A sharp look at influencer culture and female empowerment, the story is structured in two timelines: 19 year old Anna and 35 year old Anna. There’s some predictable aspects to the storyline and I feel that’s purposeful; younger Anna’s story is SO familiar and that’s part of what makes the latter half of the book and Anna’s later experiences powerful.

The writing is really beautiful and oddly enough it creates some distance between the character and the reader. This is a book I actually wish were longer because the ending feels abrupt in many ways and the decisions the character makes don’t quite make sense.

I am intrigued by this author and would definitely recommend this book, particularly to my students.

This book ended up being one of my favorite books of 2022. Aesthetica follows Anna through multiple times of her life. We see her as a young woman, fresh out of school and itching to start her life as an influencer. She thinks she has it made when she meets Jake - he has soooo many followers - and he can really set her up for the future lifestyle she deserves. But Instafam isn’t easy and soon Anna realizes just how much of herself she must give up to get those likes and followers.

Aesthetica really explores the dark side of social media and influencer culture. We live in a world now where it’s not unusual for people to share every aspect of their, but how much of that is real verses curated. The scenes that stick with me the most are Anna’s time with her mom in the hospital when she focuses not on her mother’s illness (it almost doesn’t seem real to her), but on how she can frame the narrative and present it to her followers.

Anna isn’t an incredibly likable main character, but I still felt my heart break for her over and over again. Her relationship with her childhood best friend Leah seemed to act as a tether to her past life before she cared about things like follower and like counts. It helped humanize her more to me and by the end I just wanted Anna to find peace and reclaim her self-worth. I wish we had seen more of her life after the procedure.

Thank you to Soho Press and NetGalley for a review copy. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This book reminded me so much of Black Mirror and I'm here for it! It's a reminder of how social media can control our life, and I truly believe that the intrigue this book has given me is enough to recommend this to everyone. Please give this book a chance!

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!

This book served as a strong reminder to me that much of what I see on social media is a filtered representation of what others want us to see. Also. I wanted to hug my mom after reading this.

Aesthetica is a fairly dark book - it wasn't exactly what I expected. A lot happens to Anna, our main character, who is an Instagram influencer. Through various timelines, we follow her while she experiences both success and failure in both her personal life and the world of social media.

This one was peculiar. It took me a bit of time to get back into it after I started it and set it aside for a few weeks.
I won't say that I wasn't interested in what Anna was going though, but I could not even pretend to like her or feel a connection to her.

I do believe that the formatting of the text contributed to some of my bewilderment throughout.

I received this ARC from Soho Press (thank you) in exchange for a honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up for NetGalley & Goodreads

The first half of the book had me hooked and then my interest in it tapered off a lot. I found the ending didn’t really resolve anything and also found Anna’s obsession with that mother and daughter to be a bit cut and dry. It was also weird that they didn’t notice they were being followed. I wished I got to see more of Anna’s reaction to her new face after Aesthetica.
I expected a bit more from this book based on its description, but it wasn’t overall a bad read. I liked the author’s storytelling and voice and the narrative was easily consumable.

I loved this novel - a perfect blend of suspense and moral inquiry regarding the impact of the internet on our conceptions of selfhood. I also interviewed Allie Rowbottom on my podcast, Reading the Room! https://youtu.be/L160CU9iadk

Although this book has an intriguing storyline and themes, it still didn't grab me as I hoped it would. Maybe it's because Anna's world seems so bleak and it takes a while to form sympathy for her character?

Thirty-five-year-old Anna is sitting by a hotel pool, the day before her surgery. This revolutionary procedure called "aesthetica" will reverse all of the previous plastic surgery she's had done while also making her look as old as she really is. As she sits, she recollects her time as an Instagram model and all the abuse, sexualization, harm, and emotional toil that came with it. Her main relationships are with Jake, her manipulative handler; her feminist mother who's fallen on hard times; and her old best friend Leah, who's anorexic. This novel is an intriguing mix of intense/dark situations; blistering commentary on social media, sexism, fame, and women's bodies; and a not-so likable main character. I couldn't warm to Anna--the old or now version. All the plot points and the character relationships seemed choppy--maybe to reflect the rapid pace & superficiality of social media? I couldn't emotionally connect to these truncated narrative beats, and my enjoyment of this novel suffered for it.

