Reviews tagging 'Death'

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

12 reviews

c0rpsekat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

MORE QUEER FOCUSED HORROR PLEASE !! this book is so dark , gorgeous , and cherishable !!! the most beautifully written experience i've had the pleasure to read . i truly felt anxious and scared as i lived DEEP in this universe Kristi DeMeester created , but i also felt such sadness , love , and sympathy for the characters and their stories . Lila and Caroline are not only my favorite characters i've read , but ones that will stick with me in every day of my life . as a queer , afab trans person who came out at around Lila's age raised by a single mother who recently passed away ... wow . this book spoke to me in ways i never knew a horror novel could . an absolutely chilling , sorrowful , and astounding ride .

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Grief, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Bullying, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Drug abuse

aparker89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Torture, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Pregnancy

oliviavm8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Beautifully written. I felt the grief and sadness radiating through this book. As a woman who has been subjected to abuse by a man- this book hit me deeply in places I tend to keep hidden. It took a while for me to fully understand and grasp the concept of the book but when I did it hit so deep within me. Ugh, so raw and emotional- absolutely loved it. Five star book for me- any woman should read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Body horror, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

honeymoonleo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Death, and Animal death

iseefirede's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

I enjoyed this book. It kept me interested and I did not want to put it down. I was a bit dissatisfied with the ending...it felt almost rushed to me in comparison with the rest of the book. I definitely related to Caroline and her struggle with mental illness and dissociation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Violence, Death, Bullying, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

szyca's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexism, Animal death, Mental illness, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, and Grief

smarencik's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

eerily metaphoric. if you love dogs though i’d stay away. it nearly broke me a couple times 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal death

ataraxicbear's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester is, uh, absolutely wild. I have no words for how dark and twisty and insane this book is. Basically what's happening is a bunch of prepubescent girls are going missing, and their bodies are turning up completely mutilated. No one has any idea what's going on and who this serial killer could possibly be. Eerily enough, they exactly match a string of cold case murders from 15 years ago. Everyone said it was The Cur, but no one actually knows what that means. The one thing we do know is that 12 year old Lila Sawyer is having some really dark and oppressing thoughts. Even worse, the reader knows that her mother, Caroline, had those same thoughts 15 years ago too... As we go through this book we are alternating between three perspectives: Lila 2019, Caroline 2004, and Caroline 2019. We slowly start to uncover what is going on in these girls heads, and why there are so many young girls disappearing. 

Overall, I gave this book a 4/5 stars. Here's why:
I personally love dark and twisty books, so this was right up my alley! I loved the unique story line, the mysterious aspect, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, and the generational dilemma. My biggest issue with the book was the pacing in terms of alternating timelines. Sometimes we would go several chapters of one timeline before switching, and I wish they switched a little more often, leaving me with cliffhangers as I'm going through the book. The other issue I had is that in really high stakes fast paced scenes, I feel like the author missed some things and was unable to fully flesh out her thoughts. It felt skippy and that certain things would come out of nowhere. It just wasn't explained the best.

Content warning: this book is DARK. If you are bothered by any of the following, this may not be the book for you... body mutilation, sexual assault, paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety attacks, gaslighting, animal abuse, gore, violence, murder, child death, pedophilia

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Rape, Violence, Gore, and Mental illness

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

enchantressreads's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. I loved this book. My first five star of the year!

Lila Sawyer is an awkward 13-year-old girl who lives alone with her mother, sculptor Caroline Sawyer. She’s recently been taken under the wing of extrovert Macie Kemper. She’s soft, shy, and quiet, until something starts to grow within her. She becomes defiant, loud, no longer going to her mother for comfort, but to hurt her.

Such a Pretty Smile deals with so many topics in a cohesive way. There are family secrets, repressed memories, grief, and overall it’s a coming of age story. As Mother Horror stated previously, girls grow up too. It was lovely to see a coming of age story focusing on a young girl.

This story is so layered, and some of the twists had me reeling, clinging to my Kindle so I wouldn’t toss it across the room. Just read it.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this advanced review copy. Such a Pretty Smile releases on January 18th. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent and Sexism