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Please, Pretty Lights Kindle Edition

by Ina Zajac (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 46 ratings
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An emotionally-charged urban cautionary tale with quirky characters who will stay with you: including Grandma Daney, a mystical star child who serves up universal inspiration with her milk and cookies.

It’s September when good girl Via Sorenson stumbles into a Seattle strip club, drunk and alone on her twenty-first birthday. Matt and Nick—best friends, bandmates, and bouncers—do their best to shield her from their sadistic cocaine-trafficking boss, Carlos. They don’t realize her daddy issues come with a forty-million-dollar trust fund and a legacy she would do anything to escape.

She is actually Violetta Rabbotino, who had been all over the news ten years earlier when her father, an acclaimed abstract artist, came home in a rage, murdered her mother, then turned the gun on himself. Young Violetta was spared, hidden behind the family Christmas tree, veiled by the mysticism of its pretty lights whose unadulterated love captivated and calmed her.

Now, desperate to shed her role as orphaned victim, Via stage dives into a one-hundred-day adventure with Matt and Nick, the bassist and drummer of popular nineties cover band Obliviot. The rock-and-roll lifestyle is the perfect distraction—until she is rattled by true love. As Christmas looms closer, her notorious past becomes undeniable. How will she ever untangle herself from her twisted string of pretty lights?
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  1. Print length
    314 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 5, 2016
  5. File size
    1438 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Dark, gritty, and intoxicating...exactly how I like it. Please, Pretty Lights, a poignant portrait of music, drugs and relationships, is harrowing at times and masterly written. It's easily one of my favorite books of the year. --Marni Mann, author of Memoirs Aren't Fairytales

Zajac is a strong, STRONG writer with a touch that can be poetic or gritty, as the situation requires. --Conrad Wesselhoeft, author of Adios, Nirvana and Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly
Please, Pretty Lights is an enthralling read. Ms. Zajac paints likeable, three-dimensional characters caught in the dark, fascinating world of strippers and rock & roll. There's a sprinkling of humor throughout and I found myself chuckling--and then cringing with every harrowing twist and turn. Her taut, exhilarating writing makes you care, makes you ache to find out what happens on the next page. Exciting work, Ms. Zajac! Please hurry and write your next book. I'm first in line for it!--Greg Michaels, award-winning author of THE SECRETS OF CASANOVA

From the Author

I appreciate hearing what readers have to say about Please, Pretty Lights. If you have a question or a comment, please check out my amazon author page, and leave me a message. Forever is now. -- Ina Zajac

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MSI22FH
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (November 5, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 5, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1438 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 314 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

About the author

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Ina Zajac

Ina Zajac

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Ina's debut novel Please, Pretty Lights was selected as an AmazonEncore title in March 2015. In January 2016, it made Amazon's "Literary Fiction Top 100." A new edition was released in 2016.

"Remember who you are" -- the central theme of Please, Pretty Lights -- comes from the universal perspective she learned from her Grandmother Louise, the inspiration for "Grandma Daney" in the book.

She holds a B.A. in Journalism from Western Washingnton University (minor in Psychology) an M.A. in Mass Communication (Women's Studies emphasis) from Arizona State; and most recently, a certificate in Literary Fiction from the University of Washington.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
46 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Linton Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Not my usual fare... but I was VERY impressed.
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
I'd highly recommend this book, even if "chick lit" isn't your usual thing. It's well written, clever, and emotionally complex without being "emo" or cloying. It brings some disparate elements together: Seattle music scene, strip club, psycho-emotional katzenjammer, some out of the ordinary sex and lovey-dove, church life, and drugs. It's not really what you'd call "realistic", though of lot of it resembles stuff you can see played out in those scenarios every day. If has a way of moving off in directions you didn't expect.
The writing... in a first novel... impressed me. Ms Zajac is very sure-footed and has a nice turn of words and images. She uses the music slang and terms deftly. The drummer doesn't want her Courtney Loving his bass player and friend. (In my day, I'd have said "Yoko Onoed") Her go-go boots at the strip club are too tight, which she expresses in terms of her "piggies" being cramped. (In my experience, footwear is one of the main things strippers gripe about)
There's a good feel of Seattle (where I lived and reviewed music for decades) without fawning on landmarks. When novelty store Archie McPhee is mention, I laughed. This is a Seattleite thing, not people trying to get in on writing up the grunge scare. She also handles the song titles and lyrics well, as well as the backchat and issues you hear around a band... on or off stage.
Then there's the psycho-flaky stuff. Heroine Via is a mess, and much of the underlying plot arc is about why and about her getting it together. Her BF/bassist is also fairly haywire... but not so much for a musician. Her situation dovetails into the truly dangerous mind-mess of the strip club owner. You just know much of this will not end well. But with all her neurosis and insecurity, Via is a character you'll take to heart.
A very impressive debut novel, and one I'm glad I stumbled into and read in spite of my "I don't read that stuff" bias.
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Camela Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Broken, Sexy
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
Please Pretty Lights drew me in quickly and kept me turning the pages. I devoured this book. A young woman running from her past by falling into drugs and the life of a stripper? I'm in! There were times I was angry with the main character and there times my heart broke for her. I actually teared up two or three times. For a book to inspire that much of an emotional response, the author is doing something right. Despite the drug usage and Via's low self worth, there are some very positive messages about facing the past and accepting help. Normally I cannot stand cheaters, but the author was very smart about it. Somehow it was more tolerable that this wounded girl go flailing into a crisis while her fiance was several countries away.

