#PrettyBoy Must Die by Kimberly Reid (ARC) - Review

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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jake Morrow, aka Peter Smith, is a foster kid turned CIA operative and since he epically failed his first assignment he's been given a pity mission at a school. He's trying to keep a low profile (there are terrorists out there looking to get bloody revenge), but when a classmate snaps his #Prettyboy photo during a jog around the track and uploads it to social media he becomes a viral sensation. Before he knows it, the school is under attack and he's stuck in the building with psychotic killers (and fans). This #Prettyboy's going to have to put all of his skills and training to the test if he doesn't want to be a #Deadboy.

#Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid sounded like it would be so much fun, like a combination of #AlexFromTarget (remember that guy) meets the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter and Spy Kids with a great sense of humor. The concept behind this is very promising and the story starts off well enough. The author drops us right into the action from Jake/ Peter's point of view. Reid keeps the pacing fast and light, and she does a decent job of writing action scenes. Unfortunately, as the the story moves on the plot just begins to get silly and ridiculous - forget about suspending your disbelief. Good characters could have saved the story, but I couldn't relate to anyone here, from Jake/ Peter himself, his best friend Bunker, Katie the hot girl with a secret of her own, or anyone for that matter. Jake/ Peter is the most irritating of them all - he is very arrogant, treats his one friend like nothing more than his flunky (are they only friends because Bunker doesn't know any better after living in a bunker with only his dad for company for fifteen years of his life?), and constantly underestimates girls and women (if they're good looking they can't be much more than an airhead space cadet, right?) even when they clearly have talent. I'll admit, there are some fun moments, but for the most part what I just mentioned overshadows all of that. If it's supposed to be funny, I must have missed it.

Overall, I really wanted to like Kimberly Reid's #Prettyboy Must Die, but it just wasn't for me. I was actually close to DNFing it, but I kept pushing through it. It's one of those novels where the concept behind it sounds incredibly promising, but the execution does not live up to your expectations.

Final verdict:

I read this ARC from February 8 - 9, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.  #Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid is due to be released on February 13th, 2018.