Woah wtf did I just read! This book gives the middle finger to men. More importantly, men who think they can control women and their narrative. Just it there and look pretty and sweet and don’t act out now or we’ll come and rip you apart bit by bit. I came into this book thinking it was a horror book, but it’s something a bit more.

Told in multiple times, from Caroline’s youth to now with her daughters youth, we meet this mother and daughter duo and the plague that faces them. Caroline sees dogs. Horrible, terrifying, sharp teeth dogs. She takes her pills and all is good, but she doesn’t like the pills. She’s tried everything to keep the voices at bay and the sounds of those dogs, so much so she makes her daughter be a good little girl. But Lila’s tired of being a good girl and now she hears those dogs too.
All the while there’s a serial killer on the loose targeting little girls. The same one from Caroline’s youth. She can’t help but think the trouble has followed her and it’s her fault.

The story itself shows the dark horror of being a woman in a “ man’s world.” Obedience, sexism, and following the patriarchy. A little Red Riding hood where the big bad wolf is a man who tears girls apart if they don’t follow a path of “goodness” at a young age into adulthood and on. Like we should sit down, cross our legs and be weak. I really enjoyed the concept and how it doesn’t involve one character but multiple ones in a way. Each side character has a purpose and it builds this story.

Book Review
Such a Pretty Smile

What did I just read? Was it horror? Thriller? Literary fiction? A political statement on feminism and the role of women? A coming of age? YA?

Does it matter? The question is did I enjoy it?
Not sure…..

As a horror- it was dark, suspenseful

As a thriller- it lacked connectivity….it felt as though there were gaps in the storyline that were quickly filled in

As literary fiction- it was confusing - are we rage blood driven females with voices and opinions or are we simpering quiet things who are slowly losing their minds because we dont have a voice?

As a coming of age story- Lila is a complex preteen; wanting to be seen as an adult but still clinging to her childhood; finding her voice and discovering who she is and wants to become- this aspect of the book was well written

YA- very graphic and disturbing scenes and some swearing suggest otherwise however with such a young protagonist at the centre of the story it certainly felt that way at times

Did I enjoy it?
Not enough to recommend to others

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my ecopy in return for an honest review

This horror/thriller follows mother and daughter Caroline and Lila Sawyer. In Atlanta, Georgia, girls have gone missing only for their mutilated bodies to be found days later. They are more suspected victims of the killer known as The Cur who has killed in multiple states over multiple decades. We follow the dual timelines of Caroline (New Orleans in 2004) and Lila (Atlanta in 2019) as both deal with this threat in their lives as well as being terrorized by nightmares, delusions, and the unyielding feeling of being watched and followed. Caroline has tried her best to protect her daughter from the threats that she feared followed her from New Orleans to Atlanta. But now that Lila is 13 and starting to rebel against her mother's rules, the two must dig through Caroline's past and figure out what connections there are to the present day.

TW/CW: intrusive thoughts, mental illness, child death, animal death, child abduction

This was an intense read, but I really loved it. This was, for me, psychological horror at its best. The gradual building and expanding of the horror elements as the story progressed were absolutely spot on. I really enjoyed the creeping way the horror edged in from the outside until the characters couldn't escape from it. This gradual escalation also made it hard to tell what was real and what wasn't in this story - for both the reader and the characters - so by the midpoint, we were pretty solidly into unreliable narrator-land. I especially loved how the beginning horror elements were small enough that I think most readers could identify with - for example: brief intrusive thoughts about how you wished you could just tell your friend to "shut up already" before immediately correcting and briefly wondering why you would think something like that. I think starting horror novels with smaller horror like that (as opposed to jumping in the deep end) really helps with reader buy-in and getting readers to stay with the book as it goes deeper and more sinister from there.

