Just finished this book and I honestly can’t decide if I liked it or not. The premise is new and almost Brett Easton Ellis for the instagram age as told by a woman. The book is pretty subversive and follows a woman at two stages of her life. Early on she’s trying to become an instagram influencer. She’s plumping and implanting and sculpting to become what the camera and fans want. She also meets a guy named jake who becomes her boyfriend/manager and falls into some dark parties and circumstances while he “takes care” of her. Present day She decides to go through a cosmetic procedure to undo all the plastic. The book is definitely a bit stream of thought and a lot of times I wasn’t totally sure what was happening. But i also generally like sort of experimental and dark types of books like this one. 3.5/4 ish stars

The feeling you get when your first book of the month is a MASSIVE HIT and you had no expectations.

Woah. Allie Rowbottom you made magic with this your debut novel. It had me on the edge of my seat and made me all kinds of uncomfortable. This is not a thriller folks. I’d say its lit fiction about growing up in the Instagram age.

The book follows an an unnamed narrator at two time periods in her life.

At 19, she was an Instagram celebrity focused on likes and hearts and the perfect look. The book alternates between the Instagram celebrity years and her life at 35. This part of the book made me so nervous watching her disassemble herself to reflect a perfect ideal to please her boyfriend/ “manager” and to obtain what she thinks is her “power.”

At 35, she’s staying at a Barbie themed hotel and works selling makeup and anti-aging products at the “black and white store.” She’s at the hotel getting ready to undergo the high-risk, elective surgery Aesthetica™, which will restore her face into a normal 35-year-old face with out the filers, implants, botox, and other cosmetic procedures. She wants to find her true self. But can she with all that has been done? On top of that, the Vanity Fair keeps calling to get her to help with an expose on her former boyfriend/manager who has rebranded himself as a family man.

Lots of topics here — mothers and daughters; friendships; power; metoo.

At bottom this all put me on edge. Raising a confident, independent girl in today’s society is so difficult.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 5

Thank you @netgalley and @sohopress for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a pretty dark read, but it's got such great messaging about the internal and external harm that social media obsession can have. It dives into influencer culture, abusive relationships, mother-daughter bonds, and the importance of friendship. I liked the way the author wrote.

I started this book on my lunch break and I HATED the first page. I didn't like the writing style, I didn't like the stress on looks, but I said I would give myself a chapter to get into it. Next thing I know, I put off doing work to finish this book. I mostly choose books based on the cover. So I went into this one not knowing the plot and it was fully focused on looks and body image, which threw me off at the beginning. I grew to like the writing style, or maybe it was just a bad first impression, but it grew on me. Which is interesting because this book is all about that good first impression on instagram. I liked the different POVs, it added depth to the story. I also really liked how things weren't gone into full details. And by that I mean, you never really got deep into Josh and Anna's relationship, they had sex, he paid for things, the end. It was just glossing over things, a little more character development and getting into their thoughts and feelings may have added to the book, but I also appreciate that they didn't do that because it could have become a really heavy book very quickly with that added layer. Overall I really enjoyed this one, it is super relevant, and I'm excited to read more by this author in the future.

📚: Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom (@allierowbottom)
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on Goodreads)

Halfway through this book, I texted my best friends and told them that one day, my daughter would read this book in an English class and come home saying, “Mom, your generation was really messed up.”

Meet Anna, who foregoes college and moves to Los Angeles at 18 with dreams of being the next big thing on Instagram. Nips, tucks, and trauma later in her 30s (roughly the year 2032, I think), she decides to try a risky procedure - Aesthetica - to undo all of the plastic of her past and be her true self.

At the core of this lays a story of misdefined female empowerment, and heavy social commentary about today’s social media-obsessed culture. (Yes, the irony doesn’t escape me that I’m posting this review on Instagram in 2022.) I consider this book the - very dark - underbelly of what was the light and fluff of The Hills culture of my twenties.

Overall, an engaging, quick read (almost #inonesitting) - that leaves the reader just feeling rather ick by the end. (This is not a feel good read - I likely need an upbeat read next to counter this one.)

