Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Quick read. Well written. 4 stars.

I had to sit with this one a while. I think I went in with the wrong expectations. I kept seeing it bandied about that this was feminist horror, and I'd argue that's not accurate. The main characters all being women does not a "feminist" novel make, and acknowledging the suffering of women in and of itself also isn't some feminist statement? So I feel like I got off on the wrong foot with this one. Aside from some issues with pacing, I found the novel perfectly satisfactory, with some of the occasional imagery and unreliable narrators elevated above the rest of the experience. A lot of "why won't they just talk to each other" tensions that wore my patience thin by the end, but I did enjoy the supernatural elements and there were some genuinely upsetting scenes. Overall, I'd give Kristi DeMeester another shot in the future, but I probably won't read the reviews first.

This was my first book to read by this author but I hope to read more soon! The characters and the story stay with you long after you finish it. Good, fast read. Highly recommend!!

This was such an intense read--a chilling story with such powerful feminist themes mixed in with the horror that gave me nightmares.

Such a Pretty Smile is raw, earthy, angry, and beautiful. I loved Kristi DeMeester’s previous novel, Beneath, and her short story collection, so my anticipation for this one was high. It surprised me with a very different type of story than Beneath.

Such a Pretty Smile is about a mother and daughter, Caroline and Lila, and the serial killer (or beast?) stalking them fifteen years apart. It’s also about how easily women are silenced and dismissed. Caroline is an artist whose work is dismissed by her jealous fiancé; Lila is a teenager afraid to reveal her attraction to her best friend, the mean girl Marcie.

At times, this book over-explained its themes a bit, but overall the imagery was so creepily gorgeous and her characters so relatable that I loved it anyway. Kristi DeMeester’s writing feels like no one else’s, and she’s become one of my favourite horror writers.

DNF at 36%. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book, but there was a scene that I had some difficulty. I tried to continue on, but it never recaptured my attention. There’s a while till the books release, so I will edit this review if I ever decide to come back and finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a review.

Did anyone ever tell you “ladies don’t sit that way,” or “wear those clothes,” or whatever, and you wanted to kill them? Then this book is totally for you. Two generations of women fight against a serial killer who represents everything that is pushing them down, and it is a bloody good fight.
This story is told in alternating chapters between Lila and her mother Caroline before she had Lila. Caroline is an artist whose work is disturbing and brilliant, and she often finds that others want to shove her creativity down because it comes out in such ways. Thorough gaslighting has caused Caroline to think that she is very mentally ill. Lila sees her mom as an unfeeling, over-medicated automaton, and doesn’t want to be like that. And she has begun having less control over her own feelings and thinks she must keep it inside.
Both of them cross a serial killer, known only as the Cur, who is mutilating and killing young girls- young girls who aren’t “good.” Unfortunately, Lila isn’t being a very good girl, and she and her mother will have to face Caroline’s past in order to save them both in the present.
The story is fast paced; it kept me reading late into the night. It is also unsettling in the best creepy kind of way. The story just kind of worms its way into you & you can’t stop thinking about it. It reads like a thriller/horror story with a focus on feminism, so if that sounds like your thing, you will definitely love this!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but gosh, I didn’t like it at all. First, it reads like a YA, which I don’t ever read. Secondly, it had VERY long chapters. Thirdly: it was a feminist theme, which I just wasn’t in the mode for. Lastly, it was just weird, graphic (which I usually don’t mind, but it bothered me here) and I struggled to keep reading it.

I’m beginning to think that books that have a POV character who’s a kid just aren’t for me. I loved this author’s writing style and storytelling abilities, but this book in general didn’t click for me, as it was less ‘scary story’ and more ‘allegorical social commentary’ with a plot that jumped the shark towards the end.

This caught my attention immediately and I was hooked. I read it over the course of a few days as I just couldn't put it down. This went a lot of different places and it had a lot of different ideas. However, I felt that the end was a tad bit of a letdown. Overall, I think this will take off and become very popular.

