I wish I had enjoyed this one more -- DeMeester is definitely an extremely talented writer! She took an incredibly dark topic and made it something beautiful at times with her stunning prose.

This book follows a mother and daughter -- Caroline and Lila, respectively -- as they navigate two turbulent times. As a young adult in 2004, Caroline, a sculpture artist, starts to hear dogs at all times and see a man with a dog's face hiding in the shadows, all while young girls are going missing and showing up dead and torn apart. She descends into madness, blacking out and losing hours of time where she works on dark, fairytale-esque sculptures in a daze.

After having her daughter, she moves away, thinking that she can start fresh and leave all the madness behind. Then, at 13 years old, Lila starts to let herself be controlled by a dark force and girls start going missing all over again. What is happening, and why are Caroline and Lila connected to it?

I can see where the author was trying to go with this narrative, showing all of the small, yet deeply malevolent ways in which women are subjugated, belittled, and controlled by men in every aspect of life. While I think this is an extremely important topic to talk about (and always appreciate a fresh perspective on it) it got a little heavy-handed at times throughout this narrative. And, when the mystery behind everything was finally revealed, I feel like the theme didn't connect to it all that well.

Some of the best parts of the book were the horror elements -- abandoned theme parks, shadowy dog people, the ever-looming threat of a serial killer, and the mysterious delusions hidden inside the mind. I especially loved the parts where Lila gave into her inner darkness. They were so visceral and disturbing, they were hard to read -- which, I'm guessing, is the point.

My only other point of critique would be that the ending came much too quickly. Everything was revealed very starkly at the end in a way that didn't excite me at all. I wish there could have been more of an investigation and discovery element to the plot, which I feel like would have made the reveal much more impactful.

Overall, I thought the book was beautifully written and covered some important topics, but did not 100% resonate with me in the end. However, if you like woman-centric horror, this one may be an excellent choice for you!

Wow! What did I just freaking read? Did that really just happen? Holy Crap!!! Such a Pretty Smile is a dark, seductive, jaw-dropping, sinister story that will have you devouring the story long into the night!

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.

Have you ever felt like you were that type of girl? The born to stand out, the type to say it as it is! I would definitely say that I am that girl! So is Caroline and her daughter Lila. Can mother and daughter come together and figure out what the hell is going on!

Such A Pretty Smile is a one of a kind book! I love the dual POV and the dual timeline! It was done perfectly and added to every element. If you want nightmares, read this book! I can not wait to read more of her books!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was excited when I was approved for this book from St. Martin's press in exchange for an honest review.
This book was eerie in so many ways. I have a feeling that more details I missed this first time reading it will appear again when it is re-read. Yes, I have a high chance of reading this book once more, and probably more times after that.
Caroline has a blank spot in her past, one that she sometimes wishes she could fill in with memories and other times is too afraid to try to remember. She is an artist. She creates dark, lovely sculptures. She loves her daughter dearly and is afraid for her constantly. Will her daughter develop the same haunting phantoms that she suffers from? What little she does know of her past is kept hidden, afraid that if they are brought to the surface, they will transfer to her beloved child.
Lila is struggling in school. Her bestfriend does not treat her well, and there are new feelings simmering below the surface. Her friend is boy crazy and loud and wild, but Lila tries not to feel jealous of her best friend's affections towards older boys. Between complications of having only one friend, one she wishes would know how she really feels, and wishing her mom would just tell her about the secrets and her father caring more about his new baby and ignoring her, Lila is getting fed up.
Unfortunately for Caroline and Lila, the past is about to sneak up and become a threat to both of their futures.
This was a great book. It really brings to the surface how men brush off women and what we say. We are told to be quiet, be pleasant, SMILE more so you'll look prettier, keep your problems to yourself. Stay in the kitchen. It was infuriating but it felt so good at the same time to have this brought up in this book (in the best way possible). If people would simply listen to one another, no matter their gender, so many issues could possibly have a chance at a good resolution instead of horrible endings. This is a book that I am going to have to gift to my female friends... and maybe some male friends as well. This book would be a great tool for discussions for so many topics. One of the best and aggravating, thought provoking books I have read so far this year.

