Pretty Wanted (Pretty Crooked #3) by Elisa Ludwig

* * * 

Available March, 17, 2015

Willa’s string of good-hearted but ill-conceived thefts at her former high school catapulted her into a life she hardly knows. She became a cult hero, but soon afterward, her mom disappeared, leaving only a cryptic message. When Willa hit the California highway to find her, she discovered a dark family secret: Joanne Fox is not who she says she is-and neither is Willa. Now, Willa and fellow trouble-maker Aidan must race to St. Louis, Missouri, Willa’s birthplace. There, they hope to find answers about Willa’s past. But uncovering the truth requires solving a decades-old murder case.

Unfortunately, the perps are still out there . . . and willing to do whatever it takes to keep the case cold. With Willa’s face on the nightly news and the police hot on her trail, it might not matter that Aidan and her friend Tre are there to help. Willa’s only hope is to find the truth before it finds her first.

If I had any worries about being able to catch up with Willa and company in book three, they were quickly erased within the first few pages. Ludwig does a nice job of bringing the reader up to speed on Willa’s exploits – they’re heading to St. Louis to put the final pieces of the puzzle regarding her mother. Aidan, that trusty mischief-maker is with her as they dodge the authorities and make due with what little cash and resources they have.   I can’t believe they’re still at it but Willa’s a stubborn young woman who’s nothing but determined to get to the bottom of all her family troubles.

The story still has plenty of energy with these two on the lam and now Willa and Aidan must put their minds together to solve the latest mystery which means drudging up details from a painful past. It’s a lot that can confuse Willa and there were a few times when she didn’t make the best decision. Still you can hardly blame a fifteen year-old who’s desperate to get at the truth. She and Aidan make more headway than any of the local or federal authorities have in all these years. The problem is that Willa has to accept some unpleasant facts about her family history. And when she’s not thinking straight, she could land herself in a spot of trouble.

It seems that being on the run and in the public eye has cured Willa of any of the adrenaline rush she initially experienced when her sensational Sly Fox persona first began. Now she wants nothing more than to just be normal and not in the middle of whatever mess she’s in. That longing isn’t enough though to change her mind about the direction she’s headed in. Her only guilt is that she has involved Aidan and her best friends Tre and Cherise in her problems.

There were a few moments where I wished Willa would think more clearly but like I said earlier, you can’t hold that against her. This has been a fun, clever series. Each book delivered a different adventure, all of them related. But I never would have predicted that what started out as a way to level the playing field between the haves and have-nots in Pretty Crooked and progressed in Pretty Sly, would ever lead to events by the end. And I think this is what I enjoyed most about the series – it kept me guessing. More impressive is that Willa herself had come very far from the person she was before. You'll be surprised by what she decides at the end. If you haven’t tried this series, definitely give it a go!

~ Bel

Pretty Sly (Pretty Crooked #2) by Elisa Ludwig

* * * 3/4

Sequel to Pretty Crooked... 

Willa Fox was told to stay out of trouble. In fact, it was an order from a very serious juvenile court judge.

However, that was before Willa found her house ransacked and a mysterious email from her mother telling Willa she had to leave Paradise Valley for a while and not to come looking for her. Willa knows her mom’s in danger and that no one at school will miss her after her recent sticky-fingered stunts with the Glitterati. So with the help of her pal Tre and with her degenerate crush Aidan as her wingman, Willa violates her probation and hits the California highway in search of her mom.

But when Willa and Aidan’s journey turns dangerously criminal and they wind up being the focus of a national manhunt, they realize it’s sometimes easier to escape the law than the truth—and that everything Willa thought she knew about her mom, and her life, was wrong.

Pretty Sly is Elisa Ludwig’s fast-paced sequel to Pretty Crooked, the second book in a trilogy that’s pitch-perfect for fans of Ally Carter. With a daring heroine who has one-of-a-kind spunk, a roller-coaster Bonnie and Clyde romance, a thrilling mystery, and a shocking twist ending, this book will have readers rooting for Willa as she makes the wrong choices to do the right thing. Fans will be eagerly awaiting the series conclusion.

I was so excited to get my hands on Pretty Sly. When I’d first read Pretty Crooked, it was so opposite from all the paranormal and dystopian novels I'd been reading a lot at the time. It won me over immediately because of its fun premise and moral stand against bullying. Granted the heroine, Willa, went about things rather illegally but who doesn’t love a story about the underdog sticking it to the Glitterati?

