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.

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.