This was a fun story. Pretty main stream when it came to the body horror. It was unsettling and made me squirm but not to the point of my lunch coming back up. The dialogue around beauty standards and beauty marketing was great. If I had had the physical copy, I would have been underlining and making notes in the margins like crazy. The characters were ridiculous in their pursuit of beauty but not unbelievable. I also appreciated the ending.

Holy body horror! The cover was what originally grabbed my attention. It’s somehow telling and gory in its simplicity. Youthjuice is a satirical it girl story slathered in some killer youth seeking skincare. This story was described as an “American Psycho”, meets “The Devil Wears Prada”, to which I can certainly agree to certain similarities. I also felt it had some subtle nods to “The Heathers” and “Death Becomes Her”. There is definitely a dash of well veiled dark humor. EK Sathue writes with a lyrical prose, full of haunting metaphors, idioms, and disturbingly descriptive verbal imaging.

The story starts out introducing us to Sophia Bannon, a seemingly bland, yet anxious, almost 30 year old woman, who hasn’t quite found her place in the world. Easily overlooked, and average, Sophia has worked as a barista for the past 8 years. She has a severe manic habit of biting and ripping off the skin and nails of her hands, which she keeps hidden in gloves. A sign she’s unable to stop the compulsion, and not meeting the standards of conventional beauty, leaves her embarrassed of the results all the same. Living with her wealthy best friend, Dom, a beauty blogger with a penchant for abusing recreational drugs. The two seem to work as a sort of crutch for each other.

Then Sophia gets hired at HEBE, a luxury beauty and wellness company, where she gets her first taste at being a “somebody”. Sophia is asked by her boss and mentor, Tree Whitestone, to try a new moisturizer and keep a record of her experience. This is where the story truly starts to take you for a ride. While not all out gory, there are definitely scenes that made me absolutely squirm in discomfort.

With flashbacks to her teenage years with her best friend, Mona, we are able to see where things originally started to go sideways for our FMC. Creating an insight into where a hidden inner rage and depravity were likely born.

Such horrific descriptive hallucinations beg the question, could this be a side effect of a gruesome secret ingredient? Or perhaps an inside into the mind of a psychopath? This story was absolutely twisted, and I was here for it. Every time I’d pause for an interlude it was always in the back of my mind like an itch I was dying to scratch. I was properly enthralled and entertained until the end.

The audiobook was narrated by Suzy Jackson, who did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life. Her shift in the different characters cadences was easy to distinguish and follow.

My only true criticism of the audiobook is that it failed to properly flow in some areas. An overlong pause that makes you wonder if you accidentally hit pause, a less than seamless jumping from one timeline to the next within the same chapter. Nothing a little editing can’t fix.

A special thanks to @Netgalley and @RBmedia for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Look. Don’t let your publishers describe your book as “American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada” unless you know it can live up to the cult classic hype. Otherwise, you’re fighting a quickly lost battle. 


Within the first chapter, this book felt familiar for an entirely different reason. The content comp to Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang is so evident. I feel like the author either read Natural Beauty and forgot where her inspiration came from when writing youthjuice, or read Natural Beauty post-writing youthjuice and was absolutely punching the air because creative coincidence found her second.

Book comparisons aside, there was a lot of opportunity to give more emotional and psychological depth to the characters that was introduced and then kept at a surface level. There are two storylines (past and present) across the entirety of the novel that were hard to see the connection between because our main character, Sophia, had nearly the same character growth arc for both stages of her life.

Anyway, while the book was disappointing, I hope the author continues writing because I see a lot of potential for a unique, well-written story.

The dark side of the beauty industry trope definitely has picked up over the past year and while I tend to enjoy those books, I didn’t love this as much as others I’ve read.

The main issue was that Sophia was so dull. She wanted to be a main character, but she was so boring. Even her high school friend Mona and her roommate appeared to have more of a personality even though you barely learn anything about anyone so who’s to say.

The other issue was that you were only given fragments of what was going on. The Main Character is barely involved in the company so you don’t really learn much about the products.

Also the horror elements were minimal - not a negative just making note if you are expecting graphic or wild descriptions.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the audiobook ARC.

let me preface this by saying this is my first general fiction/adult horror, book of the year.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

So this was a very different style book for me. I found myself very interested in what was going to happen next, constantly. The main character beautifully describes a lot about her feelings throughout the entire book which I found very nice. However, there was a lot of jumping around sometimes, and I did find myself needing to go back to fully comprehend what just happened.

The book starts off slow with what you think is going to be normal female character who is starting a new job and has a psycho boss. As the book progresses you start to see that maybe our heroine is not all she is cracked up to be and maybe there’s a little bit of darkness in there.