I do want to mention that the most extreme parts of the horror are attributed to the main character's mental illness that was, until this point, undiagnosed. We see this character dealing with these new aspects to their reality as they get more and more extreme until they finally are forced to seek help and get a diagnosis. I personally do not have the specific mental illness in this story so I can't speak to the representation but from how the book came across to me, it seemed like DeMeester walked the line between a couple of tropes very carefully. It isn't for me to determine if that was successful or not, but I did feel like she was aware of the stereotypes that many books fall into and she tried to work around those. Most of the violence and gore was off page with only descriptions given after the fact so this story was really set in the mind of our characters and about how they're experiencing things in their world. I think this made for a very immersive and emotional read and I can only imagine would hit even harder for someone who does have the particular mental illness portrayed in this story.

The pacing of this story was phenomenal. It is told in dual timeline and as the story progresses and the two plot lines start to converge, the chapters start alternating more and more quickly from one timeline to the other. DeMeester does a great job at really settling the reader into the story initially and then she starts throwing escalating plot points and emotional moments at the reader. Once the story really kicks into high gear (for me, around the 50% mark) there wasn't a whole lot of downtime between plot point reveals and the escalating horror elements. I think if this book was any longer, that would have been a problem. Looking back at my reading experience, there were times in the last 25% of the book where it really felt like I couldn't read fast enough and while that is a really thrilling reading experience, I do think it lowered my reading comprehension because I was reading so fast to get to the next plot point that some of the deeper themes didn't have time to sink in. I don't often re-read books, even years later, but I think this book has a really great re-read potential because of all the theme layers combined with the incredible plot. I can absolutely see how some readers won't enjoy that sort of constant acceleration reading experience but I had a really great time with it.

I thought the characters and their relationships were really well done. So much of this story revolves around relationships and tensions between a parent and child that these connections in the story really needed to be solid. The plot did not have a whole lot of time to dillydally around but DeMeester does a great job of drilling down and giving us a handful of key scenes and interactions so we are well-grounded in the reality of these relationships. In the opening scene, for example, we see Lila's feelings about her relationship with her mom, dad, and best friend as well as her feelings on the tension between her parents and the tension between her friend and her mom.

The one aspect of this book that I wasn't 100% sold on was Lila's voice. She did not read to me as a 13 year old, she came across more like a 15/16 year old. So much so that when we're in the climax of the book and she needs to travel, I was surprised for a moment that she didn't have a drivers license but then I remembered she is only 13. There were some points that came across as very authentic 13 year old girl like how she's handling her crushes and how she's trying to break apart from her mom a bit to be more independent. However, a lot of the inner monologue that we get from her feels really overly complex and made the character read older than I would have expected. The story is told in third person, but has a close narration style so we get inner thoughts of both Caroline and Lila and the narration style and language used for both characters was the same so it made Lila read older for me. I don't think this was detrimental to the story overall, but it did cause me to pause at a few places and take me out of the story a bit while reading.

The ending to this story is one of those endings that is a little open and I know that is hit or miss with readers. We get some details that show us the world isn't entirely what we thought it was but we don't really get any sort of concrete, sit-down explanation that X was A and Y was B, etc. We get enough resolution and a snapshot of the future so we know how certain characters end up and how they are coping with the information we learned in the climax. Throughout the story, DeMeester does a great job of layering in some social commentary about growing up as a woman and all the different ways girls can fight against aspects or forces in their lives that are trying to make them be less, make them be quiet. I think this is the type of book, for me, that I need another read through to really grasp these commentary layers. I can see they are there but upon first read through, I was so caught up in the literal plot points of the story that I think some of those deeper layers didn't get as much brain-time from me as they should. I have a feeling (that looks to be confirmed by other reviews) that if I had grasped these extra layers better then the ending wouldn't feel as open as I think it came off to me.

