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 waves 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.
Reviews
"Wonderfully well written; the dread, the enigma, build with each
scene. It’s coming of age, it’s family secrets, it’s life in the
balance, too. It’s Thomas Harris, it’s Lois Duncan… but no, it’s Kristi
DeMeester, in complete confident control of your experience. An
outstanding story in outstanding hands." –Josh Malerman New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie
"Raw, beautiful, and absolutely haunting. Such a Pretty Smile
captivates both with the shadows that lurk beneath, and an unwavering
look at the wildness and horrors of girlhood." - Camilla Sten, author of
The Lost Village
"I've never read anything quite like
SUCH A PRETTY SMILE: at turns brutal and shocking, at turns lush and
evocative, and deeply disquieting throughout. This novel unsettled me at
nearly every turn of the page, and that feeling has stayed with me
since I closed its cover days ago. Kristi DeMeester is a highly-original
voice in horror and I can't wait to see what she writes next." -emily
m. danforth
"Kristi DeMeester is certainly an exciting new
voice. Her exploration of toxic female friendships and her deep dive
into the darkest parts of the human psyche made this a riveting,
compulsive and horrifyingly entertaining read." - #1 international
bestselling author Liz Nugent
"Kristi DeMeester's novel is a
menacing, mysterious, and righteously angry fever dream, one that hooks
into you from page one. SUCH A PRETTY SMILE is unafraid to bare its
feminist fangs."--Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Survivor Song
"A
mother and daughter fight for their lives and their sanity in Kristi
DeMeester’s SUCH A PRETTY SMILE, a quietly brutal feminist horror novel
about what it means to be a ‘good girl’ in a world of men―and monsters.
Thoughtful, creepy, and razor-sharp. This one will cut you.”
―Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and Red Hands
"With
expert pacing and captivating characters, Kristi DeMeester’s SUCH A
PRETTY SMILE is a gothic thriller that speaks to the strength of women. A
darkly feminist and timely novel, I was spellbound until the final
page." – Karma Brown, bestselling author of RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE
"Darkly
visceral...will leave readers doubting reality as the uncanny merges
with the real-world horrors of a young girl coming of age." - Publishers Weekly
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