LOVED THIS BOOK. I love a good murder/psych thriller and this book was all I ever wanted and more!! I couldn’t figure it out and the ending got me!!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was weird. Really, really weird. I spent the entire book trying to figure out what was going on. And, I still don't know what was going on. It felt like Stephen King's It crossed with the #Metoo movement. I understand what message the author was trying to convey, but I thought it ended up muddled with the supernatural element. I couldn't relate to the characters and I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I felt that it painted all men in a negative light. I felt like women were weak in this author's world and that all of the men in their lives were able to gaslight them into feeling like their crazy. They were too docile. It was supposed to portray strong women in a patriarchal society and I just think the message was lost.

Don't get me wrong, there's definitely an audience for this book, but it's not me. As a strong willed, independent woman, I felt like the female protagonists were weak. Two stars.

I am going to be the odd one out with this book. Why? Well, I didn’t care for it. I know (ducking rotten tomatoes and hearing boos echoing across all the platforms I post to), it is not the popular opinion. I wanted to like this book and was pretty excited to read it after all the favorable reviews. Then I read it, and it fell flat for me.

Such a Pretty Smile did have an exciting storyline. The book centers around Lila and her mother, Caroline. In the 2019 storyline, Lila is a teenager dealing with a lot in her life. Her mother has a reputation for creating creepy statues made out of materials she found on her walks. Her father is distant, focusing more on her newborn sister, born premature and with a severe health complication. She is also dealing with peer pressure, a frenemy who alternately bullies and befriends her and questions her sexuality. To top it off, Lila has heard dogs bark, and there is a voice in her head telling her to do things that she usually wouldn’t do. Meanwhile, brutalized bodies of young girls are being found around the Atlanta area.

In the 2004 timeline, Caroline is under an immense about of pressure. Her father is in hospice, and she is drowning under the bills associated with it. Caroline takes a job teaching private art lessons to a homeschooled teenager to make ends meet. But, things are happening to Caroline that she can’t understand. She hears dogs barking nonstop, and she is having delusions. When she talks to her psychiatrist about that, she gets drugged, but that doesn’t stop it. Everything comes to a head when she finds out about her past, which ties directly to the current murders.

When Lila finds out about Caroline’s past, the storylines meet and she runs back to New Orleans to investigate Jazzland. What happens will send shockwaves in everyone’s lives and change them forever.

I did feel bad for Lila. She was smothered by her mother and ignored by her father. On top of that, she dealt with bullying and figured out her sexuality. She was a pressure cooker and was about to blow. Honestly, I was surprised that she waited as long as she did to freak out on Macy, her father, and her stepmother. I did wonder (when she started hearing the dogs barking) if her stress was manifesting. But it wasn’t until she was in the car (sweating her butt off) that I understood what was happening to her was paranormal.

I also felt bad for Caroline. She had a lot on her plate in 2004. She was solely responsible for her dying father’s medical/hospice bills. She was trying to get through art school and launch her career. She had to deal with a fiance who didn’t support her in anything. So, when she started hearing dogs barking and seeing things, she figured that it was because of stress. I wish that she could have had a break in that storyline. But it went from one thing to another when her father told her that she was kidnapped when she was a child. It was then that everything amped up. Her descent into mental illness and how the male figures in her life treated her were awful.

The horror angle of Such a Pretty Smile was well written, but it didn’t do anything for me. I was waiting for some epic battle or at least The Cur getting what it deserved. It didn’t happen. Instead, there was a rail against men and how women were expected to confirm (which we are, and yes, it is unfair). I felt a little let down when the author explained everything at the end of the book. I was left feeling meh.

I did like the solid feminist stance that the book took. But, I did feel that it was a bit much in places—one of the things that made me “meh” about Such a Pretty Smile.

I did enjoy the ending and seeing how Lila ended up after the events of Jazzland. I am glad that she met with people who understood what she went through. I also wondered, with how the final paragraphs were worded, if there was going to be a sequel. Maybe The Cur will get what is coming to it.

I would recommend Such a Pretty Smile to anyone over 21. There is sex, violence, and language.

I was vastly out of my comfort zone while reading this book but as time went on and I continued to flip from one page to the next I found myself being pulled in. The dual timelines between Caroline's story and Lila's was incredibly captivating! As a woman I related to the themes within this book more than I would have liked, and even had to take a couple breaks throughout because it was heavier than I originally expected, It made me feel more seen than a lot of the other books I've read, which I find to be both comforting and discomforting at the same time. I found this book to be incredibly thought provoking when looking at themes such as mental health in women and the patriarchal expectations society has for women to shrink themselves. the juxtaposition between women being told to behave like 'good girls' and men being allowed to commit horrendous acts with little to no repercussions because they are 'good boys' who don't deserve to have their entire life ruined was very disconcerting.

