This was a throughly confusing read with an interesting premise. Very well written with great dialogue but the main plot just lacked something…finality.

Natural Beauty is sneaky: a meditation on identity and belonging that gradually shifts into something darker before blooming into full-blown body horror. I read the last half of the novel in something close to a panic. But like, a fun panic.

The novel follows a narrator who eventually takes the name Anna—her Chinese name erased along with her other “imperfections” by her employer at Holistik, a natural health and beauty empire. As a child, Anna was an incredible pianist, eventually ascending to the top of her class before a family tragedy forced her to quit music entirely. Huang, a musician herself, is deeply interested in undermining the idea of natural talent and natural beauty by exposing the labor and sacrifice required to maintain them. Anna’s commitment to her craft prepares her for the obsessive dedication to beauty required by Holistik, a dedication exploited by those in power at the company. No spoilers: the vibes are bad immediately.

I didn’t always love the narrative style of Natural Beauty, but it addresses big ideas about race, class, and the beauty industry in some interesting ways. Be warned that things get quite dark, and gross. Recommended to those who like their horror short with a side of social commentary.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW was this good. A fabulous, funny and often disgusting look at the "goopification" of the world. I can't wait to recommend this to our readers!

This book was horrifying and darkly funny at the same time. I definitely think that eh body horror at the end could push this book into the realm of a horror novel, but I don't know that it really fits there. I loved the literary dark satire bent that this book has and how it targeted the clean beauty industry. I felt like it had a lot of important things to be said about consumerism, the price we pay for "beauty," and what "beauty" really means. I can't say that reading this book was an enjoyable experience because I was nervous the entire time, but I also could NOT put it down.

Wow! I was very impressed with this debut from Ling Ling Huang. A meditation on some very interesting ideas of the purpose of beauty in our society, and whether the pursuit of it is noble in any way. I will be looking for more work from them in the future!

There is something unsettling about nameless narrators and I think that works in this horror-creepy-beauty cult book. A piano protégé with piano-teaching parents she abandons the piano after her parents are debilitated in an accident and needs to find work to support herself. She ends up with a wellness company and creepiness insues. I felt like the book felt very modern and it was paced well.

Pretty good book but not exactly what I was expecting. Well-written and an interesting premise but it took too long to get to the payoff.

Wow wow wow I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would. This is a main character who we can empathize with and root for, even when she’s being objectively awful. This story will resonate with anything who is the child of immigrant parents or has had to be a caretaker for parents. That’s a role I’ll be stepping into soon, and I’m always hesitant to read any sort of plot centered around caretaking, because they’re often pretty bleak and I just don’t want to put myself in the kind of headspace. But this feels realistic, honest, and hopeful even when it’s tumultuous.

Review: Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
Publishing 4/4/23.

Rating: 4/5

Ling Ling Huang’s debut follows a young unnamed musician. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, both parents are piano teachers, and she soon becomes a piano protégé herself. But after an accident leaves them debilitated, she abandons music altogether. When she’s offered a job working for luxury beauty + wellness brand, Holistik, it feels too good to be true. Working at Holistik grants her access to an exclusive world, one that never would have accepted her sans the treatments she starts to undergo. She begins to feel a sense of belonging, but beneath the brand's impeccable image lies something deeply disturbing.

From the moment Holistik is introduced, it’s clear that there’s something more sinister at play than custom supplements and spider-silk lash extensions, but this book is less about the destination than the journey. And what a journey it is. Huang infuses reality with a healthy dose of horror to create a piercing, albeit damning, portrait of the beauty + wellness industry. But beauty and assimilation go hand-in-hand here.

Long before her entry into Holistik, our narrator studied at the Conservatory, another wealthy, predominantly white institution. Her parents fled China during the Cultural Revolution, and it's thanks to an anonymous benefactor that she was able to access this education in the first place.

I found myself connecting with our narrator from the start, and later, feeling protective of her too. Her insecurities and motivations are the driving force for the story. Even as the book progresses into increasingly inconceivable terrain, she grounds the narrative, infusing sense into the most senseless scenarios and forcing the reader to momentarily suspend disbelief.

While I did love this book, the last few chapters feel rushed, and the ending itself is a bit confusing. That said, this is an ambitious debut. Huang navigates heavy themes with the utmost grace and precision. She's definitely an author to watch, and I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Natural Beauty isn’t releasing until April 2023, but Constance Wu is already set to produce a series adaptation, and I can definitely see this story translating well to the screen. As I was reading, I kept picturing something akin to Sleeping Beauty (2011) and Paradise Hills (2019), two films that capture the energy of this book perfectly.

TW: Animal cruelty, body horror, etc.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for the digital ARC!

The way this book talks about "beauty" and living up to society's expectations had be reeling! True horror that can and does happen. Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang was a wild ride.