Leanne Olson

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester
Releasing January 18, 2022 from St. Martin’s Press

Such a Pretty Smile is raw, earthy, angry, and beautiful.  I loved Kristi DeMeester’s previous novel, Beneath, and her short story collection, so my anticipation for this one was high.  It surprised me with a very different type of story than Beneath.  

Such a Pretty Smile is about a mother and daughter, Caroline and Lila, and the serial killer (or beast?) stalking them fifteen years apart. It’s also about how easily women are silenced and dismissed. Caroline is an artist whose work is dismissed by her jealous fiancé; Lila is a teenager afraid to reveal her attraction to her best friend, the mean girl Marcie.

At times, this book over-explained its themes a bit, but overall the imagery was so creepily gorgeous and her characters so relatable that I loved it anyway. Kristi DeMeester’s writing feels like no one else’s, and she’s become one of my favourite horror writers.