Overall I can't say I enjoyed the book because I think that was point. Violence against women is often used for entertainment, which dilutes the very real threat that we face each day. With that said, I would recommend this book because I think it does a really good job of giving a voice to the women who who have been silenced at the hands of men in our society.

Oh my goodness!! This was exactly the type of horror book I was looking for. There is no twists or turns it’s just unsettling and eerie and quite creepy. We follow 13 year old Lila and her helicopter parent Caroline. Caroline is overprotective and seems to be hiding something. Lila wants to be a free spirit and is also hiding something.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say this book was enjoyable and a absolute page turner. I couldn’t put it down.

I had never read this author before but will watch for her now. Incredible.

Wow! This book. I'm not too sure what to make of it. It is fantastic.
This is a sinister, dark and such a complex story that is so compelling that even if you are not understanding what's happening you are compelled to read it because it is so evocative.
Two very unreliable narrators. Mother and daughter who are resilient, strange, introverted, and perceive the world in a very different way.
The story moves between 2004 where Caroline: a young and talented artist recently engaged, who is living with her painter fiancée. She suffers from terrible nightmares and takes care of her father who is living in an expensive hospice she can barely afford to pay for.
She starts seeing a dog-faced man with sharp fangs, who hides in the shadows, observing her, watching her every move like a hawk. Also, the city is also faced with a spate of horrific incidents wherein the little girls are taken away by a serial killer who massacres them brutally and leaves them in public places.

In 2019, we see Caroline's daughter, 13-year-old Lila who feels like an outsider. She is trying to adjust to school life and all that entails and also coming to terms with her own sexuality. Lila also suffers from nightmares and constantly hears dogs barking. She is however unable to share anything with her mother and her father who lives in a different city with his new family.
Things take a turn when the brutal killings start again.
The story continues until the past and the present slowly begin to merge into one horrifying, shocking end.

I don't want to say anything more without giving spoilers but suffice it to say that it is a gritty, dark, raw story that will draw you in and take your breath away.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a Pretty Smile is one of those thrillers that hits extremely hard, as it pulls in real-world elements to bring the story to life. Written by Kristi DeMeester, this book is perfect for anyone who wants to feel haunted.

There's a killer lurking in our midst. He is known as The Cur, and the only evidence he ever leaves behind are the bodies of mutilated girls and women. As with any serial killer: he has a preferred target. Young women, girls really, rebel against the rules society places on them. They make trouble, refuse to conform, and don't smile when asked by strangers.

I think the most horrifying thing about Such a Pretty Smile is that it is a horror novel set in modern times. By modern times, I mean that it tackles debates and arguments that are very much relevant today.

It's chilling and a little bit too real at times. The killer of this novel, The Cur, is treated like a boogyman. Young women are told to behave or else The Cur will get them. Unlike the stories we tell children – the boogeyman is real, and he might just go for these women. It makes the warnings feel harsh and uncaring, as once again, a cycle of victim-blaming rises to the surface.

That would be one of the relevant points mentioned above and one of many that Kristi DeMeester addresses. For this reason, I really don't think that Such a Pretty Smile is the ideal read for everyone. I'm not going to lie – it got borderline too much for me on several occasions. So please keep this in mind when debating about reading it.

Kristi DeMeester’s "Such a Pretty Smile" tells the tale of a mother-daughter duo, Caroline and Lila, who struggle separately but more similarly than they will realize. Caroline, an accomplished artist and college professor struggles with her mental health. Every day, she hopes that her daughter Lila, a thirteen year old coming into her own skin, will not suffer the same fate.
The themes throughout this novel are horrifically thrilling. DeMeester’s characters are intense: sparking hatred of some characters with the smallest triggers while vying for the characters suffering from their cruel words. Although confusing at times (stick with it, you won’t be sorry!) "Such a Pretty Smile" was worth three shining stars to me.
This novel is a coming of age, horror, feminist, murder mystery, thriller that somehow blends into a unique story of love, desperation, and letting your voice be heard.

This psychological thriller will keep you guessing and you will not want to put it down. Someone is out there killing these young girls and naturally a mother is worried so what is really going on. This will surely keep you on the end until the end. This is a great read.

