The pursuit of beauty is the pursuit of truth in Mona Awad’s Rouge. When Belle attends her mother’s funeral in Los Angeles, she becomes tangled with a cult-like spa called “Rouge,” the last place her mother went to before her sudden death. Awad explores the addictive toxicity of the beauty industry, specifically in how corporations commodify people’s, particularly women’s insecurities. In a surreal twist this larger concept is personified as a demon-like entity who startlingly resembles the actor Tom Cruise. But as much as Rouge is a gothic tale about beauty, it is also a story of a daughter processing the loss of her mother whom she didn’t have the best relationship with. Awad uses the larger concept of beauty along with the Snow White fairy tale to explore the complexities that can exist between mother and daughter, most notably how a mother can see competition in her own daughter. A profound, uncanny gothic.

Rouge by Mona Awad is an adult gothic horror book about a woman named Belle who falls on a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. This book is really hard to explain and if you are familiar with Mona Awad's works then you know what I mean. Their books are always different than everything I've ever read and they always leave me with the weirdest feelings. That makes it hard to explain my thoughts but I will say that I enjoyed my reading experience. If you are open to Awad's different types of stories then pick this one up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Rouge has left me eager to explore more of this author's work, particularly Mona Awad's 'Bunny,' a book I've been eyeing for a year now. After the captivating experience of Rouge, I am certain that 'Bunny' will be a compelling read.

This story is a beautifully written dark and surreal fairy tale that revolves around a woman grappling with the profound loss of her mother. As she embarks on a haunting journey in pursuit of youth and beauty, the narrative unfolds with a dreamlike quality, often described as a fever dream by many. Mona Awad skillfully delves into the shadows of the beauty industry, launching a potent critique against the societal pressures imposed on women to adhere to unattainable standards of beauty.

I would readily award this story 5 stars for its compelling narrative, yet I acknowledge that, around the middle, it does become somewhat confusing. While the final 50 pages offer a more crystallized and satisfying experience, the complexity in the middle might have challenged my understanding. Nevertheless, the gripping nature of the conclusion leaves me with a strong impression, and I am excited to delve further into Awad's literary world with 'Bunny.

Mona Awad keeps one upping herself. A timely look at our obsession with beauty and the lengths we'll go to stay youthful looking. There's a touching mother-daughter message in here as well. Awad's writing style is compulsive and addicting, you'll find yourself in mad rush to finish the book. It's clever and funny and really, really dark mixing in cannibalism, magic mirrors, macabre Freudian slips, and Tom Cruise!

I did not live this as much as her other books but it was definitely on brand for the author. It was atmospheric and the story was strangely captivating. If you liked her other books, you will probably like this one!

📕Take that beauty industry! Get your hands off of perfectly clear skins, normal size lashes, and young lips. No one needs that many products to keep their 20 something skins. You just wanna mess up what is good at the early ages and make women depend on you at later ages
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📗Connection between personality, memories, and experiences and the condition of our skin is rather disturbing. Of course people who lived a good life with minimal struggles have great skin while others who had to work hard under unhealthy conditions or went through a lot of trauma would show the signs of those on their skins. But dear Mona, don’t put ideas into Big Beauty’s mind
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📘Awad did not fail us. She gave us another what the hell did I just read book. I want to take trip into her mind and see where these ideas come from. Using influencer “doctors” and ad bombing for skin products, she told an incredibly disturbing story similar to ancient search for ambrosia

rouge was an excellent alternative fairy tale. I appreciated Awad's approach to beauty and how seeking it can be sometimes harmful. Weird writing as always!

This was a strange, ethereal story that felt like some kind of dark dream. I'm not sure I understood it all, or that it was meant to be fully grasped, but there were definitely some allusions to "Snow White" with all the mirrors and yearnings for youth and beauty. I think more than that, it reminded me of a kind of reimagined, beauty-industry/focused "Suspiria." The witchy vibes were strange and haunting, and the idea of witches stealing souls through a spa was pretty genius. On the whole I felt more detached than I would have liked to really enjoy the book, but it was definitely strange in a good way.

Wow! What a weird, wild, twisted ride this was. This is one of those books that you read and then need time to process afterwards to figure out what the hell you just read. LOL

The writing style is so unique in a way that really adds to the creepy depths of the story. Reading this is like a fever dream. It’s dark and haunting. With a highly-unreliable narrator, you never know what to expect, what is real and what is a nightmare come to life. It has all the vibes of a dangerous Grimm fairytale.

It shows the dark and toxic sides of beauty standards as well as the effects that body image can have on our mental and physical health. How far is too far? The lengths that society can go to feel beautiful. It has a tumultuous and complex mother-daughter relationship.

This was my first Mona Awad. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It was not a quick read for me, but the more I reflect back on what I read, the more I really liked it. I will definitely be reading from this author again. Highly recommend!

This was easily a 4 star book and has definitely made my top reads list of the year.

Mona Awad has created a contemporary fairytale that jumps straight into the toxicities of the beauty industry and the perpetual obsession with youth. This is served with the complexities of mother/daughter relationships and grief.

