Quiet horror. I don't always like it, but this time, I did. What would you do to remain youthful in appearance? I always find it fascinating and horrifying the lengths people will go to stay looking young. I write this as I'm sitting in my bed at 2am plucking a hair off of my chin, so take from that what you will. This was a good book. Don't go in expecting BAM -in your face- *horror*, go in expecting some disturbing behavior and humanity horror.

Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and EK Sathue for the audiobook ARC of youthjuice!

youthjuice was such an interesting story to listen to. The descriptions of the beauty industry and what everyday people will do to achieve beauty was so horrific and eye-opening, and the story really creates a paranoia around anti-aging products. I'll be honest, I wasn't able to follow the storyline with Mona as much or understand how it related to what was happening in the "now" storyline, other than the reveal at the end.

In terms of production, the audiobook wasn't the best in my opinion. There were several points where you could tell the audio had been heavily edited or recorded on a different day. I also felt like the narrator's voice did not chance enough when speaking dialogue from other characters.

A darkly sweet and innocent calamity! How far will one go for youth and beauty? This story speaks to so much of today’s beauty woes. The over-the-top obsession with remaining young. I like how it seamlessly slipped into the horror realm. I’ll never look at my jar of moisturizer the same!

The audiobook is read by Suzy Jackson who has the perfect voice for the main character. She is also easily understood at faster speeds.

Thank you NetGalley, RB Media, and author EK Sathue for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A disturbing, kind of terrifying and weird summer HORROR that had me hooked from the first line!

I was not expecting such a BEAUTIFULLY GRUESOME read! Very CULTISH and cliquish vibes.

Almost 30 year-old Sophia, works at a trendy skincare company, HEBE, and gets the opportunity to slip into the ‘In Crowd’ when she’s asked to test a new miracle moisturizer, youthjuice.

Sophia, who suffers from a horrendous and devastating nail-biting and picking habit that wreaks havoc on her hands, requiring her to don gloves 24/7, slathers the cream on her hands one night and wakes up with perfect skin.

As she delves deep into the world of HEBE and its ‘In-Crowd’, Sophia discovers disturbing and murderous secrets. Secrets that she could be willing to keep because Sophia, herself, is hiding many dark secrets of her own….

WOW. AMAZING and raw! Fans of Rachel Harrison and Christina Henry will LOVE this book!

This is described as American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada. I’d say it has a bit of both, but I wouldn’t go into this expecting it to be either. youthjuice examines our incessant obsession with being eternally youthful. It holds up a mirror to show how horrific and ridiculous it all is. youthjuice is disgusting, disturbing, and delightful.


Reading the first few pages immediately had me wanting to know more. Right from the start, you're given a taste of the depravity that will ensue. I was not disappointed. The story got surprisingly dark. I really liked the juxtaposition of the seemingly perfect environment at HEBE and the terrible truth about youthjuice.

The horror elements are slowly introduced in the story in a way that really worked for me. One minute you're following the main character Sophia as she starts her job at HEBE and the next you're taken aback when you learn why she always wears lace gloves. I also really enjoyed how the author tied in references to Elizabeth Bathory and Dorian Gray. These references happen in the very first pages of the book, so I wouldn't consider this a spoiler.
I loved how we’re slowly immersed into the world of HEBE. As the story unravels, we witness the lengths people are willing to go for beauty.

Sophia isn't necessarily likable. In fact, I'd say she's not necessarily someone you want to root for. I still found myself compelled to keep reading. Likable or not, Sophia is an interesting character.

Now, onto the few criticisms I have.
The story moves back and forth in time from current day to Sophia’s adolescent years with her friend Mona. Sometimes, it felt that the flashbacks just interrupted the flow of the current day story; they didn’t always feel necessary. I definitely preferred the current day story to the Mona story line as I found Sophia’s time at HEBE far more compelling.

I would have preferred the Mona story line to be reduced in favor of developing the relationship between Dom and Sophia. I also would have loved more time at HEBE, especially more time with Tree. I felt that Sophia’s reaction to youthjuice’s secret ingredient was a bit disappointing.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, twisted little story. I found that the tone of the book reminded me a bit of Jawbreakers. Those who are familiar with the beauty industry may get an extra kick out of some of the scenes in the book, I know I sure did. I really could go on and on, but I'll stop here. Suffice it to say that I'd recommend this to anyone. Especially if you enjoyed Maeve Fly, Rouge, and/or Natural Beauty.

I think the narrator was the perfect fit for Sophia.

Remember: Beauty is possible.

Thank you to NetGalley, Soho Press, Hell's Hundred, RB Media, Recorded Books, and the author for the audiobook and eARC.

Fun book that reminded me of the show GIRLS mixed with Glossier. Clever and laughs at influencer culture while also looking at it as a guilty pleasure.

This was creepy! I love any type of book about the horrors of the beauty industry and this one delivered. The audio was well done and kept me captivated the entire time.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Many of my hang ups with this book could truly be because of the audiobook version, and I feel that maybe my rating would be higher if I had a physical copy. There are time jumps in the book that do not translate well in the audio, so I felt confused and lost a majority of the time.

The story concept is interesting, but fell a but flat for me. There wasn’t anything new or unique to the plot, and I was left wanting a bit more.

Ultimately, this was not my favorite read, but I do see the appeal for certain audiences.

THE WAY THIS BOOK CAUGHT ME BY COMPLETE SURPRISE! I absolutely loved the satirically snarky funny take on the beauty industry. I LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS BOOK AND I CANT WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON A PHYSICAL COPY!

