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A review by xoxobookishgirl
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rep : Chinese-American, Sapphic MC
CW : Sexual assault, racism
💄Discussion of beauty standards
💸Makes fun of what rich people will do for money
🩸Cult vibes
😱Slow-burn horror
"Songs that depicted the country people often told me to return to, but that I had never seen."
"Between the two of them, they appropriate an impressive number of cultures."
What I Loved
1) The writing style was really engaging and helped get me out of a reading slump
2) This feels like a more well developed Rouge by Mona Awad. The writing felt very similar in the like off the cuff comments that are included, but this book definitely worked better. If you are a fan of Mona Awad, you definitely need to pick this up I think you'll love it (also jellyfish are also mentioned in this book which really reminded me of Rouge)!
3) I love how the main character calls out everyone's bullshit in her head such as 'I realise I should thank her for supporting the vague "arts", which in this instance is me'.
4) This style of slow-burn horror worked really well as we kept getting hints of something sinister going on and after every reveal it kept me intrigued for more, even though technically nothing had happened yet.
5) The twist had me SHOCKED I love how everything comes together at the end.
Thank you to Netgalley, Canelo and Ling Ling Huang for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
Rep : Chinese-American, Sapphic MC
CW : Sexual assault, racism
💄Discussion of beauty standards
💸Makes fun of what rich people will do for money
🩸Cult vibes
😱Slow-burn horror
"Songs that depicted the country people often told me to return to, but that I had never seen."
"Between the two of them, they appropriate an impressive number of cultures."
What I Loved
1) The writing style was really engaging and helped get me out of a reading slump
2) This feels like a more well developed Rouge by Mona Awad. The writing felt very similar in the like off the cuff comments that are included, but this book definitely worked better. If you are a fan of Mona Awad, you definitely need to pick this up I think you'll love it (also jellyfish are also mentioned in this book which really reminded me of Rouge)!
3) I love how the main character calls out everyone's bullshit in her head such as 'I realise I should thank her for supporting the vague "arts", which in this instance is me'.
4) This style of slow-burn horror worked really well as we kept getting hints of something sinister going on and after every reveal it kept me intrigued for more, even though technically nothing had happened yet.
5) The twist had me SHOCKED I love how everything comes together at the end.
Thank you to Netgalley, Canelo and Ling Ling Huang for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexual assault