Craft Lessons: Karin Slaughter's Pretty Girls & We Are All Guilty Here

What I learned from reading with a writer’s eye...

Karin Slaughter’s latest book, We Are All Guilty Here, started off a new series - all new characters and in a new, fictional place called North Falls. Like most of her books, this one was also set in the south. But We Are All Guilty Here came out 10 years after the 2015 publication of Pretty Girls. Ten years is a milestone, and for this review, I considered the two books against each other. Both were read back-to-back to create as “fair” a comparison as possible, but it’s important to note that Pretty Girls was a stand alone while We Are All Guilty Here is the first book in a new series.

5 Craft Lessons

1. plot, pacing — is this unputdownable? 👣

Pretty Girls was super tight and fast paced, despite a ton of graphic imagery. Rapid-fire dialogue and close POVs on family members made the entire story very intimate. Read this in two days…We Are All Guilty Here was structured as a police procedural, and because of the slower burn, it was an easy decision not to take it on a cross country flight. Nonetheless, both were remarkable stories.

2. characters — do I care about them? 🧡

The characters in Pretty Girls were memorable and distinct in both dialogue and action, leaving a very strong sense of who each is as their own person. Stakes for the characters — good and evil — were visceral and deeply personal. We Are All Guilty Here was populated with a much wider net of people with less room for depth; as a result, the emotional punch of what the characters experience felt diluted. Worthy to note that this is the first book of a new series, and there will be room for a lot more character development. But even a single book in a series should read as a compelling standalone, agreed? And given Karin Slaughter’s writing talent and experience, it seemed fair to have that expectation.

3. tension, atmosphere — how do I feel while reading? 🤔

I could not put down Pretty Girls even though this book is ten years old. I was so drawn into them and their story (in that order). I needed to know what happened next. The atmosphere was heavy and tense throughout. I could see the places, the farm… But setting did not serve as its own character here as it did in We Are All Guilty Here. The small-town where everyone knows everyone, and guilt and secrets are shared, lent a persistent level of claustrophobia. Both books were incredibly atmospheric, but Pretty Girls could have been in any town/place; whereas We Are All Guilty Here could only be in North Falls, where everyone was hiding something.

4. writing style - what authorial choices shaped the ride for me? 🎡

Pretty Girls was written with sharp, tight prose and fast, brutal, graphic detail that shocked and matched the pace of the story itself. We Are All Guilty Here was a more complex story landscape with layered twists and shock, but at times the procedural details seemed to overwhelm the story. We Are All Guilty Here felt like a more “grown-up” author writing, triggering deeper rooted fears as compared to the blatant violence of Pretty Girls.

5. payoff - did the ending land? 💰

Which story will stick with me longer? The ending for Pretty Girls contained extraordinary family revelations and twists that led to a devastating conclusion. We Are All Guilty Here was so different with the concept of collective guilt for a broader moral punch, and a much bigger societal takeaway. At their hearts, both are stories about violence against women/girls and both are ridiculously well-written. Both will be memorable for very different reasons.

Closing Takeaway ✍️

I hold Karin Slaughter to a very high standard because of her talent and experience. As such, I go into her stories with great expectations. In addition to the notes above, what also I took away as a writer from reading both books was the crisp, authentic dialogue and how the dialogue served to reinforce the setting and the character relationships, both interior and exterior. Truly gifted writing in both books.

P.S. Karin Slaughter is quick-witted and darkly funny; she charmingly shares her observations like she’s sharing a secret with you (or her cat)…. 😂 Fortunate to have heard the author speak at a book launch event earlier this year.