Such pretty flowers, such a pretty city, and yet this is such an underwhelming book in almost every way.

If you’re looking for something original, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for something unpredictable, this most certainly isn’t it, because you can practically draw a map to the ending from around the 20% mark (AKA the point in the book where the protagonist “accepts the call to adventure”) and you will likely not be too far off the mark at any point in time. If you’re looking for something lgbtq-friendly, then I’m sorry to disappoint you there, again, because while it’s not homophobic, I am calling this book and the author out on using the attraction between lead characters Holly and Maura as titillation and not as something authentic. And if you’re looking for that lush, southern gothic thriller, I’m going to have to say again: NO. This isn’t that kind of book either. It sure wants to be, but it never quite reaches that level of atmosphere.

I can tell you I was immensely impressed with the general idea of the book, and with the amount of research author K. L. Cerra must have put into it for it to be so detailed when it comes to toxins, poisons, flowers, herbs, teas, tinctures, and more. Botany isn’t an easy science, and toxicology isn’t one either. Bring them together and you’ve got one of my favorite pet subjects, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to understand.

This is K. L. Cerra’s debut novel, and I can see she has the bones in there to write great novels. She’s got ambition and she’s got direction. She’s obviously got drive. All it will take is some workshopping and a great support team who will keep her from going with the flow and instead encourage her to try the path less traveled when it comes to books like these for her to craft better novels. I look forward to seeing a better effort in the future.

I was provided a copy of this novel by NetGalley and Bantam. All views and opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

Due to the 3 star or lower rating this review will not appear on any social media or bookseller websites. This is a personal policy.

Southern Gothic Horror… Almost.

When Holly's brother Dane dies in a sudden and violent way, the police rule his death a suicide brought on by his deteriorating mental health. Holly knows that Dane was struggling in the months leading up to his death, but she's positive that there was more than just mental health issues at play. Plus there is just something sinister yet mesmerizing about his girlfriend Maura, she can’t put her finger on it but she knows she was involved somehow…

The book is set in Savannah Georgia, in a gorgeous old townhouse in the heart of the city that is possibly haunted? It’s feels like a massive missed opportunity to not use the existing lore of one of the most haunted cities in country. To not explore more of the hidden sinister side of Savannah’s high society which is only sort of alluded to, and if I can be perfectly honest… it was too into the flowers!!

The ending was kind of anticlimactic to me and I would have liked it more if a ghost or some other paranormal entity was at work. Pure horror would have worked better than the sort of convoluted and very plant based explanation we get.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for the review copy!

Such Pretty Flowers is a captivating, compelling, and utterly original psychological suspense that ensnared me from the first page and kept me enthralled until the last. Cerra's masterful plotting and confident narrative style control her readers as expertly as her antagonist controls their victims.

Creepy, trippy, emotional, intense, twisty and suspenseful, this gripping read sinks its claws in deep and lingers like a haunting ghoul in your mind even when you have no other option but to put it down because life intervenes. Very original and probably not for every reader but as for myself, I enjoyed it.

Book Summary:

Holly's entire world is changed from the moment she learns of her brother's death – an apparent suicide. He had been dealing with mental health concerns, so this wasn't as shocking as it might have been. There's only one problem – the last text he sent her right before he died:

"Get it out of me."

In a fit of determination, Holly decides to get closer to Dane's fiance. After all, she was likely the one to do something to Dane if something nefarious was going on. The problem with this plan is that Holly has now put herself precisely in Dane's previous position: imminent danger.

My Review:

Oh wow. On the one hand, I can totally see why people are gushing about Such Pretty Flowers. It's got everything – gothic horror vibes, body horror elements, an air of mystery, and a promise of LGBT characters.

Only this book hits hard. Perhaps a little too hard for me. It made me want to keep my distance from the plot, even as I worked through it. I had theories from the beginning, and I'm sure every other reader will, which was enough to keep me invested until the end.

The thing I loved the most about Such Pretty Flowers has to be the setting. There are some serious horror aesthetics going on, and it is lovely. From the first page, it feels like you've been dumped face-first into a horror tale – and you have. Thankfully not literally. No, thank you.

