This book starts out a thriller but quickly evolves into a horror.

The edge of your seat scares will have you gripping your blanket and leaving a light on at night. Hearing creaks and bumps from your house settling will definitely set you on edge as you read.

A beautifully written story with lyrical prose I think even those who don’t like horror books will enjoy this one if they can get through the terror that is.

"It's what men have always been doing to women, isn't it? Shutting us up anytime we say or do anything that doesn't fit into the nice little box they want us in."

This is gloriously animalistic with a flair for the inner strength of women. DeMeester captures so much in this novel that it's almost difficult to touch on each aspect. Mental illness, sexual identity, rape, female power, monsters, motherhood, coming of age... Seriously, there is so much!

The plot is a slow buildup that had me juggling so many possible outcomes. I jumped between different psychological disorders, possession and even debated werwolves at one point. When I say it's even better than that... it so was. The final few chapters really opened the narrative wide and allowed for the whole story to come together.

Some readers may think thats too long for a novel to suck you in. Typically I tend to agree. However, DeMeester structures the fluctuation between past and present timelines and the alternating POVs in such a way that you become fully involved in the struggles of each character. As creepy little nuggets of plot unfold before your eyes, the bigger picture is hard to look away from. I cannot deny that I was completely engrossed.

There are times I felt some of the descriptive writing flowed longer than needed or inner thought monologues dragged a bit. It also took me longer to read this one than I expected, but by the end I found myself a total new favorite.

Thank you St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review such a thought provoking and atmospheric novel. True rating 4.5/5.

This is a slow burn in all the best ways. Generally, I’m not a big fan of two POVs, but it really works here. It’s creepy, it’s dread-inducing, and is largely symbolic of women’s experiences with gaslighting, mental health and our place in a patriarchal society in addition to some pretty scary situations. As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to go back in time and erase my own memory so I could experience it all for the first time . . . again. I read this free via NetGalley, but I’d be happy to buy this for myself or my horror-loving friends. Maybe my favorite creepy book since Here There Are Monsters in YA or Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires in Adult.

WOW! What a wild ride with strong female characters! I loved every second of reading this book and I devoured it in 1 day! I will be sleeping with the lights on tonight. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

Listen. I tried my freaking hardest to finish this book, but when you're 250 pages in and still waiting for the story to get interesting, that starts to become a bit too much for me. I was bored, bored, bored. What even was this book?

I loved reading this book! I found the writing to be very insightful and interesting. I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

Intense. Somewhere between psychological thriller and horror, I couldn’t put it down and it kept me thinking after I finished.

Such a Pretty Smile ~ Kristi DeMeeter
An unsettling book about the fierceness of woman. With a diabolic force that presents itself in the shadows. Leaving your mind to create the true picture of evil.
Something known as The Cur is killing young girls, troublemakers. leaving torn bodies in its wake. It's happened before... and it's happening again. Told in duel timelines of mother and daughter.. A haunted evil that terrorized Caroline Sawyer as a child is now seemingly after her daughter.
It was a slow burn to start but pulse pounding as the story unfolded.
Filled with snarling barking dogs and shadowy phantoms lurking. This supernatural thriller will keep you on the edge.

Wow, what a story! Completely original and unlike anything I have read before. At times this story gave me complete goosebumps and even an occasional nightmare or two. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the story kept changing and morphing into something new and completely unexpected.

I was expecting something a bit different from this book. It just had too much going on between the alternating points of view and timelines, complicated mother-daughter relationship, serial killer going after young women, and unexplained, paranormal-like activities involving dogs. The story is very dark and raw on multiple levels. Unfortunately, I made it about halfway and just could not finish it.

Kristi DeMeester weaves a horrific story of Lila Sawyer and her mother Caroline. Throughout the novel, the ladies must face their own demons as well as some literal ones as a serial killer runs amok through their town abducting and slaying young girls. However, Such a Pretty Smile is more than just a simple thrilling tale. It also explores deeper themes of how society treats women and the aftereffects of that. The writing keeps the story moving quickly and smoothly as the POV switches from Lila to Caroline. This page turner will keep you guessing and intrigued until the end! I highly recommend this interesting and fast paced thriller that I received as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an OK read for me, the pacing was too slow but I like the idea of there being this supernatural monster that lurks in plain sight. The dual pov worked but the story could have done without the dual timelines, maybe if Caroline's relationship with her husband and her past before Lilla was born could have been done in flashback. The way it ended feels like there's a possibility for a second book.

I first attempted to read this through ebook, which I received for free via netgalley (thank you!)

However, at the time I could not get into it and my eyes kind of glazed over when I got to Caroline's chapters. So I ended up putting it down. It could have also just been the wrong time for me.

At this time, I am eating up all the horror books I can get my hands on, and this one popped up again, available through audiobook via my library. So I gave it a second shot, and I'm glad I did.

Overall, I love dark books, that explore dark themes and I actually started to like Caroline's chapters. In the end it didn't get five stars for me because the story got lost in the "f the patriarchy" message (which I love in it's own right), but I was just left feeling a bit unsatisfied with the actual story ending.

This book is a wonder! Unreliable narration at its best. At first you might think the story is about missing girls, mutilated bodies and a possible serial killer. But the story is much more than that. Its dark, visceral and femininely honest.