DNF
I'm going to pass on reviewing this book. The writing itself is excellent, but the story isn't for me. The whole beginning is way too much young teenage drama and rebellion for my taste, the mother is weird, and I just didn't care enough about any of it to keep reading.

I enjoyed this book by Kristi DeMeester. I picked it up because of the advance high praise from writers that I like, and it didn't disappoint. Great characters, and great pacing. It was kind of like two books, with different stories, as you worked through the past and the present, and brought it all together in the end. Can't wait for more from Kristi DeMeester. #suchaprettysmile #NetGalley

Kristi DeMeester gives us the story of Such a Pretty Smile by going back and forth from Lila in 2019 and her mother, Caroline in 2004. Caroline's past does have some bearing on Lila's current life, but neither of them realize this for quite awhile. The book does contain some blood and gore, but not over the top. I enjoyed the story but felt something was missing. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

I honestly may have given this book 5 stars had it not been how familiar the story sounded and how it could have potentially been copied by a huge author's idea.
*POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD*

I really enjoyed this book and would love for it to be turned into a series, BUT I do feel that the idea of the story was potentially stolen from Stephen King's The Outsider. The similarities are so insanely close, but at the same time, this is such a fantastic story on its own, with some major differences that do make it stand out and honestly I feel I enjoyed this story more than The Outsider.

This book is told in dual timelines, Lila and her mother Caroline. There is a lot going on in this book, with a lot of messages. I did really enjoy it, and a few parts were a bit grisly. All in all it was really goo. Great writing, good story and a very satisfying end

Sadly I just did not like this book. Whoever marketed it as a dismantling of toxic masculinity got it real wrong. Toxic masculinity is a fairly new concept and very complex, it is not however men being assholes. I didn't get any of the horror aspects of this novel. I felt it was down played there were some creepy moments but they were few and far in between. I didn't like the POV switching, it felt all over the place and messed with the plot. In my eyes the story would have worked better had the main character been a male and had to grapple with his own beast to tame him and keep him from hurting the women in his life.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc of this book. What a strange read this was. I was expecting a horror book, but I'm not sure what it was. I grew up reading Stephen King so maybe I'm spoiled, but this was more fantasy with some creepy stuff thrown in. I don't 'get' the idea that this is feminist, because the women were all weak and damaged.
I enjoyed the beginning and had high hopes for Lila as a character, but without warning she becomes terrible. Caroline was annoying and un-self aware.
The writing was great in spurts, then incomprehensible. 2 stars

The whole time I was reading this, all I could think is “what on earth am I reading here?”. It took me until about the halfway point to even start to understand what all this stuff about dogs, murders and an amusement park had to do with anything. Whether that’s because of me or the book is to be determined…

Caroline Sawyer and her daughter, Lila, are our two protagonists. Something terrible happened to Caroline when she was young, and it still leaves her with nightmares and trauma. Young girls in New Orleans were being brutally killed, but she somehow survived. Fifteen years later, “The Cur” seems to be back, taking more young girls. Now Caroline is not only reliving the fears of her youth, she also has new fears that her daughter is in danger.

I liked some parts of this, I thought other parts were confusing, and I thought the horror component was lacking something (plus this had werewolf/vampire vibes and I’m not into that). This one threw me for a loop; I really liked the underlying theme of female empowerment, and the writing was stellar. The writing was the only thing keeping me going through some parts though, as the plot just didn’t do it for me.

I’m giving this 2.5 stars, rounded up because the writing style really was phenomenal, and it was an interesting story (once you got to the end). I’d definitely be willing to give this author another try with a different story.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Kristi DeMeester, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

Those who are looking for a
New voice in thriller- here she is! This is a great tale of women who are tiredness of being the victim and are standing together to break the patriarchy that held them down! This is an interesting and dark thriller that borders the horror genre! I loved it and I won’t five away any of the plot bc then it will be ruined for you-

This book was really hard to read.  It was emotionally overwhelming, which I am not sure I have ever said about another book.

It's interesting that "bell jar" is used several times, because this book reminds me of Sylvia Plath's description of her descent into mental illness. 

P.S. This book would make an amazeballs movie or limited series, hint hint.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.