Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishers for this eARC. This book had so much potential, but it was so boring. I literally had no idea what the plot was 50% in. The romance was an odd addition and things seemed to just be thrown out there at random. In addition, this was not heavy on the horror like I was hoping. Overall, very disappointed.

This was a great psychological thriller. Holly’s brother, Dane, manifested mental illness in his final semester of art school, becoming paranoid and delusional, and finally killing himself in a rather horrific manner. Holly and Dane had been close growing up, but Holly had distanced herself from Dane when he became ill, unable to handle it. The night he died, he sent her a text saying his girlfriend, Maura, wanted him to play a game with her, just in case something happened to him.

Holly believes that Maura knows more about the events of that night than she is saying, and that she might be responsible. She and Maura meet to talk and there is a strange connection between them. Circumstances result in Holly temporarily moving in with Maura, which she sees as an opportunity to snoop. What she finds is confusing. Maura is a florist with an impressive greenhouse and an eclectic mix of plants/flowers. Her friends/clients praise her as powerful and a great healer, and she does have a side business involving medicinal tonics. Maura does have a genuine desire to help others, but her methods are not only unconventional but unethical and illegal. She is also very manipulative, as well as mercurial, keeping Holly off-balance. Maura's secrets are unexpected and deadly.

I liked the interactions between Holly and Maura, and how the author used Maura's words and actions to keep Holly off-balance, unsure what to believe, and what is happening to her. I also liked that Dane uses his childhood experiences with his sister, as well as his hobbies, to send her a message, albeit one that Holly will not discover until it is too late. The story has plenty of surprises and a good amount of creepiness.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

As always, thank you to NetGalley for this arc! For fans of Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo, Such Pretty Flowers is what I would describe as a southern gothic with a floral twist perhaps? We follow our main character Holly as she tries to deal with the recent death of her brother and the many ways it just doesn’t add up to her. His mysterious illness and strange last message to her push her to begin investigating is life, and more importantly, his girlfriend. Holly finds herself instantly drawn to the strange Maura in more ways than one. Holly is what the kids would call a mess, but I have to say, I do respect it. Her motivations do seem a tad lost sometimes and she moves a tad fast with Maura, but she knows what she wants here and she isn’t going to stop until she gets answers. I do have to say that the pacing of this story is a bit strange, but the story moves itself along well enough. Regardless, I would say I do recommend this book and to definitely look out for it in Feb 2023!

I wanted to see if roses really would drink blood. Unfortunately, I passed out before the experiment was completed. No, I didn't!

We do have some blood-drinking roses in Such Pretty Flowers. Got some body horror, a dastardly villainess, things growing inside of people and a mouse, and tea and wine our protagonist would be better off not drinking. I shouted at her, "Don't drink that!" but shouting at fictional characters does no good.

Speaking of the protagonist, she isn't very interesting. I wanted her to take up a hobby beyond drinking questionable tinctures. Well, she had a fear of irregular circles, but that's a lousy conversation starter. Maybe not. I'd probably talk to somebody who is afraid of lily pad pods.

So, we have this original idea, but the characters keep doing unoriginal things. Every character managed to roll their eyeballs, smirk, bite their lips (one of them until she tasted blood which I swear is in every book I read lately.) Even a statue of a cherub had a smirk!

I have crawled on my knees to beg editors to erase all the eyeball rolling, smirking, and lip biting. I have burned out two smirk-o-meters and three eyeball-roll-o-meters. And yet, it continues.

Four stars for originality of plot, but one star for the use of the same ol' same ol' that everybody seems to be using.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bantam for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Such Pretty Flowers.

This book is really weird. The characters are unlikeable. The plot is bizarre. The setting and atmosphere are gloomy and smothering. It’s everything I expected it to be based on the description, and it’s one of the strongest Southern Gothics I have read in a long time.

I really enjoyed this and I think it will be very popular among book clubs. This is certainly an “acquired taste” kind of story, but for readers who appreciate bizarre, atmospheric Southern Gothic, Such Pretty Flowers will hit the spot.

Book review

“Get it out get it out oh god get it out of me”
That was the last text Holly received from her brother Dane the night he was found dead. Police are saying it was suicide but something about the whole situation isn’t sitting right with Holly. Determined to find out what that last text meant, Holly moves into Danes place.

When I first started this I was absolutely hooked, the description of how Danes body was found drew me in! Who doesn’t love some gore? Also the way Maura was portrayed was eerie and I wanted to know what was going on.