A big thanks to Soho Press for providing a digital ARC via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TW: rape, sexual assault

Confession: Most of this novel tells a very predictable story that remixes current cultural discussions, from Kim Kardashian's manifactured body to structural abuse à la Harvey Weinstein on to female enablers like Ghislaine Maxwell, but there is a very, very interesting discussion about female empowerment wrapped up in this, and I was intrigued. In the first storyline, 19-year-old narrator and protagonist Anna Wrey emancipates herself from her old-school feminist mother and dives into neo-feminism: She wants to become Insta-famous, and she is willing to manipulate her looks accordingly, because, you know, her body, her choice. As she is naive and attention-hungry, she gets trapped by a ruthless manager/pimp. After ca. 25%, an alternating storyline sets in, in which 35-year-old Anna, who left her Insta-life behind and is now a worker at Sephora, tries to undo her surgeries and instead aims to look like a woman her age: This procedure is the title-giving, life-threatening Aesthetica. If my math is correct, this part of the story takes place in 2033, so to envision a procedure like that might be prophetic.

The silly young woman desperate for likes is not all that interesting, the point here is that Rowbottom questions whether some renditions of so-called female empowerment aren't just re-packaged capitalist ads, rooted in misogyny - and what it means if women decide to take part in this game. And it's not that her novel isn't sex positive: There is a scene in which she shows Anna wanting to join a sex party, and wanting to join a threesome - this is here exploring her sexuality, being held back by her (male!) manager. But more and more, Anna plays into a sexualization that is imposed on her, trying to look the Insta-model part, giving up on her agency - and mostly, she decides to do that. Welcome to the heart of a messy discussion that needs to be had.

The complexity is enhanced by juxtaposing Anna with her old-school feminist mother, a woman she first looks down upon because, as Anna figures, she does not understand that it is fun to play the role social media expects a woman to play if she wants to be successful: Fame, money, parties are waiting as a prize. Turns out: It's not that fun. And then there's Anna's friend Leah who has moved to Australia, and who as a runner struggles with her body image in different ways. Social media, the societal gaze and dysphoria are major themes here.

So I read the book almost in one sitting, because it's a page turner and intelligently conceived - on an aesthteic level (haha, see what I did there?! sorry), it might not be super-innovative, but it is certainly well written with a trance-like atmosphere that smartly mirrors the many, many drugs consumed, and it should get some attention from the Women's Prize and the Tournament of Books.

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom takes a sharp look at the dark side of social media.

While Anna waits to go under the knife to reverse all of her past cosmetic procedures, she reflects on her short stint as a social media influencer. Anna is 35 and works at a cosmetics store, but when she was 19, she moved to LA to try to make a name for herself. She didn’t expect the industry to use her and throw her out just as quickly.

The surgery Anna’s waiting to receive is called Aesthetica. In a single procedure, her surgeon will reverse all her Botox, fillers, nose jobs, everything. The surgery is high-risk, and there are no guarantees she will survive it.

Disillusioned with the beauty world, Anna wants to revert to her true self and believes this procedure will set her on that path.

This literary fiction book has beautiful and evocative writing. The author discusses the compulsion to chase more likes, followers, and brand deals when Instagram was at its peak. It explores societal beauty standards, feminine rage, and power imbalances.

It would have been easy for the author to have a critical view of Anna. Fortunately, she approached her with sensitivity and nuance.

This book is an incredible debut, and I cannot wait to see what else she has in store.

Thank you to Soho Press for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Literary Fiction

The story is about social media and how it influences a person’s life when he decides to become an influencer with a big following. This is about living a double life. A life that one will demonstrate to his followers and his actual life. What happens when a person is lost between their real identity and a fake identity? This is the story that Aesthetica tries to tell.

At 18 years old, Anna moves to Los Angeles, where she tries to grow a big following on Instagram. This kind of glamorous lifestyle leads to lots of plastic surgery. Once in her 30s, Anna decides to regain her true self and undo all the cosmetic procedures that she has done on herself. But will that work? What are the consequences? That you have to read.

The writing style was really good, and the subject of the story is something very relevant. It is really sad to see how many celebrities lose themselves and just live a life that depends on the number of clicks and views. And the most pitiful thing is the people who follow these celebrities and try to copy them. This story tells a lot about that, and it is also about a person who tries to regain his identity after many years of being lost over insignificant things. The story is quite entertaining, but it does come with several trigger warnings, so be careful.

Many thanks to the publisher, Soho Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.

Read in one sitting. A modern cautionary tale brought skillfully to life by Allie Rowbottom. Anna a simple name for a complicated girl, striving for the perfect asthetic in the Instagram age. A story of cosmetic surgery, and the struggle to be a feminist in the #metoo era. What happens when you realise you can't fix your soul ? A sharp, take on the evils of social media. @allierowbottom

Rowbottom has a distinct writing style in <i>Aesthetica</i> that will resonate with some, and annoy others (I leaned a little more towards the later). I do think some of the social media commentary is a bit on the nose, but found the depiction of our main lead's hunger for love and validation very real. In particular, the power dynamic between our main lead and her manager felt propulsive and dramatic in a way that kept me reading, even through the overwrought writing and inner monologues. I'm not quite sure how much the idea of Aesthetica (as a procedure) added to the storyline, and vastly preferred the flashbacks to the contemporary timeline.

