I really struggled with this book. It's well-written, but I stopped reading fairly early because I'm not interested in reading books with descriptions of sexual violence on tweens and young teens.

This was a good and creepy book. Some of the descriptions were very unsettling but it made sense for the story. I didn’t like the ending but what can you do?

Thanks to netgalley for this book.

When I first heard of this release and read the synopsis it sounded very intriguing and the writing was very well done and I really felt for Caroline and Lila Sawyer because they were very fleshed out.

I have never read a horror novel with feminist elements but it was definitely something new. The first 30% had me hooked but then it got slower and very confusing but if you enjoy paranormal reads I recommend this one thoroughly!

The story of two women - Lila, the daughter and Caroline, the mother. Caroline's story takes place primarily in 2004 when she lives with with Daniel, Caroline's father. Caroline's art is taking off in all it's scary splendor while Daniel's art isn't going anywhere. He discourages her and sabotages her movement forward. Lila has been raised to be good and obedient but hears the growling voices that have haunted her mother all her life. Where are these voices coming from and who is the man with the fangs and dog face? A fast moving story that you won't want to put down. How many of us hear those voices inside?
#SuchAPrettySmile#NetGalley

Wow! (Silence) wow! ( more gulping) wow! ( hyperventilating , drinking up entire cold carafe filled with ice water) Wo..( Brain freezing- couldn’t pronounce the words)

( silence for 45 minutes: my my mouth agape, eyes popped out, looking at the wall as if I’m watching the final scene of Seven and Wicker Man at the same time)

Finally I gathered my wits to form reliable words and write a review about WTH I just read kind of jaw dropping, sinister, dark, complex story I’ve just finished. A little Outsiders meets Candyman vibes with centered on ill fated mother- daughter story connected with disturbing amusement park and a creepy, haunted creature controlling the naughty girls of the town by pulling their strings like a horrible puppet master.

Two unreliable narrators- dreamy states- illusional minds of mother and daughter who are resilient, peculiar, reserved, introvert, observant with their unique kind of way to perceive things at the outside world.

The story moves between 2004 where Caroline: young and talented artist who recently engaged, living with her painter fiancée in NOLA, suffering from terrible nightmares and taking care of her father who is living in an expensive hospice she barely affords to pay for.

She starts seeing a dog faced man with sharp fangs, hiding in the shadows, watching her every move like a hawk and in the meantime the little girls are taken away by a serial killer who massacres them brutally and leaves them at the places that public can see them. They called him the Cur.

She gives private art lessons to Beth to provide extra money to pay her father’s facilities’ bills but as she spends more time with Beth and observes her disturbing manners and secrets she keeps, she realizes she’s not the only one connected with the mysterious man who takes lives.
As the delusions take over her mind control, Caroline leaves her life behind in Nola which brings us to 2019 and read things from Caroline’s daughter Lila’s perspective. Lila is outsider, quiet, trying to adjust in school life.

But she also keeps suffering from nightmares, hearing nonstop dog barks. Something truly changes in her. But she cannot share this information with mother who is so occupied with her bizarre sculptures, insisting to keep secrets from her past in Nola. And her dear father had second family, having a baby with severe health conditions already acts like she’s invisible.

But something changes in her. Something is growing inside of her and she has to go to Nola- Jazzland- the amusement park where her mother’s past is connected with a soul shaking traumatic experience.

Both mother and daughter has to confront with the inner devils as the Cur strikes back and takes the new innocent young girls’ lives brutally!

This is raw, graphic, dark, irritating, addictive, challenging and extremely well crafted horror story about the darkness growing inside of the people which is fueled with fear, anger and resentment.

