this book had so much promise but the writing style fell flat for me and the romance sparked nothing. it felt like it needed a lot of extra work.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishers for this eARC.

The cover. Dang, the cover is stunning. The cover artist is freaking amazing.

This story was not for me. Holly’s quest to find out what happened to her brother is understandable, but her method was disturbing. Falling for your brother’s gf that he left behind is not a trope I can root for.

Please read and make your own decision!

This review hovers between three and four stars for me as I try to wrap my head around Such Pretty Flowers by K.L. Cerra.

Essentially, this is a book about grief and absolving yourself of guilt, but that's underneath the story of Holly trying to figure out what happened to her brother just before committing a truly gruesome suicide in his girlfriend's bathtub. Convinced that Maura, the girlfriend, knows more than she's letting on about her brother, Holly befriends her, moves into her townhouse, and begins to investigate when Maura isn't around. Fine, you tell yourself. The beginnings of a mystery! What Holly pieces together come slowly at first--Maura acts extremely hot and cold, is obsessed with her flowers (which is not weird because she's a florist), and there's something weird going on with these black roses her keeps on her nightstand and in the greenhouse. As Holly digs deeper, she winds up getting tied up in Maura's web, so to speak, becoming both inexplicably attracted to her and even more deeply suspicious of her actions. Holly begins to spiral like her brother, the closer she gets to Maura, the worse it all gets, but she can't seem to free herself--much like a fly caught in a web.

Where is all of this going, though? That is definitely the question. While there are some answers, the plot ties up a bit sloppily. I'm not too sure of Maura's motives, which hampers my understanding of why all of this is happening to begin with. The epilogue felt a bit like a cop out--too much happened to Holly for there to be no consequences. There are still lingering questions that made what was mostly a tense, gothic story ultimately unsatisfying. There was so much cool, menacing imagery about dark magic and botany and parasitic plants that did not go far enough or knit up right. I guess I just felt let down at the end.

I'm still rounding the rating up to a four since for the most part the tension in this book was A+ and kept me reading.

Hoolt and Maura's story is just bizarre. I just didn't enjoy this story, but I am sure it might be just me

I was not able to get into it at all
It is a very dark, gothic horror novel.
I did not like the character's Holly or Maura at all.
A slow read for me because I just couldn't get into it.

Sorry just can't recommend this one

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine- Bantam for granting me an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

I am all about this trend of using botanical related things to muck about peoples lives. I don’t know if I agree with the southern gothic label on this one but I was highly creeped out and entertained the whole time.

This book is a perfect dark, suspenseful, gothic Halloween read. The cover alone drew me in as if the woman is being consumed by flowers, which is a bit of foreshadowing.
We initially meet Holly at her brother Dane's funeral. She noticed he'd been struggling lately and recently sent her some odd texts , 'get this out of me'. Of course she feels guilty she didn't reach out to him more frequently. Holly meets Dane's girlfriend Maura, and due to various circumstances, moves in with her in her gothic southern mansion. The horror of what eventually happens is a slow burn as Holly gets more entrenched in Maura's life and tries to deny her growing attraction for her. What happened to Dane? What is hiding in the basement, and what are the creepy black roses in the greenhouse for? If this was a movie, the whole audience would scream 'get out now'!! We just have to wait and see if Holly uncovers the truth and saves herself in the process.

An unusual and original plot, Such Pretty Flowers had me turning the pages and reading as fast as I could. When Holly’s brother Dane commits suicide she is filled with guilt at the thought she failed him. Getting close to his girlfriend Maura, Holly thinks she’ll find answers but she finds so much more.

Hollys younger brother Dane committed suicide but no one knew why. Holly had come up with the idea to move in with Maura her brothers girlfriend. To Holly Maura seemed nice and down to earth and very successful. She lived in a very big and expensive townhouse.

When Maura left the townhouse she would look for clues about what happened to her brother. One night while grocery shopping with Maura Holly ran into her ex boyfriend Eric. Maura didn’t like it instantly and told Holly that he wasn’t right for her. Soon Holly would wish she hadn’t moved in with Maura.