Thanks so much to Recorded Books for the review ALC!

I had no clue what I was getting into with this book. Everything was WILD in the best way possible. This is a great sarcastic take on the beauty industry in todays day and age, and what people will do to stay young. This was a great read!

This book is like if Bunny by Mona Awad's mean girl clique and Boy Parts by Eliza Clark's narcissistic main caharacter had a baby and that baby went to work in The Devil Wears Prada

This was a fun weird girl book. I thought the main character's inner monologue was the most fun kind of unhinged. The only thing I was hoping for more of was the gross scenes. There was a few really good ones, I just wanted more.

Youthjuice started off very strongly for me, but as it went on, I became less and less interested and more and more annoyed at the main character. It didn't feel like anything new and I honestly felt like I read this before- I've never seen American Psycho, but I do definitely get the Devil Wears Prada vibes. Though it also reminded me of strongly of The Centre with some Ripe vibes. Lots of similarities to Natural Beauty, too. Yes, it should be classified as horror, but I would call it entry level horror.

I felt like maybe Sophia wasn't built out enough as a character to make me totally understand her motivation for doing things. Especially one thing in particular she does that I just couldn't wrap my ahead around. Things felt a little shallow and I felt like I had to listen really, really closely to the audiobook or I'd miss important things that just seemed like small details in the telling.

I did really appreciate the concept of the book- I think there really is a dark underbelly to the beauty industry and the future of beauty companies can be pretty terrifying when you think about it.

As someone who loves a good character-driven book, I think I needed more from the main character (and supporting characters). I know most horror books aren't character-driven, but I at least needed a bit more to fully understand their motivations. I do think this is a good book to listen to, as long as you can stay pretty focused on it.

A story of female presenting superficiality or really the superficiality that society demands. Follow an unreliable narrator in a dual timeline in what is described as “American Psycho meets Devil Wears Prada”. I didn’t really find it as intense or grotesque as American Psycho though. About halfway through the book, I was trying to figure out where the so called body horror came into place. This felt more body horror nonexistent until like the last 5 percent

The author does a good job of telling details, using adjectives to their strength to play to the imaginative mind. Sometimes the thesaurus use was a little bit on the heavy side and came across a little pretentious (don’t say epidermis, you can just say skin). Expect more small detailed narratives that tends to move all over the place than a fully fledged story. Not bad, but I would have preferred a concise and focused story and the story never fully drew me in.

This was like a modern-day Countess of Bathory and the comparisons to American Psycho crossed w/ Devil Wears Prada are right on!
Sophia Bannion is hired as Head of Creative for HEBE, a beauty-brand set to change the market with their newest product, YouthJuice. Sophia is quickly made a believer when she is tasked with trying out the product before the launch, and the results are startling. Sophia has a terrible anxiety-induced habit of biting her nails and her hands have paid the price. Using the YouthJuice only on her hands make them new again. No scars, no chipping of the nails; her hands are new and baby-soft. So what is in the YouthJuice? And where have all HEBE's interns gone?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and RB Digital for this audio e-arc.*

”Youthjuice” is a mix between american psycho and the devil wears prada. it mixes the two influences well and drags you in. I wanted more horror though, maybe I am complaining too much but it didn’t start until more than 25% into the story. But otherwise I had no issues with the characters, i found all of them really interesting and real!

In Today’s society we are so obsessed with skincare, looking the youngest we have ever been! Not a wrinkle in sight! This book came out at the perfect time because it challenges those thoughts and turns it on their head.

You’ll love this if you are a clean girl or into gritty body horror.

This was a compelling thriller about a young girl who works at a beauty company developing an anti aging cream through sinister methods! While I was ultimately disappointed by the ending, it was still an enjoyable read. The narrator had an excellent reading voice!

First of all, thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook! Youthjuice has a fresh story, with touches of Elizabeth Bathory and a pink cover with blood. It's definitely my kind of book!
An interesting and extremely fun story to read, even with its touches of cruelty and dubious morality. the plot itself is not new but remains very interesting, but I really wish the book had gone deeper into its bloody potential.
The protagonist is surprisingly irritating but I kind of loved following her story.

Fresh, modern and a bit like American Psycho. Youthjuice was a fun read that had me fully immersed in the world of skincare and beauty. I love skin care and take it seriously so it was cool to read about it especially in horror. The author created interesting, disturbing characters and the book kept you guessing. It didn't give away much and I enjoyed that because it held my interest.

A bit like American Psycho but not boring or filled with ridiculous amount of filler. This book is perfect for anyone who loves skincare or anyone interested in "cults" or cult mind sets.

Narration was excellent.

This was an interesting story about a beauty company obsessed with youth and looking pretty. As the story goes on you get two time periods from the main character - current day and in the mid to late 2000s and the relationship with her friend. It goes into how she became who she was as an adult and what went into making the newest product from her company.

When they said the book was a combination of Devil Wears Prada and American Psycho, I fully expected the story to have some sort of hierarchy between the characters and a bit more of an obsessive main character. I feel the actual storyline fell short, despite the premise and the strong writing being indicators that there was potential in the novel. I found myself multiple times nodding off during this novel, even though the book’s premise was right up my alley. I really wish I could’ve liked this book more, but the characters were far too drab and the whole story felt like I was listening to a former employee of Goop talk about Pilates and snail mucin.