You soon find out that there’s a lot of darkness lol. As a person who is all for darkness, I found that part of the heroine a nice contrast to her bubbly personality.

Without spoiling the book, my biggest issue would be that I felt a little unfulfilled at the end. This could be a little more personal preference but I feel like the main character didn’t fully get the resolution that I was hoping for.

The writing was beautiful the story was definitely invigorating, and it was a fun read!

Do you wish for everlasting youth and beauty - maybe you need "youthjuice". This book is the story of the beauty industry gone wrong. I listened to this as an audio book and really enjoyed the narration by Suzy Jackson who really made me feel like I was listening to Sophia tell me her story. Horror is not a genre I read often but I would describe this more of a light horror so don't let this cause you to shy away from reading this book.

This was a propulsive novel that satirizes wellness culture. American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada is such a perfect comp, especially when you sprinkle in a little bit of Elizabeth Bathory

youthjuice follows Sophia, a young woman starting an exclusive position as a copywriter at HEBE, an NYC-based wellness company, working under the charismatic and powerful CEO, Tree Whitestone. Over time, she uncovers the company's secret behind their anti-aging moisturizer, which, if you've seen the cover of the book, isn't much of a secret to the reader. The tone is angled more as campy and satirical than thrilling or surprising, which works if you don't think too deeply about it.

I keep picking up books like this, knowing full well the idea is more interesting than the execution. It's aptly been compared to Natural Beauty and Rouge and doesn't seem to offer anything new to the conversation. If you haven't already been exhausted by the vampiric metaphor of the beauty and wellness industry, you might enjoy it. If you have, you might ask yourself questions like: Who sees their boss in a bathtub of blood and says, "Is there room for two?" and How were these people thinking of mass-producing a product that literally requires all the blood of an intern? and How did this woman get away with murdering her roommate and never get discovered? and What is this copywriter to CEO career path? and What is a copywriter anyway?

This was....weird. I finished it, and it was interesting, but not one that I think I'll reflect back on over time.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This is very much a "light horror" if I've ever seen one. I have to say I think this book lacked depth...none of the characters were developed enough for me to have any real feelings about them. Yes, the narrator was doing unspeakable things, as were a lot of people around her...but I never was able to see a deeper version as to why... everything was surface, which may be the commentary the author was going for, but it left me unsatisfied as a reader.

It wasn't too gory, I always shy away from that in my horror, and I can say their aren't many truly detailed moments of visceral description. Overall it kept me coming back to see what happened, but couldn't check all the boxes for me!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The narrator did an amazing job narrating the book. The pacing of the story was good and kept my attention throughout the entire book.

Beauty and aging gracefully are such hot topics. Especially for women who are constantly being told that they have to look a certain way to be considered beautiful. It explores the consequences of taking wanting to stay looking young to an extreme. I definitely recommend that people read this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hell's Hundred and Recorded Books for the ARC!

youthjuice by E.K. Sathue, as boldly proclaimed on the cover, is hailed as the offspring of "American Psycho" and "The Devil Wears Prada." In the current landscape saturated with TikTok microtrends like "glass skin" and the "clean girl" aesthetic, coupled with unrealistic beauty standards, this novel hits uncomfortably close to home. It delves into provocative themes surrounding aging, the relentless pursuit of eternal youth, and the extremes people will go to in order to maintain their beauty. Sathue showcases a knack for storytelling, weaving prose that flows effortlessly and ensnares the reader's attention. The narrative unfolds at a measured pace, immersing readers deeper into the enigmatic world of HEBE and their mysteriously flawless youth serum.

Despite its promising premise, youthjuice suffers from an underdeveloped plot that fails to fully capitalize on its potential. The storyline lacks depth and coherence, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and unresolved threads by the book's conclusion. The characters in youthjuice come across as one-dimensional, lacking the depth needed for readers to forge a meaningful connection or empathize with their struggles and motivations. The protagonist, in particular, felt somewhat lackluster, leaving me eagerly anticipating a moment of unbridled chaos that never quite materialized. The predictability of the plot was disappointing, especially considering the allure of a girlboss teetering on the edge of madness.

Ultimately, youthjuice falls short of fulfilling its ambitious premise. While the concept remains intriguing and the writing captivating, the execution leaves much to be desired, resulting in a somewhat unsatisfying reading experience.

The book was entertaining but not necessarily anything that was shocking or surprising. It was fairly predictable but I still liked the social commentary. I would have classified it as speculative fiction rather than horror. If you read a lot of horror, it likely won't live up to that expectation.

This novel had an interesting premise. The horrors of trending TikTok beauty products being more than just unavailable but outright murder to appear youthful. I mean we all know the fountain of youth is literally the youth…is it wasted on them though? Lol…The writing is incredibly well done and extremely descriptive.

