Rouge was my most anticipated release of 2023 and to say it lived up to my expectations would be an understatement. There's something so wildly unique about the way that Mona Awad tells a story, to the point that it leaves me absolutely reeling and thinking about what I've read for months.

Rouge is the story of Belle, a beauty obsessed woman who is traveling from Montreal to California to bury her mother/get all her affairs in order.
From there the story travels to so many places that it's almost impossible to talk about with giving too much away. Part fairy tale, part gruesome exploration of the beauty industry this story is one you won't soon forget.

Please find attached my spoiler free youtube review, which is a slightly more in depth review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGJ_PkenhwA

First half of the book: I love Mona Awad but I’m confused… Tom Cruise?!

Second half of the book: MONA AWAD IS A BRILLIANT LITERARY JELLYFISH 🪼

Her underlying commentary on the beauty industry is genius and heartening and smack dab on the nose 🥀

Rouge follows Mirabelle (Belle), who gets swept up into the world of a secret spa where “treatments” leave clients with a special glow. Those running the spa are quick to prey on members of society who would sell their souls to attain the unrealistic beauty standards that they dream of.

With all the makings of a classic Mona Awad fever dream, Rouge dives into unrealistic beauty standards and the predatory nature of the industry. On the surface, it is a tale of an unreliable narrator who is struggling to stay in her right mind after her mother’s death but, beneath that, lies a commentary on how we (as a society) value “beauty”, and the lengths people will go to retain it

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review!!

Oh goodness, this was dark and twisted and brilliant, I love anything that can be described as a gothic fairytale but this was next level. The cover design is so eye catching too, bravo bravo bravo!

Mona Awad’s newest horror thriller Rouge is a straight up Fever Dream! I’ve read a few unique books this year that scream ‘Make me a movie!’ but this one is a freakin Must! This surreal horror mystery thriller is one of the most atmospheric books I’ve ever read and if you thought her 2019 bestseller Bunny was weird, just you wait!

Another completely wild story from Mona Awad. Awad has such a unique perspective when it comes to telling women's stories, the intersections of feminism and living in late-stage capitalism.

She blends beautiful prose with fantastical surreal elements. Highly recommend.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publishers for the arc.

Publication date: September, 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for a copy of the digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

This story follows a skin care obsessed Mirabelle who returns to California for her mother’s funeral. She remembers to pack all of her products, but forgets her black dress. It explores the complicated relationship between mother and daughter, specifically mother’s obsession with youth, beauty, and self-loathing. The circumstances surrounding her death are suspicious, and her behaviour beforehand even more so.

With the help of a pseudo detective with a heart of gold and the face of Montgomery Clift (or some such swashbuckling hero of the 1950s silver screen) Mirabelle falls headfirst into a strange and wondrous world of cult beauty while investigating the death. An Alice in Wonderland-esque cult operating out of a spa for the ultra-rich, Rouge, offer free treatments only to those they deem “perfect candidates.” Spoiler alert: you just have have clinical depression to apply. They offer immense beauty in a limited time offer, but it might be your soul you end up paying with.

Told in dual perspectives from past to present, we learn about the mother’s fixation on beauty and how it molded her daughter’s relationship with herself. It’s half introspective and half satire.

As a young girl, and throughout her life, Mirabelle struggled with growing up less fair than her mother, exacerbated by her struggle being mixed race and pigeon-holed into being an exotic trinket for her mother to show off. She is the secret friend no one wants to be seen talking to. Until she finds a secret mirror turned to face the wall and the gorgeous face in it (Tom Cruise) explains to her that her own mother is stealing her beauty and she must take it back. Hello, Snow White comparisons.

Meanwhile, in the present day timeline, Mirabelle is swept up in this francophone beauty cult who offer her the best version of herself but she descends deeper into madness with each treatment.

If you liked The Love Witch (2016), you’ll like Rouge because it serves the delicious candy apple insanity that Lana del Rey fans adore and it’s painted in the same lava lamp technicolour shade as Anna Biller’s film.

I think I love Mona Awad more with each book I read. Another delightfully creepy odd horror that makes you think and gives you chills.

A must read!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a change to read and review!

Rouge was arguably my most anticipated release of 2023, and I was SO happy to receive an e-ARC from Simon & Schuster. Mona Awad’s highly anticipated Rouge absolutely DID NOT disappoint. I was a massive fan of Bunny, and the weird charm definitely returns in this book.

Rouge focuses on Belle, who spends most of her days fixated on her meticulous skincare routine, returning to California to deal with the sudden death of her mother. Things get increasingly weird and surreal as she navigates the later days of her mother’s life, and reflects on her tumultuous relationship with her mother.

While the book is certainly about motherhood and grief, the core of this novel is ultimately about beauty standards and youth. Belle is obsessed with avoiding her inevitable aging and feels a constant pressure to be traditionally attractive. This draws her to the La Maison de Méduse, a borderline cult spa, which promises to help her maintain her beauty just like they were able to do for her mother.

Rouge does an excellent job highlighting the predatory nature of the beauty industry and navigating the repercussions of colourism. Belle struggles to find a place as a half-Egyptian and half-Canadian woman, and highlights the obsession with whiteness and skin bleaching. Mona Awad puts a lot of herself in this book, and really highlights the complicated relationship we have with religion, culture (including the appropriation of it) and assimilating to society’s rigid standards. Belle is a really compelling narrator, and you really understand how her own experiences have shaped her perceptions of herself by the end of the book.

As usual, the writing in this is wickedly smart while incorporating the dark humour and insightful social commentary that is present in much of Awad’s writing. The themes and references are a bit obvious here, which is my only critique. The religious allusions were certainly interesting, but gave away a lot of the direction of the plot. Despite the darker themes here, it is a really accessible read with obvious fairy-tale references and a simple narrative structure. The visual style definitely reminded me a lot of the movie Suspiria - so if you liked that, I could definitely see you enjoying this!

Thank you SO much to NetGalley and the publisher for this review. (Note I also received an e-ARC via Edelweiss prior to this).

Part fairy tale, part indictment of the beauty industry, Rouge tells a story that could be pigeonholed as fun, creepy horror if it wasn’t so crushingly relatable. With magic mirrors, predatory bogeymen, and fantastical transformations, author Mona Awad isn’t exactly going for literary realism here; but as an examination of mothers and daughters, the time girls and women spend harshly judging ourselves and each other, the pain we will endure in an effort to inspire envy and desire — these are important social issues and there is much literary satisfaction in Awad wrapping their examination in the stories through which we (in the West) would have first internalised the impossible ideals of feminine beauty and behaviour. And the whole thing’s pretty damn creepy. A compelling read that I felt in my bones. Just to my tastes.