As you may see, how it truly rocked my world and affected me deeply from leaving me speechless. I’m giving my gory, raw, bloody, haunting, terrifying, barking five stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Such a Pretty Smile is such a spectacular novel. Kristi DeMeester pulls no punches in her virtuosic evisceration of the patriarchal structures that teach girls and women to hide our pain, fear, and emotions behind the veneer of biddable prettiness we're expected to maintain for the comfort and pleasure of boys and men--or else risk being diagnosed, dosed, and discarded. This is is not a comfortable or obedient book, and I expect many of its readers will know the rage it evokes all too well.

I would say that Such a Pretty Smile is not an easy read, except that DeMeester's prose is so gripping the pages simply evaporate. The pacing, dialogue, and timing of each crucial revelation constitute a bravura performance that showcases the potential of contemporary horror realized to its fullest extent. I read very few books that I can honestly say possess no flaws; this is one of the few. It does exactly what it sets out to do, and it does so in a truly unforgettable manner.

I'd recommend this book for every "good girl" in the world who has spent her life being angry on the inside while doing her best to appear calm and content on the outside for the sake of safety and getting by. DeMeester's storytelling reminds us that there's more to aspire to in life than being good, and that reminder is truly cathartic.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

It’s a tragic truth that the secrets that most desperately need to be shared are the very secrets that are hardest to part with. Author Kristi DeMeester delves unapologetically into the psyches of two remarkable women; one terrified by the uncertainty of her future, the other haunted by the trauma of her past. “Such a Pretty Smile” is a powerful exploration of two voices that refuse to be silenced.

Lila Sawyer never saw herself as exceptional; she wasn’t a natural beauty or artistic genius like her mother, Caroline, nor was she a rebellious social butterfly like her best friend, Macie. She was just plain Lila and she had grown adept at flying under the radar. Caroline recognizes Macie’s questionable influence over Lila as her once sheltered daughter begins acting counter to her personality, especially against a backdrop of a serial killer hunting young women. Caroline quickly notices striking similarities between the current string of vicious murders and an equally macabre rash if killings from her past. Desperate to protect her daughter and keep her deadly secrets hidden, Caroline rails against the uncanny connection to her past. Unfortunately, Lila’s burgeoning rebellious streak makes safeguarding her nearly impossible as she becomes a woman who will not be controlled or marginalized.

Author Kristi DeMeester couples evocative language and imagery with uniquely smooth flowing prose to deliver an unnerving and provocative exploration into the battlefield that is adolescence and the universal quest to determine where a person fits within their own social framework. Factors such as societal pressures, economic structures, and sexual identity are carefully weighed and examined within the context of a coming-of-age meets horror story. Told from the third person from the perspectives of Caroline and Lila, DeMeester utilizes a dual timeline structure to simultaneously explore Lila’s struggle to come to terms with her burgeoning sexual identity as a closeted gay 13-year-old young woman in 2019 as well as Caroline’s struggle to accept a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia as a 25-year-old engaged woman in 2004. Bridging the gap between both timelines is a serial killer, known only as The Cur, who appears to be actively stalking and brutalizing young girls in both time periods.

Characterization ran hot and cold. The character development for Lila and Caroline was brilliantly undertaken. Methodical and effectively rendered, both characters are dynamic and realistically conveyed women. The textured and nuanced characterization is especially effective as Lila begins experiencing personality changes that can either be attributed to her reaching puberty or through some unseen malevolent tormentor that serves as the source of the supernatural suspense. However, secondary characters (Lila’s friend Macie and Caroline’s fiancé Daniel) were tragically underdeveloped. Largely serving as one-dimensional plot devices, they come across more as generic foils for the protagonists than any sort of fleshed out characters, Macie as the obnoxious bad influence and David as the overbearing symbol of the patriarchy.

Dialogue was natural and authentic sounding, especially within the generational separations seen through the spectrum of class and gender distinctions. The juxtaposition between Lila’s strained relationship with her mother, manifesting as a result of closely guarded secrets by both Lila and Caroline, and her relationship with Macie, manifesting through an unrequited attraction Lila feels toward her, comes to life brilliantly through the characterization and dialogue.

