Who knew “Such Pretty Flowers” could cause such horrifying problems for the characters and such mind bending fun for readers.

For some reasons I almost went with ⭐️⭐️⭐️’s, and for other reasons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s so because…..ummm…….hmm…..um…..wow! That was something unique……uniquely strange, warped, messed up, creepy, gory, colorful, very colorful and the atmosphere drawn was very vivid and that ending!!…….I’m going to go with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2’s…….plus endless ⭐️’s for that cover and the title.

Will review in full soon. With some trigger warnings, which really need to be shared, but for right now, just after closing the book, I just want to be with it first. If you like the strange and warped, macabre against a backdrop of “Such Pretty Flowers”, then definitely, you must read this!!

Thanks a million to NetGalley, Random House, Bantam, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this stand out, horrifying work of insanity and depth, early!! I will repost a full review here, Goodreads, Amazon and B&N, shortly.

Such Pretty Flowers by K. L. Cerra - 4/5

When on the hunt for answers to her brother's apparent suicide, Holly is out and about stalking the person she things is guilty when she finds herself falling her prime suspect - her brothers' girlfriend.

This book is sexy, seductive creepy and addicting. This is a quick read that grabs your attention, and you cannot put it down. I love detective/mystery stories and Holly's detective capabilities did not disappoint. The characters were intriguing, and I loved that the story didn't drag on.

A haunting last message from her brother and an opportunity to learn what happened to him from his strangely captivating fiancée draws a young woman’s curiosity to investigate in K. L. Cerra’s Such Pretty Flowers.
Holly’s brother Dane sent her an odd text shortly before he cleaved himself open in an effort to get out what he thought was growing inside of him. Though his death was ruled a suicide and he had a history of mental illness that would corroborate that finding, Holly’s convinced that there was something larger at play that involves his fiancée, Maura, and a game Dane said she wanted to play. Determined to learn the truth, Holly quickly finds herself stalking Maura, consumed with a need to know more about her; with an opportunity to move into Maura’s townhouse Holly seizes it for the chance it provides to snoop for clues. Drawn in to a darker, unsettling reality lurking beneath the shining surface, Holly soon realizes that there’s an attraction between her and Maura despite Holly not fully trusting her. Compelled to uncover the truth, Holly sticks with her investigation and battles her developing feelings, becoming entangled in Maura’s eerie world to the point of following in her brother’s footsteps, though she has an advantage of being able to heed her dead brother’s last warnings and breadcrumb clues that might just help her survive his unfortunate fate.
In a darkly creeping, and creepy, premise, an intriguing and consuming story unfolds that incorporates vivid and detailed floral and botanic descriptors to convey the essence of Maura’s existence, which entices and compels Holly as she investigates her brother’s death further while grieving his sudden and surprising loss. A gothic and haunting atmosphere playing in to and leaning on an already established haunted city of Savannah is well-developed, yielding an underlying unsettling feeling throughout; though much of the narrative is slowly moving and closely focused on the minutiae of a person’s words or behaviors without building out the depth to the character that minutiae relates to, the story obscures the truth to maintain mystery for so long that the reveal is ultimately both satisfying, as a why is finally made known, and unsatisfying, as it is a bit too much too quickly to tie things together without a fully developed background for the why being offered.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
This was a quick and easy Gothic read. Eerie and surprising plot unlike anything I have read before.
"Get it out of me"
This was the last text Holly received from her brother, Dane, before his suicide. The story follows Holly as she deals with her guilt of not answering this text in time. Holly is suspicious of Dane's fiance, Maura, so Holly befriends her and eventually moves into her Gothic townhouse. As creepy things start to happen, Holly starts to wonder if the same will happen to her as Dane, but she will not stop until she finds answers

A kind of gross suicide and a quirky librarian are at the heart of this book which was intriguing. I liked the setting of Savannah, GA, that is such a creepy place a story like this seems fitting. I like an amateur detective and Holly didn't disappoint. I enjoyed reading about her piecing together her brother's life with his girlfriend Maura and trying to figure out what actually lead to the suicide. Interesting characters and stayed on pace.

#SuchPrettyFlowers #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

If you are looking for a quick, exciting read, this is it. I finished this one in just a few days. It was captivating but a little on the weird side for me. Definitely a good choice if you are in a reading slump.

Holly has been a wreck since her brother, Dane’s, suicide. When she starts spending time with Dane’s ex-girlfriend, more questions come up than answers, to the point where Holly is determined to get to know Maura better and do some investigating on her own, even if it means her own sanity and life are both in danger. Told in a gothic-style in Savannah, this spooky book has a very strong start. Unfortunately, it goes off the rails a bit toward the end and we’re still left with some questions. Lots of potential here, so I’m not completely writing this one off---I couldn’t put it down, and when it was good, it was very good!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such Pretty Flowers was an interesting read. I feel somewhat conflicted about it now that I've finished. On the one hand, I LOVED the setting in Savannah. I lived there for several years, and the city comes to life in this book - it's almost a secondary character. The characters are interesting - Maura is certifiably creepy. However, some of their motivations for doing things are really odd and unrealistic to me. For example, if she wasn't already friends, why would Holly choose to move in with her dead brother's fiancé? Especially if she thinks she might have something to do with his death? The book was also advertised as a mystery/thriller, but it bordered on horror for me with some of the gory details and the entire ending with Holly and Maura.

Basically, I think this book could be good, but it really wasn't for me. I did like revisiting Savannah though, so definitely worth it if you love the city!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

Such Pretty Flowers is such a pretty title for such a twisted book! I loved it and all of the craziness! I’ll never look at flowers the same !!!