Such A Pretty Smile is disturbingly twisted in the best way. It was a little slow in the beginning but picked up quickly. Once it catches your attention, it hangs on for dear life. The characters are dark and dynamic, as is the story itself. The world-building was good, and I was kept on the edge of my seat, just itching to know how it ends. The end of the story showed the greatest sacrifice and the resilience of people, especially women. I do have several lingering questions and hope that the story will continue. Either way, I can't wait to read more by this author.


Voluntarily reviewed after receiving a free copy courtesy of NetGalley, the Publisher, and the author, Kristi DeMeester.

I wrote a long review of this book back in January before it was released, but my computer lost it so this time I'll make it short and sweet. Basically, not for me.

Such a Pretty Smile is touted as a novel of horror, a thriller, and a feminist manifesto. All three of those interest me, so I thought I'd love this book. However, I found that trying to accomplish all three genres into one book results in a book that accomplishes nothing. As a thriller, the book is about a serial killer known as The Cur. He attacks girls who are not "good," meaning those who don't obey the rules, refuse to conform, or speak when not being spoken to. As a horror story, the two main characters in the book (Lila in 2019 and her mother Caroline in 2004) have some paranormal experiences. They hear dogs barking and snarling and lose time in fugue states. As a feminist manifesto, I think the author was trying to paint men as evil beings and women as victims/survivors, back to the "good girl" aspect of the novel. All of these are done in bold strokes so the reader gets a little feeling of horror, then gets caught up in the serial killer aspect, and it's all wrapped up in feminism.

I consider myself a feminist, but I was turned off by this angle because the only characters that come to life are Lila and Caroline, and the men of their world are amorphous. I found the whole thing strange and convoluted. I think this is just one of those books readers will either love or hate. I'm in the latter category.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eGalley in exchange for posting a review. I'm sorry mine took so long.

This was a difficult book to read and it’s a difficult one to review. I have a feeling it’s going to be very polarizing. The idea is a great one. In 2019, Lila is thirteen years old and she has a lot of secrets. She has an immense amount of anger rising up, she might be seeing things, and the dark thoughts she’s having are starting to sound very appealing. Alongside this plot is the narration of Caroline from 2004. Caroline is Lila’s mother and she is a struggling artist under a lot of familial stress. She has started to hear dogs barking and to see a man with a dog’s face in the shadows. In both 2004 and 2019, girls have started going disappearing. The killer has the same MO: a young preteen girl goes missing and their bodies are later found with ravaged inner thighs. Police believe it is a serial killer who has started taking girls again that they simply call The Cur. Is the same thing hunting girls? Are Lila and Caroline both being hunted by something or are they just “crazy” unreliable narrators?

The plot and the message of this book are really powerful. Kristi DeMeester really masterfully handles feminine horror in a patriarchal society. Every event is related to what a woman should do, how they should act, and their position in society. It focuses heavily on both the internal thoughts of girls/women and how they are forced to project themselves to the world. The use of the almost omnipresent Cur can be read as a physical manifestation of the patriarchy that wants to consume the inappropriate behaviors found in young girls. All of this is amazing, 5 stars, incredible.

Where things get difficult for me is the books' use of imagery depicting violence against animals and sexual violence. I am never a fan of violence against animals but I can skip over a scene if I feel it furthers the plot. The violence here I felt was *extremely* heavy-handed and drawn out longer than necessary. I get its purpose in the narrative but it made my stomach churn.

The discussion and depiction of sexual violence can be important—especially in books that deal with feminist themes. As someone who identifies as a radical feminist and who 100% agrees with the message that I feel this book was trying to portray already, maybe I just was not the target audience for this. I cannot comfortably read books with scenes of sexual violence where I cannot skip them. In Such A Pretty Smile, the sexual violence that occurs is fully entwined in other events that would leave important plot points out if it is not read. This put me in an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situation and I think that could be true for other readers. Additionally, the language described—while not the worst or the most graphic I’ve ever read—is almost overbearing. Again, maybe I was not the target audience because I did not need to see anything in a different light to understand DeMeester’s point.

Overall, I think this is an important book. I think it is a really important addition to the horror genre and Kristi DeMeester is going to definitely be an author to look out for. I just think this might benefit from a few content warnings, which I am trying to explain here.

**Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty good. The characters were well written and kept me interested. I had a little trouble with the darkness of the storyline, but was still interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Such a Pretty Smile” by Kristi DeMeester flips between a mother-daughter duo, both struggling with darkness lurking at the edges of their lives. Caroline was a young girl when she was taken. She was found wandering at a New Orleans theme park, cuts along her legs, unable to remember what had happened. Police linked her disappearance with a serial killer that had taken other girls, girls who didn’t return. Years and years later, Caroline can feel it in the back of her mind- a warning. Girls start going missing again and Caroline wants to pull her daughter Lila closer… but Lila can hear that dark voice too…

This book was spooky. There’s so much imagery here that is strange or vivid. So much that is real and so much that isn’t. It’s hard for me to sit long in the horror genre. I loved the overarching theme of the fight against the people who tell women to sit down and be quiet, but some of the imagery here to pull this book into the horror genre, whew. It was a lot.

I wanted to love this book. I really really did. I think it’s unique and powerful, but sadly it just wasn’t for me. I rounded up my rating to give this book 3 stars. Honestly, it could have just been the genre. Maybe it was too far for me. But I hope you’ll give this one a read and let me know what you think!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I gotta say, I went into this book expecting something different, but I liked what I got much more than what I had expected... Does that make any sense? From the synopsis I had expected something of a murder mystery I suppose? This is definitely not that, but in a good way. This book is a multi-POV book that skips forwards and backwards in time at different intervals. It had more of a supernatural, psychological aspect that I hadn't expected with a feminist twist. It wasn't preachy either. It seems like whenever books try to put in a feminist undertone, they end up being kind of preachy or overwhelming or like they sacrifice the plot for the purpose of getting their message across. With Such a Pretty Smile, there was such a clever juxtaposition of the feminist message with the very dark and disturbing story so as to be impactful, but not overwhelming. The horror aspect of the book was very well done to the point of being very gruesome. The entire atmosphere of the book was very viscerally unnerving. When the author described the dark things going through Lila's mind, you felt it. Being inside Lila's mind was equal parts claustrophobic and nearly feral. I admire how well Lila's unraveling was portrayed. Really, DeMeester's writing throughout the entire book was so richly descriptive. There was clearly a lot of thought and effort put into making the atmosphere almost uncomfortably vivid.

As for the story itself, it was grisly but captivating. At the end of the day, you've got unreliable narrators that are becoming increasingly unstable, to the point that the reader isn't sure what is and isn't real. Though, this ends up tying back into the feminist aspect of the book. The concept of the "hysterical woman" who is only ever "overreacting." While I'm sure the Cur is meant to be some sort of allegory for womens' forced silence, it's also just a damn creepy figure. Although, it was a bit underutilized. I think to increase the horror-aspect of this book, more of the Cur would've been nice to build tension. Most of the actual tension in this book comes from the dissolution of the relationships between the different characters. Though it is very well done.

I have very little bad to say about this book. Most of my problems came from the distribution of chapters from Carolines perspective. Or I suppose my problem is more from the layout of the chapters in general. Like, I believe it's something like 25% of the book before we ever actually get Caroline's POV when I think that could've started much earlier on. It would've read more smoothly if both POVs kind of started to unravel at the same time. As it currently is, Lila's mind starts going a lot faster so you go from these very intense chapters of Lila, to these relatively boring chapters of Caroline back in 2004. Obviously 2004 Caroline's POV starts to ramp up at some point, but I just feel like they could've been distributed better so as to devolve in tandem (if that makes sense). But this is really a small thing, it doesn't take much from the plot itself.

I guess I mostly just have good things to say about this book: it's a good length (to the point without being too long or short), the cover art is very cool, and the book itself is hard to put down. If you're looking for a horror book with a unique vibe, then check out this one. The way all the psychological and supernatural elements tie in with the feminist undertone is really interesting. Really the way it emphasizes women's voices being suppressed, inevitably coalescing into something dark and uncontrollable is just clever. I think this book is a great example of how to get your point across, without sacrificing the integrity of the book itself.

This is a horror story that has the past turning up in the present. Lila is a 13 year old girl trying to fit in today's world. She is sheltered by her Mother and wants to hang out with kids her age and discover what life is about. Just as her Mother is loosening the strings, girls are turning up dead and mutilated. While she wants to talk to her Mother Caroline about it, she feels like her Mother is hiding something from her. This is a well written story that is frightening to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

I’m confused. Seriously, I can not pin-point the genre of this book. There are too many of them that collide and unfortunately makes a mess. However, the psychological thriller aspect, very much appealed to me.

I felt some chapters drag on while others you flew right through them. I did like the premise of the novel and the different POVs.

I just find it a tough one to rate. I want to have liked it more then I did. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.