Heavily thematic subtext is repeated throughout the narrative. The strength of women despite an overwhelmingly oppressive patriarchy is a theme repeated through symbolism, allegory, and metaphors. The story centers around two extraordinarily strong women that often doubt their strength in the face of overbearing and dispassionate male influences. The symbolism, allegorical and metaphoric language reinforces the idea that women have to struggle against great odds to have their voices heard. However, DeMeester takes a very narrow view within the story vilifying men, in general, as steamrolling, mansplaining bears that do not believe women should have a voice. Fortunately, the narrow view of men taken within the confines of this novel, are not representative of all men, as I believe there are male feminists that believe women should be heard and should have a seat at the table. I did not relate to a single man in this story, but rather viewed them all as metaphoric representations of toxic masculinity required to make the point at the heart of DeMeester’s story.

Kristi DeMeester successfully crafts a distinctly mysterious and threatening tone throughout and crafts her narrative in a way that shifts suspicion to one and all as we constantly struggle to determine if Lila and Caroline were victims or somehow complicit in the murders surrounding them. Engaging and unnerving, “Such a Pretty Smile” perfectly blends coming-of-age with suspenseful horror and the results are wonderful. An inspired novel that will keep you guessing and stay with you long after you’ve finished. Bravo!

“Such A Pretty Smile” by Kristi DeMeester is a thriller that readers will sink their teeth into. It’s the perfect blend of mystery, horror, and female empowerment expressed in a way that feels something similar to a vivid fever dream.

Young girls on the verge of adolescence are disappearing. The ones who are outspoken, who are trouble makers, who don’t listen or obey, and who march to their own beat. They’re the ones people expect to go missing until they turn up dead. Mutilated. Each one was mauled by the same kind of animal. Which isn’t possible. Right?

Caroline teaches her daughter to be a kind and respectful young woman, but even she can see the changes taking place in Lila. Bad changes. Something dark and twisted has seeped inside Lila’s mind. It makes her say and do things contrary to her mother’s teachings and it has everyone frightened of her. And Lila doesn’t want to stop. There’s power in speaking the truth and not hiding behind facades or pretty smiles to placate those around her. It's a kind of power Lila refuses to let anyone silence.

Lila’s perspective is captivating. The language, the setting, and Lila’s situation generate interest in the changes she feels going through her mind and body. The otherness of her changes is what pulls people into the story and raises the question of “just what the hell is going on here?” In these episodes Lila has, there's a moral disturbance taking place within in her and the reader. Does Lila deserve to be congratulated on speaking her mind or punished for the way she goes about it?

Caroline’s perspective fell a little flat, which disrupted the story's pacing and flow. What felt quick and rampant with Lila switched to something of a slow crawl with Caroline. Even though she has her issues and takes the term "protective mamma" way over the top, she came across as rather plain and ordinary. Which doesn’t feel fair to write when her personality is connected to the theme of a quiet, submissive woman. She didn’t seem to offer much in terms of plot or as a character until the latter half of the novel where these unexplainable and morbid hallucinations keep hounding her. Everyone's convinced she's crazy, but Caroline thinks there's more to what she's seeing than hallucinations brought on by trauma. Caroline ended up becoming an intriguing, mysterious figure with a past that comes back to haunt her and takes the saying “tortured artist” to a whole new level.

This is definitely a novel worth checking out, especially for fans of female empowerment with a mix of horror and suspense. It’s one that will keep readers glued to the pages to find out what the heck is going on with Lila and what that has to do with Caroline’s paranoia. Check out this book on its expected publication date of January 18th, 2022, and save it to your reading lists!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to read a free e-arc of this novel and give me the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Exceptional thriller! Great plot! I loved the strong relationship between Caroline and Lila, even it was off to a rocky start; Lila begins to start seeing and feeling unusual things. She can hear dogs growl, she can see yellow eyes staring at her when looking out the window at night. She cannot understand what is happening to her. Knowing her mother Caroline was hiding things from her past did not help in the matter; why does her mother never talk about the past? Why did she leave New Orleans? Why is she so protective of Lila? Why is her relationship with her father, Daniel, so strained? Why does she have those contradictory feelings toward her best friend Macie? One moment she wants to kiss her, the next moment she wants to hurt her with her words at the deepest.