Overall, this was a fantastic horror read that had some great layering of social commentary I would like to revisit. Phenomenal pacing, horror, and characters. The ending I think will be a pinch point for some readers and the pacing could be considered overwhelming at times. I'm not sure how the mental illness aspects will land with readers more closely tied to those than I am, so a note of caution going forward on that point.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC

Expected publication date is January 18, 2022

I must say I had no idea where this story was going. I mean it was all over the place. With that being said it was a great read once you get into it. Wow is an understatement. I love the main characters and could picture them easily in myself as a kid and as a mom. If this wasn’t a go F:*# yourself to society and it’s norms. Along with Katrina as well. I don’t know exactly how to review with spoiling this for anyone. This book is different in a good way. But I would say just to read it for yourself. Even if you don’t give it 5 stars you will enjoy the read and how it makes you feel inside not in a good way. Let girls grow into whoever they want to become. Have open and honest conversations with your children they just might need it.
Thank You to NetGalley for allowing me to read before release for an honest review.

Such a Pretty smile is a very strange and thought provoking book with a strong feminist vibe. The timeline and narrative bounces from mother and daughter, with both experiencing negative encounters or opinions from the men in their lives. There is a dog like man that stalks them, awaiting any sign that they are not being good little girls. Only bad girls, who speak up or voice their opinions, will be horribly punished. The punishment takes place in a historical area, known for the persecution of women over centuries. It is really brilliant how the writer uses the Big Bad Wolf, or in this case The Cur, as a metaphor for women’s oppression.
Though I could read between the lines and got the real meaning of the book, I was a little disappointed with how it played out. So much of the story revolves around the transformations the women take, and their inner thoughts. The whole serial killer thrill wasn’t really there. Yes there are bodies and gore, but the story lacked the suspense and thrill of the hunt for the predator. If there was more thrill then message, I would have been happier.
I really wanted to love this book. I do love the message. But I am a thriller reader through and through, and need that extra scare or goose bumps to really enjoy the book.

Such A Pretty Smile is a dark sleek feminist tale that creeped me out!

There's a killer called the Cur lurking around town tearing girls to pieces, but he's only after the troublemakers. If you're a good girl who behaves herself and keeps your mouth shut you're safe.

The story is dually narrated by a mother and daughter who have more in common than they think.

I really liked this one, but I was also disoriented and confused by the end and I'm still unsure if I loved it or not.🤷🏻‍♀️

If you like reading about angry men and the women who rile them up this is a must read! Just don't expect to things neatly packaged.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC of Such a Pretty Smile in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings: Gaslighting, Animal Death, Violence, Sexual Assault, Violence towards children.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It's extremely graphic.

I started getting a bit nervous while reading Such a Pretty Smile, because the beginning felt a bit dragged out -- I wanted to get to the nitty & the gritty & I was kinda just stuck with thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer. But, once we got to the movie theater scene (if you know, you know!) things start poppin' off & I was almost all in.

Because, yes, it still took a bit to get me invested.

I think it was once we started getting flashbacks of a 2004 Caroline (Lila's mother) & finally started getting some answers on the mysterious Jazzland that this book started taking off. So, yes, I found it to be incredibly slow.

But it did have me in all of my emotions -- especially anger. Ugh, men. Amiright? And it's this stir of emotions that really had me in Such a Pretty Smile. Sure, the story is laced in horror imagery but the base of the plot is something very real. A woman being told she's just being overreacting? It's in our imagination? We must behave? The list goes on & on, but it happens, and seeing it unfold on the page made me want to rage.

Any book that can stir that must emotion in me is a winner in my book.

A serial killer, the Cur, that targets young girls, leaving their bodies horribly mutilated, is on the loose again. Seeming to re-emerge every 15 years, the story is told from the alternating points of view of Lila and her mother.
Such a Pretty Smile ended up not being what I expected. I was expecting a straight thriller, instead this was a supernatural thriller and left me a bit mind boggled. Also a commentary on powerful, angry men and how they prey on the innocent and vulnerable, as well as how they try to silence those that are different or who would dare to speak up against them, this book didn’t really do it for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for review.

