Such a Pretty Smile
April 22, 2023 9:59 AM - Subscribe

Prepubescent girls start being murdered in Atlanta. Lila's mother Caroline has always been overprotective,but overhearing her mother on the phone Lila realizes that her mother is somehow connected to these killings.

The novel unfolds between two narratives Lila's in 2019 and Caroline's in 2004. Both Lila and Caroline search for answers to who The Cur is and why he continues to terrorize young women every 15 years.

One of Goodreads Most Popular Horror of 2022

Named one of Esquire's Best Horror of the Year
posted by miss-lapin (2 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
So I'm not a fan of this book. Part of it is I didn't like any character but Beth, who is a minor character. Everyone else? Not a fan. This isn't to say they are unrealistic. They are believably unlikable, but two unlikable narrators is still two unlikable narrators.

I found the point of the story too obvious. Every character is dripping with misogyny and yes as a woman, you encounter it a lot, but it would be great if some of it was a bit more subtle. And if the writer trusted the reader more to get it. An example of this is a psychiatrist in 2004 using terms like "dear" and"lamb" with a female patient. The overuse the word "hysterical." It's just sooo obvious and then to top it off, the narrator has to underline it like the reader might miss how inappropriate it is to call your patient "dear" every single time you address them.
posted by miss-lapin at 10:06 AM on April 22, 2023


I forgot the denouement. I won't give away the ending, but I'll say this the ending is just too suddenly "we got this." I think the author wrote themselves into a corner and didn't know what to do.
posted by miss-lapin at 10:09 AM on April 22, 2023


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