1.5

I seem to be in the minority here, so make sure you read other reviews before deciding to pick this book up, but I really did not like this. For most of the novel it was alright, a solid three stars that might have tipped higher depending on what happened, but I just didn't like it enough to give it more. In my opinion, the 'horror' aspect was just there to shock readers instead of being actual horror tropes. I also wish there had been a trigger warning on the first page for some of the mutilation discussed, especially since it was about prepubescent girls.

The author tried to shove feminist commentary + mental health commentary + supernatural horror into one book, and didn't hit a single mark on any of them. The feminist commentary was so subtle it was like a quick little gust of wind and then it was gone. The mental health commentary was probably the issue that got the most page time, but even that was never expanded on. Yes, women's mental health has historically been shoved into a box and called hysterical, called crazy, but what are we going to do about it? The characters did nothing about it. The commentary that unfolded within the novel told me that it's better to be silent and obedient, and push back only a little bit. This is how it ends! We must be obedient because the ones who aren't are killed? And there was no moment where a women who DOES push back lives. With the woman at the end who speaks to character: "will they ever leave me alone?" "no". What? Like you're telling me "yes, they put us in little boxes and expect us to be good girls, and when we're not they kill us. That's life!" That's fucking weird and I hated it.

The supernatural aspects were done poorly imo, especially when they turn out to be white men? Like, am I supposed to be shocked? As a WoC, I'm not. None of us should be shocked. I wanted it to be an actual BEAST, not a beast that takes the form of a white man.

The two characters were interchangeable; they had the same voice and it was annoying to flip back and forth. Just as something was starting to happen in one of them, we'd switch years/POVs and it would be dragging again. I hate that the father gets a (pretty poor if I'm being honest) redemption arc, 'cause he sucked. I hate the death that happens because as I mentioned earlier, it was super unnecessary.

The writing was fine I guess, if you ignored that the two main characters sound the same, but I don't know if I'll check out the author's other books. This book just left a bad taste in my mouth.

If you were to put two genre’s together that will always convince me to read it it’s probably supernatural thriller.

Such a Pretty Smile is a super propulsive coming of age supernatural thriller. Thirteen year old Lila is feeling smothered. By her overly protective mother and by her overwhelming desire for her best friend.

When the torn up bodies of teen girls start showing up in town, a name starts being passed around: The Cur. A name that strikes fear into her mother Caroline.

For this isn’t the first time Caroline’s encountered The Cur. But the deaths in her past seem unlikely to be tied to the current murders. Even if the MO is the same, even if Lila is experiencing the same terrifying dreams. Dog barking in the night. Snarling and snapping and tearing.

The violence is graphic and intense which is why this book leans more into the horror realm. I don’t usually give trigger warnings but if you’re sensitive to dogs getting hurt this may be a hard read in parts.

A really great book about the struggles that can arise from being a powerful and rebellious woman and how it intimidates angry men.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of this title. Such a Pretty Smile comes out January 18th.

Dark and brutal. Page turning horror novel, alternate time lines and POV come together to deliver a jaw dropping read.

Feminist horror? This book was certainly graphic and frustrating enough from a female readers point of view to count. We are seeing serial murders through the eyes of a 13 year old girl, mixing in all the issues young girls traverse. Frankly I was put off from the beginning. Lila's relationship with her mother Carolyn wasn't what I was expecting to focus on in a horror novel and although I understand it from a plot standpoint, this book just didn't grab me. The writing is good I just could stay engaged.

*Trigger warning*

I'm all for dark novels, but some stories are too dark. This was one of them.
I enjoyed the beginning, although I did think it was odd her mom wouldn't let her shave her legs. But I guess all parents are different. Her father is a piece of work. I felt bad for her.

What made me stop reading was when a 13 year old girl was mutilated.

I will probably read the authors other works, but this novel wasn't for me.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tough one to review. I was so excited to begin reading this but I soon found myself confused and my interest fading.