Wow. What a scathing indictment of Instagram culture, from the filters and fillers to the scramble for numbers, followers, and validation. Aesthetica made me want to quit this app for good.

On a surface level, this book speaks to how Insta culture has changed over the years–the birth and death of the “influencer,” the back-and-forth shift between polished perfection and natural, the fakery, and the corporate takeover (this app as a storefront).

MC Anna’s story is raw and dark. It’s easy to see how a naive, insecure teenage character could get sucked into the beauty influencer culture, chasing a manufactured body, collaborations, and fake relationships. Unsurprisingly, managers and partners use and abuse Anna. It’s heartbreaking, but I saw it coming.

In case you wondered, Aesthetica is a cosmetic procedure that claims to undo the effects of all previous plastic surgeries. I wanted more of the present timeline when Anna undergoes Aesthetica. This page-turner could have benefitted from another 50-100 pp.

This book was well-written, intriguing, and wild in its harshness. I plan to read Rowbottom’s nonfiction release Jello-Girls soon…

What a wonderful, thoughtful, ORIGINAL, little book. Plus with a gorgeous cover like that, you know I’m picking it up! .

When Anna was 19, she became a super popular Instagram influenced and became caught up in everything that went with it, including the “look.” After going under the knife and having tons of procedures done in her youth, she’s now 35 and having a new treatment done called Aesthetica that erases all the cosmetic work you’ve ever had done. Right before the surgery she’s asked to help take down her abusive ex-boyfriend who was her manager and “made her” who she was.

Needless to say, Anna is working on some DEMONS as she prepares to find herself by seeing her face as it would have been and hopefully in turn, seeing herself spiritually and mentally as she would have been before the trauma of her young adulthood.

Oooh, this book still has me thinking - about obsession with youth, who is Anna’s truest self, would I ever have cosmetic work, why is influencer culture so enticing to us as a society, is getting work done feminist or anti-feminist or does it depend on your attitude about it?

One of my favorite things about this book is how well our author portrayed the seductive nature of social media - dopamine high of refreshing and getting likes, the uptick in followers, the careful caption consideration, the filters, the formulaic influencer approach. I’m still in awe of how raw and cringe-y those parts were.

Like, I’m ready to have a full-on book club discussion about this read. This is Rowbottom’s debut book and man, did she hit it out of the park with this one.

Aesthetica follows Anna, an instagram influencer in the early 2010s, through her move from Houston to LA, her fall into the world of predatory sponsorships and managers, and her obsession with plastic surgery. While the book is ostensibly about the dangers of a misogynistic and predatory world, the author doesn't seem to like women very much. Anna's motivations are totally unclear, making her seem totally vapid and two dimensional. When terrible things happen to her, it seems like it's her fault and she should have known better. When tragic things befall her that are completely beyond her control, it seems like they're levied as a punishment. I don't know if this was a deliberate choice of the author or just poor plot development but it left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks to NetGalley and SoHo Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aesthetica is a novel I was not expecting. I was mentally prepared for more satire or speculative fiction, and instead found a frank, brutal look at influencer culture, drug use, sexual abuse, and maternal loss. It is timely and hard to read.
That doesn’t make it bad, but difficult. It is a mirror to instagram, set not in the future, but the very present. The speculative nature exists in the future where all the plastic surgery and botox can be reversed. It is that promise of return, the promise of an aged face our main character holds onto.
It is a bit Edible Woman, and a bit Fresh, where women are just bodies to be used, by themselves or those gatekeepers to fame and fortune. The all too familiar buzz of the phone, the buzz of likes, and the buzz from the drugs is all blended together to paint a portrait of Dorian Gray in reverse.

Aesthetica is like if Charles Bukowski had written Valley of the Dolls for the influencer age.

Thank you to Soho Press and NetGalley for sending me this book for consideration. All opinions are my own.

I loved this. A great exploration of current influencer culture and a gripping story. I loved the protagonist, she was interesting and nuanced and empathetic. Stunning work.

A former influencer decides to undergo a controversial new surgery to undo her years of filler and plastic surgery in search of rebirth and regain her lose of innocence. In her younger years, Anna escapes her tumultuous home life to Los Angeles to become an influencer and is plucked from obscurity by a man, Jake, who becomes her manager and boyfriend. An exploitative relation develops as she’s pressured into plastic surgery, party, and drugs. A compassionate and page-turning exploration around body image and the cost of becoming desirable online. How can you achieve self-actualization while trying to market your own body?

