This was so good. And so real! I feel like I have met Caroline and Lila before. It is definitely chilling, DeMeester got that part right for sure. Would recommend to anyone who is looking for a feministic, horror thrill ride!

This is my 2nd DeMeester book. I’m a fan. Any fan of uncomfortable horror will enjoy this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ooooooh I loved this. Dark, haunting brutal. The metaphor (though at times a little too literal) feels so raw. The ending really sold me as well. Would definitely recommend.

What a story! Lila is an 8th grader who lives with her eclectic artist mom and she is enamored with her boy crazy best friend Macie. There is a serial killer roaming the nights, victimizing young girls, leaving them mutilated and dead in the nearby woods. That’s really all I can say without spoiling the rest but, according to the author, this was written as a supernatural feministic allegory giving the finger to the patriarchy. TW for violent descriptions of victims. Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now

This one was a little hard to read at times. Having to listen to unwanted characters give their opinions on how the MC should behave or what she should do.

The book was disturbing and creepy in great way and full of interesting developments.

I feel as if the end was a bit too abrupt however. I think there needed to be more substance to it.

I think one of the most important aspects of horror is discomfort, a feeling of being unsettled, of asking questions knowing the answers will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. And for that, true horror also requires a deep vulnerability. It is a genre that requires you to feel it and then respond to it, completely raw. And in Such a Pretty Smile, DeMeester brings a burning feminine rage for you to feel and an ending that cries out for a visceral response. Flinch, but don’t look away.

This book got under my skin in a way that I loved. It was eerie, dark, and unexpected. The deep conversations it sparks regarding violence against women, intergenerational trauma, and societal expectations for young girls were layered so perfectly into the story that nothing was ever obvious. You often have to read between the lines and metaphors to get to the open wound of it all.

I had read some warnings going into this book. Such a Pretty Smile follows the story of Lila and her mother, Caroline. I really enjoyed it but there were some intense parts to the story. Definitely would read something else by the author.

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester is a bit hard to pin down. Conceptually, this book is one that would generally be a slam dunk for me. In execution, however, it's a bit of a bizarre read. I honestly cannot decide if I like it or not.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

There’s nothing pretty about "Such a Pretty Smile." It’s brutal. In-your-face. Unapologetic.

For this, I admire the heck out of it.

Kristi DeMeester’s feminist horror novel is about the inexcusable epidemic of violence against women. It’s about how women are too often told to sit down and shut up. How we’re meant to "know our place."

And yes, it’s graphic. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to read at times. But that’s the point. It should unsettle us. It should make us squirm.

What I struggled with, though, is the pacing of the story. After a riveting first act, the narrative stalls around the halfway mark. It’s like the story gets stuck in a rut and nothing much happens, and it frustrated me because I was beyond ready for something explosive to occur.

But the ending – I gotta hand it to DeMeester – she nails it. It’s all that I wanted: horrifying, poignant, and powerful.

Sign me up for DeMeester’s next book. I can’t wait to read what she has to say next.


My sincerest appreciation to Kristi DeMeester, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

Ok, so....

Great messaging in this one and because of that, I hate how I'm going to review this one.

This book was kind of a mess.
- A serial killer taking young girls and leaving them mangled but no one is on the hunt to stop this killer. Weird
- A teenage MC who cares more about her lustful fantasies starring her best friend than being safe, knowing that girls her age are being stalked and she's been seeing yellow eyes in the dark. Maybe this is how all teenagers act? I don't remember. I do know that so much time was spent on her lustful thoughts that it completely took me out of the story and all I could think was 'what am I reading?'
- The mom is strange, has creepy statues and an obvious crazy past that she's hiding. Her back story doesn't really fit with the current storyline and it felt jarring when storylines were trying to be connected
- The ending. Not good.

But, the overall message (Go Feminism!), the patriarch silencing women who speak up or don't act like they say they should and those women standing up for themselves is great. But the story just didn't do it for me. It was uncomfortable, which with the overall message is expected, but just not something that I enjoyed reading.

