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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
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
minimicropup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Mysterious, feral, abstract
đşđ¸ Set mostly in Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Lousiana in 2004 and 2019.
POV: We follow a teen navigating their crush on a best friend in 2019. We also get a peek into the past via the experience of the teen's parents in 2004 and present day 2019.
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đşGrowls, Howls, and Tail Wagsđ
đ Atmospheric and in their heads writing style that didn't feel bogged down.
đ¤ The synopsis sounded a bit out of my league (I donât like in your face symbolism), but it was excellent. The symbolism started off subtle and gradually got louder but remained plausible as the story progressed and characters evolved. I didn't always understand what it was trying to say or show, but it didn't take away from the story for me. Probably a great book club read.
đ I think the story covers how mental illness, especially in women, is treated in modern times in a relatable way. Very show not tell - like how loved ones really do want you to get better, but have their own complications to add (don't just pop pills you just need to relax. Or just pop pills and be cured).
𼚠I found the experiences of the characters relatable for anyone who is sensitive or intuitive and has been accused of being too emotional or too sensitive. Like feeling lost or alien in your own body and mind and feeling feral sometimes.
𼚠I found the experiences of the characters relatable for anyone who is sensitive or intuitive and has been accused of being too emotional or too sensitive. Like feeling lost or alien in your own body and mind and feeling feral sometimes.
đ¤ˇââď¸ This is a story I think many could still identify with and enjoy. It doesn't rely on misandry or man = bad tropes. In some cases men were stifled in their coping skills because of patriarchal systems and beliefs growing up that denied them a chance to be themselves and gain confidence. In other cases, men are beasts and predators, but the distinction is made, along with how that affects girls and young women.
--
--
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Coming-of-age friendship drama and finding your true self
- Mental illness, monster, memories, or magic?
- Ominous undercurrent of serial killer crimes through the decades
- Archetypes, commentary, and themes around animal nature, âfuck politenessâ, patriarchy, and the beasts that walk among us
- "Are you the one?", "Will they make it?" romantic suspense and drama
Content Heads-Up: Mental illness (hallucination). Misogyny (systemic, medicine and psychiatry). Parental rejection. Medical (hospice, cancer). Death of a parent. Loss of a teen. Body horror (murder, dismembering, disfiguring). Natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina recollection and aftermath). Lesbian rep (homophobic characters and supportive ones).
Format: Hardcover
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Body horror, Misogyny, and Cancer
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.
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
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.
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
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
kateapatton's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
raychelbennet's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a difficult book to read and itâs a difficult one to review. I have a feeling itâs going to be very polarizing. The idea is a great one. In 2019, Lila is thirteen years old and she has a lot of secrets. She has an immense amount of anger rising up, she might be seeing things, and the dark thoughts sheâs having are starting to sound very appealing. Alongside this plot is the narration of Caroline from 2004. Caroline is Lilaâs mother and she is a struggling artist under a lot of familial stress. She has started to hear dogs barking and to see a man with a dogâs face in the shadows. In both 2004 and 2019, girls have started going disappearing. The killer has the same MO: a young preteen girl goes missing and their bodies are later found with ravaged inner thighs. Police believe it is a serial killer who has started taking girls again that they simply call The Cur. Is the same thing hunting girls? Are Lila and Caroline both being hunted by something or are they just âcrazyâ unreliable narrators?
The plot and the message of this book are really powerful. Kristi DeMeester really masterfully handles feminine horror in a patriarchal society. Every event is related to what a woman should do, how they should act, and their position in society. It focuses heavily on both the internal thoughts of girls/women and how they are forced to project themselves to the world. The use of the almost omnipresent Cur can be read as a physical manifestation of the patriarchy that wants to consume the inappropriate behaviors found in young girls. All of this is amazing, 5 stars, incredible.
Where things get difficult for me is the books' use of imagery depicting violence against animals and sexual violence. I am never a fan of violence against animals but I can skip over a scene if I feel it furthers the plot. The violence here I felt was *extremely* heavy-handed and drawn out longer than necessary. I get its purpose in the narrative but it made my stomach churn.
The discussion and depiction of sexual violence can be importantâespecially in books that deal with feminist themes. As someone who identifies as a radical feminist and who 100% agrees with the message that I feel this book was trying to portray already, maybe I just was not the target audience for this. I cannot comfortably read books with scenes of sexual violence where I cannot skip them. In Such A Pretty Smile, the sexual violence that occurs is fully entwined in other events that would leave important plot points out if it is not read. This put me in an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situation and I think that could be true for other readers. Additionally, the language describedâwhile not the worst or the most graphic Iâve ever readâis almost overbearing. Again, maybe I was not the target audience because I did not need to see anything in a different light to understand DeMeesterâs point.
Overall, I think this is an important book. I think it is a really important addition to the horror genre and Kristi DeMeester is going to definitely be an author to look out for. I just think this might benefit from a few content warnings, which I am trying to explain here.
The plot and the message of this book are really powerful. Kristi DeMeester really masterfully handles feminine horror in a patriarchal society. Every event is related to what a woman should do, how they should act, and their position in society. It focuses heavily on both the internal thoughts of girls/women and how they are forced to project themselves to the world. The use of the almost omnipresent Cur can be read as a physical manifestation of the patriarchy that wants to consume the inappropriate behaviors found in young girls. All of this is amazing, 5 stars, incredible.
Where things get difficult for me is the books' use of imagery depicting violence against animals and sexual violence. I am never a fan of violence against animals but I can skip over a scene if I feel it furthers the plot. The violence here I felt was *extremely* heavy-handed and drawn out longer than necessary. I get its purpose in the narrative but it made my stomach churn.
The discussion and depiction of sexual violence can be importantâespecially in books that deal with feminist themes. As someone who identifies as a radical feminist and who 100% agrees with the message that I feel this book was trying to portray already, maybe I just was not the target audience for this. I cannot comfortably read books with scenes of sexual violence where I cannot skip them. In Such A Pretty Smile, the sexual violence that occurs is fully entwined in other events that would leave important plot points out if it is not read. This put me in an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situation and I think that could be true for other readers. Additionally, the language describedâwhile not the worst or the most graphic Iâve ever readâis almost overbearing. Again, maybe I was not the target audience because I did not need to see anything in a different light to understand DeMeesterâs point.
Overall, I think this is an important book. I think it is a really important addition to the horror genre and Kristi DeMeester is going to definitely be an author to look out for. I just think this might benefit from a few content warnings, which I am trying to explain here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
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!
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!
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
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. Sheâs recently been taken under the wing of extrovert Macie Kemper. Sheâs 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 itâs 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 wouldnât toss it across the room. Just read it.
Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martinâs Press for the chance to read this advanced review copy. Such a Pretty Smile releases on January 18th.
Lila Sawyer is an awkward 13-year-old girl who lives alone with her mother, sculptor Caroline Sawyer. Sheâs recently been taken under the wing of extrovert Macie Kemper. Sheâs 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 itâs 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 wouldnât toss it across the room. Just read it.
Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martinâs Press for the chance to read this advanced review copy. Such a Pretty Smile releases on January 18th.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent and Sexism