The characters were cardboard figures with no real depth to them. Paisley had no redeeming qualities and I found her violent behavior and vulgar language offensive, even though bad language doesn't usully bother me in YA novels. ( )

This book is ingenious! It really is amazing and has just the right amount of sentimentality. ( )

There were somethings about this novel I liked... and some things I just couldn't get over. Here's what I wasn't too fond of... The language. There is so much swearing in this novel. I'm okay with swearing, I hear swearing, I sometimes swear, but the profanities in this novel are excessive. It's like every other word is a swear or dirty slang. I liked how Paisley was a strong female, but she was a little too... insane for me. I just couldn't relate to any of the characters. Because of that, I felt that I couldn't connect to the book.

But those are just my personal feelings. The book wasn't all bad. I really liked seeing Beau and Paisley's relationship. It is very complex. They are extremely close, as most twins are, but at the same time they are very different people. Beau is constantly pressured to do things he doesn't want to do. It is one thing when a peer is doing it, another when it is your sister. I liked exploring their relationship because there was so much to it. Also, there are some funny, quirky adventures that go down in this book. I mean, they are in Vegas.

If this book sounds interesting to you and you are not turned off by profane language and other "pretty bad things", then maybe this book will be a better fit with you. ( )

Originally posted http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/?p=3457

Pretty Bad Things – what a roller-coaster of a book. Is it supposed to be light? Serious? Even affter reading it, I’m really not sure.

The “Wonder Twins” certainly went through some terrible things – depressed mother, hotel-robbing father, famewhore Grandmother, boarding school, being expelled from boarding school, kidnappings, etc. But at the same time, the things Paisley and Beau did throughout the book felt very unbelievable and sort of comical at some points.

Despite my confusion with how I was supposed to take the book, I did enjoy reading Pretty Bad Things. There was a lot of language, but that’s never been something to really bother me. I didn’t like Paisley very much, though. She was very coarse, headstrong, and pretty rude – it got to be annoying at times. I liked Beau, although his tendency to let Paisley walk over him drove me nuts.

It was a bit slow going at first, especially when I was reading about mostly just Paisley, but once the twins got back together – I was basically hooked. The things they pulled in Las Vegas – robbing candy stores, donut stores, etc – definitely felt unbelievable, but (apart from the tone confusion), I don’t think it retracted from the story.

Overall, I enjoyed Pretty Bad Things. It was an interesting ride, and I definitely found myself wanting to know (and hoping for the best) when it came to how Paisley and Beau would end up at the end of the book. I love reading about different family dynamics, and boy – this certainly had different family dynamics. ( )

I really didn’t know what to expect with this book. It’s not the sort of book l am always reading at the moment but l think l will always like to go back to these sort of books every now and then as l do enjoy them.
When l started to read this book l was very glad l pick it up from my pile of books. The 1st page of this book grabbed my attention straight away and l cannot see it failing to win any person over. What l loved most about the 1st page is how it introduced us to the first character in the book, Paisley, how quick l felt l know her. Seriously, from the first page l knew more about Paisley than l did about most characters within 2/3 chapters. C.J. then went on to introduce Beau, Paisley’s twin brother. I also felt like l knew him rather quickly. Not only did l love how quickly l felt like l knew them, l loved their characters. Skuse did such a great job of building up their characters, making them different, stand out and making sure their actions were true to the characters she had portrayed.
Pretty Bad Things is written from the POV of two people, Paisley has one chapter and Beau has the other. At the beginning l much preferred Paisley’s chapters because of the character she is but as the book got more into it l very much enjoyed seeing into Beau’s mind too.
The story line is quite a fast paced one and although l felt like this book was a character lead story (in no way bad!) l did also enjoy the twins journey in this book. I liked how the book kept to realistic things, especially as l got so into this book l felt like it had really happened and l was there with them. Bringing something ‘fake’ into this book would have ruined it, once or twice Paisley or Beau said about a fairytale but how this wasn’t one.
Overall this is a great read, l really recommend it to everyone, even if this isn’t your usual type of book. C.J. has put so much character into this book, one minute you will be laughing and the next you will have a worried expression on your face! ( )