Unfortunately this lost its appeal rather quickly for me. The main character Holly made so many stupid decisions that I didn’t sympathize with her one bit. When the book started getting heavily focused on the flower aspect I found myself very bored, like I get that’s the point of the book (the flowers not being bored) but it was just a lot.

Reading this book felt like such a chore for me and ultimately it was a huge letdown. The big reveal at the end fell flat and wasn’t all that thrilling at all, this also dragged but I guess that’s what you get with a gothic horror?

This book is marketed as a queer horror and I want to know where exactly it shows or states that Holly falls in love with Maura. From what I gathered she found her strangely pretty but I don’t think she was falling for her. It’s pretty misleading in my opinion to market this as such, yes they have “moments” but I didn’t get the feeling that either loved each other or really found each other all day attractive.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for granting me access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Despite boasting a very intriguing premise, “Such Pretty Flowers” was just too weirdly bizarre for my personal liking. The characters were not at all likeable and the story itself was anything but scary. That said, it is well written, and for those that enjoy reading strange, dark, gothic stories that venture into the realm of improbability, then this one will be right up your alley! For me, not so much.

Review Copy

3.5 stars rounded up

SUCH PRETTY FLOWERS, such an easy read, but such a hard review. I pretty much figured out the what of it, but the why of it didn't make a whole lotta sense. And the forensics? What forensics? That alone should deduct a couple of stars, but I dunno, suspension of belief, maybe.

I guess if you're looking for a book to to read in a day and not think about, this might be the one. I need to get it out of my head.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the chance to read and review K. L. Cerra's 'Such Pretty Flowers.'

This was a fun and speedy gothic read - I read in a few hours and loved it. I was drawn to the description and as a recently transplanted Savannahian was attracted to the prospect of seeing how the author leveraged the history and atmosphere of the city.

It's a tale of suicide, death, botany-based illnesses, intrigue, deceit, eroticism, and detective work in which a bereaved sister tries to discover the real cause of her brothers madness and death by cleaving to the woman she believes was the cause of it.

It plays out at a really snappy pace and does manage to get some of the flavor of Savannah into the story.

I'd have loved to have seen the author delve more deeply into the 'villain's' 'side business' and her clientele since I think that would've added richness to the broader story and more opportunities to bring the city into the narrative. I think it would've filled in a couple of the other unexplored elements and loose ends. Maura's seemingly endless wealth, was she really one of four daughters of a Connecticut mother?

Sometimes longer doesn't mean better when it comes to novels but I think in this case, another hundred pages exploring Maura's existence would've added to the richness and enjoyment.

Nevertheless, a highly enjoyable quick horror tale.

this book had so much promise but the writing style fell flat for me and the romance sparked nothing. it felt like it needed a lot of extra work.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishers for this eARC.

The cover. Dang, the cover is stunning. The cover artist is freaking amazing.

This story was not for me. Holly’s quest to find out what happened to her brother is understandable, but her method was disturbing. Falling for your brother’s gf that he left behind is not a trope I can root for.

Please read and make your own decision!

This review hovers between three and four stars for me as I try to wrap my head around Such Pretty Flowers by K.L. Cerra.

Essentially, this is a book about grief and absolving yourself of guilt, but that's underneath the story of Holly trying to figure out what happened to her brother just before committing a truly gruesome suicide in his girlfriend's bathtub. Convinced that Maura, the girlfriend, knows more than she's letting on about her brother, Holly befriends her, moves into her townhouse, and begins to investigate when Maura isn't around. Fine, you tell yourself. The beginnings of a mystery! What Holly pieces together come slowly at first--Maura acts extremely hot and cold, is obsessed with her flowers (which is not weird because she's a florist), and there's something weird going on with these black roses her keeps on her nightstand and in the greenhouse. As Holly digs deeper, she winds up getting tied up in Maura's web, so to speak, becoming both inexplicably attracted to her and even more deeply suspicious of her actions. Holly begins to spiral like her brother, the closer she gets to Maura, the worse it all gets, but she can't seem to free herself--much like a fly caught in a web.

Where is all of this going, though? That is definitely the question. While there are some answers, the plot ties up a bit sloppily. I'm not too sure of Maura's motives, which hampers my understanding of why all of this is happening to begin with. The epilogue felt a bit like a cop out--too much happened to Holly for there to be no consequences. There are still lingering questions that made what was mostly a tense, gothic story ultimately unsatisfying. There was so much cool, menacing imagery about dark magic and botany and parasitic plants that did not go far enough or knit up right. I guess I just felt let down at the end.

