This book completely gripped me. I was reading this well into the night, which was not great for me in the end because I was absolutely terrified that something was going to come into my room while I was sleeping.

This had me on such an edge, while infuriating me at the same time. I was screaming internally at our protagonist, Holly. I wanted her to smarten up and see what was in front of her face. I wanted her to open her eyes to the manipulation and even when she did, she was fully aware that she was staying in a situation that was bad because she kind of liked it… until it was too late.

The fear notches up higher and higher in this book. We have bouts of the the book telling us what’s happening without showing us, which was the only thing that brought my rating down. All in all, this book was scary and claustrophobic in a perfect way.

We have Holly who is dealing with the suicide of her brother and how her guilt is manifesting in her own mental health. She longs for answers and decides to find them by getting closer to his girlfriend. Maura is this enigma that Holly feels contradictory feelings for. Sensing there is a wrongness about the woman, she still can’t help the strange pull and attraction she has to her.

In order to get to the truth of what happened to her brother to cause his drastic decline, she has to spend time with Maura which is equal parts alluring and terrifying. Maura clearly knows more about what happened to him that she is letting in and there is such a darkness behind that. The search Holly endeavors into the truth yields some horrific discoveries.

Such Pretty Flowers is a gorgeous Southern Gothic filled with eccentric characters and eerie plotlines. It's dark, atmospheric, and masterfully crafted. I love a book that makes me feel unsettled all the way to my bones, and this one ticked that box right from the start. If you enjoy Gothic horror, this is a must-read!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing a digital copy of Such Pretty Flowers in exchange for an honest review. Such Pretty Flowers will hit shelves February 7, 2023!

Awesome, spooky read! Main character Holly, an introvert librarian, loses her brother who dies by a gruesome suicide. Holly thinks there is more to the system and plans on investigating his death, especially his girlfriend of two months. Holly dives into Maura’s world, and even moves in with her.

I thought this was an average read. Loved the gothic atmosphere. I also enjoyed how the author incorporated local lore of Savannah, GA. Great plot twist! Overall, I would recommend this book to a friend. Perfect for fans of “Mexican Gothic” and “Wilder Girls”.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE GORGEOUS COVER? I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that was the first thing to draw my attention.

This is a beautifully written, intriguing story. Any story with a psychological underline tends to rope me personally in. Beautiful read.

I was initially interested in this book because…..gothic, eerie, crazy, and QUEER! My favorite part of any great book. Unfortunately, this one didn’t hit my marks though. I found myself bored with our plot, characters, etc. I really wanted to LOVE this. It sounds perfect, but the execution did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this early e-arc copy.

A queer gothic mystery. I mean, how do you pass that up? You don’t. Well, in any case. I didn’t, reading it the same day I was approved for it by Netgalley.
To its credit, the book was actually a quick read, making it possible to get through by bedtime.
The question is, as always, was it worth it?
So, I’m going to go with yes, but a conditional one.
Ultimately, it’s a fun read. A young man kills himself in a pretty spectacular fashion by a disembowelment, and his suicide is preceded by a steadily declining mental state, hallucinatory episodes, etc. The young man’s sister, devastated and bereft, decides to find out what happened and in doing so gets closer and closer to his fiancé (ex-fiancé now) whose peculiar charms prove first irresistible and, later, dangerous.
That sounds all kinds of fun, doesn’t it?
Continuing…
Since the book is pushing both the queer and the gothic element, let’s look at those.
The gothic thing was done right. Mind you, it’s a thoroughly modern gothic, but it is set in the haunted Savannah, in a marvelously creepy townhouse Poison Ivy wouldn’t feel out of place in and it is dark. Very dark. There are some terrific claustrophobic elements at play there too.
The queer thing…well, it works if you’re into the crazy/manipulative/femme fatale lesbians of the 90s cinema thing. Otherwise, it’s just ok. Don’t go into it expecting lots of sex either.
The romantic aspects of this novel are firmly on a psycho side of things, but the plants…the plants are terrifying.
The scares are in the flora, people. And that’s kind of fun and different.
All in all, plenty entertaining with a nicely done creep factor. So much so, that the reading of it got more enjoyable as the night outside got darker. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This is by far and away one of the most interesting plot lines I've ever read. I've never read anything quite like it.

The story follows Holly, she is dealing with her brothers apparent suicide and all the grief that comes with that. In order to get answers for a death that she feels isn't quite well explained, she reaches out to his girlfriend and finds that she becomes completely entranced with her. Although Holly can feel some thing is not quite right with the girlfriend she ends up moving in with her to try and get answers about her brother before his death. This leads to some major plot twists and turns and keeps you definitely enthralled throughout the entire story.

The story is well done and you absolutely do get feelings for the characters. You never quite like the girlfriend, you know something is absolutely not right with her. But somehow that just makes the book more intriguing versus it being a turn off. You want to know why she disturbs you and that keeps you reading further.

I feel like this is a great standalone story that is tied up nicely at the end. I didn't find there to be any plot holes that I didn't understand. I gave this story a 5/5 and I highly recommend people to read it during the spooky season. You definitely get an atmosphere of goth and gloom and it is definitely a thriller.

TW: Suicide

Such Pretty Flowers is a creepy, thriller that details a young boy dead by suicide and his sisters determination to find out the truth of what actually happened.

I was determined to love this book based on the premise but found it fell a little short for me. This book was psychologically and deeply creepy. The concept from start to finish was well conceptualized but overall felt vaguely expected. While the full scale of the plot was a surprise, it felt like the writer hinted at it the entire book. The plot was slow to build until almost 70% of the book had based by and I nearly DNFed because it just didn’t keep me engaged.

The characters had a lot of potential, but mostly felt one sided and weakly characterized. The author seemed to write about them without actually showing them so the book felt chopped up by long paragraphs of written thoughts and feelings instead of using those paragraphs to show these feelings. I wish we had gotten more of Dane and his side of the story as the book carried on instead of just through brief flashbacks and vague mentions.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential, but just fell short of what it wanted to do. A creepy psychological thriller that I would still recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

The only issue I had with this book was the pacing, it was very slow for most of the book. HOWEVER, this was such a good story. I want to put a quick CW for suicide/trypophobia. This had the creepy, atmospheric vibes that sent shivers up my spine, I've only felt that kind of eeriness with House Of Hollow and it set the tone of the book. A creepy florist, a brother who ends up dead, now Holly is having nightmares and feels like things are growing inside her...

The plot twist was not what I expected but the details get creepier the more you learn about Dane's death. Honestly, I couldn't put this book down and I can't wait to pick up a physical copy next year!

This book had a very unique story like. In the end, I found the plot twist to still be surprising…without spoilers, I knew parts of it but didn’t realize the full extent. While I did enjoy the story, I’m only giving 3 stars because I found the pacing a bit slow…this took me much longer to get through than usual because I kept putting it down. But overall it was a very interesting read, and thriller/suspense readers would very much enjoy it.

This book was just a little bit out of my comfort zone, but I have to admit, I loved every minute of it!

Creepy, atmospheric and weird. Loved my time reading this beautiful written horror book. A slow build plot with such good creepy vibes. While I at first struggled with following Holly and her pov, I really loved the ride for this.

The weird obsessions, the uncomfortable atmosphere and the bizarre things really worked for me! Excited to see more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

Crazy, creepy, and intense! I liked this even more than I thought I would.

It’s very unique, with great storytelling. I consumed this book. The characters are wonderfully written.

Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year!!

ARC Review -- Spoiler free

Premise

Our main character takes it upon herself to uncover the truth about her brother's suicide, even if that means getting close to the prime suspect -- his mysterious girlfriend.

Quick Review

While an interesting premise and perfectly spooky book to read for October, this book fell short in a few ways for me. However, it's a quick read with accessible writing -- so it may be for you if you want an easy spooky read with southern gothic vibes.

Long Review

The main fault I found with this book was the writing style. There was a lot of telling instead of showing, which kept me from really getting hooked. We also got long blocks of text showcasing what the main character was thinking in a given moment, which made scenes feel choppy and also weighed down the plot. The main character also struck me as a little one-note instead of a nuanced, fleshed-out person.

The plot itself was interesting enough, with a unique villain and villain motivation. I do wish we'd gotten a bit more atmosphere, but the touches of Savannah we got were nice and really set the mood.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC! This book is set to be published in February 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing us to receive an arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Creepy, gothic, dark, spooky-
Perfection. Loved it. Need more!

I was too excited for SPF. A story that was both compelling and intriguing.

Such Pretty Flowers by K. L. Cerra was a unique and crazy story.
I enjoyed following Holly's journey to find out what really happened to her younger brother Dane.
Police ruled his death as a suicide brought on by psychosis.
But after getting her brothers un-nerving text message “Get it out of me.” Holly isn't so sure now.
Starting her own investigation Holly sets out to find the truth. And starts looking into her brothers mysterious girlfriend Maura.
And what follows Holly after is a world of secrets she was prepared for.

First, this cover is just so pretty. It's one of my favorites for sure.
I loved the story-line. The characters are so interesting.
And Holly immediately pulled me into her crazy and wild world.
The mystery was captivating, I couldn't read it fast enough to see how this story ended.
The writing was stellar and I enjoyed the hell out this one.
I felt it was a bit slower than I originally anticipated.
Overall, a solid read. And I look forward to reading more books from Cerra.

Random House, Ballantine & Bantam,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

After receiving a mysterious text message from her brother saying “ Get it out of me” and then being notified that he was found cleaved open in the beautiful Savannah townhouse of his girlfriend, Maura.... Holly knows something is suspicious and she is determined to find out what really happened to her brother. Holly and her brother are close and she noticed that he has started acting strange ever since he began dating his rich and strange botanist girlfriend Maura. When Holly’s roommate plans on moving out what better opportunity than to move in with Maura and snoop around to discover what she might be hiding. Yet the more time she spends with Maura the more she finds herself drawn to Maura and falling for her... yet there is something sinister happening, from the strange black roses that might be feeding on blood, Maura’s strange high society friends, Holly’s brother’s drawings and messages.... and the nightmares that plague her. Yet the more Holly dives into the mystery of her brother’s death the more she feels like she is in danger... and that she might be next. This was an interesting horror/mystery that really plays on the floral horrors. The story starts off interesting but lags a bit in the middle but definitely picks up in the final portion of the book. This book is a fun spooky read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The opening of this novel was captivating and really intrigued me, however as the pages went on, the writing declined. I found myself increasingly frustrated with the lack of story progression. It just seemed like all the writer focused on mastering was the opening, rather than the plot.

This was really creepy! Maura scared the crap out of me, and Holly's grief was almost palpable. I really liked the complexity of each of the characters, as well as the horror aspect. My only complaint is that it took a really long time to get started. Things were just a little eerie for most of the book before the true horror started, and I got a little bored.

A horror novel where plants take over?

When I first started reading this, I initially thought this was a Hades and Persephone horror novel? But then the story took a completely different direction and definitely suprised me.