I was not able to connect with this novel. The writing style was enjoyable even though it did read as YA at times. The atmosphere was ominous and a bit graphic (it is a horror novel, after all) but I can’t quite pin down why I couldn’t get into this. Perhaps if we were given more information on the killer, known as The Cur, this would have been more enjoyable.

The story is told in alternating timelines between Caroline and Lila. While reading, I found myself drawn more to Caroline’s story than Lila’s. I felt like her story was the only portion helping to drive momentum into the story. Had I not received an advanced reader copy, I might have stopped reading this.

I seem to be in the minority with my review so if you’re a reader who enjoys eerie and atmospheric graphic YA-horror novels, be sure to pick this one up.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for my review copy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It is a suspenseful story that is engaging and full of action. A story where the past comes crashing into the present and brings with it a horror like no other. This is a well written story that has characters that are connectable and kept me turning pages to find out what they were going to do next. I enjoyed their growth as well as the plot throughout the story. I enjoyed the twists and turns that had me sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what was lurking in the shadows. This is a great story that I had a hard time putting down and really enjoyed. I highly recommend this book.

A sharp feminist take that turns men into monsters, asking whether they weren't one and the same the entire time.

At times the allegory felt layered too thick, but it delivered a tense reading experience that left me guessing about what was really happening up until the very end.

This book turns the pressure from men into beasts, asking why it's always the boldest who are taken. Leaving behind only those who will bend under pressure.

I enjoyed how we got into the minds of Caroline & Lila. You could feel the pain & anguish they were going through. The other main players were well drawn as well and all of it feeding into story. And as a horror story the build up with back forth from past to present worked well culminating in the big but not final battle @ the end. But the big reveal @ the end as to what the beast was seemed disappointing. It seemed to be moralizing the plight of a woman’s place in a man’s world. There’s a time & place for social commentary, and perhaps it can be found in the horror genre. But it didn’t work here. At least for me anyway. As a horror story, this rocked until the ending. A great story without a proper ending turns it into an ok read.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Jan. 18, 2022
Kristi DeMeester brings women’s issues to the forefront with her hauntingly chilling novel, “Such a Pretty Smile”. At first glance, it is novel about missing and murdered girls. Or mental illness. Or a dilapidated theme park full of dark creatures that go bump in the night. Or none of these, and yet all of them.
In 2004, Caroline Sawyer began to hear dogs growling everywhere; she began to see their dark shapes sneaking up on her, their jaws trying to tear her apart. After a terrifying incident at a theme park, Caroline is dismissed as “mentally unwell”, put on meds, and left with the belief that she is “crazy” and “unstable”. In 2019, Caroline’s daughter, Lila, is struggling to fit in, knowing that her mother is keeping secrets but unable to find the truth. But Lila, too, is keeping secrets. She sees a dark figure, hears growling, and hears the snap of sharp teeth. As Lila tries to cope with her changing world, young women around her are being abducted, their decimated bodies left to rot. Caroline’s biggest fear is her daughter becoming like her, and Lila’s biggest fear is becoming her mother, however the two have only each other to turn to when the scary ‘beast’ reappears, promising to destroy them.
“Smile” was well written and creative but I struggled with it. It is one of those novels where you need to look below the surface, reading the subtle cues and nuances that indicate a deeper meaning. I normally am okay with this type of novel, but it has to be done the right way, and “Smile” did not give me the outcome I was expecting. It has multiple plot points to follow, and each one could be the basis of its own novel.
The story is told in two timelines- Caroline, as a young girl and now, and Lila, in the present- with each chapter being narrated by one or the other. The chapters are clearly marked, so it is easy to identify who is telling their story, but that is about the only thing about this novel that is easy.
If this novel was just a paranormal story, full of things that go bump in the night, it would have been absolutely creepy. If it was about mental illness and the ways said illness is stigmatized and stuffed in a box, it would have been completely emotional and powerfully adept. As a story that proffers the ways in which females are often stereotyped and judged, it would have been thought-provoking. But to combine all of these, in such a bizarre way, the story missed the mark for me. I loved each plot line, but it didn’t need to be so convoluted. DeMeester has writing chops, that is obvious, but “Smile” left me confused.