Now she and Aidan are on the run. Her mom has disappeared, leaving a cryptic message and a ton of cash. Of course Willa won’t heed her mother’s advice to lay low and not look for her – ever met a stubborn 15 year-old? So feeling that she herself is not safe in their house after coming home to it ransacked, Willa and Aidan with a little help from Tre decide to piece together the clues to get on her mother’s trail. Naturally there are many obstacles in their way and as much as she shouldn’t, Willa has to resort to her “Sly Fox” ways in order to survive and press on. It’s a mixed bag of feelings for her – on the one hand, she’s appauled and feels guilty that she has to break in to homes and steal cars while she’s on the run. On the other, a small part of her enjoys the thrill and notoriety she’s receiving. When their pictures are splashed all over the news and they're labelled as rich kid runaways glamorizing an errant lifestyle , Willa and Aidan know that they have no time to waste.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Pretty Crooked but I do remember enjoying it very much and taking to Willa. In this one, I was a tad bit annoyed with her. I know, I know, her mother is gone, she’s on her own and she’s in trouble. She has every right to be whiney but many times it affected her reasoning.  And she wasn’t helped by her growing feelings towards Aidan. In those instances, I was reminded that she’s very much a fifteen year-old girl and shouldn’t be in this ridiculous predicament in the first place. It’s unfair of me to expect her to be some sort of high-end, stealthy spy in total control of her emotions. When she does finally get her stuff together though, it’s the Willa that I remember.  And it’s on!

Pretty Sly is just as fun as its predecessor with more at stake. And even though she and Aidan are breaking the law to find her mother, she does intend to right every wrong she creates along the way. That’s one of her most admirable traits which makes Willa a fun, flawed and socially responsible heroine to enjoy!

~ Bel

Waiting on Wednesday (12)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

This week's WoW charmed the pants of the Bibliojunkies and after seeing this book trailer we think you will agree that it looks like a super fun modern day take on Robin Hood...

Pretty Crooked

By Elisa Ludwig

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friend” – know to everyone as the Glitterati – without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls. Who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her – evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s not time for crushes and flirting with boys especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.

But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person Willa trusts most?

By Gemma Halliday

Publication Date:  March 13, 2012

She faked her death to escape life as an assassin. But now her enemies have tracked her down, and this time they want her to stay dead.

Anya Danielovich was an assassin in her former life. But that was a long time ago. Today she’s just Anna Smith—a single, thirtysomething woman living in San Francisco with a simple desire to lead a better life. But she’s still haunted by her past—the people she killed, the mentor she betrayed, the woman she was. She’s taken care to cover her tracks, but she’s beginning to feel like she’s being watched…

Nick Dade is a hired gunman—the best of the best. He’s read Anya’s file and, after weeks of surveillance, he’s ready to pull the trigger…until someone else beats him to the punch. With his agenda shattered, Nick suddenly finds himself thrown together with the woman he’s been sent to eliminate. Who is she really? Who hired the second hit? And who can he trust? Together Nick and Anna find themselves embroiled in a web of deceit and desire as an unknown enemy closes in. To unravel the truth, Anna must face her past even if that means risking both Nick’s life and her own.

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

* * *

Available March 13, 2012

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.


Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friend” – know to everyone as the Glitterati – without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls. Who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.


The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her – evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s not time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.


But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person Willa trusts most?


Mean Girls meets Robin Hood in this charming tale of Willa Fox who has been transplanted to a snooty new high school called Valley Prep in Paradise Valley, AZ. Willa has made a career out of being a new girl at every school. This time, thanks to a chance encounter with another student, Cherise, Willa winds up in the world of the Glitterati – the “it” girls of the school.


Willa is very likable; her quirkiness is endearing. She's easily forgiven for initially falling under the Glitterati's spell before realizing just how ruthless they can be. And while the description above gives the impression that the bad boy, Aidan is a huge distraction, it is really Willa's struggle to establish her own ground and create a more tolerant environment at her school that's front and center.  


Eliza Ludwig does a fine job with the story. Even though it touches on the topic of online bullying, she doesn't get preachy.  Instead she adopts plenty of humor and intrigue that takes the story in a different direction where Willa sticks it to the over-privileged brats at school.


