Skip to main content

Rouge by Mona Awad (Review #251)

 

"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."

Review:
Alright this one, was a hard one to digest. I wanted to like it more than I did, if I'm honest. This is a fever dream reimagining (I guess?) of Snow White, but it's through the lense of grief, but also a critique of beauty standards, and the beauty industry, but also kind of like Alice in Wonderland, where we're falling down a rabbit hole (or maybe a k-hole, I don't know), and there's also an enchanted mirror (the looking glass?). I'm spinning now, just trying to explain it.



I think the first half started off really strong. We have the sudden death of her mother, her unusual obsession with skincare, there's the lady in red and the opulent spa, and there's a handsome mysterious man following us around. The first "treatment" and the affects our FMC experiences immediately following was awesome. It was scary how deeply (one might say cerebrally?) Mirabelle was changed by the treatment, I thought it would be a more gradual escalation but pretty much straight away, she went full looney tunes. It was so interesting to see her lose her mind...



...Then we get to the back half of this. Firstly, her aftereffects after each of her s0-called treatments, got pretty repetitive. It's like the author got out all the crazy in the first go and then lost all imagination for the rest. I got bored a bit, I won't lie. And while I see what we were going for in the end, I liked the execution of this in Bunny (see below), but here... I felt like I didn't get it. I really did not understand the jellyfish part. I got the "reveal" or whatever, that wasn't hard to figure out, but what was it all supposed to mean??? 

The biggest conundrum of this whole story was Tom fucking Cruise. I am so sorry, never in my life did I think I'd be reading a demon person disguised as Tom Cruise trying to seduce(?) a 10-year-old girl. It was just fucking weird. Couldn't Mona choose like a nondescript vague idea of Prince Charming for this part? I really could not focus on anything other than "I'm supposed to be imagining Tom Cruise right now."

IT'S SO WEIRD!!!!! THIS NOT WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID I WANTED A BOOK TO SCARE ME!!!!!!

Overall, I will say this story did have a lot going for it, and despite it's kookiness, I did enjoy it. I really wish we had more Hud Hudson if I'm completely honest, he turned out to be a much more interesting character than I originally thought! Anyways, let me know your own thoughts and feels down below in the comments, and I'll catch ya on the next one!


Want more of Mona Awad? Check out Bunny!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finale by Stephanie Garber (Review #236)

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE CARAVAL TRILOGY, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 3. CHECK OUT  CARAVAL  FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1, AND LEGENDARY FOR BOOK 2! "It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist. With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him. Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything. Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…" Review: This final installment I was scared to start, I won’t lie. From bei...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (Review #20)

"Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong." Review: This is a book you simply have to read. It's probably a part of my top ten favorite books list. Mara is this girl who just lost her friends and boyfriend in a terrible, but also peculiar, accident and now people who tick her off - and who she's attracted to (cough-cough-Noah-cough-cough) - are in her powerful line of fire... It's a tantalizing tale that will have you (for a lack of a better cliche) gripping the edge of your seat!!
Post a Comment
Read more

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian (Review #29)

"Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister. Kate is tired of the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person - her ex-best friend - and she's ready to make her pay. Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him. Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they've each had a taste." Review: This book was FAN-TAS-TIC!! I am not for the petty popular girl books, and this is definitely not one of those books. The revenge you wish you got on the person who double-crossed you is finally let loose in one of the best and most inventive ways, and the ending left me jaw-dropped. This is a book everyone should have on their shelf.
Post a Comment
Read more