When I started reading this book. I was hoping there was going to be a back story leading up to what happened to Dane. As I kept on the story really grabbed my attention. I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to keep on reading so I could finally find out what really happened. This books is a must read!!! I highly recommend it!!!

If I write this review and it feels like it doesn't make sense, it's because it kept me up until the wee hours of the morning.

KL Cerra's SUCH PRETTY FLOWERS is a book you read with mounting dread and your heart (or is that something else??) in your throat. The book follows Holly, a young woman who's life feels aimless, as she tries to discover what her brother's girlfriend, Maura, had to do with his death. Maura is suitably spooky, thoroughly wealthy, and highly manipulative, making her a lovely is she-isn't she villain to follow around.

Cerra's ability to make botany digestible for the layperson is much appreciated, though at times it feels as though she's giving more attention to the flowers than to her characters. Holly is a character you often want to throttle as she seems wholly oblivious to the world around her, and Cerra's depiction of her friends and parents make it feel as though Holly is a ghost within her own life.

There's a few plot holes throughout that I find bothersome--we never truly discover the source of of Maura's wealth, Holly's best friend doesn't seem concerned for her at all, and Maura somehow is able to just know Holly's phone's password.

Overall, it's a fun read, so long as you don't pay too close attention to the details.

This was a book that I started in the morning and couldn't stop reading until I had finished (even though I knew I'd be creeped out)!
The characters may not be the most robust but the story keeps you off balance while propelling you along. I think it would make a great movie-very atmospheric. I'd also place it as more than eerie, but less than horror.
If you're reading it for the F/F content, you may want to look elsewhere. This contains a smidgen, but it's more of an example of an anomaly than any plot or character development.
TW for trypophobia (not too descriptive though).
#NetGalley

I requested this from NetGalley because it's set in Savannah. I loved the atmosphere, and I loved that the author included a Savannah ghost story. Horror isn't my usual genre, but I wanted something spooky for Halloween and this was great. Such Pretty Flowers definitely gave me the creeps and I never knew what was coming next. It was a little slow at times, but I really enjoyed it. Thank you Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced review copy of Such Pretty Flowers!

This book completely gripped me. I was reading this well into the night, which was not great for me in the end because I was absolutely terrified that something was going to come into my room while I was sleeping.

This had me on such an edge, while infuriating me at the same time. I was screaming internally at our protagonist, Holly. I wanted her to smarten up and see what was in front of her face. I wanted her to open her eyes to the manipulation and even when she did, she was fully aware that she was staying in a situation that was bad because she kind of liked it… until it was too late.

The fear notches up higher and higher in this book. We have bouts of the the book telling us what’s happening without showing us, which was the only thing that brought my rating down. All in all, this book was scary and claustrophobic in a perfect way.

We have Holly who is dealing with the suicide of her brother and how her guilt is manifesting in her own mental health. She longs for answers and decides to find them by getting closer to his girlfriend. Maura is this enigma that Holly feels contradictory feelings for. Sensing there is a wrongness about the woman, she still can’t help the strange pull and attraction she has to her.

In order to get to the truth of what happened to her brother to cause his drastic decline, she has to spend time with Maura which is equal parts alluring and terrifying. Maura clearly knows more about what happened to him that she is letting in and there is such a darkness behind that. The search Holly endeavors into the truth yields some horrific discoveries.

This book had a realllly slow start and took a long time for me to feel engaged, but the creepy atmosphere and intriguing characters were enough for me to keep going!

Such Pretty Flowers is a gorgeous Southern Gothic filled with eccentric characters and eerie plotlines. It's dark, atmospheric, and masterfully crafted. I love a book that makes me feel unsettled all the way to my bones, and this one ticked that box right from the start. If you enjoy Gothic horror, this is a must-read!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing a digital copy of Such Pretty Flowers in exchange for an honest review. Such Pretty Flowers will hit shelves February 7, 2023!

Awesome, spooky read! Main character Holly, an introvert librarian, loses her brother who dies by a gruesome suicide. Holly thinks there is more to the system and plans on investigating his death, especially his girlfriend of two months. Holly dives into Maura’s world, and even moves in with her.