Pretty Crooked is very entertaining and everyone will recognize the social hierarchy that's described in it. The book offers a glimpse into what some of the other kids at Valley Prep go through. Cherise, for example, who used to be on the outside before being accepted by the Glitterati, has learned to turn a blind eye because she's terrified of being a social outcast. There's Tre, another transplant like Willa, and son of the Phoenix Suns' head coach, who has constant rumors swirling around him. Then there's Aidan and his endless attempts at getting kicked out of school so that he can send a message to his overbearing father. All of them demonstrate that there's more to people than meets the eye.


In the end, Willa does have to face the consequences of her actions, especially the negative fallout from her otherwise good intentions. Aside from that, there's also the added mystery of the secrets her mom has been keeping from her since they moved to Arizona. All of this provides for plenty of material for the next book which I very much looked forward to!


~ Bel


And now BiblioJunkies is very happy to have Elisa Ludwig share more about Pretty Crooked.  Don’t worry, you won’t be running into any spoilers!

Elisa Ludwig

The kids at Valley Prep where Willa goes are quite diverse.  How much of that setting echoes your own high school experience?

Actually, the school I went to was not terribly diverse at all. It was a private school, not unlike VP. I got a wonderful education but when I was there, the majority of students were white and affluent.

Willa is a confident person. It’s nice to see a teenager who with her quirks and a few missteps along the way still has a handle on things. And then there’s Cherise who’s still a bit unwilling to stick her neck out even if she disagrees with the Gliteratti. How did you shape those two characters?

In the earlier drafts, Willa was a little too tough, a little too confident. Over time she came to be more enthusiastic and slightly more naïve, at least in terms of her social life. I think Cherise has more to protect – she knows what the Gliteratti’s wrath can be like, and so she is more defensive of her social position. Cherise was always more conflicted than Willa but the nuances of characters’ interactions and dynamics always seem to come (for me, anyway) in later drafts.

The overall tone of the book is whimsical even though it brings up online bullying and the perils of rumor mills. Were they something you had wanted to address?

Yes. These being real issues for kids. The stealing part and the fashion and of course the romance are meant to be fun fantasies, but it’s also important to ground stories in the here and now, and have some substance.

How did you research the fine art of pick pocketing and breaking into lockers? And how fun was that?

Mostly on the internet! Everything is out there for the reading (and writing). Some things took longer than others to nail – I remember that figuring out the locker scene was pretty tricky. Sometimes I would try to write one method but then it wouldn’t work as well on paper so I’d scrap it and use another. But it was super fun. I just the FBI isn’t keep a case file on me, given some of my search terms.

So in the next book will we learn more about this mystery surrounding Willa’s mom? Can you drop us any little hints?

Yes, for sure. This book is a cliffhanger and the next one solves most, if not all the questions raised. Hmm..hints. *maniacally steepling fingers together* I will say this: All of the major characters will be back.

Aidan in the story is the big prankster at school. Did you take part in any yourself?

I wish I could say I did. There was one senior prank the whole class did and I recall it has something to do with condoms. But in general, my rebellions (you better believe I had them) were much quieter.

And now is the part of the interview where we get silly. We BiblioJunkies have the mentality of sixteen year olds, so with that being said…which fictional character would you love to go on a date with?

:) If we’re talking teen boys, I think I’d have to choose Tom Henderson from King Dork. He’s smart, quirky and we could geek about music. Now if it had to be someone my age, well, that would be a challenge. I haven’t run into a dreamy thirty something guy in a book in a while! May be you have a recommendation??

When it comes to dessert, what’s your favorite guilty pleasure?

Much like Aidan, I prefer the combination of salty and sweet: Chubby Hubby, salted caramel anything, or Mo’s Bacon Bar would fit the bill.

And finally what kind of reading do you enjoy when you’re not busy writing? (Okay so it’s not a silly question.)

I love contemporary YA, of course. One of my day jobs is writing guides for other people’s novels so I read all kinds of books for that. I also like literary fiction, short stories, the New Yorker, narrative nonfiction, cookbooks, and blogs like The Hairpin. (I’ve been known to waste a minute here or there on cheesy celebrity gossip. Ahem.)

Congratulations on the new book Elisa and thank you for taking the time out of your very busy day to chat with us. We wish you much success!


Readers, we hope you enjoyed it and we hope you add Pretty Crooked, available March 13 to your TBR list!


~ Bel