The publisher sent me the NetGalley widget for this novel, and I was on the fence about downloading it, but took the plunge. I’m still not quite sure how I feel after reading it.

I like the theme of female empowerment and stopping men who try to silence women or dismiss them as hysterical when they try to express their feelings. But this is a very bizarre, sometimes confusing, and occasionally disturbing story. At times I honestly didn’t know what was happening – but I plowed through this book in a couple days.

Fifteen years apart, young teen girls are brutally killed in similar ways. It happened when Caroline was in her twenties and has started again. She’s understandably worried about her thirteen-year-old daughter, Lila. When Lila begins acting strangely, memories Caroline hoped to keep buried are resurrected, and her backstory and their similar experiences are revealed in alternating POV and timeline chapters. From her dying father, Caroline learns that as a very young girl she went missing for several days, but has no memory of what happened to her during that time. By the end of the novel, I still didn’t have a firm grasp of what she experienced during that disappearance either.

This is a bloody, gory tale, and those scenes are well-written and sure to delight horror fans, but for me personally, too many elements are left undefined, and I needed more of a concrete explanation for what happens to Caroline and Lila. Were their experiences real? Just delusions? I’m not certain. Reviews are split, so if you’re a reader who enjoys ambiguous storylines this may be for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Oh my god. I loved this so much! Lila was so fun to have as a narrator and her mother, Caroline, was just as enjoyable. I really didn’t know what to expect going into this. I was worried it would be too much of a coming of age story and not enough horror element but I am happy to be proven wrong. Such a pretty smile was written so beautifully, it’s a story about secrets, how to deal with your inner demons, and to finally let people in. To never be afraid. To fight for what and who you are. I’m looking forward to more books from this author.

I'll admit that this isn't my favorite read ever. It took a while to grow on me, but once I got between the pages the need to finish it grew quickly. Kristi DeMeester writes in such a compelling way that from the beginning, I knew that if I kept with the story I'd wind up loving the book, and I was write. While the storyline felt a little difficult to follow, I think it was worth the wait to unravel.
Such a Pretty Smile is fascinating in the way it combines thrill seeking mystery with mentality. The story is a winding road of trying to determine whether there's really something big and bad in the dark, or if the monster we're searching for is closer than expected. I will say, SaPS gave me a run for my money in the early chapters. I kept teetering on the edge of my seat trying to figure out which direction the book was headed in and what was and wasn't a delusion.
Incredible read, truly.

In Such a Pretty Smile, Caroline Sawyer is forced to face her past and traumatic childhood to figure out why the mysterious threat, The Cur has returned. Her daughter begins acting strangely but won't tell Caroline what's going on. Caroline and her daughter's search for the past brings them face to face with evil.

DeMeester effectively builds suspense and horror, but her writing falls into problematic tropes. (Some SPOILERS ahead). With the evil psychiatrist prescribing unnecessary medications and an unreliable narrator diagnosed with schizophrenia, the message of Such a Pretty Smile is undermined by its treatment of mental illness. It would have been a solid story otherwise, The ending was moralistic and didn't stick the landing. A more subtle approach could have helped the impact of the message than explicitly stating it.

Really wanted to like this book! Finished because I didn’t want to be a quitter but wasn’t really into it! Kept hoping for some explanation or resolution but I found neither!
Caroline and her daughter Lila were the main characters and everything centered around them! Felt like there were too many story lines and put together, they never really made sense. I couldn’t really figure out what way the book was going and the end didn’t help with that! I had high hopes but wish that there was more explanation! Maybe not popular opinion and maybe you may be able to wrap your head around what is going on, had supernatural with YA and suspense jumbled together!
Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Kristi DeMeester and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read Such A Pretty Smile early. This book publishes on 1/18/22.