I'm still rounding the rating up to a four since for the most part the tension in this book was A+ and kept me reading.

Hoolt and Maura's story is just bizarre. I just didn't enjoy this story, but I am sure it might be just me

I was not able to get into it at all
It is a very dark, gothic horror novel.
I did not like the character's Holly or Maura at all.
A slow read for me because I just couldn't get into it.

Sorry just can't recommend this one

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine- Bantam for granting me an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

I am all about this trend of using botanical related things to muck about peoples lives. I don’t know if I agree with the southern gothic label on this one but I was highly creeped out and entertained the whole time.

This book is a perfect dark, suspenseful, gothic Halloween read. The cover alone drew me in as if the woman is being consumed by flowers, which is a bit of foreshadowing.
We initially meet Holly at her brother Dane's funeral. She noticed he'd been struggling lately and recently sent her some odd texts , 'get this out of me'. Of course she feels guilty she didn't reach out to him more frequently. Holly meets Dane's girlfriend Maura, and due to various circumstances, moves in with her in her gothic southern mansion. The horror of what eventually happens is a slow burn as Holly gets more entrenched in Maura's life and tries to deny her growing attraction for her. What happened to Dane? What is hiding in the basement, and what are the creepy black roses in the greenhouse for? If this was a movie, the whole audience would scream 'get out now'!! We just have to wait and see if Holly uncovers the truth and saves herself in the process.

An unusual and original plot, Such Pretty Flowers had me turning the pages and reading as fast as I could. When Holly’s brother Dane commits suicide she is filled with guilt at the thought she failed him. Getting close to his girlfriend Maura, Holly thinks she’ll find answers but she finds so much more.

Hollys younger brother Dane committed suicide but no one knew why. Holly had come up with the idea to move in with Maura her brothers girlfriend. To Holly Maura seemed nice and down to earth and very successful. She lived in a very big and expensive townhouse.

When Maura left the townhouse she would look for clues about what happened to her brother. One night while grocery shopping with Maura Holly ran into her ex boyfriend Eric. Maura didn’t like it instantly and told Holly that he wasn’t right for her. Soon Holly would wish she hadn’t moved in with Maura.

When I started reading this book. I was hoping there was going to be a back story leading up to what happened to Dane. As I kept on the story really grabbed my attention. I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to keep on reading so I could finally find out what really happened. This books is a must read!!! I highly recommend it!!!

If I write this review and it feels like it doesn't make sense, it's because it kept me up until the wee hours of the morning.

KL Cerra's SUCH PRETTY FLOWERS is a book you read with mounting dread and your heart (or is that something else??) in your throat. The book follows Holly, a young woman who's life feels aimless, as she tries to discover what her brother's girlfriend, Maura, had to do with his death. Maura is suitably spooky, thoroughly wealthy, and highly manipulative, making her a lovely is she-isn't she villain to follow around.

Cerra's ability to make botany digestible for the layperson is much appreciated, though at times it feels as though she's giving more attention to the flowers than to her characters. Holly is a character you often want to throttle as she seems wholly oblivious to the world around her, and Cerra's depiction of her friends and parents make it feel as though Holly is a ghost within her own life.

There's a few plot holes throughout that I find bothersome--we never truly discover the source of of Maura's wealth, Holly's best friend doesn't seem concerned for her at all, and Maura somehow is able to just know Holly's phone's password.

Overall, it's a fun read, so long as you don't pay too close attention to the details.

This was a book that I started in the morning and couldn't stop reading until I had finished (even though I knew I'd be creeped out)!
The characters may not be the most robust but the story keeps you off balance while propelling you along. I think it would make a great movie-very atmospheric. I'd also place it as more than eerie, but less than horror.
If you're reading it for the F/F content, you may want to look elsewhere. This contains a smidgen, but it's more of an example of an anomaly than any plot or character development.
TW for trypophobia (not too descriptive though).
#NetGalley

I requested this from NetGalley because it's set in Savannah. I loved the atmosphere, and I loved that the author included a Savannah ghost story. Horror isn't my usual genre, but I wanted something spooky for Halloween and this was great. Such Pretty Flowers definitely gave me the creeps and I never knew what was coming next. It was a little slow at times, but I really enjoyed it. Thank you Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced review copy of Such Pretty Flowers!