Sophia has landed a job at HEBE skincare/wellness and immediately pushes to fit in. Strict plant-based diets, no alcohol or illicit substances, skincare regimens; Sophia is all in. But she is also hiding from her past. With a need to self-harm, Sophia gets hooked on a new product, Youthjuice, that curbs her need to pick and smooths old scars that are skin deep. She has to have more! However, once she finds out the main ingredient there is no going back. Is she becoming someone else entirely? What about morals, ethics, and previously important relationships?

This story is about the toxicity of this generations need to conform to impossible beauty standards. It is incredibly over the top and in parts downright disgusting. I did enjoy the audio production and thought the narration was superb.

Madame Bovary meets Goop in this new thriller following a young social media marketing artist. After she joins popular cosmetic company Hebe, Sophia finds herself as one of the select few chosen to learn the company's dark secret behind its newest creation, youthjuice.

I wanted to love this book. I saw the cover and read the blurb, thinking it would be a fun horror novel making light of the beauty industry. Instead, I found myself mostly bored as the main character consistently jumped into narrating her past rather than focusing on the horror of youthjuice.

⚠️ Spoilers below:
Honestly, the book probably would have been more entertaining from Tree's perspective - how she came up with the idea to sacrifice interns, how she collected victims, how she convinced her full time employees to follow her like a cult leader, and her devolving mindset in desperation for eternal youth.

There was so much that could have been fleshed out and explored if we followed Tree over Sophia who barely talked about youthjuice at all - the book read more like her fictional memoir than what could have been an interesting horror story about a moisturizer made from literal human blood.

I really wanted to get into this book. However, I just found my mind drifting while listening. I'm not sure if it was a timing an issue, or if it was the book but I found myself listening to several chapters and not remembering a thing that happened because it just wasn't holding my attention. So I had to DNF this one.

** spoiler alert ** 2.5 stars

I didn’t realize this was a horror book and definitely gave off Rosemary's Baby vibes. There were some
deeply unsettling parts but was not scary.

Overall, the description was fantastic but the way the story played out was just okay. The story felt very surface level and I couldn’t get into it. I think we could’ve done without all the flashbacks and dialed more in on HEBE and made it a stronger story.

Some of the flashbacks didn’t make a ton of sense. It felt like she started diving into the characters just to abandon them and the story to go nowhere.

SPOILERS BELOW
My biggest issue with the book- we find out Sophia has committed two murders, no word on if anyone came looking for Dom or how that wrapped up. The backstory with Chase was a dead end so why did it even matter other than to explain why she killed Mona but like why bring up that she was Googling him. So she’s a murder and calls the cops of Tree, just didn’t sit well with me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Another book that I’m struggling to rate 3? 4? The writing is very good, very engaging language, and it was fun to read( listen the audio), so overall the book was enjoyable enough. To mention that the audio narration is really good.
I like kind of sarcastic approach the author took to talk about women’s obsession to look youthful, how much pressure they face, and their desire to remain youthful for whatever cost. The plot was kind of interesting, but kind of predictable.
On other side what I didn’t like, that the characters were not fleshed out enough, even the main character Sophy did not have enough personality. I was not touched by the characters or story. But I believe they’re a lot of women to which this book would appeal.
Even with some kind of gruesome scenes, it’s definitely not a horror book. I think the story has a lot of potential which were not fully released. To mention the book is short. I think it also debut novel, so if the author takes it to enter into horror books niche , it’s a great start. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Firstly, I want to give a huge thank you to Net Galley and SoHo Press for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I went in with very high expectations for this book, the premise sounded extremely intriguing. I enjoyed Suzy Jackson as the narrator for this book.

The book starts out with an advertisement for HEBE, a growing Wellness & Beauty brand and follows Sophia (or, Soph, as Tree, her strange, but extremely powerful and influential's new boss likes to call her) along her journey of self-reflection, acceptance, and discovery in a world of impossible beauty standards, body shaming, and misogyny.

Tree finds out about an event from Sophia's past and finds her to be the perfect employee because of certain goings-on at HEBE. Youthjuice is presented to her to use by Tree, and at first glance, is a miracle cure to any and all physical ailments. As time passes, the side effects of Youthjuice are determined and they are detrimental.

Really, my only complaint about this book is that it jumped around too much. One minute she'd be at a cafe, and the next she'd be in the office. I'd be like, how did we get here? I also thought she had some major issue like she was a werewolf or something by the way her biting her nails in the first scene was. Literally thought she bit off her entire hand.

Overall, this has so much potential to be great and I kept thinking I could totally see this being adapted into a movie.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the audiobook! I enjoyed the idea for this story. I was intrigued for the end. I did struggle with some of the very descriptive and gory pieces. It could just be me and the type of thrillers I mainly get into but this one skeeved me quite a bit.