In Such Pretty Flowers, Dane is graduating college and moving in with his new girlfriend, Maura, a florist. Dane’s family begins to see that he may be dealing with some mental health challenges. However, weekly therapy does not prevent Dane from soon killing himself in a most unusual way. Holly, Dane’s sister, believes that Dane wasn’t suicidal and suspects Maura may have had something to do with his death. Despite having no clue what she is doing, Holly decides to investigate by getting close, really close to Maura.
Such Pretty Flowers is marketed as a modern Southern gothic, which it is. However, it frustrated me like a Mary Roberts Rinehart Had-I-But-Known plot. Could Holly be any stupider? Constantly taking huge risks for minimal payoffs isn’t brave, it’s just idiotic. Towards the end, I was hoping she would get killed just to take us both out of our misery. However, I realize that this opinion is solely my own so 3 stars for a well-written book that was just not for me.
Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.