Highlights:
Gothic Horror
LGBT+
Aesthetics

Trigger Warnings:
Suicide
Mental Health Concerns
Body Horror

**3.5-stars rounded up**

'Get it out of me.'

That was the last text Holly ever received from her brother, Dane. She was out with friends, dancing, drinking, living it up. Her brother was ending his life. Holly is overwhelmed with grief and guilt in the days following the discovery of Dane's mutilated body. She knew he was struggling with his mental health. She feels guilty for not being more available to him.

Running through events in her mind, Dane's tumultuous last months, Holly begins to suspect that his suicide isn't as straight-forward as everyone believes. Seeing her brother's mysterious and beautiful girlfriend, Maura, at his funeral does nothing to quell those fears either.

In fact, it only makes her suspicions grow.

Determined to figure out the truth behind Dane's tragic death, Holly sets out to learn more about Maura and her relationship with Dane. Holly befriends the younger woman and before long, circumstances allow them to spend a lot more time together. That's when things begin to get weird; really weird.

Maura is a very successful florist in the Savannah area. She owns a gorgeous home, she's so put together, but she's also creepy as heck. At first, Holly is drawn to her, attracted to her, but she's also scared of her and she can't quite pinpoint why. As their relationship grows, Holly begins to fear that she could turn out just like Dane if she's not careful.

Compelling, addicting, eerie and creepy are just a few of the adjectives I would use to describe Such Pretty Flowers. Anddddd while it wasn't perfect, it definitely got my anxiety up and kept me glued to the pages!

I went into this under the mistaken idea that this was a YA-story, but it's definitely not. It's got more of a New Adult vibe. It gets pretty dark and graphic, even including some body horror, which I always enjoy. I was here for it. It was also super suspenseful. You can tell that there is something going on with Maura. It was so interesting trying to figure out what. It also gets pretty stressful and intense, like in a Single White Female kind of way.

It's like one of those intense feelings where you just want to shake the protagonist. Like, why are you making these crazy decisions, just get out of there!! Holly was determined though. She tried so hard not to let silly fears overwhelm her, even when they didn't seem quite so silly. Maura was just a girl, younger than her even, she had no reason to be intimidated by her...right?

Overall, I found this to be a clever and compelling work of Dark Fiction. There were a few areas that could have been explored a bit more, in my opinion, but I feel like this is still a solid, engaging story.

Thank you to the publisher, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had a lot of fun with it and look forward to reading more from this author.

Such Pretty Flowers is a mystery with Mexican Gothic vibes set in a fancy townhouse in Savannah, Georgia.

Holly is a floundering twentysomething woman in Savannah at a crossroads in a pretty directionless life. Her roommates are newly engaged and talking about getting their own place when they think she can't overhear, so she's about to be homeless. Her job at the library is uninspiring. She's not close to her parents and doesn't have close friends beyond her brother, who distanced himself after moving in with his fiancée, Maura. Maura is everything Holly isn't: posh, seductive, and mysterious, she's a florist with a ritzy inner circle and a fancy townhouse in an affluent neighborhood far from where Holly grew up. After her brother commits suicide in a horrific manner, Holly feels guilty for not answering his final, cryptic text message and decides to investigate by faking friendship with her almost in-law as a way to get into her house and snoop through his things. But as Maura and Holly get closer, Holly starts losing control over her life and her reality, ultimately discovering secrets that could end up as dangerous for her as they were for her brother.

Such Pretty Flowers is sultry Southern Gothic tale that reminds the reader of the sweet scent of flowers at a funeral. K. L. Cerra does a fantastic job building suspense and mystery throughout the book in waves that make you wonder if the narrator is losing her grip on reality as the story progresses. It's also such an accurate portrayal of a toxic, emotionally abusive relationship with a gaslighting narcissist that I wanted to yell at the protagonist to just GET OUT. Cerra doesn't pull any punches with the creep factor, and I thought about this book for a long time after I finished it.