Content warning: mental health and suicide are mentioned

My top books of 2022 list just expanded this evening! Such Pretty Flowers is a dark, twisty, southern gothic with some tastefully executed body horror.

After receiving a concerning text from her brother, Holly is determined to figure out what caused her brother to take his own life. This quickly leads to her moving in with her brother's unusual fiance, Maura. As Holly digs deeper into the relationship, Maura's behavior becomes even more unsettling. From clingy to cold, Maura flips moods in an uncanny way. The local socialite scene thinks she's a gifted botanist, but Holly suspects something more sinister.

wow. this book definitely took its time to build up to the story, but i thoroughly enjoyed it. the horror elements were so well done and the writing was extremely compelling. the only reason why i rated this less than 4 stars is that the story felt a bit too dragged in some places, and there were certain plot choices i didn't enjoy. other than that, this was a very fun and creepy read

What do you think of when you see the horror genre?

For me its gore. Despite all the horror books I’ve read my mind still goes to gore when I see horror, but I haven’t had gore in a horror in a long time. How scary could this one be with such a gorgeous cover anyway? This one was a gothic horror, and honestly, I’m not entirely sure what that means, but everyone I’ve read described this way has been a hit for me, so I keep reading them lol.

Holly just lost her brother, Dane, and before he died, he sent a message that Holly is desperate to figure out. Shortly after Dane dies, Holly connects with Maura, Dane’s girlfriend. As they forge a friendship, Holly moves into Maura’s townhouse and their friendship becomes more. Holly starts to get an odd feeling about Maura and things that she is harboring some dark secrets. Can Holly figure out what Maura is into before she ends up dead like Dane?

I loved this gothic horror with a touch of LGBTQ romance. It was delightfully beautiful in the storytelling. I enjoyed how well the characters were developed and we got to know Holly and Maura. I had a sneaking suspicion that Maura wasn’t quite all there lol. What she ended up being was amazing though and I was eating it up! This book was vivid and imaginative and made me go eww at least once.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, @randomhouse, for my advanced e-arc in exchange for this honest review. I recommend you check this one out February 7th!

The premise of this book gave me high hopes, but unfortunately it did not live up to expectations. The setting was underutilized, the characters were undeveloped, and the plot was poorly constructed, all making the big reveal at the denouement more than a little lackluster. This one needed more time in the editing/rewriting phase.

Holly is devastated when her younger brother Dan kills himself. The more she considers his actions and words, the more she believes someone knows more than they are telling. Who is that person? Holly believes Dan’s girlfriend Maura knows more than she is saying and she will make one bad decision after another to uncover the truth.
As Holly is drawn closer to Maura, things about her life and her relationship with Dan just don’t add up. Hollys attraction to Maura was in a word disturbing, but the more she uncovers about her, the question becomes will she escape her spell. I’m not sure if I understood all that Maura was involved in. I might’ve liked some more explanations but the story is told entirely from Holly’s perspective so that really couldn’t happen. Maura does explain some of who she is and what she has done, but I would’ve appreciated a bit more backstory.
Don’t get me wrong it was a page turning mystery, I just found it hard to feel sympathy for Holly. It did give off plenty of creepy Gothic vibes and I just wish I had felt more of a connection to Holly. I did love all of Maura’s creepy plants and flowers. I’m a fan of black roses though Such Pretty Flowers might make me like them just a little less.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for ARC!

The premise of this book was right up my alley: a Southern gothic mystery, and carnivorous plants – but unfortunately, I came away mostly disappointed.

The atmosphere isn't well-established enough for the book to really feel Gothic. The characters weren't developed enough to keep my attention. Somewhere in the middle I felt a bit lost. I think it was because I could not relate to the main character.

Typically, I like dark books, but this was a little too dark and depressing. Several warnings:
-Suicide
-Drugs and alcohol/roofies
-Depression, anxiety

Not for me, at the end of the day, despite the extremely promising synopsis.

#SuchPrettyFlowers #NetGalley
A fun read
Get it out of me.”
It was the last message Holly received from her brother, Dane, before he was found cleaved open in the lavish Savannah townhouse of his girlfriend, Maura. Police ruled his death a suicide sparked by psychosis, but Holly can’t shake the idea that something else must have happened—something involving another message he sent earlier that night about a “game” Maura wanted to play. Determined to discover the truth, Holly begins to stalk Maura, a magnetic, black-eyed florist with a penchant for carnivorous plants. But what begins as an investigation quickly veers into a fixation that lures Holly into the depths of Maura’s world: Savannah high society, eerie black roses, and a whisper of something more sinister. Soon Holly is feeling a dark attraction to the one woman she shouldn’t trust. As Holly falls deeper for Maura and her secrets, she’s left with only one choice: find out what happened to Dane or meet the same fate.
An original story with lots of twists. Waiting for more books by the same author.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for giving me an advance copy.

I normally gravitate to dark books like this. However this book was just too dark and depressing. The sadness overwhelmed the actually story and just wasn't for me.

After Holly's brother allegedly dies by suicide, she decides to investigate further, and is drawn into a relationship with his mysterious and creepy girlfriend. The author does a great job of ratcheting up the suspense, and Holly is a likeable, realistic character. Although she doesn't always make good choices, you can understand why she feels compelled to keep pursuing the truth, even when things get weird and dangerous. If you like creepy horror novels, this one's for you!

I loved it! Intriguing and alluring with a touch of disturbing all rolled into one well written novel. Nothing was predictable so it was one of those books you can't put down. Great author.