
Goodreads synopsis:
If there were one day that she could change it would be the day she was taken.
After her parents’ divorce, seventeen-year-old Izzy Scott and her mother move to the old town of St. Augustine to begin a new life, a life beyond the media attention and the memories of the traumatic experiences that left an everlasting affect on their family.
The former ballerina is trying to adjust to the outside world without suffering a panic attack and exposing who she is – all while getting through her senior year at a new school. That’s easy to say until she meets local boy Mason Winchester, a boy with a tragic past.
Mason has a reputation for violence, but a love for motorcycles. At the age of eleven he lost his mother to cancer and from then he has been running from something, but could never really get away.
Like any other angry teenager, he just wants to be left alone and to have nothing to do with anyone else because he believed that he had nothing to offer. That changes the moment he saw what was in the new girl eyes.
Tragedy wasn’t new to either of their lives but among the secrets and the memories the one thing they both never excepted was to find hope.
*This book is recommended for readers 18+ for violence, language, and some adult situations.*
5 STARS!
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Pretty Girl took me deep into the minds of two teenagers who were recovering form traumatic pasts, trying to find the strength to carry on with their lives.
This story is told in alternating POVs, which I love!
Izzy is a seventeen year old who recently moved to St. Augustine with her mother to get away from the life she couldn’t face anymore. Two years prior to her move, Izzy went through something terrible that drove her to try and take her life. We don’t find out exactly what horrific things Izzy was subjected to until the end of the story. The beauty of this story is that without even knowing what Izzy went through, Amy Heugh shows us the depths of her depression and anger. It was real. And I could feel it.

Mason is also a seventeen year old senior. He is known for his intimidating looks and hard-core attitude. He’s a love ’em and leave ’em type of guy, never giving his trust to anyone. Mason lost his mom at a young age, leaving him with an angry, abusive father. After his fathers death, Mason moved in with his aunt and two cousins. He grew up as a loner with hate in his heart.
“Monsters live in the darkest corners of our harrowing memories, reminding us of the ugliness and malice of life, as it eats at our hearts. They live in the fading smiles, turning hearts into stone to cope with the plight, and tomorrow won’t remove the sadness. We think that time will heal the pain, but it betrays us constantly with images of what we can’t erase away.”
After Izzy meets Mason (after a couple run ins were she pushed him away), they see the pain that the other tries to hide, and reluctantly, are drawn to each other. Their friendship was beautiful. They needed it in so many ways. Two people, who refused to give their trust away, slowly start trusting each other. The process was one hundred percent believable.

Just writing about this book puts tears in my eyes again because it affected me that deeply!
As the story progresses, I was struck by the realism of how Izzy was recovering. The little things she experienced (with and without Mason) that made her look at life a little bit differently were absolutely beautiful. As Mason starting giving her parts of his heart, it was incredible to feel his hope blossoming. When Mason confessed to her everything that happened to him as a child, I lost it. I thought it couldn’t get worse than that, but it did. The story has a twist near the end that is absolutely devastating. This book just ripped my heart out and I didn’t know if I’d be getting it back. Reading about these two characters was a heart-wrenching experience. Their journey of recovery, acceptance, friendship, and love made me cry and smile and laugh and grimace. I know Izzy and Mason will be living in my head for a long time to come.
Amy Heugh has written this book in a way that makes you feel the emotion. The Pain. The hope. I didn’t just read this story, I experienced it. This book will stay with me forever. It is hard to compare this book, but if you liked The Sea of Tranquility or Pushing the Limits, then you need to read this one! I could gush about the writing style, the intensity, the depth of emotion in these characters for days, but I am just going to say that this book deserves to be read!
Thank you, Amy Heugh, for telling this incredible story. You absolutely blew me away!