The main characters aren't terribly likeable; they're both self-centered and shallow in their own ways, which made it harder for me to get lost in the story, but that's very much a personal preference. I thought Such Pretty Flowers was well written and disturbing, so if you're into a good gothic mystery with a hothouse flower murder vibe, this book is for you.

Holly's brother Dane has struggled with mental illness for a long time, but it is still a shock to her and her parents when they get the phone call that Dane has committed suicide. Holly immediately suspects that Dane's girlfriend might have had something to do with it. With a degree in botany and a thriving floral business, Maura certainly would have the knowlege and access to many plants. In order to find out the secrets that Maura is hiding about Dane's suicide, Holly moves in with her, getting more deeply entangled than she plans. Is Maura just a grieving girlfriend, or is Holly right? And can Holly figure it before she, too, ends up 6 feet under?

Holy cats, I LOVED this book. It's billed as southern gothic, and it is southern gothic af. A mysterious townhouse full of what seems to be poisonous, deadly plants, including black roses that seem to feed on blood, a cellar with a secret tunnel, strange dinner parties with even stranger guests, a mysterious Beauty and the Beast like dome filled with black roses. I mean, what more could you need? The townhouse has GARGOYLES!

I think Maura's relationship with her mother could have been explored a bit more thoroughly, and there was a plot point at the end that either needed to be expanded upon or just scrapped entirely (I don't know that it added much to the story, it was almost an offhand comment that made me go WAIT WHAT and then it was never mentioned again), but other than that I could not put this book down--I went to an unrelated author event and brought my kindle with me so I could keep reading while waiting in line for an autograph and honestly was disappointed when it was my turn to get my book autographed because I was at the top of the denoument and just needed to know what was going to happen!

Such Pretty Flowers is a departure from what I normally read, but it definitely sucked me in!

Holly's younger brother Dane killed himself, and Holly can't forgive herself for not doing more. Dane had been suffering from mental illness, and Holly had distanced herself from him. However, the night he died, he sent her some strange texts, about his girlfriend Maura wanting him to play a strange game. In time, Holly becomes curious and tracks down Maura.

Holly doesn't trust Maura, but she is attracted to her, both physically and mentally. Maura is a florist, and an herbalist, and lives in a huge two-story townhouse with a library and a greenhouse. She invites Holly to move into her townhouse, which is amazing, since her current roommates are getting married and looking at condos themselves, and Holly can't resist the chance to get close to her to find out what she knows about Dane's death.

But the more she investigates, the weirder things seem. Dane had left her a few clues at the townhouse, but nothing is adding up. There are these strange black roses that seem to have their own energy source, and every time Maura gives her an herbal tincture to drink, she loses time and wakes up in her bed.

This book leaves you with a feeling of unease pretty much from page 1. I felt like screaming, "Run away! Don't open that door! Leave while you can!," just like I do when I watch a scary movie. However, the book's atmosphere isn't so oppressive that it makes the story hard to read. Instead, I found myself reading "just a few more pages" over and over again.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

I think my favorite thing about this book were the descriptions. It’s filed under “gothic” on the PRHAudio app, and that’s exactly where the vaguely unsettling but also grand descriptions put it. It is a gothic book in pretty much every sense (assuming the classic definition of gothic literature): isolated character, gaslighting galore, eerie balance of opulence and decay, a weird fascination with terrible beauty (in this case deadly plants), and an unreliable narrator getting a run for her money.

For a modern audience though… Holly clocks all of the red flags that Maura throws up, waves at them, and then forges onwards. Maura’s act was a little too transparent for me as a reader to believe Holly would fall for. Once she got in too deep and there was no real escaping, that’s when things really worked for me, even if it was bananas.