This is a very well executed book written in a dual timeline: Caroline in 2004 which help us understand how those weird and dark episodes started: who is The Cur? Why nobody was caught in the abduction of all those young girls found gruesomely killed, and what turned Caroline into this introvert artist. The second timeline is set in 2019; we are getting to know Lila and discover how the episodes she is experiencing are similar to her mom’s. And eventually the two timelines come together.

I loved the characters, the plot, the monster, the resolve,.. a great page-turner! I wouldn’t call it “horror” but rather mystery-thriller. I was a tad bit disappointed in the parts occurring in New Orleans as I did not get the NOLA atmosphere at all. Jazzland was successfully described on the other hand: a spooky place with a very dark and bloody history.. I will definitely read another book by Kristi Demeester.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a Pretty Smile runs in the vein of Stephen King mashed up with the Twilight Zone. Told in alternating views from different time lines, the story tells about young girls disappearing to be found dead with gruesome injuries. In 2004, Caroline Sawyer sees things that everyone says should not be there and hears unexplainable dogs barking. Girls around the age of twelve are disappearing and being found murdered. Caroline lets her psychiatrist and her fiance convince her she has schizophrenia due to childhood drama but maybe the monsters are real. In 2019, Caroline's daughter Lila is acting out at school when she begins to hear voices and see unexplainable things. Once again girls are disappearing. Twisted and unexpected, the story unfolds to let a creepy factor slide in that will have you checking your own shadows and checking behind you. Weird and spooky with heart pounding suspense, the story draws you in and scares you a little before leaving you gasping in surprise for an up all night read. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

2019: 13 year old Lila starts seeing and hearing things that no one else can. Lila feels absolutely terrorized by these evil haunting visions and voices that encourage her to say and do evil things.
She feels like she can’t tell anyone these things, not even her famous artist/sculpture mom, Caroline.

2004: Caroline starts to hear barking dogs everywhere she goes. At first she blames it on the insomnia she suffers from but then she starts to see violent and terrifying images in the daytime.

As these demons in Caroline’s past resurface, both the mother and daughter must confront this demonic presence to put an end to it.

This book is told through Lila’s point of view in 2019 and alternates to Caroline’s point of view in 2004.

Initially I was unsure about this one but the further I read, the more it pulled me in.
One of the most original horror stories I’ve ever read. I loved the themes of good vs evil, female empowerment and the unconditional love between a mother and daughter.

Such A Pretty Smile has extreme violent and disturbing images so this one is not for the faint of heart. Kristi DeMeester leaves the readers a ominous feeling with a heavy sense of foreboding and dread.

There is no doubt in my mind that seasoned horror readers will love this intense and atmospheric book. Many thanks to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! This was terrifying and creepy and touching all at once. I was a little scared I’d get nightmares reading about the nightmares so I had to read it as quick as possible and I loved that about it. The family bonds and real life melting into the surreal really made this one a book to remember. I want to go back to New Orleans but also I’m now terrified of it. Loved this.

Only note is sometimes Lila and Caroline names were in the wrong spots, I wasn’t sure if that was on purpose or not but I’m sure that would be caught if needed to change!

St. Martin's Press how can I thank you in words for this wild ass, amazing reviewers copy?!

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester has been high on my tbr list ever since I seen it on NetGalley!.
And I prayed and hoped this book would be approved!

The description here caught my attention like no other.
The eerieness this book developed was phenomenal and had me gripped to the pages.
Before I knew it, it was like 1 in the morning! Oppppssss got lost in the story!
I don't think I've enjoyed a horror fiction like I did this one. The story itself was outstanding.
Kristi is solid when it comes to things like pacing, character development, exposition, and narrative style.
A climax most readers simply will not see coming this is a brilliant story!
And I can't recommend it enough!

A solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
I will post to my platforms closer to pub date!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free book.
This was such a weird book. I liked how the mystery of The Cur killings were kept somewhat hidden until the end, yet I needed more throughout the story because I felt partially confused the entire time. I think this book does explore toxic men well. I was disgusted by the men in this book, which I think was the point. I did want it to be creepier. There's a lot of creepy/weird things going on here, and I think that adding more of this in, especially in Lila's POV would've made it even more powerful. There were also a few chapters that seemed to drag. I do also want more into the history aspect that connects with the horror aspect.
I couldn't quit reading, however, because the story was so original I had to know where it was going.

What a fantastically creepy, weird, and strange story this was! I wasn’t sure if it was going down the psychological horror route or leaning more towards the supernatural.

Such a Pretty Smile is a cautionary tale that reminds us to be “good girls”, because girls who make waves are silenced. The age old stigma is rolled up in a horror plot that will leave you feeling uneasy, creeped out, pissed off, and maybe a bit traumatized.

It will definitely have you saying WTF over and over again. You will be 80 percent in and still not be sure what is real. What you can be certain of though, is that you will be engrossed in this story, from start to finish.

We all have something dark in us… but is it really us or something else???

Read this story, just don’t do it around dogs, or amusement Parks, or crafting supplies.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

There are some books you read in a day or two because you can't put them down.
This is not one of those books. I finished Such a Pretty Smile in the space of two days because I found myself reading more quickly looking for where the threads of the story came together. I wanted to like this book so much, especially given the premise and the eventual link to Jazzland, which has been on my list of abandoned places to explore for years, but I just couldn't get there.

Lila is a typical teenager with an overprotective parent. Her mother is a semi well-known artist who teaches at the local college when she isn't imposing unreasonable rules on her daughter and restricting her comings and goings. Too quickly, Lila turns into a completely different kid after overhearing a phone call between her mother and estranged father in which they discuss the murder of some teenaged girls that seems to resemble something that happened "before".

The exposition of Lila's mother's past happens like a freight train barrelling into the dark. We learn that Caroline is originally from New Orleans and that something happened at Jazzland that affected her greatly. Then it's suddenly revealed that thanks to this "thing" that happened at Jazzland, she was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and it appears that her daughter is suddenly displaying some similar behavior. However, when Lila's school calls Caroline to tell her that her behavior has become concerning, her mother gets angry while simultaneously ignoring her daughter's obvious cries for help. Given that Lila's timeline is written as taking place in 2019, the school's handling of Lila's behavior is completely ludicrous, especially the school counselor writing her a prescription for Zoloft.

In the end, Lila does the inevitable, the expected, and takes off for Jazzland to see what the connection was for her mother. She attempts to rely on her never-present father who lives in NOLA with his new wife and baby, but her father, Daniel, fits every cliche of the father who has abandoned his daughter and refuses to help her.

While it is perfectly acceptable for an author to ask a reader to suspend disbelief, this book takes things just a bit too far. There are too many places in which I found myself wondering what on earth was actually going on, asking myself if I somehow missed a page on which something important had occurred. This certainly did not meet expectations and ended on a rather disappointing note, fast-forwarding into the future in a flaccid attempt to tie up too many loose ends.

Review Copy

SUCH A PRETTY SMILE is a classic tale of family love, old school horror and men vs. women. It's told in two two easy to follow timelines of a young woman and then somewhat later in her life when she has a teen daughter and is also paying for her rapidly diminishing father in a care home.

Something bad is happening to girls in NOLA and the police are having no luck. If only the girls would behave. Everything would be just fine. At least that's what the men in charge say...

This is a wonderful novel that every modern human should enjoy. Recommened reading!