Horror isn’t a genre I read often, but Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester – a mix of horror, psychological thriller, and the supernatural – kept me on the edge of my seat! (Figuratively, of course, because my couch is so comfy and awesome.) I was excited to read an advanced copy of this, as I was intrigued by the book synopsis AND I enjoy finding new authors.

There are two timelines through which this story is told. (Actually, three timelines, once we get to the epilogue in 2034.) In 2019, we meet 13-year-old Lila and her mother, Caroline. Lila has some typical teenager angst going on, but she also has: an overprotective mother who seems to suffer from mental illness, a distracted father who hasn’t been part of her life and now has a new family, and a suburban-Atlanta community dealing with what seems to be a serial killer who targets young girls. In 2004, we meet Lila’s mom Caroline as a young adult and artist living in New Orleans. Caroline is: navigating a relationship with Daniel (also an artist, and this causes complications), struggling to pay for her dying father’s nursing home care, and balancing a job teaching art to a troubled teenager. And soon, there seems to be a serial killer targeting young girls. Sound familiar?

As the timelines unfold, Lila feels an unexplained darkness from within herself, along with an evil voice leading her wayward. Back in 2004, Caroline hears growling and barking, and even seems to have visions that give form to those noises that only she seems to hear. While reading about the voices, barking, visions, etc., I was frequently wondering what the heck was going on. I had to remind myself that this is a horror story of sorts, and not everything can be explained logically. But that leads to a big point of the novel – Men dismissing the concerns of women, deeming them too emotional and incapable of being in control, and telling them to “calm down” and “smile.”

It’s this social commentary on the patriarchy – and how that was represented through the horror/supernatural element of the novel – that I really found fascinating and compelling. Mixed in among grisly descriptions and dark themes were amazing writing and pacing that was spot on. For those of you participating in the #PopsugarReadingChallenge2022, this book would fit for the “social horror” prompt (and perhaps “misleading title).

CW: This book contains graphic descriptions of multilated/murdered teen girls.

Such a strange book. It was okay but took too long to get going.It's well written but not for me. 2 1/2 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

What I love about this novel is the way it takes the issues women face and turns them into a physical monster. The monster inside these pages is created from the issues of the patriarchy. It brings physical life to the detrimental effects of the internal struggle of being expected to shut up and behave and the "punishment" a lot of women face when they don't.

Such a pretty smile is told in dual timeline perspectives. It flips back and forth from 2019 Lila Sawyer and 2004 Caroline Sawyer. While I enjoyed Lila's sections from the beginning, it wasn't until just halfway through that Caroline's perspective caught my attention. The ending of the book was good enough that everything balanced out. While it wasn't the best feminist horror out there it's definitely still worth the read.

The writing in this just didn't feel realistic to me. The dialogue was off and the kids in this felt like they were written by someone who never was. I had to DNF this by about 50% after continuously trying to push through on this one.

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

Just finished this ARC, and while it was a little different than expected; it was a truly horrifying look into the mind and how it can play tricks on us and keep us from knowing what is real. It also highlights the need for normalcy and internalizes the fear of being abnormal when experiencing the unexplainable.

Something has changed internally for Lila, something that she can’t share with her mother, father or even her best friend. She feels something has gone wrong inside of her and is only being amplified by the secrets her mother keeps compounded by the potential return of the serial killer known only as The Cur. What is happening to Lila and what is her mother keeping from her?

Caroline, Lila’s mother, is forced to confront her past from 15 years ago, a time she long ago buried and convinced herself it was all in her head. But is that true? Or is there still something sinister out there?