There were a handful of things that never got explained - like Maura’s limp, for example. It was mentioned enough times that I figured it would be important (maybe just so that homegirl would struggle in a desperate chase?) but we never got a story behind it.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Cerra created such a lush and interesting world inside this book that was hard to look away from. It was riveting and I couldn't put it down! I loved the mystery and intrigue. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Thank you Ballantine/Random House for the copy of KL Cerra's Such Pretty Flowers. This is an intense moody gothic read, the cover alone suggests a reader is being invited into a dark and atmospheric space. This read won't be for everyone, it is dark and at times leans a little too much into mysteriousness and confusion... but it does this with strong writing and stage setting, effective at making the reader uncertain and even perhaps uncomfortable, and with plot twists and evocative themes that will haunt you (just like this cover haunts me!). Recommended for readers who are looking for something edgy, filled with twists and uncertainty, and murky relationships.

Provided by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

What in the world did I just read?
Look, I don't mind an unlikable character. They can add an interesting lil something something to a story. However, it did not work in Such Pretty Flowers. The main character is so unbelievably naïve to the point where she is just straight stupid. My jaw has been on the floor from start to finish. I didn't even want to finish this, but I don't have the capability to call it quits on a book. This could have been such a phenomenal read.... I just could not get past this mind numbing character.

Thanks to Ballantine for the free book.
What did I just read? - And I mean that in the best way possible. This was one of the most unique books I have read recently. I was drawn into Holly's desire to figure out what happened to her brother. She became obsessed with Maura, his girlfriend. This obsession was compulsive. I had to keep reading once I got going in this story. I love a book that will draw me in right away and go in a completely surprising way. Full of mystery, paranoia, and the perfect amount of creepiness, I know this is an author I'll be watching from now on.

I went into this book so excited about it, and I unfortunately have to DNF it (but that is 100% a me problem). Something the main character and I have in common is Trypophobia, and though I would never have expected just reading descriptions of creepy hole-d objects to bother me, I found myself getting itchy and extremely uncomfortable when reading about it. Because of this I just don’t feel like it’s worth pushing through the rest of the book, so take that into consideration if you also suffer from it.

From what I did make it through though, the setting and atmosphere is wonderful! Truly a creepy gothic vibe. The main character does make dumb, frustrating decisions which always annoys me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but I ended up really enjoying it! It was a little creepy and kept me interest the whole way through.

Such Pretty Flowers is such a compelling read. I was completely immersed into Holly’s plight to find out what happened to her brother. Her attraction to Maura was well written and the tension jumped off the page. The suspension of belief that was necessary at times was easy to give. Very creepy!

If you want a book that’s full of mystery and unsettling images, look no further! This story unfolds into a mystery that takes you on a journey through death and an old castle-like house with it’s curious owner.

This book has gothic settings down and its creepy imagery just adds to the horror/thriller element. Though I wished for a little more in terms of the ending and for a more thorough look at the flowers that were so prevalent in the story, overall the book captured the gothic themes of power and isolation through Maura and Holly.

When Holly's brother commits suicide in a shockingly horrific way, Holly can't help but wonder if his mysterious new girlfriend, Maura, had something to do with his drastically depleted mental health. As she watches her parents struggle with Dane's death, Holly decides to try to learn more about Dane's death by getting close to Maura herself. Unfortunately, what she finds is so much worse than she thought.

I have been done with this book for a week and I'm still not 100% sure what I think about it. It was a pretty quick read and the characters were interesting. I certainly understand wanting to speak to the girlfriend, but the level of Holly's involvement is unbelievable. I have a brother, and while I would want to know what happened to him, I would never go to these lengths. It just seemed crazy.

Still, if you can suspend your disbelief and accept the things Holly does.....this would make an amazing Netflix miniseries. It's creepy and sinister in a way that's completely different from anything else I've read. It's got a very cool setting, creepy characters, haunted vibes and really sinister motives. Even as I felt the store get crazier and crazier, I couldn't help but picture it as a movie or miniseries.

Ultimately, this one wasn't quite my cup of tea but it was well written and interesting and I would definitely read more from this author.

This was quite a wild ride! Let me say that you’re going to have to suspend some disbelief to get into this story. So, if that’s not for you, this book won’t be, either. If you’re still with me, though, this book seems like it’s going in one direction, yet goes hard into another direction. This alone made me enjoy the book. One character had a really messed up moral code, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.