Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings

5 Stars from me

Another absolutely stunning read from Amanda Jennings – Beautiful People focuses around what my son always refers to as ‘pretty privilege’ whereby all the pretty people always get preferential treatment, and once you are aware of it you can see it happening everywhere as clear as day.

This dual time-lined story has a delicious darkness to it that will draw you in, there are some sweet, almost innocent little moments peppered among the hedonistic, arrogant, entitled, throbbing pulse that beats throughout the lives of the key characters.

Much like in her previous books, Jennings has absolutely nailed the excruciating feeling of being on the outside and not quite knowing how to fit in. Victoria, Vikki, Vix is the epitome of this as she tries again and again to reinvent herself and shoehorn herself into the mould of a ‘beautiful person’.

There were many people in this book that I loved to hate and I was torn between feeling compassion for Victoria and wanting to shake her!

I would expect no less from this author but Beautiful People is a masterpiece in the fragility of human emotion and how we tie ourselves into self-imposed restrictive knots. It is a coming of age tale that is as old as the hills and shines a light on the parallels of depravity and entitlement of Hollywood, capturing perfectly the all too familiar #metoo culture that is synonymous with fame and fortune, yet also with our everyday mundane lives.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and HQ publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is just one of Amanda Jennings’ brilliant books – and I highly recommend you read them all. Here are a few:

Sworn Secret
The Haven
The Cliff House
The Judas Scar
In Her Wake

Blurb: When Victoria escapes her broken home for university in London, she is determined to reinvent herself and make a fresh start. She falls in love with Nick, who welcomes her into his privileged circle of friends, opening her eyes to a world she only ever dreamt of.

Then life takes a darker turn.

Twenty-five years later, the circle is reunited alongside a host of glittering guests to celebrate the wedding of Hollywood darling Ingrid Olsson to ruthlessly well-connected Julian Draper. Victoria has spent years trying to forget Nick and put the horror of what happened behind her. Now she has to face the past she tried so hard to bury.

As the champagne flows and painful memories resurface, Victoria can’t shake the feeling that some people seem to get away with everything.

But maybe not this time.

Maybe this time, someone will pay the ultimate price.