A positively mesmerizing feminist horror novel isn’t a descriptor I would normally use. And yet it seems to be the most apt one. To merely define this novel by its genre or its theme would be reductive for it glows as brightly as it does precisely because of its striking combination of both.
It may seem like yet another one of those insanely popular estrogen driven thrillers that are so prevalent on the market right now, but it’s only kinda sorta like it, in its split narrative structure, in its serial killer themes. At its beating bleeding heart, this is very much a feminist manifesto wrapped in the skins of a serial killer thriller.
And if manifestos aren’t your thing, because let’s face it, they are often too preachy, too heavyhanded, too moralistic, well, rest assured this novel has enough going on to offset all that. Also, to potentially terrify you.
I’m always wary of message driven fiction, for it does tend to overwhelm the story, and so many, many kudos to the author, who got the balance so right fresh out of the gate. This is a very impressive debut all around. I’m not sure how it would have worked for general public prior to MeToo, it certainly is the book that rode it on the wave of new feminism, but now that it’s here, it’s a powerhouse.
And it isn’t the message that won me over, potent as it is, right as it is, it’s the writing itself. Since it is, after all, a work of fiction, timely or otherwise.
The basic plot involves a mother/daughter story, both of whom come to brush up against an unspeakable evil. The evil is male and oppressive, but its representations vary, from institutionalized to criminal, it’s ubiquitous and pervasive and it preys on the female of the species.
This is a supernatural thriller, though the kind that toes the line between plausible and impossible so cleverly that not until the very end will you know what’s really going on. The writing’s excellent, this is very much a work of literary dark psychological fiction, it’s character driven and exciting. But the real star of the show is atmosphere, its relentless bleakness is rendered so perfectly, enough to disturb even the most seasoned of genre fans. Dark as night, it amplifies every thump, every creak, every scare. Excellent, really.
May all ideological manifestos be dressed up as cleverly and as expertly in fiction. This was a really good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This story is intense and disturbing. I’m not even sure those words do it justice.

This book made me feel infected. It felt almost impossible to fully understand and I kept secondguessing everything. I absolutely loved it.

Two warnings as I get into this review.
1: Don't read this book if you're a dog lover.
2. This book is graphic.

When I first started reading this book, I was little confused. We have the main characters, Caroline and Lila, a mother and daughter pair that seem completely detached from each other. Throughout the story they seem completely unaware and unsympathetic to each other, some of which is attributed to Caroline's (the mother) mental illness. Part of this seemed so unrealistic to me. Lila is clearly a character struggling with puberty and who she is, but she has no healthy outlet. Her one friend, Macie, is objectively terrible. She uses Lila and manipulates her friendship to get Lila to do things she normally wouldn't do. Instead of talking to her mom at any point she just bottles it all up. Her mom almost never makes any attempt to relate to her daughter or bond with her. Some of which seems realistic because she's a teenager and she doesn't want to seem "crazy" like her mom. Even then it just seemed unrealistic that they would have almost no bonding moments throughout the whole book.

As the story progresses, Lila begins to experience strange visions of a man, hearing dogs barking that aren't there, and other spooky going ons. She starts to learn more about her mother's past and that her mother experienced some of the same symptoms. We jump back and forth between Lila and Caroline, with Caroline's story mostly being told as what happened in the past. The past focuses on Caroline and her experience with the same symptoms and navigating her complex relationship with Daniel, Lila's dad while living in pre-Katrina New Orleans.

The backbone of this whole story is predicated on men controlling women, mostly through subtle or overt emotional manipulation and abuse. That being a good woman, means being submissive to men. I found this to be the most believe part of the story, as this is something women experience every day. The sinister aspect of real people in your life who love and care about you, putting their needs above yours and willingly minimizing your experiences was well written and heartbreaking.

Overall I wish the supernatural aspects of this story were better fleshed out and that the mother-daughter relationship was better defined. The ending was mildly predictable and while the story did have enjoyable parts, I just felt like it could have been better developed.