The Pretty One by Lucinda Rosenfeld

Title: The Pretty One: A Novel about Sisters
Author: Lucinda Rosenfeld
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Release Date: February 5th, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Pages: 320
Format: Electronic
Acquired: Netgalley
Age Group: Adult

Perfect. Pretty. Political. For nearly forty years, The Hellinger sisters of Hastings-on-Hudson-namely, Imperia (Perri), Olympia (Pia), and Augusta (Gus)--have played the roles set down by their loving but domineering mother Carol. Perri, a mother of three, rules her four-bedroom palace in Westchester with a velvet fist, managing to fold even fitted sheets into immaculate rectangles. Pia, a gorgeous and fashionable Chelsea art gallery worker, still turns heads after becoming a single mother via sperm donation. And Gus, a fiercely independent lawyer and activist, doesn't let her break-up from her girlfriend stop her from attending New Year's Day protests on her way to family brunch.

But the Hellinger women aren't pulling off their roles the way they once did. Perri, increasingly filled with rage over the lack of appreciation from her recently unemployed husband Mike, is engaging in a steamy text flirtation with a college fling. Meanwhile Pia, desperate to find someone to share in the pain and joy of raising her three-year-old daughter Lola, can't stop fantasizing about Donor #6103. And Gus, heartbroken over the loss of her girlfriend, finds herself magnetically drawn to Jeff, Mike's frat boy of a little brother. Each woman is unable to believe that anyone, especially her sisters, could understand what it's like to be her. But when a freak accident lands their mother to the hospital, a chain of events is set in motion that will send each Hellinger sister rocketing out of her comfort zone, leaving her to wonder: was this the role she was truly born to play?

With The Pretty One, author Lucinda Rosenfeld does for siblings what she did for female friendship in I'm So Happy for You, turning her wickedly funny and sharply observant eye on the pleasures and punishments of lifelong sisterhood

So, when I first started reading this, like back earlier in the year, I was having a hard time relating for a lot of reasons. The main reasons were: Age, Experiences, and most importantly Sisters. I only have a brother and I can relate absolutely nothing with him, since he's much older than me and we have different interests. But then, I joined a sorority and I got over a thousand sisters overnight, except for my three line sisters who I spent 78 days and 8 minutes with each and every day talking with and doing something. And it was through that experience that I got to see a little bit more about what it's like to have sisters.

Obviously, sorority sisters vs. real sisters is completely different, but there's a main core to it: There's fighting, there's laughing, there's crying, and in the end there's just a heck of a lot of loving, and that's something that I found as a consistent them in this novel.

All three sisters are very different and I found that Rosenfeld did an excellent job in highlighting these differences. I know how hard it can be to find a voice for every single character, because they are supposed to feel real, and real people are just so different from each other. But I think that she pulled out of really well. All their voices came through, even that of the secondary characters.

I like how each sister interacted with each other and the people around them. Yes, they had their differences and they had a lot of faults, but they also had each other and that made the novel even cooler to read as they worked it out.

This novel was funny, witty, heartfelt, and very realistic. It pulled the reader in and didn't let go!

If you are still looking for some nice summer reads, check this one out for sure!