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c0rpsekat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Grief, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Bullying, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Drug abuse
aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Torture, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Pregnancy
oliviavm8's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Body horror, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
lilbookbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Murder, and Gore
Minor: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
kateapatton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
raychelbennet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The plot and the message of this book are really powerful. Kristi DeMeester really masterfully handles feminine horror in a patriarchal society. Every event is related to what a woman should do, how they should act, and their position in society. It focuses heavily on both the internal thoughts of girls/women and how they are forced to project themselves to the world. The use of the almost omnipresent Cur can be read as a physical manifestation of the patriarchy that wants to consume the inappropriate behaviors found in young girls. All of this is amazing, 5 stars, incredible.
Where things get difficult for me is the books' use of imagery depicting violence against animals and sexual violence. I am never a fan of violence against animals but I can skip over a scene if I feel it furthers the plot. The violence here I felt was *extremely* heavy-handed and drawn out longer than necessary. I get its purpose in the narrative but it made my stomach churn.
The discussion and depiction of sexual violence can be important—especially in books that deal with feminist themes. As someone who identifies as a radical feminist and who 100% agrees with the message that I feel this book was trying to portray already, maybe I just was not the target audience for this. I cannot comfortably read books with scenes of sexual violence where I cannot skip them. In Such A Pretty Smile, the sexual violence that occurs is fully entwined in other events that would leave important plot points out if it is not read. This put me in an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situation and I think that could be true for other readers. Additionally, the language described—while not the worst or the most graphic I’ve ever read—is almost overbearing. Again, maybe I was not the target audience because I did not need to see anything in a different light to understand DeMeester’s point.
Overall, I think this is an important book. I think it is a really important addition to the horror genre and Kristi DeMeester is going to definitely be an author to look out for. I just think this might benefit from a few content warnings, which I am trying to explain here.
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
ohhthehorrors's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
wherethewildreadsare's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Let me start by saying I was intrigued and engaged the entire time. I read huge chunks at a time and begrudgingly put it down each time when I had to do something else. When I read the synopsis of the book, I expected it to be some sort of "serial killer survival's club" psychological thriller. It was not, I was wrong. And that's on me. After going through and seeing that it's marketed as horror, a genre I do not read a ton of, that makes a lot more sense. This book is not for the faint of heart. When I say it's dark and twisted, it's DARK and TWISTED.
The story is centered around a mother/daughter duo, each getting their own POV chapters. The mother, Caroline, mostly being in 2004 New Orleans and her daughter, Lila, "present-day" 2019. Without giving too much away, this book definitely has elements of an anti-patriarchal system. The entire premise is women being punished for going against the status quo, going against the submissive inferior sex they're expected to be. About keeping them in line. There is a lot of gaslighting and patronizing from the men within this book. And a LOAD of triggers in this book. So please read up on those before diving into it.
Nevertheless, this book deserves its props. I could not put it down and can easily seeing myself reading more by this author.
PS while there's absolutely no comparison between the descriptions within the book, I kept imagining the Beasts from the 2004 movie, "The Village". Every time, that's all I saw.
Graphic: Sexual violence and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Murder, and Death of parent
kaylaramoutar's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence