average murder mystery:thriller but a fast paced novel none the less.

The second half of the book made up for the first half which was in places hard to follow. The character of Marissa didn’t really make sense and it wasn’t clear that she was nuerodivergent until a lot later on when her character was developed, it felt like this was decided a lot later on when it would be good to have known more about her from the start. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters however especially Marissa’s with Suzi and Grace.

If you enjoy films/how films are made then this would be a book for you. A number of film references are found through out.

Overall an easy read with a bundle of character thrown in. It mixes humour alongside murder which makes it unique.

If you read this for the crime/mystery/thriller element, you might be slightly disappointed, but if you like a sweetly written, character-driven narrative, and you don't mind the thriller-elements coming second, this is one for you.

The narrator is the best part of this book. She's neurodivergent, and her overthinking is so intense it's almost annoying, if only in a 'I'm in this picture and I don't like it' kind of way. I don't tend to enjoy romance elements of novels, but I quite liked this one, and Marissa's (sort of) love interest is a great character in himself. The standard 'will they won't they' is transformed into a bittersweet 'will she won't she, and if not why not?' that is really unusual and moving.

I quite enjoyed the true-crime podcast interludes, and the teenage detectives are a sweet nod to a whole genre of crime fiction/YA without being too much.

The thriller narrative is pretty solid, and if the solution is less satisfying than the book deserves, I'm not too mad about it, because other elements of the book are redemptively strong, with the narrative voice being the major draw for me.

3.5/5 stars

Thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Pretty as a Picture tells a slow-burn type of suspenseful story, one that I would definitely recommend to movie aficionados as this novel shines a light on the realities of the film industry: from the demanding, if not downright tyrannical, directors and agents to the power dynamics and hierarchies that are at play in a film crew. This behind-the-scenes setting is perhaps the most interesting and dazzling aspect of this book.

Although there are certain elements within the narrative that would not be out of place in a thriller, Pretty as a Picture is above all a character-driver story. Marissa, our protagonist and narrator, makes this novel. While she may initially strike readers as yet another introverted ‘not like other people’ character—who is later on reassured by others about her looks and personality—Marissa not only experience things differently but others are aware of this and often make the point of commenting on it. Her poor social skills, her ‘ticks’, her struggle to read or understand other people’s tone of voice or body language, her dislike of physical contact….these all contribute to making small everyday things—such any type of social interaction—much harder for her.
Films help her navigate the world. When she doesn’t know what to do or say she turns to the films she’s watched. Sometimes she simply draws strength from the characters of her favourite movies, while on other occasions someone, something, or someplace might remind her of a certain film.

When her best friend, and former creative partner, moves out of their apartment and with her douche-y boyfriend, Marissa finds herself in need of an editing gig. Her agent pushes into accepting an offer for a film based on a true murder case. Marissa is told that the previous editor suddenly left so the director, Tony Rees, is desperate for someone to replace him. Marissa is taken to a remote island where she unearths more than one mystery: from the dismissal of various members of staff to the growing tension between the people working on the film...something is afoot. Marissa, alongside some new acquaintances, plays detective in order to find just what is going on this set.

The murder aspect of the story kicks starts around the half-way mark. Before then we are introduced to the story’s many characters and we get a chance to truly get to know Marissa. The slow yet atmospheric start gives way to an increasingly urgent storyline. There are some twists that are somewhat predictable but I still enjoyed seeing the way in which things unfolded.
Marissa is a distinctive narrator. Her interactions with others could be either funny, awkward, or tense, and I appreciated the way in which Elizabeth Little depicted her. We read about her vulnerabilities, her strengths, and her quirks.
The chemistry between Marissa and Isaiah adds a nice touch to the story.

Interspersed throughout Marissa’s narrative are snippets from her a true-crime podcast, ‘Dead Ringer’, run by two teenage girls who, like Marissa, are sleuths of sorts. These sections give us glimpses of what is to come, without ever revealing too much.
Filled with cinematic references Pretty as a Picture offers a sharp commentary about the film industry, the dead-girl trope, the way in which true-crime glamorises death, as well as insight into someone who is labelled as ‘different’ by their society.
Overall, Pretty as a Picture was a thoroughly entertaining novel and I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoyed The Lost Night, books by Riley Sager, or Still Lives.