Mona Awad has produced an absolutely brilliant and creative novel with Rouge - and I am not at all surprised considering how amazing Bunny and All's Well were.

The vibes are Twin Peaks meets Death Becomes her. I do wish that we knew a bit about the main character's personality before her mother's death, because it seemed like she was a little bit unhinged already when her story started, and she's a surprisingly bland main character. The flash backs throughout the novel only made her story more confusing, but they were my favorite part of the book!

I recommend this highly to anyone who loves literary fiction, horrific fairy tales, and examining the beauty industry and its emphasis on whiteness/purity.

A dark satire about the predatory beauty industry. Twin peaks vibes, cults, magic mirrors, talking mannequins, Tom Cruise?! These are the ingredients that make up Mona Awad’s most brilliant novel yet.

The plot is unique, the characters are well developed, and the pacing is perfect for the story. There were some silly parts that made me giggle, while other parts were so creepy I literally had nightmares. I think a lot of people will find the mother and daughter relationship and the toxic relationship with the beauty industry VERY relatable. An obvious 5 ⭐️ for me!

Incredibly dreamy in the most horrific way. Mona Awad's fourth novel, "Rouge," follows a grieving daughter in the wake of her estranged mother's mysterious death. Belle has always lived in the shadow of her beautiful mother, never quite living up to her white beauty standards despite her mother's best efforts to glorify her darker skin tone.

Back in California, getting her mother's affairs in order, Belle is forced to confront the lingering effects of her upbringing and their mother/child relationship by stepping into her mother's shoes (literally). From there, she's guided by her vanity to an eery, cult-like spa on the edge of a cliff where Belle's memories and her essence of self are exchanged for a luminous glow.

Using surreal horror, magic realism, and clever symbolism, "Rouge" explores the complexities of family trauma, the predatory beauty industry, and the futile pursuit of superficial aesthetics using Awad's signature dark and twisted style.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Mona Awad for this ARC of Rouge! I will say that I did relate to the grief aspect of the book. The blurred reality aspects of the book had me re-reading certain parts, but that's normal with a Mona Awad book! I will definitely be getting the audiobook when it comes out this fall. I will probably update my review later this fall when the book is released!

A fever dream, a fairytale, a nightmare. This book is all those things and more. As someone who is as skincare obsessed as Mirabelle, this novel resonated a lot with me. Awad writes some of the best mad, unhinged women in literature, and I’m absolutely here for it. When her mother unexpectedly dies in a tragic accident, and Mirabelle leaves Montreal for So-Cal, her descent to madness doesn’t take that long. Much like her previous books, Awad manages to capture the protagonist’s slip from reality in a way that is both poetic and terrifying. This novel is steeped with silent rage, mommy issues, and the color red. Often, as the reader, you can’t tell what is real and what is madness, a bit of an Alice in Wonderland moment, if you will. But one thing is certain, you can’t look away, and you continue down the proverbial rabbit hole along with Mirabelle, trying to make sense of the craziness as best as you can. This is one wild ride that explores our obsession with beauty and youth and to what lengths one might go to be beautiful.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This twisted version of Snow White with a large dose of mocking the beauty industry was a rollercoaster of a wild ride. It had Awad's impeccable dark storytelling and fever dreams qualities. However, where it worked for me with Bunny it felt a lot more disjointed here. At times I couldn't stop reading and at times I was confused and had to put the book down for a bit before I could pick it back up. It was still a super interesting concept and a creative way to explore it, though. 3.5 stars.

I received this ARC from Netgalley. An absolute fever dream in the best way. If you read Bunny, you might have been completely lost until the ending. With this book, Awad gives you a bit more context but certainly still keeps you in the dark plenty. The character is amazingly unreliable and the journey makes you feel like you’re actually there. Loved it!

WOW!! What a creepy, eerie, STRANGE, story!! This book hooked and captivated me from the very beginning. This truly was “Eyes Wide Shut meets Snow White” as described. The imagery was immaculate and gave me LITERAL CHILLS. I absolutely loved this book. It was so strange which kept me intrigued, I needed to see what was going on and what was going to happen!!

Belle and her mother were living in Montreal, Canada. While living in her mothers apartment Belle started to envy her mothers good looks. While her mother was out she would sneak into her mothers room and try on her dresses and use her red lipstick. One day while in her moms her she found an old mirror in her mothers closet it was turned to the wall, Belle turned it over and an image formed of a man that looked like Tom Cruise. Belle being so young didn’t know that she was letting evil into her life. She invited the man in through her mothers mirror. After Belle invites the man later called Seth he starts telling her to do things to her mother.