I thought this was an average read. Loved the gothic atmosphere. I also enjoyed how the author incorporated local lore of Savannah, GA. Great plot twist! Overall, I would recommend this book to a friend. Perfect for fans of “Mexican Gothic” and “Wilder Girls”.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE GORGEOUS COVER? I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that was the first thing to draw my attention.

This is a beautifully written, intriguing story. Any story with a psychological underline tends to rope me personally in. Beautiful read.

I was initially interested in this book because…..gothic, eerie, crazy, and QUEER! My favorite part of any great book. Unfortunately, this one didn’t hit my marks though. I found myself bored with our plot, characters, etc. I really wanted to LOVE this. It sounds perfect, but the execution did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this early e-arc copy.

A queer gothic mystery. I mean, how do you pass that up? You don’t. Well, in any case. I didn’t, reading it the same day I was approved for it by Netgalley.
To its credit, the book was actually a quick read, making it possible to get through by bedtime.
The question is, as always, was it worth it?
So, I’m going to go with yes, but a conditional one.
Ultimately, it’s a fun read. A young man kills himself in a pretty spectacular fashion by a disembowelment, and his suicide is preceded by a steadily declining mental state, hallucinatory episodes, etc. The young man’s sister, devastated and bereft, decides to find out what happened and in doing so gets closer and closer to his fiancé (ex-fiancé now) whose peculiar charms prove first irresistible and, later, dangerous.
That sounds all kinds of fun, doesn’t it?
Continuing…
Since the book is pushing both the queer and the gothic element, let’s look at those.
The gothic thing was done right. Mind you, it’s a thoroughly modern gothic, but it is set in the haunted Savannah, in a marvelously creepy townhouse Poison Ivy wouldn’t feel out of place in and it is dark. Very dark. There are some terrific claustrophobic elements at play there too.
The queer thing…well, it works if you’re into the crazy/manipulative/femme fatale lesbians of the 90s cinema thing. Otherwise, it’s just ok. Don’t go into it expecting lots of sex either.
The romantic aspects of this novel are firmly on a psycho side of things, but the plants…the plants are terrifying.
The scares are in the flora, people. And that’s kind of fun and different.
All in all, plenty entertaining with a nicely done creep factor. So much so, that the reading of it got more enjoyable as the night outside got darker. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This is by far and away one of the most interesting plot lines I've ever read. I've never read anything quite like it.

The story follows Holly, she is dealing with her brothers apparent suicide and all the grief that comes with that. In order to get answers for a death that she feels isn't quite well explained, she reaches out to his girlfriend and finds that she becomes completely entranced with her. Although Holly can feel some thing is not quite right with the girlfriend she ends up moving in with her to try and get answers about her brother before his death. This leads to some major plot twists and turns and keeps you definitely enthralled throughout the entire story.

The story is well done and you absolutely do get feelings for the characters. You never quite like the girlfriend, you know something is absolutely not right with her. But somehow that just makes the book more intriguing versus it being a turn off. You want to know why she disturbs you and that keeps you reading further.

I feel like this is a great standalone story that is tied up nicely at the end. I didn't find there to be any plot holes that I didn't understand. I gave this story a 5/5 and I highly recommend people to read it during the spooky season. You definitely get an atmosphere of goth and gloom and it is definitely a thriller.

TW: Suicide

Such Pretty Flowers is a creepy, thriller that details a young boy dead by suicide and his sisters determination to find out the truth of what actually happened.

I was determined to love this book based on the premise but found it fell a little short for me. This book was psychologically and deeply creepy. The concept from start to finish was well conceptualized but overall felt vaguely expected. While the full scale of the plot was a surprise, it felt like the writer hinted at it the entire book. The plot was slow to build until almost 70% of the book had based by and I nearly DNFed because it just didn’t keep me engaged.

The characters had a lot of potential, but mostly felt one sided and weakly characterized. The author seemed to write about them without actually showing them so the book felt chopped up by long paragraphs of written thoughts and feelings instead of using those paragraphs to show these feelings. I wish we had gotten more of Dane and his side of the story as the book carried on instead of just through brief flashbacks and vague mentions.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential, but just fell short of what it wanted to do. A creepy psychological thriller that I would still recommend.