Please, Pretty Lights is a compelling dark story about a young woman who tries to escape from her traumatic childhood past, only to drastically swing the pendulum to the other side down a dangerous path of self-destruction into the life of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.

Author Ina Zajac weaves a realistic and gritty tale of tragedy and self-destruction that easily captivates the reader's attention and sends them on an emotional roller coaster ride as the harsh reality of twenty-one year old Via Sorenson's tragic life story unfolds.

The author has created a cast of realistic, flawed, and believable characters who draw the reader into their complex world with intensity, drama, and even a touch of humor. Set in the Seattle music scene, the author masterfully interweaves Via's present life with flashbacks to her traumatic childhood past. It is a riveting, gritty, multi-layered yet poignant story that will simply take your breath away. As I delved into Via's life story, I found myself experiencing the full gamut of emotions, for someone so young, she has lived a truly hard life filled with tragedy and bad decisions, yet the author has portrayed Via's life in a beautifully tragic way that is simply stunning.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the author's awesome backdrop of the Seattle music scene and the references to the music groups and the style of music that so vividly describes the sounds of the city.

Please, Pretty Lights is an amazing story of tragedy and redemption. It is a story that will resonate with you long after the last words have been read.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2014/08/please-pretty-lights-by-ina-za... ( )

I received a nomination for Please, Pretty Lights via an email from a local Washington author who suggested that this WA state (local, to me) independent press gem would fit our high standards fully. We would like to tip our hats to that recommendation because we could not put Please, Pretty Lights by Ina Zajac down.

Firstly, this is just a unique book. The main character, Via, suffers from depression, post traumatic stress and addiction. Her mind a tailspin of confusion, she falls into a crazy world of drugs, strip clubs and music. Via's struggles with temporary fixes, both in relationships and in substances, creates a very well paced, interesting story, and a world in which she finds herself more lost than ever. What is wonderful is that readers get to learn as she does, and the beauty of her discoveries is something to behold.

We won't get into the details of the book, but we will say that the dialogue was believable. The characters, even in their strange quirks and crazy situations, were relateable. The main characters were flawed and real, but also really stand out, each of them individuals with real life struggles. Even the villain is given a lot of depth and intrigue. Zajac takes so much time crafting her story that readers will be unable to do anything other than invest themselves fully into the story.

The plot was paced perfectly and held just enough love, lust, action, danger, suspense, thoughtful depth and romance to keep me reading way too late into the night.

Caution: mature situations, language, etc. (but very well crafted mature situations, so we loved it) ( )

In Please, Pretty Lights, Ina Zajac weaves a compelling story of the painful long-term effects of childhood trauma and the downward spiral into addiction that demonstrates the maxim that we can't love another until we love ourselves. Via has a childhood of secrets she cannot face. When her attempts to escape her past through a life of narrow-minded Christianity doesn't work, she swings in the extreme opposite direction walking through the doors of a downtown strip club on her 21st birthday. Still, neither drugs nor the love of a decent man can save her until she is forced to face the demons of the past. Please, Pretty Lights is a multi-layered story of self-redemption. ( )