After an incident that puts Belle’s mother in the hospital for a short time, Belle calls for Seth and he doesn’t show up. She keeps knocking on the mirror until it shatters and glass cuts her all over. Belle lies in a pool of blood and passes out, until her grandmother finds and Belle wakes up in the children’s hospital and finds out that her mother took off to California leaving her behind to live with her grandmother.

Belle’s grandmother puts her in a catholic school and has her baptized. While the priest and the grandmother are talking Belle hears things like being touched by evil and that evil has been around Belle. When Belle turns 15 or 16 she moves to California to live with her mother. While on the plane she meets a man named Jerry and he looks just like Tom Cruise. Belle then puts her headphones back on and ignores him. After they land he follows Belle and asks her if she needs a ride, she tells him no that she is meeting her mom. The man runs off and that’s the last time she sees him. If you want to know what happens next you’ll have to read the book.

I wanted to love this one. I tried to love this one. I was driven by the propulsive language to finish this one, but it wasn't my favorite. Dark, twisted fairy tales are definitely a trend but this one felt disjointed in its reveals and plotting. Things I loved about this book: the prose (shining as per Awad's usual), the scenes in the dress store, the mannequin sisters. Readers looking for a dark Snow White will snap this up. I was lukewarm on it, but I know it will find its perfect audience.

What a cult-y fairytale of a book! There is a weird and dream-like quality that Mona Awad captures so excellently in her novels and it really makes for a unique reading experience. The commentary of burgeoning beauty (in particular, skincare) industry was somehow subtle, critical, and satirical all at the same time. It's difficult to put this book in any one category, it contains so much: horror, magical realism, humor, with Gothic and fairytale themes. Also. Somehow after reading this, I dislike Tom Cruise more than I already did! But it did seem fitting since he and cults obviously pair well 😒

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year-- it didn't blow me away but it still slapped.

Thank you so much to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the chance to read Rouge early. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, so I must admit, expectations going in were very high. I am absolutely obsessed with the cover and the cover font- it’s very striking and intriguing, & I love the simplicity and color story so, so much.

That being said, this book did not end up being my favorite. While I really enjoyed the exploration of this complicated mother-daughter relationship, the commentary on the beauty industry and the examination of colorism coming from the main character’s mother and as a result, her own ingrained colorism- I felt there were some pacing issues that kept me from fully engaging with the novel. It felt a bit scattered, and not in a great way. I think the premise was very interesting but the execution fell a bit flat for me unfortunately. I almost feel like there were just too many warring ideas thrown together in an attempt to create an atmosphere of mystery and suspense.

Something I did enjoy was the question of how much the narrator’s grief was impacting her world view. At times we can’t be sure whether her strange actions are a result of her grief, or whether they are instead symptoms of the “treatments” she was receiving, or both. On the whole, I much prefer it when authors allow us to make our own connections and conclusions, but in Rouge, I actually wanted just a bit more to be spelled out for us; without giving too many spoilers, I wanted more explanation about the history of Rouge as an institution & their goals, although much can be inferred from what we did learn. And I wanted to know more about how everyone else was seeing the narrator after she started receiving her treatments…Yes I could make my own assumptions, and did, but I think it would have been more jarring if this wasn’t so murky to us. (& we didn’t get an actual explanation of how she had changed physically until we were like 70% through with the novel)

Overall, the last 5 chapters saved this book for me. I felt our narrator coming out of the fog of the delusions Rouge imposed on her and coming out of the other side of this traumatic experience- and the writing began to feel more earnest and genuine to me, if that makes any sense. I still really enjoy Awad’s mind, and her unique writing style, and am excited to read “All’s Well” as it’s the last book of hers I’ve yet to read, other than her debut. I know Rouge will likely resonate greatly with other readers, but personally for me it just missed the mark a bit.

I have to commend the author for the vision of this book but I found it to be muddled, meandering, and meager on the meat I was so craving in the delivery. Horror is not my preferred genre so perhaps others will love. I found it to be very hard to stay committed to and it seemed unsure of its end goal.

If Twin Peaks had a cult it would be this book.

Cult books are some of my favorite books to read. I love reading how they manipulate people and turn them into mindless zombies who do their bidding. I think if someone asked me to join their little gathering, it wouldn't take me much to join. That says a lot about me.