This book is a fever dream served in a gothic fairytale retelling and I absolutely loved it. I laughed, was confused, and then I cried. Another great book from a great author

Mona Awad doesn't miss. Going into the novel, I knew this was Awad taking on the beauty industry but I got so much more. I love the mother daughter relationship that every mom/daughter can relate to at least once in their lives. The horror aspects were also just the right amount of unsettling. This was one of my most anticipated releases and I did not disappoint.

How does Mona Awad come up with this stuff?!?! Truly a brilliant writer. Though not my favorite of hers (Bunny forever), I still found myself scratching my head at the twists and turns and ravenous to see how it all ended. The middle was a bit tedious, but that’ll happen. I’m still not exactly sure what I read and what it all means - but that’s the Mona experience, if you will.

went to a pub event book talk with mona awad at the cambridge public library! it made me like the book more than if i had only read it. of mona's books, i was least moved by this one. i liked the exploration of otherness, which is always a theme of her books. i think the fairytale references worked well but i had difficulty with the random celebrity/pop culture moments. did not feel like it added much.

The level of excitement I possessed upon finding out I got the ARC for Rouge almost hurt. I screamed. Cried. Almost jumped for joy. Yes, I (obviously) am a huge Mona Awad fan.

Mona Awad is maddeningly brilliant. Awad has such a talent at creating deliciously digestible novels while humbly showcasing her literary prowess. At the most basic level, Rouge is a spooky and quirky novel that critiques the beauty industry. And yet, it does so much more. I would have loved to buddy read this with someone.

The plot: Belle (short for Mirabelle) is a woman who is utterly obsessed with her skin care routine. As her past is revealed, we see that this obsession probably stemmed from her mother, who’s recently passed. As Belle deals with her mother's death, we get a glimpse at her dark, envious past and eventually her journey to self-acceptance via a horrific, dream-like spa experience.

Awad’s symbols and imagery: I love how Awad integrates fairytales so overtly and yet so seamlessly. The fact that Mirabelle is called Belle (beauty) and how she must face the beast of the beauty standards that society has placed on women. Belle's red shoes that lead her down a road to a magical castle-like mansion. The golden-locked princesses she envisioned in her bedtime stories. Mirrors. Broken mirrors, mirrors as portals, mirrors as revealing yourself and your demons. Mirrors as a vessel for our obsession with our vanity. Roses! With their beauty, but also their thorns. The jellyfish at the spa and the possible connection to “immortal” jellyfish species in real life. I mean, the list goes on and on. The imagery in this novel is also on point. I can immediately picture rooms, scenes, even (weirdly) smells when reminiscing about my reading experience. Awad is such a vivid writer, splashing red (rouge) all over the page.

This novel is obviously critiquing the beauty industry and what the media often depicts as beautiful/desirable. I read some quote recently that said something along the lines that men don’t age more gracefully than women, but that their aging is accepted. Women aren’t allowed to age in this society. That’s it. The amount of money companies make on anti-aging/youthfulness is astounding and disturbing. Catch me going gray and wrinkly (which is great since I’m too lazy to keep up anyway).

Though this review is *glowing* like Belle's skin, I felt like Awad didn't trust her readers enough. I found parts to be almost spoon-fed to the readers and a bit too redundant. Also, though I love Awad's style, I found parts of this book to rely too heavily on this odd dream-like state that led to sentences being far too short and almost jolting.

All in all, Mona Awad is superb. Rouge is definitely worth the read and hype. Hauntingly fun, and not devoid of meaning. Loved it and wish I could read it anew all over again.

Forgot to give my gratitude! Thank you NetGalley and S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for the advance reading copy!

4.5/5
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hits a little too close to home making it that much more brilliant; i’ll be doing some reflecting, but far, far away from mirrors 🪞🪼🌹💄♥️💔❤️‍🩹

rtc! and i mean it this time
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AHH! I can’t wait to read this!! I got the arc today!! ❤️‍🔥

TW: Language, drinking, smoking, toxic parent relationship, gaslighting, death of parent, abuse, sex, death by suicide, drugs

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.
Release Date: September 12th, 2023
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 384
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. In love with the cover

What I Didn't Like:
1. 1,080 uses of Mother
2. Tom Cruise obsession
3. This book dragged on & on
4. Sick of hearing about Tom Cruise

Overall Thoughts:
Mona Awad and I have had our ups and downs. We were not friends when I read 13 Ways at Looking at a Fat Girl. We definitely lost each other's numbers when I read Bunny. When Alls Well came out we met for lunch and talked things out. So I was nervous to see if our friendship would last during Rouge.

Constant uses of the word mother drove me insane. I like to believe even Norman Bates is jealous at her level of saying mother


Book says it's a mix between Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut, but I'm getting Death Becomes Her vibes. If you haven't seen that movie go watch it!!


No offense to the author but is it me or are all her books feeling like they are the same thing?
• Girl who is lonely and seeking something
• Meets large group of weirdos
• Group is into something evil
• Girl joins group
In Bunny it's a group of college girls - the main character wants to be popular and included. In All's Well it's a play with a bunch of actors - she's a struggling director on the verge of losing her job. And now we have an actresses' daughter caught up in a forever beauty cult - she wants to look young forever. I just felt as though I've already read this story over and over. Same story but different characters.