This was a very enjoyable read with a number of nuanced and interesting characters. That being said, I feel like whatever message/takeaway I was supposed to get didn't land with me. It seemed like the message was meant to be that women are punished for having a voice and this was personified in a serial killer, but the ending seemed to imply that silencing yourself is the only choice to avoid this fate?? Or something?? Unclear, but a good read nonetheless.

This story was scary and it had all of the elements for a horror tale with enough realistic details.

In 2004 Caroline Sawyer is dealing with delusions that she thinks are caused by her insomnia, Her fiance has urged her to find help, so her psychiatrist gives her pills to deal with the delusions that include dogs hauling and barking everywhere.
In 2019, Lila Sawyer, Caroline's daughter, starts sensing something wrong with her. Haunted by her mother's past and away from her father who has a new family, Lila doesn't have anyone to turn and has to find the strength to deal with whatever evil is possessing her.

Truth to be told, I was engaged by this story line but the ending wasn't as satisfying as I expected. The story is clearly a paranormal tale with supernatural elements but the author does a great job explaining things in a realistic way. It wasn't until towards the end of the story that it becomes clear that something else is going on. It was definitely a horror story, and I was taken aback by the ending and the resolution. Great horror read!

Graphic horror book - definitely not for everyone! This story falls into so many categories: feminism, coming of age, mother/daughter relationships, sexuality, artistic, and gory.

The story started strong but didn't quite hit the mark for me. 2.5 starts rounded to 3 because I was intrigued enough to finish the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the free copy.

I received an ARC copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


Such a Pretty Smile was an interesting story with meaningful characters. It's different from your average horror story. And that's a good thing.

While I didn't actively dislike this book, I didn't vibe with the characters or writing, and I don't think it had the impact on me that it did on other readers. Such a Pretty Smile is a mother-and-daughter horror book, with chapters told from both the daughter's (Lila) and the mother's (Caroline) POV. Both of them experience hallucinations, creepy voices, wolf-like visualizations that haunt their days and whisper evil things to them. Both of them live in cities that are currently plagued by gruesome murders of young women and girls - specifically girls who have defied what it means to be a "good girl."

This book had two of my pet peeves/dislikes, which unfortunately colored my reading experience. One, when the book constantly refers to some bad event that happened in the past (e.g., "I will never talk about what happened at Jazzland") without providing any more detail until that event is actually revealed - and two, petty high school drama. On top of these, I felt a disconnect to the characters and the plot that made me lose the "disturbing" nature of the book. Sure, gory killings are described - even describing nipples being sliced off and vaginas being torn apart - but they're mentioned in passing, without any real connection to the victim or their story (which is typically what makes something disturbing to me). I'm still not sure if I enjoy an unreliable narrator or not, but I didn't think it was effective in this book.

Overall, I appreciate the premise and the moral message of the story, and this is possibly a book that would have more impact in a visual medium like a film or TV adaptation. But the reading experience was not for me.

This was a pretty creepy book. Goes back and forth between two timelines - 13 year old Lila, current, and back 15 years with her mother Caroline. There is a serial killer on the loose - or is it something more supernatural? I think I would have really liked this book if it just stuck to the horror/supernatural trope. The feminist angle seemed a bit out of nowhere; like it had to be explicitly pointed out. It just seemed forced to me, and not at all empowering (this coming from a feminist).

This was such a good read. Told from a viewpoint that most women today live in - keep quiet, don't cause too much drama, don't ruffle feathers, etc. I loved every second of this book. Perfect read for the spooky season!

Decided not to finish after hitting around the 25% mark. The story got too weird for me and I wasn’t interested in reading on.

If I had to describe this book it would be horror with a twist. Again, I think this book will be polarizing. I wasn't a fan of the storytelling.

We can't love them all. There is an audience out there for this book and author. As I stated, many enjoyed this book, and I encourage you to see out their reviews.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.