Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Pretty Toxic
SERIES: Pretty Broken Series, Book 2
AUTHOR: J.R. Gray
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 246 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2022
BLURB:
Saint Vincent
I might be the best-selling solo artist in the world, but my personal life is a disaster. For every number one album, there’s a sea of my worsts, all documented in photos.
Bad break-ups. Destroyed hotel rooms. Fights. Drugs. And just as many rumors.
Every headline reaffirms the walls I’ve built around myself. Fame destroys everything it touches and I can’t let anyone close.
The only exception is my best friend— Lowe Wilder.
But I’ve fucked that one up too.
It’s all about him. Every song, every lyric. Every piece of music I’ve ever written. I planned to carry that secret to my grave. He’s straight.
Another break-up, another call to Lowe. I can’t bear to have another scandal splashed across the tabloids. At my absolute worst he’s here to pick up the pieces, and I ruined it all with a kiss.
Lowe Wilder
I’m the least famous member of the most famous band in the world. I’ve sat in the background while we toured the world and tore each other apart.
I wouldn’t have made it through any of this without Saint. He came into my life like a nuclear bomb. Unapologetic and with about as much destruction, but he’s kept me sane from across the world.
Nothing could come between us.
Until he kissed me and shattered my world.
Pretty Toxic can be read on its own or enjoyed part of the Pretty Broken Series.
REVIEW:
Pretty Toxic is the second book in J.R. Gray’s Pretty Broken series and continues examining its eponymous band. As we saw in the first book, Pretty Obsessed, the world’s most famous band is being held together by quickly fraying threads. Unfortunately, the fame and the scrutiny have profound, destructive impacts on all its members.
Here, we get the best friends to enemies to lovers story of Lowe Wilder, a member of Pretty Broken, and Saint Vincent, the world’s best-selling solo artist. Both are sitting atop the industry, and the pressure is enormous. Lowe and Saint are each other’s port in the storm. However, unbeknownst to Lowe, who’s straight, Saint, who is openly gay, has been in love with him since they first met.
“It’s about you. All of it. Every song I’ve ever written. Every note, You’re my person. You always have been, even knowing you could never love me back.”
Funny thing about that … turns out Lowe isn’t as straight as he thought he was, and the love he feels for Saint is more than love between best friends. One brief kiss from Saint tilts Lowe’s world off its axis and he spirals into the land of confusion – confusion that morphs into anger. At Saint. Because Lowe’s rocked by this revelation about himself and terrified of his family’s reaction. His port in the storm is no longer a safe haven. And it’s All. Saint’s. Fault.
Mr. Gray’s development of Lowe and Saint’s characters is thorough. They are likeable and relatable. Their chemistry is off the charts, so it’s a conflagration when they do get together. Their journey into misunderstanding and mutual hatred is as frustrating for the reader as it is heartbreaking.
Pretty Toxic strikes a good balance between the band’s woes and Lowe and Saint’s relationship. However, there’s still a great deal of focus on the Cas/Iris relationship drama that will undoubtedly culminate in a highly charged confrontation in one of the upcoming series books. To some extent, the first two books provide bookends for the context of the upcoming Cas/Iris story. Book one gives us Iris’ point of view. This book provides us with Cas’ viewpoint. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, especially if you read the two books in sequence (which isn’t essential, but is helpful).
Perhaps because of the effort to build in Cas/Iris context, Pretty Toxic is diluted in its impact by the length of the story. That may sound like a strange comment given that the book isn’t all that long, sitting at 246 pages. However, Saint and Lowe’s relationship is intense with long-held, deeply rooted feelings, and a tighter lens on their story would have communicated that better, in my opinion.
Nevertheless, Mr. Gray delivers a fascinating look at the difficulties and damage the rockstar lifestyle can inflict. I enjoyed Saint and Lowe’s relationship trajectory, especially because of the emotional rollercoaster ride that accompanies it. I was drawn into the story and eager to see what would happen next.
Mr. Gray put together a winning combination with Lowe’s bisexual awakening, angst, rockstar fame drama, steamy (often smoking hot) encounters and a rewarding resolution to the romance. I refrain from calling it a HEA because this band has some problems, and Lowe and Saint do not have an easy row to hoe as a couple, but Mr. Gray left them in a place that made me very happy. Pretty Toxic is a read I recommend.
RATING: 
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