Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I became aware of DeMeester from the Books in the Freezer podcast and have been meaning to read her for a while. When this one came on to NetGalley, I knew I would be reading it, and I couldn’t put this one down. I finished in 24 hours and was hooked the entire time. I absolutely loved this one and will be reading more of her work for sure.

From Goodreads: There’s something out there that’s killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don’t know when to shut up.

2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. Not the school psychologist she’s seeing. Not her father, who has a new wife, and a new baby. And not her mother—the infamous Caroline Sawyer, a unique artist whose eerie sculptures, made from bent twigs and crimped leaves, have made her a local celebrity. But soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice—until she is punished for using it.

2004: Caroline Sawyer hears dogs everywhere. Snarling, barking, teeth snapping that no one else seems to notice. At first, she blames the phantom sounds on her insomnia and her acute stress in caring for her ailing father. But then the delusions begin to take shape—both in her waking hours, and in the violent, visceral sculptures she creates while in a trance-like state. Her fiancé is convinced she needs help. Her new psychiatrist waives her “problem” away with pills. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that the men around her can’t understand.

As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced, unsettling to the bone, and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile is a powerful allegory for what it can mean to be a woman, and an untamed rallying cry for anyone ever told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty.

The mother/daughter bond this book explores is fantastic. Caroline and Lila are both such dynamic characters that you can’t help but root for both of them. I absolutely loved their dueling plots. And DeMeester manages to do something a lot of writers don’t. She makes both plotlines meaningful to one another. What happens to Caroline in the past, parallels Lina’s in the present. I thought this book was so well-written, overall, and will be recommending it to everyone.

I really liked this one! It was a creepy-in-a-good-way read and I didn't feel pulled out of the story. I was surprised through the twists and turns.

I really wanted to like this one but I struggled to get through so I’ve decided to give up.

It’s just not for me.

The two main characters just weren’t relatable enough to me and while it’s good writing I just can’t finish so I have to DNF.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

YES!! I absolutely love when my horror media includes feminist elements and messaging, and DeMeester absolutely nailed that here -- LOVED this. Couldn't turn the pages fast enough!!

This is a quite subversive thriller. I was kept guessing throughout, and I love the complexity of the characters. If you are looking for a good thriller, this is the book for you.

This book hits home very harshly. It demonstrated what it likes to be on the receiving end of gross compliments from men and being expected to just take it and have to accept it without complaint. It was dark, gritty and all too surreal

This book started off so strong but by the end I wasn’t really a fan. It left me a bit confused and underwhelmed.

This was an excellent read and I’m sorry I was unable to get to it sooner. It’s a feminist tale, telling the real struggles that women encounter everyday, yet within the folds of a horror story. I had a hard time putting it down once I started. I loved the style of the writing and the back and forth between Lila and her mother’s stories. The characters are memorable and the story and its theme will stick with me for a long time. This is my second read from Demeester and certainly not my last.

I’m obviously a little late reading this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not normally a horror reader but I think I will be spreading my wings into this genre. Such a Pretty Smile creepy and kept me so engaged while reading. I loved the two different time scenarios for mother and daughter as well. Overall it really was a good book and it took me less than a day to read. Highly recommend!!

Quite a read! This is definitely a woman power book. So much feminism which i can appreciate!

I loved the dual timelines and the younger voice was well done.

The suspense really built with an explosive ending! Surprised it’s a debut! Well done!

This was a really interesting YA horror with intertwining storylines each giving up precious details that helped me put together the opposite story line.

This was an easy book to read quickly, and I will definitely be looking our for future books by this debut author.

I got an arc on netgalley and I thought it was going to be suspenseful and maybe some horror... but I was left speechless. This pulled so much emotions from me. I cried, I was left feeling nervous and scared and freaked out. I love that it gets people to acknowledge the fact that women are expected to stay silent and just smile no matter what goes on so that they don't upset the clean tidy image. Love that it doesn't paint family and friendship as this rosy perfect life. It's very real in the worst ways but the best way to be written that is possible. This book will stick with me and haunt me forever

This book went to a dark place that I wasn’t prepared for. It was strange and a little off putting. I wasn’t able to finish it because one part unsettled me so much I couldn’t pick it up again. Up until the dark turns, I really enjoyed it.

This was a quick, suspenseful read with horror elements. Dual time periods will draw readers in until all comes together at the end. There is a decent twist.

What a read! This one was unsettling.
If there is one thing that will hook me it’s a good dual timeline. This one definitely delivers. Both timelines (daughter in current day, mother many years earlier) were really interesting and well done, I was worried for and interested in both women, though of course as a New Orleans girl I was really into the mothers chapter.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is into creepy, scary, can’t explain it mysteries.
I was nervous and stressed just about every page

SUCH A PRETTY SMILE by Kristi DeMeester started really good for me; specifically, the perspective of Lila (2019) as she tries to make sense of what's happening within and around her is perfection. However, Caroline's internal turmoil in (2014), in the latter part of the book, weighs down the narrative to the point I was skimming.

As a fan of Horror, the dark storyline mystery surrounding the murders, coupled with Caroline’s state of mind when creating her artwork (2004), really amped up the tension—Loved It!

And the ending—My Heart!

‘Around her, the park breathed in and out, and whatever secrets it held would die inside of it.’

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an eBook of SUCH A PRETTY SMILE at the request of an honest review.

This book is a hard one to review. I have very mixed feelings about it. The storyline I did come to enjoy, but the ending let me down and made me feel like the overarching theme of women standing up and speaking out was an after thought. At one point I even thought, what was the point of all that lead up - it felt like a lot of slow climb to a very short, quick climax that fell flat.

The way the story was written, told from two different perspectives, was what kept me interested. While the story was a slow to start, telling about Lila's life with her single mother, her distant father who has a new wife and baby and her being in love with her best friend; the story does pick up pace and draw interest.

The story alternates chapters between Lila in 2019 and her mother Caroline in 2004, who is narrating the story of her experience with the same bizarre events (blanks in memory, hearing and seeing things) that her daughter is now experiencing 15 years later. The story kept me interested and hoping for more from the ending. I was left feeling a little confused and like there should have been more.

Overall I don't think I would recommend this specific book, especially as it was labelled horror, but I would be willing to try another of the authors books based on her writing.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Such a Pretty Smile the story of Carline and her daughter Lila in 2019 and of Caroline in 2004. In 2019 Caroline is a single mother raising her daughter with the overall goal of having her daughter be a good girl. When Lila starts to hear noises she begins to question how good she has to be and she explores the roots of her repressed anger. The results lead to dangerous consequences.

I typically am a fan of dark horror stories but this book was too much. The graphic violence was off-putting and I felt it missed its mark when dealing with sexism and feminism.

Wow.

This book is full of plot twists. The powerful women characters portrayed is amazing. The theme is misogyny in my opinion., as in if a woman is powerful and badass, clearly she needs to be brought down by a man. Whew. It was a wild ride.

Such a Pretty Smile is exactly the kind of story that becomes popular for a minute. It is not unique or particularly interesting and the points it attempts to make, it misses.