Using alternating timelines, Aesthetica tells the story of the making of a 19-year-old social media star, via progressively more extreme cosmetic enhancements alongside the story of her eventual unmaking at age 35 using an experimental surgery meant to undo her attempts to prevent aging. Meanwhile, she reckons with her own exploitation and her complicated feelings about the choices of the women closest to her. It’s a dark, fast read: you’ll finish it in a day but be thinking about it long after. I will recommend to readers of Jessamin Chan’s The School for Good Mothers and Caitlin Barasch’s A Novel Obsession.
Thank you to Soho Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy.

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom is a dual timeline novel that follows the burgeoning career of a 19 year old influencer and her fifteen years later, when she is about to undergo a procedure that is purported to reverse all her prior plastic surgeries. It's a fascinating deep dive into the Instagram influencer lifestyle. Influencers are supposed to look perfect and have enviable lifestyles that seem effortless. Though the narrator seems self-assured and views herself as mature and gaming the system, she falls prey to ways to "enhance" her looks to become more marketable. It was a disturbing look into a world of money and influence that preys on girls with little to no repercussions. It was hard for me to connect with the main character, but the story moves swiftly and kept my attention. I listened to the audiobook which was perfectly narrated by Chelsea Stephens.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook/audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I found this to be a good debut. The writing was unique and the dark topics covered were handled with care and empathy toward the MC. It was punchy and edgy while also feeling hazy and fractured, like the state of the MC herself. It's a raw take on influencer culture, power, mental health, beauty standards, and family.

Both compelling and thought-provoking, I found myself reflecting often as I read. Most, if not all, of us have gotten caught up in how many likes or comments we get, no matter what our capacity is on Instagram. It can feel like a game or a puzzle trying to beat or solve the algorithm. It's easy to forget how high the stakes can be and how real, and sometimes dire, the consequences can be. This story reminds us of those realities. The memoir/inner dialogue and dual timeline format made it feel personal and intimate. As a reader you feel Anna's excitement as she rises, exposure when she 'makes it,' and struggle to cope with her life after.

She felt like a modern day Evelyn Hugo in some respects. Anna's desire for power and use of her beauty to get it, overestimation of control she'd have, and underestimation of what she'd sacrifice all reminded me Evelyn's journey.

I also liked that the ending was left fairly open and felt hopeful, but not necessarily happy -- which would've felt too easy. It left me wanting a sequel. You'll have to read it to see what I mean. ;)

The book wasn't without it's flaws, though. The description focuses on the interview request and the procedure but I found them to be quite minor aspects of the book and question how much they were really needed to tell the story. I also wished for more backstory on her relationships with her mom and her friend - both felt a little underdeveloped. I would've accepted a longer book to have more of those aspects. It also felt a bit all over the place at times.

I loved the concept of this book. As someone who was living in LA in 2017 and very into Instagram at the time, I could certainly relate to the main character (at first). Interesting concept but ultimately predictable and unsatisfying.

Aesthetica is told in alternating timelines; one following a 19 year old Anna and the lengths she will go to build her Instagram following, and the other, in the near future as a 35 year old women preparing for a risky procedure to undue all of the plastic surgery she had earlier in her life. This book shines a light on the toxicity of influencer culture and anticipates an even scarier future.

I found both timelines in this story to be incredibly intriguing. In the way that I was slightly horrified but also couldn't look away. This book has very painful themes as we see Anna being taken advantage of and exploited by a man who claims he will help her. We're then faced with the impact of the trauma she experienced as she wanders around in a drug induced stupor in various settings both before and after surgery. I felt the urge to cringe multiple times while reading. But I also had to acknowledge that this is my generation: the generation focused on collecting likes and followers, instagram filters and botox, permanent makeup, etc. We've all become so distorted in our thinking and our view of ourselves and others. Anna may seem unlikable to many readers but she is many of us.

I also absolutely loved Rowbottom's writing. However, I would have liked more of this story. I wanted a hundred more pages to dive deeper into the "metoo" component or the grief that Anna experiences. The last chapter is really fascinating and I would have really enjoyed more of this story-line.

Overall, I am glad I got to read this story and I would definitely recommend it to others. I am eager to read more from this author in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Soho Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.