Told in alternating POV from 2004 & 2019, Such a Pretty Smile will have you flipping pages until the wee hours of the morning and will leave you with a disturbed feeling you just can’t shake. Just enough horror, just enough thriller, definitely one that should be on your Pre-Order list! Look for it Tuesday Jan 18, 2022! 🛒🛍📗

Rating: 5/5

This dark horror, while in my opinion not overly gruesome, should come with a warning. It delves into the kidnapping, rape, and mutilation of pre-pubescent girls with a paranormal twist. The dual perspectives of a mother & daughter in separate timelines allows the reader to view each woman's struggle with the beast.

Its a commentary on the fact that girls/women should be plaint, quiet, and "good". That they shouldn't speak up, talk back, or push against the advice of men, who are portrayed as smarter, stronger, and overall better. That they would be rewarded with not being psychologically tortured. It is gaslighting at its finest; convincing the MCs that they are mentally sick & all of the terrible things are in their heads.

As a woman, I found this book sad, scary, and in a way entirely possible. How many women were told they were crazy when they didn't follow the status quo or weren't subservient to their husbands/fathers/etc.?

TW: Depression/Mental Illness, rape/mutilation of minors, gaslighting

This book has a very interesting premise. I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, after reading about 100 pages, I have to admit that this book wasn't for me. It was confusing and I couldn't figure out what is really happening.

Pub. Date: Jan 18th, 2022

***Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

2.8 stars
DNF 45%
Oh ugh I'm so disappointed
25% in I was so sure this was going to be at least a 4-star read
Then 25%-45% I had no idea what was happening or where the story was going
I was not grounded anymore totally disoriented

Dark and horrific. Definitely a different kind of read than what I typically consider a thriller. What’s real and what’s fake is truly tested in this book.

This is one of those books that I can’t really say if I enjoyed or not. I think it had enjoyable parts and it was suspenseful for sure, but I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters. I also think maybe I didn’t pick up on what the story was really trying to convey. I understood that the girls being attacked were those known as trouble makers who wouldn’t conform and stay silent, but so much of this story came across as both paranormal and psychological thriller that it made the storyline a bit confusing. I also felt like, by the end, I was left with more questions than answers.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4402878774

I am honestly not sure what I just read. I didn’t read any sort of synopsis beforehand so I didn’t have any idea what to expect. What I read is certainly not what I expected! I’m still digesting it to be quite honest.

The story is told from the perspectives of Caroline, the mother, and Lila, the daughter. It switches between them, as well as between years the story takes place. It boils down to that both mother and daughter have something that lives within them and they don’t know what it is. For most of the book I was trying to decide if they were vampires…maybe werewolves. I just wasn’t sure. There seems to be what is considered a serial killer that pops up every 15 years that takes young girls and kills them in the same violent way. I knew the stories were all connected, but I wasn’t exactly sure how.

After finishing the book, I’m still not sure how I feel. I know both mother and daughter struggled with the same things and the end does give some answers, but I am still left with many questions and holes, but I don’t feel invested enough that I would want to read a sequel. It’s definitely not high on my list of books I would recommend to others right now. However, I do appreciate #netgalley for allowing me to read the book and review it early in exchange for my honest review.

The novel follows a mother and daughter across two timelines. In 2004, Caroline cares for her dying father while navigating a relationship with her competitive fiancé Daniel and working as an art tutor for a wealthy young girl. The 2019 timeline is primarily told in the perspective of Caroline’s daughter Lila, who is infatuated with her boy-crazy best friend Macie. In both timelines young girls disappear and most are found dead and mutilated.

While I found Caroline a sympathetic character, I had a harder time connecting to Lila. Her crush on BFF Macie and her struggle to be a priority in her father’s life helped. I really liked how Daniel’s self centeredness was viewed through the lenses of both women and his actions were nicely motivated.

The creepy mood of the novel and the desire to understand the connections between mother, daughter, and Caroline’s student Beth kept me invested in the outcome. While the pacing was leisurely overall, the last chunk had a few parts that felt a bit glossed over. I enjoyed the New Orleans settings, Caroline’s love for her father, the focus on art, the feminist themes, and the scene at the end that served as an epilogue.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.