Such a Pretty Smile
Ratings9
Average rating3.3
Most Anticipated Horror by Library Journal * Publishers Weekly * Tor.com * SheReads "Brutal and shocking, lush and evocative. DeMeester is a highly-original voice in horror." - emily m. danforth, bestselling author of Plain Bad Heroines A biting novel from an electrifying new voice, Kristi DeMeester's Such a Pretty Smile is a heart-stopping tour-de-force about powerful women, angry men, and all the ways in which girls fight against the forces that try to silence them. 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. "Raw, beautiful, and haunting." - Camilla Sten “A righteously angry fever dream.” - Paul Tremblay "An outstanding story in outstanding hands." - Josh Malerman "Compulsive and horrifyingly entertaining." - Liz Nugent “Darkly feminist.” - Karma Brown “Razor-sharp. This one will cut you.” - Christopher Golden
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Dazed and Confused
This is the fifth book that I have read in 2022. However, this is the first book in a long time that has left me confused. Which is good and bad in equal measure. Bad in the sense that for a good 70% I was confused and good because this might be the one book I will want to read again just to see if I can get more out of it. Now before the author and the readers of this review get too upset with me this is a three-star read for me and that is still okay in my book. Let me explain my thought process, When I was approved for this book I was thrilled considering I had planned on buying it so win-win right? Yes at least for me. I just had a very hard time following it until the last 20%
Such a Pretty Smile focuses on two women (Lila and her mother Caroline) at two different points in time. Both are experiencing sights and sounds they can't quite explain. Both are essentially told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty by the world around them as they search to find the reason for their experiences. When I first started reading, I thought the daughter was part of a multiple personality disorder. That's how confused I was. Which would have been a strong concept had I been right. That being said the highlights and strengths of this novel are its creepy factor. . I was drawn into what they were each experiencing, as I tried to puzzle out what was happening. Hints were dropped in the early parts of the story that pointed toward an origin in the distant past. Which made this easy to read in just a few days. Where I struggled is the development of characters. While both women had a voice the splitting chapters made it confusing. While the two main women are well done, the men all annoyed me and the main villain was just a total loss. I will be waiting to see if this turns into a series because it does have that potential. I eagerly await to see what's next for this writer and hope the next one is something I can connect with better.
Thank you, NetGalley for my arc. This is a toss-up but if you come across it I suggest giving it a chance.
Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester is a genuinely horrifying novel about the myriad ways women must fight to be seen and accepted for who they are. Caroline, an artist, worries for the safety of her daughter Lila as girls begin to go missing or show up dead. Could an serial kill have returned? Soon strange things start to happen as past and present collide. Will the men in Caroline and Lila's lives believe them? Overall DeMeester has written a really sharp novel critiquing many ways women are disbelieved, dismissed, belittled, objectified, and otherwise marginalized in society. The book explores the impact of patriarchy, generational trauma, and systemic inequality (with particular attention to gender and sexual orientation). DeMeester's themes are crystal clear and she has composed so many scenes that had me squirming, cringing and really just absolutely horrified. The power of this book is in the truth it reveals. With that said, I think it could be argued that the plot was secondary to the themes at times. It seemed like it took awhile for the plot to really get going, and there were times where it seemed like a lot of information or time was explained to the reader. Finally, I found the narrative nature of the antagonist to be slightly opaque. This character seemed more firmly rooted in symbolism than in the world building of the story. Still, DeMeester did such an amazing job writing about the marginalization of women and did so through some really viscerally impactful scenes. The events of the plot are compelling, even if the book wasn't as clear and as consistently action oriented as I might have wished. I would definitely recommend this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hmmm...well that was a strange one. I usually love horror and dark, disturbing reads. I'm a huge Stephen King fan.
Say, this one just didn't work for me. It was extremely slow and it felt like the wording and descriptions were done more for shock value rather than adding any substance to the story itself. I'm all for shock value when it makes sense, but for me, this didn't.
This will either be one readers love or don't, so if this is on your radar and it sounds good to you, pick it up and give it a go.
I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.