A paranoid mother, a daughter who wants to step out of the boundary and a horrible past that is waiting to burst and disrupt their present. As the story progresses you’ll know it, when the timelines collide it gets ugly, and brutal. I have a feeling that this story isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking for a thriller with strong feminist vibes, I highly suggest you read this!

Thank you St.Martin’s Press via Netgalley for the reader’s copy.

I wish I had enjoyed this one more -- DeMeester is definitely an extremely talented writer! She took an incredibly dark topic and made it something beautiful at times with her stunning prose.

This book follows a mother and daughter -- Caroline and Lila, respectively -- as they navigate two turbulent times. As a young adult in 2004, Caroline, a sculpture artist, starts to hear dogs at all times and see a man with a dog's face hiding in the shadows, all while young girls are going missing and showing up dead and torn apart. She descends into madness, blacking out and losing hours of time where she works on dark, fairytale-esque sculptures in a daze.

After having her daughter, she moves away, thinking that she can start fresh and leave all the madness behind. Then, at 13 years old, Lila starts to let herself be controlled by a dark force and girls start going missing all over again. What is happening, and why are Caroline and Lila connected to it?

I can see where the author was trying to go with this narrative, showing all of the small, yet deeply malevolent ways in which women are subjugated, belittled, and controlled by men in every aspect of life. While I think this is an extremely important topic to talk about (and always appreciate a fresh perspective on it) it got a little heavy-handed at times throughout this narrative. And, when the mystery behind everything was finally revealed, I feel like the theme didn't connect to it all that well.

Some of the best parts of the book were the horror elements -- abandoned theme parks, shadowy dog people, the ever-looming threat of a serial killer, and the mysterious delusions hidden inside the mind. I especially loved the parts where Lila gave into her inner darkness. They were so visceral and disturbing, they were hard to read -- which, I'm guessing, is the point.

My only other point of critique would be that the ending came much too quickly. Everything was revealed very starkly at the end in a way that didn't excite me at all. I wish there could have been more of an investigation and discovery element to the plot, which I feel like would have made the reveal much more impactful.

Overall, I thought the book was beautifully written and covered some important topics, but did not 100% resonate with me in the end. However, if you like woman-centric horror, this one may be an excellent choice for you!

Wow! What did I just freaking read? Did that really just happen? Holy Crap!!! Such a Pretty Smile is a dark, seductive, jaw-dropping, sinister story that will have you devouring the story long into the night!

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.

Have you ever felt like you were that type of girl? The born to stand out, the type to say it as it is! I would definitely say that I am that girl! So is Caroline and her daughter Lila. Can mother and daughter come together and figure out what the hell is going on!

Such A Pretty Smile is a one of a kind book! I love the dual POV and the dual timeline! It was done perfectly and added to every element. If you want nightmares, read this book! I can not wait to read more of her books!

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.

I was excited when I was approved for this book from St. Martin's press in exchange for an honest review.
This book was eerie in so many ways. I have a feeling that more details I missed this first time reading it will appear again when it is re-read. Yes, I have a high chance of reading this book once more, and probably more times after that.
Caroline has a blank spot in her past, one that she sometimes wishes she could fill in with memories and other times is too afraid to try to remember. She is an artist. She creates dark, lovely sculptures. She loves her daughter dearly and is afraid for her constantly. Will her daughter develop the same haunting phantoms that she suffers from? What little she does know of her past is kept hidden, afraid that if they are brought to the surface, they will transfer to her beloved child.
Lila is struggling in school. Her bestfriend does not treat her well, and there are new feelings simmering below the surface. Her friend is boy crazy and loud and wild, but Lila tries not to feel jealous of her best friend's affections towards older boys. Between complications of having only one friend, one she wishes would know how she really feels, and wishing her mom would just tell her about the secrets and her father caring more about his new baby and ignoring her, Lila is getting fed up.
Unfortunately for Caroline and Lila, the past is about to sneak up and become a threat to both of their futures.
This was a great book. It really brings to the surface how men brush off women and what we say. We are told to be quiet, be pleasant, SMILE more so you'll look prettier, keep your problems to yourself. Stay in the kitchen. It was infuriating but it felt so good at the same time to have this brought up in this book (in the best way possible). If people would simply listen to one another, no matter their gender, so many issues could possibly have a chance at a good resolution instead of horrible endings. This is a book that I am going to have to gift to my female friends... and maybe some male friends as well. This book would be a great tool for discussions for so many topics. One of the best and aggravating, thought provoking books I have read so far this year.

LOVED THIS BOOK. I love a good murder/psych thriller and this book was all I ever wanted and more!! I couldn’t figure it out and the ending got me!!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was weird. Really, really weird. I spent the entire book trying to figure out what was going on. And, I still don't know what was going on. It felt like Stephen King's It crossed with the #Metoo movement. I understand what message the author was trying to convey, but I thought it ended up muddled with the supernatural element. I couldn't relate to the characters and I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I felt that it painted all men in a negative light. I felt like women were weak in this author's world and that all of the men in their lives were able to gaslight them into feeling like their crazy. They were too docile. It was supposed to portray strong women in a patriarchal society and I just think the message was lost.

Don't get me wrong, there's definitely an audience for this book, but it's not me. As a strong willed, independent woman, I felt like the female protagonists were weak. Two stars.