This is not a happy book that looks at life through rose tinted glasses, although the images are beautiful and there is humor. This is about a woman in a self destructive spiral crashing towards rock bottom. Bad choices are made. These are the things that make books real to me. I like darkness to balance out the beauty.

There were a few small issues. At times, descriptors like “sad eyes” were used or an emotion was stated instead of described. I also grew tired of Via telling us she needed attention. She's spending time on a stripper stage basking in the lights and eating up the attention of the patrons. Trust the reader – we get it. Other than these moments, I found the story engaging and the characters interesting. I would recommend this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Dave O'Leary
4.0 out of 5 stars Please, Pretty Lights
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
Please, Pretty Lights starts strong with a murder-suicide and never lets up. It's sex, drugs, and rock and roll…and more. Via is a lost woman, orphaned at 11 and ten years later still grasping for comfort in an effort to avoid confronting the realities of her life. Realizing that the comfort she has chosen--a super Christian fiancé--is false, she spins in the exact opposite direction and dives headlong into a strip club, into cocaine, into the arms of a bass player and the fringes of the Seattle music scene. It's in those arms that she finds true love for the first time, and where she finds music as a backbeat to her life. Zajac does a good job of displaying Via's confusion and fear as the character is as exasperating as she is endearing. The world of drugs and drug dealers as entered through the strip club is realistic and gripping, and the reader can feel the grime and sludge dripping from drug dealer and strip club owner, Carlos. Please, Pretty Lights is a story of redemption and of a woman finding herself just when she was most lost. And bonus points for signaling out the lesser known Radiohead tune, "The National Anthem," and as Zajac puts it, the song's "sick bassline."
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars I just want to read and read.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
My kids had dinner late, and it's all Ina's fault. I just had to finish the story. It's a compelling read that pulls you into a sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll world with love at the heart of it all. I missed a lot of the musical references because I never really listened to the bands that were mentioned, so if you're a fan of that scene, it's only going to enhance your experience. The grandmother imparts some serious wisdom in the middle of the story, making me feel really glad to have read the book. Looking forward to the rest of the series, but maybe I should call for pizza delivery when the next book arrives.
One person found this helpful
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Alexis puma
5.0 out of 5 stars Please MORE Pretty Lights!
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2014
Verified Purchase
Gritty, dark, captivating – all words to describe Ina Zajac’s thrilling page tuner.
Please, Pretty Lights will take you on a journey down memory lane with Seattle grunge scene all the while following the main character through this dark journey to reconcile her past.
I was up ½ the night unable to put this book down! Be prepared to ride the roller coaster of the highest highs (literally) and lowest lows in scenes that were often down right hard to read. I can’t spoil the story so I stop there but I can’t wait for the next installment to the thrilling trilogy! Ina – hurry! Please …More Pretty Lights!
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2015
Too much violence and sex.
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Top reviews from other countries

Stephen Clynes
4.0 out of 5 stars Sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
Via Sorenson stumbles into a Seattle strip club, drunk and alone on her twenty-first birthday, what could possibly go wrong?

I enjoyed reading Please, Pretty Lights. In a nutshell it was sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.

The sex was fine, plenty of detail and graphic. The sex was part of the story, it was not filler to bulk out the pages. The sex was not meaningless, the emotions and reasons were fully explored. The sex was not token or vanilla and added to the many thrills throughout the pages.

I have no personal experience of taking drugs. The details provided gave me a risk free exposure from the comfort and safety of my armchair. Please, Pretty Lights does not glamourize the taking of drugs and having read this book would not encourage anyone to try drugs for the first time. Offer me a beer I have not had before and I will excitedly try it and offer my opinion. I have never been offered drugs but if I was it would be an adamant “no thank you”. Please, Pretty Lights offers the reader a subtle anti-drugs message as the characters cope with their use of drugs. The main drug featured was cocaine and Carlos hits the nail on the head when he said “That’s why it’s a terrible high. After the first few lines it’s not about being high anymore, it’s about not coming down. That’s how people get hooked.”.

Via meets Matt and Nick, the bass guitarist and drummer of a popular nineties cover band Obliviot. I enjoyed reading about the dynamics of this nineties cover band, their aspirations and what they thought of the artists they paid tribute to on stage. It had lots of local colour of the style and sound of the Seattle grunge music genre. You don’t have to be a fan to recognise many of the household names mentioned! Included is a rather long song/set list for readers to have good background music to really put them in the zone.

But Please, Pretty Lights is not just about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. All human life is here! Via did stumble into a Seattle strip club and Whitney did tell her “Make eye contact, and hold it. Make each man think he is the one you want.” Matt, the bass guitarist of the nineties cover band Obliviot has OCD and is forever cleaning everything in sight. Matt is simply a germophobe which adds a fair amount of humour to Please, Pretty Lights. Can Matt take the risk and become friends with Via or will his OCD get in the way of a possible romance?

I found Please, Pretty Lights to be a refreshing GOOD 4 star read that although was set in Seattle, should appeal to readers all around the world even if they are not a fan of Grunge, which fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed.
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