I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and Soho Press in exchange for an honest review.

The deal: A former influencer looks back on her life the night before undergoing an experimental surgical procedure called Aesthetica™, which will undo all of her previous work and (hopefully) return her to the face she’d have if she aged naturally.
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Is it worth it?: Yeah, this was fucking great. I was expecting cringe city, but it’s well-written, unputdownable, and Rowbottom never does that whole pretension/condescension thing others default to when writing unlikable female protagonists. My Year of Rest and Relaxation this is not.
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Pairs well with: Chelsea Bieker, Melissa Broder, Michelle Zauner
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B+

What a ride this was. That last 25% left me devastated but I couldn’t put it down, couldn’t look away because the writing was so breathtakingly beautiful.

In Aesthetica, we follow out main character, Anna, in different timelines that alternate throughout the novel and ultimately end up blending and braiding together really nicely at the end.

In one timeline, we see 19-year-old Anna fresh off of her move from Houston to LA, away from her mother and their complicated, fraught relationship for the first time, as well as her ascension to Instagram fame as she enters a sort of relationship with a 29-year-old man. This timeline is much juicier, more scandalous, and altogether more plot-driven in a way that I found unputdownable. I was fascinated by the ways that Allie Rowbottom explored power dynamics here, especially in the ways we see Anna creating an illusion of control for herself in her relationship and in her pursuit of perceived “beauty” and status.

In another timeline, we follow a much older Anna who is preparing to undergo Aesthetica, a surgery that will allegedly reverse all of her previous procedures and restore her to her “normal” self. This timeline is a lot more philosophical and meandering, but in these self-reflections, Allie Rowbottom’s writing absolutely shines. She really leans into all of the complicated mess that comes with contending with a past that you’re both somewhat ashamed of and embarrassed by yet also grateful for in certain twisted ways.

This book really surprised me in a lot of ways, and it’s really unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I can’t wait to read more reviews and listen to interviews closer to its release.

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for the e-ARC of this book! Out November 2022.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book before publication and for Allie Rowbottom's generosity in personally emailing me a copy due to formatting issues. 5 stars for DNF as I am unable to comment on the overall quality of the novel. I was super excited to read this book based on the beautiful cover and synopsis. The premise is topical and fascinating. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found it overwritten and longwinded. Perhaps I am the wrong audience for this book.

So happy to have received an ARC for this book—I couldn’t put it down once I picked it up. I read it in just one day.

While there have been a lot of novels that approach influencer culture (and I’m sure many more to come), most take on a satirical or comedic approach that laughs at anyone who participates in social media. (Of course, there are very few of us who don’t participate in any social media so who are we really laughing at?)

Rowbottom’s debut will certainly enter the sad girl literary canon (I would be surprised to not see comparisons to Moshfegh or Brodeur) but I really felt that she built an empathetic character who, while not necessarily relatable or likeable, was real. I felt for the main character and understood how she ended up in her situation. It’s a really clever look at influencer culture and what it means for… everyone. Even the observers.

What a wonderful and confronting debut novel.

Aesthetica follows the story of a 35 years old woman who used to be a celebrity on social media. After multiple surgeries through her life, she decides to go on with the Aesthetica procedure, a surgery that will supposedly bring her back to her natural self. The night before her appointment, she has to face the darkest memories from her last decades.

This novel is absolutely brilliant, it's confronting and extremely addictive. It truly depicts the realities of social medias and how it affects us in the 21t century. This is the kind of novel that will make you sit down and wonder while having to process what you just read. Even though this is fiction, it can be truly scary to read it under this perspective.

I definitely recommend this novel, what a gem.

Crazy Ride and I loved every minute of it!
A debut novel for Allie Rowbottom where we meet an unnamed woman (you can call her "Babe" ) who is about to have a procedure called AESTHETICA.

She flashes back to her late teen years in 2010 when she became an instagram influencer, moved to LA and entered the world of drugs, booze, botox and more. The surgery she has planned now at 35 is a reversal to bring her skin/face back to what is should be at her age. She is counting the minutes when she gets a call and an opportunity to take down her former boyfriend/manager who was very much involved in the poor choices she made. This novel was fast moving and reminded me of American Psycho! If you like cultural commentary, love an instagram influencer (bookstagram!) or just want to support a new and amazing debut author, Aesthetica is for you!
#soho #netgalley #Aesthetica #allierowbottom

"Every mirror is an illusion. The only one I want is the one my mother offered, a vision of myself through her eyes."

