Pretty When She Cries by A. Zavarelli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Your first kiss is supposed to be sweet. Ours was baptized in fire.
I was the new girl trying to find her place.
Landon was the brooding neighbor I tutored over the summer.
I didn’t know he was a legend at Black Mountain Academy.
I didn’t know they worshipped him like a religion.
But I fell for him before I knew those things.
To me, he was just the tortured soul who drew me in like a magnet.
And then he did something so unspeakable, so unforgivable, it shattered me.
I ran away then because I was weak, but I’ve shed my tears.
He stole my heart and my dignity, and I’m here to take it back.
The only problem is… he’s not giving it up without a fight.

Pretty When She Cries

Pretty good!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: ❤️💙💚💛
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 😠☺️😋😉
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Kailani – she meets Landon Blackwood during the summer while working as his tutor at his mansion. Landon is an enigma to her, she sees him as a strange tortured boy who didn’t know his own value. She sees him as a guy who hates everyone, yet at the end of the summer he throws a huge party and invites her. Her bestie, Courtney was surprised that Kailani didn’t know that Landon was a god at Black Mountain Academy and one of the most famous faces of their generation, an actor who recently moved back to town.

The Story: After arriving at the party, Kailani sees all the people she knows from school and finds Landon holding court at the center of the party, the crows chanting the name of the famous vampire character he portrays. His eyes find Kailani’s in the crowd before a popular girl moves Kailani next to Landon where they are playing a game called Truth or Grope. Kailani is dared to go into a bedroom with Landon for 5 minutes. When she passes out in the bathroom, she wakes up to everyone at the party making fun of her, bruised naked body with sharpie words written all over her skin. With Landon and his friend Carson passed out in a bed with her.

The Hero: Landon – he thought Kailani set up what happened at that party. He believed she wanted to put out a story to the press about what happened and his lawyer and publicist got into the mix and paid her off before she turned tail and ran back to Hawaii. Two years later he is back at Black Mountain Academy for senior year. His mother is no better than Kailani, he emancipated himself at fifteen and now she only calls when she needs money in addition to the generous amount he gives her every month. If he doesn’t comply, she leaks stories about him to the press.

Kailani is back at Black Mountain Academy for senior year and she has changed. Her energy has changed from the sunshine and light she used to be to a darker and harder version of herself. She is fierce and is back for revenge. She puts on a good front and wears a mask, though the mask slips when she gets home. Kailani’s plans go to hell more often than not and she starts to change in order to get her revenge, but the change is not in a good way.

This book is told in multiple points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Stefanie Kay and Neill Thorne. I don’t know that I have ever heard books by these two narrators before, but they do a good job. Stephanie has a soft feminine voice which I really enjoyed. Neill is also good and he has a deep but soft voice and was good at showing emotion through his voice.

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