This book was amazing in so many ways. It was trippy and off the wall. I kept waiting for The Arm to pop out of the Rouge castle and say some crazy things to Belle. Maybe Laura Palmer being the head b**ch of the castle. The more you think about it, the more it makes sense that this is an alternate Twin Peaks universe.

The pacing of this book had me glued to every single page. I didn't know if I wanted to speed-read this beauty or let it simmer for a few days. I decided to read it slowly because I never wanted this to end. I loved it.

From Bunny to Rouge, Mona Awad has shown so much potential that I believe people easily miss. Her writing simply amazes me with each book that I read from her. I honestly believed it would have been difficult to top "All's Well" and I was pleasantly surprised with Rouge. It tackles the ideas and anxieties of living in a woman's world and I think she did a phenomenal job. I do not even feel as though I read this book, rather than absorbed every word and held onto them like a thread. Easily one of my favorite novels and I am already anticipating the next one.

WHEEEEEW what a journey! Immediately, fever dream. Rouge was a state of constant unknowingness. It was like recalling something but not remembering if it was a dream or actually occurred in real life. You know the feeling. Rouge instantly reminded me of American Horror Story (and would make a wonderful season by the way) and was like landing face first into an episode of the twilight zone. AND I LOVED EVERY MOMENT. I enjoyed Mona's writing style and was immediately hooked. Every time I thought I was getting a grasp on what was going on it was snatched away from me. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. The dark humor is to be applauded and if the intent was to make the reader feel like they were losing their mind, mission accomplished. Rouge is a very dark, often visceral, fairytale retelling that will have you looking differently at yourself in the mirror or not at all.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Simon & Schuster for this ARC! I was thrilled to have an early look at one of my favorite author’s upcoming novels.

Mona Awad’s Rouge is the perfect blend of thrill, intrigue, and social commentary about how we grieve and the all-consuming nature of the beauty industry. As a massive fan of Bunny, I was not surprised that Awad was able to achieve a uniquely different narrative that held the same tone and voice that continues to bring me back to her writing. Similar themes of desire and obsessive self-reflection take their place in Awad’s latest novel as she delivers a narrative equal parts gothic and alluring.

The way the female protagonist, Belle, is written by way of carefully constructed grief, repressed trauma, flashbacks, and her regimented beauty routines, allows us to truly experience her slow unraveling alongside her as it plays out. The depth of Belle’s character paired with the fantastical, romanticized draw of the French spa and her mother’s signature sense of style pulls one in immediately and does not let them go as the tone moves slowly from grief into desperation and irrationality. The consistent symbolism through nods to French language and culture, old Hollywood-esque style, pop culture, movie stars, and the pervasive presence of the color red allows Awad to fully envelop readers in a literary environment that feels equal parts otherworldly and their own.

I cannot wait to see what Mona Awad does next and will continue to endlessly recommend her to anyone who loves literary fiction and flawed, empathetic female characters written in a raw, unique narrative voice.

This book was not for me. I was expecting more of a straight retelling of Snow White. Instead, it felt Snow White adjacent or referential, but definitely not a 1:1 match. In addition, I didn't sympathize with any of the characters. Their pursuit of physical beauty was empty and superficial. And then there was Rouge...which I won't describe to avoid spoilers, except to say it is an collection of mysterious souls whose provenance remains unexplained.

And I'm just now realizing maybe my biggest beef with this was that it never fully committed to being fantasy. The story could have been told without needing any fantastical elements. But given that it was, I wish they had been explored more thoroughly. What made for "perfect candidates?" Why mirrors? And why mirrors only sometimes or only for some people?

For all that, I appreciated Awad's skills. She certainly created a gothic feel, even in sunny California. And her storytelling seemed intentionally obtuse, keeping the reader wrong-footed in a way that mirrored Bella's confusion.

A dark tale of beauty culture!

Read if you're a fan of: complicated mother/daughter relationships, magical realism, and have a hatred of beauty culture in your heart.

I just reviewed Rouge by Mona Awad. #NetGalley

My expectations were high, and Awad blew right past them anyways. A dark, beautifully, dreamily written modern fairytale. Perfect from beginning to end, such a good reflection and commentary on beauty standards. She also captured perfectly what it feels like to be a pre-teen girl: the crushes, the envy, and the feeling of just wanting to be beautiful.