Aesthetica is disturbing, not because it's unrealistic but instead because of how real it is. Rowbottom obviously has thorough understanding of influencer culture, beauty standards, and the damaging pulse of social media obsession. While the writing isn't brilliant, its compulsively readable, and there are moments that really stand out in it's effectiveness.

The blurb of Aesthetica describing it's focus on the Me Too movement (and taking down a man in power) is not entirely accurate, or at least it's not as much a focus in the novel as it's implied. While there is definitely the painful account of abuse at the hands of powerful men (and especially their exploitation of a young girl hungry for love and acceptance), ultimately what pushes the story forward is the protagonists account of the damage social media, beauty standards, and what the pressures on women will do to someone young and hungry.

I think the discussions on trauma from this sexual exploitation she faces could have been further developed - her survival after sexual abuse is quickly brushed over in its hurry to wrap up the past. There are moments, however, that are painfully realistic (burning showers to peel of a layer off her skin, could a man break in here?). Perhaps too many issues were covered for them all to truly be explored, but this storyline feels too big for it to not have a much larger impact on her choices, and the peace she eventually seeks. Though... I suppose the argument could be made that even as she plans to undo all the surgery, she is still so effected by her body dysmorphia that she believes changing the way she looks again will be what finally helps everything in her life for the better. Whether this is ultimately true, I think, is up to the reader to interpret.

What I found most arresting about Aesthetica was the protagonists relationship with her mother, how her descent into obsession and internet validation (and its painful realities) counteracts her slowly losing her mother, and the love from her she was realises she was ultimately searching for. This felt, to me, the most fleshed out aspect of the novel. Simple moments of the protagonist attempting to use her mothers pain for her own benefit (reaching for her phone - perhaps a photo with her sick mother will get her that sponsorship? Perhaps this will dull the hurt?) were the most painfully affective.
Devastating, but this story was never going to be a happy one.

Was this ever an eye opener! I have long wondered just how these young people manage to make a sensation of themselves and gather a million followers which gives them the ability to contract for commercial endorsement.

Following our protagonist’s venture into this world of selfies, agents, chemical enhancements, drugs, parties and … finally … contracts for endorsements was painful for me as a mother and as a woman. However, the way it was presented, felt absolutely valid.

As a grandmother I grieve for the way children grow up in today’s world, and I wonder how they manage to “find” themselves and make a life for themselves without the parental leadership and guidance which was so prevalent in my world.

This is not an easy book to read nor to review, but it’s a very, VERY important message for adults, at large, and especially for parents.

I highly recommend Aesthetica and am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher, Soho Press, for this ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This compelling and thought-provoking novel peels back the layers of both plastic surgery and stepping over others to get to the top of influencer social media heap, as characterized by the idolized imagery that created Instagram stars.

Step aside selfies, gorgeous backdrops, and glittering moments with other social media stars, and the ugly underbelly and dangerous extremes of what goes into building a social media persona get unflinchingly revealed. Anna at age 19 gets groomed by an unscrupulously talent agent and boyfriend, Jake, to become a high-level Instagram influencer. She’ll do anything and go anywhere to become somebody, and to attract high-paying corporate sponsors. But she mostly goes under the knife of plastic surgeries and to drug-fueled remote parties where she gets both drugged and sexually abused. Anna also abandons her dying Mom and surrogate sister in the process, losing the love and loyalty of both.

Anna, now 35, alone, and reduced to selling anti-aging cosmetics as a retail saleswoman, has decided to undergo high-risk reconstruction surgery, called “Aesthetica” that promises to reverse all the plastic surgeries and return her to looking as if she’s just aged naturally. For Anna, this comes to represent both a physical and spiritual do-over, and worth the risk of death. At the same time, she’s challenged as part of the feminist #Me-Too movement to share her experiences as other women seek to take down Jake, who’s still posting about his now picture-perfect family life on Instagram.

Having run an influencer marketing agency for a decade working with the largest U.S. consumer brands, Allie dynamically and astutely captures what can go into building on a top Instagram influencer persona.

If you want a juicy look at the toxic culture that becoming a social media influencer can entail, this book will both enlighten and terrify with its ringing truths of the devolution and trauma social media ascendancy can bring.

Thank you to Soho Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Well written and timely and dark. With her entire life enmeshed in social media and cosmetic surgery, I just found it too much of a fight to connect to Anna like I wanted to. While I’m sure that was intentional, it made it harder for me to get entirely absorbed in the story.