Repetitive sentences about her waking up and men being in the kitchen. Constantly reminded this happened to her in her life. I got it the first time. The second time okay. The third time just feels like you're trying to get a word count in.

Belle thinks;
All about to be sold by Tad. Handsome young Tad, who has no idea of death or loss.
But when Belle first meets Tad he mentions he lost his father. Is Belle this so self absorbed that she doesn't even remember this fact? Or did the author forget that she gave Tad a line that he had lost someone?

I did like that this story tells you that even though the mother never encouraged her daughter to seek out ways of becoming beautiful or staying beautiful, it's the effects of what we hear our mother or parent talk about that affects us and changes the way we view things. Her mother tells her countless times throughout the book how she thinks she's beautiful and how she doesn't need these things, but Belle doesn't see things that way because she sees her mother going out of her way to stay beautiful. This morphs Belles perspective of what is beautiful and what is obtainable. Belle never feels beautiful because her mother constantly needs that reinforced for herself and uses so many beauty products. And it makes sense because if someone as beautiful as Belle's mother is never happy then why would Belle have to settle for beauty like hers, which is different than her mother, so it would make her feel like she's ugly compared to her if her mother. The whole thing of of you hear about it enough you start to believe it.

Final Thoughts:
I couldn't read this book fast enough - because I wanted it over. I really struggled to get through this book. I wanted to DNF it so badly but I pushed through it hoping that it would be more than what it already was, but I wish I would have just quit reading it. It just didn't get better. It had no direction. It wasn't scary. It wasn't a thriller. In the end it just existed to exist. I gained nothing by reading it and lost so much time thinking it was going to become something.

I hated the obsession with Tom Cruise. It didn't make any sense for our main character. She's in her 30 years and is obsessed about him as though she grew up with him and his movies.

Another ending that made zero sense. I guess Belle thought she beat her "demons" but really you can never escape your insecurities even when you think they are gone. I mean who even knows.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Marysue Rucci Books for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🌹 Rouge was a delightfully bizarre, perfectly heartbreaking journey into the darkside of skincare culture and confronting childhood trauma.

Whenever I think of describing Mona Awad’s books, I immeidately go to ‘fever dream’. She crafts such a compelling world in every novel, but the fairytale feeling really got me. It made the unexpected plotline of Belle’s childhood (prepare to cackle) and the commentary on the cult-like behavior of the skincare world (you’ll feel very weird buying skincare products) more sinister.

There are many mysteries to be solved, all of which are tied up in satisfying manners. For me this was one of those books where there was so much going on that I wasn’t worried about trying to figure it out before the reveals, and honestly, I’m not sure it’s possible to. It’s all so outlandish that but in a way that just makes sense. It’s weirdly perfect.

Wow! What a weird, wild, twisted ride this was. This is one of those books that you read and then need time to process afterwards to figure out what the hell you just read. LOL

The writing style is so unique in a way that really adds to the creepy depths of the story. Reading this is like a fever dream. It’s dark and haunting. With a highly-unreliable narrator, you never know what to expect, what is real and what is a nightmare come to life. It has all the vibes of a dangerous Grimm fairytale.

It shows the dark and toxic sides of beauty standards as well as the effects that body image can have on our mental and physical health. How far is too far? The lengths that society can go to feel beautiful. It has a tumultuous and complex mother-daughter relationship.

This was my first Mona Awad. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It was not a quick read for me, but the more I reflect back on what I read, the more I really liked it. I will definitely be reading from this author again. Highly recommend!

Wow! Rouge was weird and creepy and eerie and SO much fun! I’m skincare obsessed, so I was intrigued from the beginning, but this one took some crazy turns and still ended up being so satisfying. I’ll be reading more of Mona Awad’s work asap!

An exploration of perceptions of beauty, mother-daughter relationships, grief, and... spa cults? This is the first of Mona Awad's work that I've read, and it was utterly un-put-downable. The story follows Belle, a young woman dealing with the recent, and quite mysterious, death of her mother. As she explores the wake of her mother's existence in California, miles away from where she has been living in Montreal, her connections to a mysterious and ultimately sinister spa called Rouge are unearthed. The entire book is shrouded in mystery and darkness, and takes on an eerie, dreamlike quality. We get deep into Belle's mind, even as it begins to slip from her grasp. A lot of questions are raised, a lot of characters are introduced, and a lot of plot lines are developed, but it all comes together beautifully in the end. With subtle nods to the fairy tales of our childhoods, and the addition of Awad's own vivid and twisted imagination, Rouge is truly unlike anything I've read before. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the gifted copy. I apologize for taking so long to get this review up, I have been unprecedentedly busy lately!

This is the first book by Mona Awad that I have read, and I really loved her style. The writing is tight but still somehow lush, and the changes in language that occur as the protagonist's mental state deteriorates are really effective. There were things about this story that felt a little unsatisfying, but on the whole I really loved the meditation on physical beauty, the beauty industry, whiteness, and envy. The relationship between Belle and her mother was heartbreaking and deeply affecting. 4.5/5