Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)'s Reviews > Rouge

4.5 stars rounded up

Weird and eerie horror novel about grieving the loss of an emotionally abusive parent, the intersection of the beauty industry and fear of aging, and racist standards of beauty that elevate whiteness over everything else.

The main character is the biracial daughter of a white, French mother obsessed with beauty, skincare, and looking young. She passed that obsession on to her daughter and has died under somewhat strange circumstances. The daughter is drawn into a dark world promising otherworldly beauty and must relive episodes from her past relationship with her mom.

This is strange and creepy in the way this author is so good at delivering. It's an excellent novel threading a lot of thematic depth throughout. Our cultural obsession with looking young, and the mixed feelings that come with loosing a loved one you had a complicated relationship with. Definitely worth a read and the audio narration is great too. I received a audio review copy from Libro.FM, all opinions are my own.