This was a very interesting book. I think I would have liked it more if it was trying to do just a little less. It was very creepy which I loved, but it also was trying to squeeze in social commentary and mental health that almost felt like it was added in much later in the writing process. I do like where it was trying to go but I just don’t think it hit the mark it was trying to. Overall, it’s a good story but not a slam dunk for me.

There’s something out there that’s killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don’t know when to shut up. As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and her daughter Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced, unsettling to the bone, and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile is a powerful allegory for what it can mean to be a woman, and an untamed rallying cry for anyone ever told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty.

NOTE TO PUBLISHER ***** In this galley there are a few mix-ups when Caroline is called Lila and vice versa. For example when Lila has to see Dr. Wilson she comes to his door and it says, "Come in, Dr. Wilson called, and Caroline turned the knob." "******

This is an intriguing mystery that has the patriarchy (and its frequent dismissal of hysterical women) at its center.

In this book the killer isn't an actual boogey man in real life, but one who inhabits the corners of the mind. This was great artistic choice in that it allowed for genuinely creepy moments and visceral thrills to occur out of the blue. If you're willing to accept a paranormal killer, you might enjoy this element. However, if you like your serial killers more realistic, this may not be the book for you. (It took me a moment or two to adjust to the idea.)

Because The Cur is not an actual man running around, the burden of proof of his existence is on the women and girls who have encountered him. In this book those encounters are detailed in alternating chapters between a mother and her daughter.

I thought both characters were interesting--the mother perhaps more so, since she had a history of mental illness, and it was heart-wrenching to watch her try to determine how her illnesses may be impacting her daughter's change in behavior. I also dug that her ex was not villain, but just a regular dude with too much on his plate who never quite understood the mom in the first place.

I am a proud feminist, but I will say the themes in the book got a little heavy-handed toward the end. I enjoyed the mom's sessions with the psychiatrist, (I too have encountered many a doctor who called me "dear") and the idea that The Cur targeted girls who were rabble rousers. But I'm not sure we needed details on the violence he did to his victims privates (that just seemed salacious... and perhaps out of character?) and I didn't quite buy into all of the larger conspiracy threads woven together at the end.

In spite of this, overall this was a solid book with nice pacing. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

By the time I finished Such a Pretty Smile, I had remembered so many times I had heard the words, just smile, from people, mostly men over the years. Bosses, colleagues, strangers on the street, people who did not know me but felt entitled to give me their opinions. I understood more about the power of those words than I ever imagined I would and especially not from a book that I incorrectly assumed was straight-out horror.
Thirteen-year-old Lila lives with her extremely overprotective mother Caroline. Her thoughts are changing though, and to Lila, not in a safe way. Something inside her is hungry and wants to get out and feast. Add to this her unrequited crush on her girlfriend and the fact that a killer is targeting young girls, and her life and mind seem under attack from every level. What she does not know is that this is eerily reminiscent of what her mother went through many years ago, but she is going to learn more than she might have ever wanted to know.
The timeline shifts from Lila and Caroline in the present to 2004 when Caroline grew up in New Orleans. The killer then was called The Cur and make no mistake, these are not cozy mystery killings. They are gruesome, brutal, and hit all too close to home. The question is, can the same person somehow be responsible?
I started this book with extraordinarily little knowledge of what it was about and discovered it was much more than just a scary story with imaginary monsters. This had so many layers, and I thought about the message and reread sections for weeks. I have to say that even with thinking about this book for quite a while, I still did not see that ending coming. I am dubious that I noticed everything the writer was trying to convey, but I do know it was a beautiful and atmospheric book that provided a lot of food for thought. I realize I am being quite vague, but I think the less said the better.

Holy. Grisly. Reading. Experience!

This is not for the faint of heart. Go into this knowing it falls into the category and genre of horror and it lives up to that name.

Told in dual timelines of a young girl and her mother, we are taken on a very uneasy, anxiety inducing ride. You WILL lose track of time reading this and probably scare yourself out of falling asleep, but isn't that the magic of a good book?

Definitely pick this up if you are a fan of nightmares on pages and aren't afraid of the dark.,