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Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel Of Murder And Whimsy (2014)

by Mercedes M. Yardley(Favorite Author)

4.32 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Ragnarok Publications

review 1: 4.5 starsA breath of fresh air! Delightfully funny, deliciously dark and deeply touching at times. A sort of romance with murder and a serial killer. The premise is a simple one, poor Bryony is going to be murdered, everyone knows it. She has victim written all over her, she is every innocent girl ever killed on every tv show, every book and every film. Bryony is vulnerability and innocence personified, but she is also kind, generous, brave, insightful and loved fiercely by all who surround her. This love is naturally tainted by the constant threat of her inescapable fate, always asking why it wasn't her life that was extinguished instead. And so, she must run. And run she does, a lot. All through her life she dodges deaths embrace everywhere. I found this a very refreshin... moreg and fun read, filled with dark wit and killers with darker intentions. The only issue I had with it was that I couldn't help feeling a little let down by the end, but that did not detract much from book at all. Being slightly unsatisfied by the last few pages didn't change my enjoyment of the story overall, there is so much more to it than just the climax. I loved Bryony, her refusal to be worn-down by her inevitable fate and her purity of spirit brought out a motherly side in me. I found myself chanting 'Run, Star Girl' in my head quite often. A fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously that I would recommend for anyone looking for something a little different.
review 2: Let’s start with the obvious: "Pretty Little Dead Girls" is a novel that you have to hit the ground running with. The main character, Bryony Adams, is born knowing that she is going to die, a fact that everyone around her knows too. You just have to accept that this is so and, like the characters themselves, live with it. It isn’t explained how, or why, this is going to happen, or how she knows, and the people around her – even strangers – know. They just do. It isn’t explained why people automatically see her as fragile, ethereal and ephemeral either; they just do. If you can accept that then you will be drawn into a mesmerizing world of whimsical and fantastical characters. A world that is filled with emotions but hopeful and horrific. A world that is typical of the creative mind of Mercedes M. Yardley.I have to be honest and say that, for a moment, I struggled with this book. I wanted to know why Bryony was slated for death. I wanted to know how people knew that the Fates were out to get her. Then something happened: the narration, the prose, and even the characters themselves drew me in and snared me deep. Mercedes’ narrator – one of the best characters in the book in my opinion – weaved a web of wondrous words and told me that everything would be ok, that I didn’t need to know the why or how as long as I just sat back and read the what. That what was a tale of loneliness, love, despair, hope, and yes death. This is a beautifully written story, a wonderfully eccentric story, and it is one that is handled exceptionally well by Yardely. What could be twee or trite elsewhere is believable and quirky. The characters are filled with life and speak with individual voices. They live in real life but never become mundane as though it is a story set in ‘reality’ this is as much a fairy tale as anything that you’d have read as a child – as long as what you were read was Grimm. This is the best parts of The Princess Bride or Labyrinth without ever being a copy; softly inspired, perhaps, but never trying to be anything other than itself.Ultimately this book may be marmite – some will love it and others will hate it but no-one will read it and simply forget it. It is too clever in how it balances whimsy with death. On how it is a book that starts with despair in knowing that you will die but showing how hope lasts throughout that – despite that.I hate marmite but I love this book.I hope that you will too. less

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