Pretty Things

In the beginning of Pretty Things, by Janelle Brown, Nina is a smalltime grifter, scoping rich party kids on Instagram and scooping up their watches, jewelry and other unsecured loot while they’re on vacation or passed out after partying. She’s learned these skills from her mom, an even smaller grifter, and her art history degree helps her spot valuables. It’s a good scam, and you can’t help rooting for Nina to lift just one watch from an entitled rich kid’s collection.

When her mother needs an expensive cancer treatment, Nina and her boyfriend Lachlan plan a must larger heist, scamming an Instagram influencer and heiress, Vanessa. Besides the tense robbery A-plot, there’s a lot of subtle snark about class. In their heist identities as “Ashley” and “Michael,” a freelance yoga teacher and an academic on sabbatical, they AirBnB a gatekeeper’s cottage on Vanessa’s family estate. Ashley and Michael are crafted to be exactly the class who’d have the time and money for an extended vacation… but who’d still be impressed by Vanessa’s family wealth and her influencer status. A little detail about Michael’s old family money in Ireland completes the image.

Vanessa, with her piles of designer clothes from sponsors, famous friends, and family antiques, seems likes she has an abundance of pretty things, and won’t miss a few disappearances.

Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned, and the twisty, suspenseful story takes so  many dramatic turns with surprising discoveries. The story is carefully built, with small details returning with huge significance later on. (This link is full of my comments on spoilers! Don’t click before you read the book!) I loved seeing both Nina and Vanessa develop as complex characters, and although I knew that Nina and Lachlan weren’t really going to get in, get the money, and get out, as planned, I couldn’t possibly predict all the tense twists coming.