so amazing that my head hurts from trying to comprehend it all - I love that Mona Awad is so unhinged with her characters and that everything feels like you’re on drugs but also are having your heart ripped out and you don’t know which of those to focus on first. The straddling between fantasy and reality is so carefully curated that I am just in awe of her craft

Belle lives and works in Montreal, Canada and is obsessed with her beauty regimen and with skincare videos featuring Dr. Marva. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts.

This is my second Mona Awad novel and, although I enjoyed it more than All's Well, I'm not sure I'd read another one; it would have to be very intriguing. When I took Netgalley up on its offer of 'Read Now for the first 200 Members', I didn't realize this was classed as Horror, not one of my favourite genres. Then again the horror in this novel is more of a descent into madness with some gothic creepiness thrown in. It had an Alice in Wonderland feel about it even though most other comparisons are with Snow White. The book was very weird, like a train wreck and I couldn't look away. I was amused by Belle's slips of the tongue and misuse of words brought on by her "treatments" and her antics in the dress shop her mother previously owned. At times I actually felt some sympathy for her.

It's taken me a long time to read this as I wasn't able to read a lot of it in one go and some of the chapters are so long and filled with so much narrative that I just had to put it down for a while.

Many readers enjoyed this much more than I did so you should check out some of the other reviews if you're interested in reading it.

TW: I'm sure there are many but the book is already fading from my memory!

My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication: September 12, 2023

This is the third Mona Awad book I’ve read (Bunny and All’s Well being the others) and there is a very distinct style. So it’s safe to say if you liked either of those, you’ll like this one.

The issue I have is pacing: there’s a lot of time spent in the middle, inhabiting the weirdness and uncertainty and vague supernatural elements. And then the resolution comes quick and doesn’t fully explain wtf was happening.

It’s a really interesting idea, and a great satirical critique of beauty culture. Kind of Death Becomes Her meets Barbara Bourland. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Mona Awad and her work have been a lighthouse for me in the sea of “literary fiction” since the moment I finished “Bunny” in March 2020. No contemporary horror author has the same finesse in manipulation of the narrative voice. No one floats in and out of surrealism the way she does. No one writes envy and insecurity the way she does, grounded so well in humanity. Imagine my surprise seeing that almost none of these qualities carry into her latest release.

“Rouge” features a classic Awad-ian protagonist: alone, envious of those around her, and exceedingly insecure. When her mother dies unexpectedly, our dispassionate Mirabelle flies out to California only sink right into the dark hillside society linked to her mother’s death. Across nearly 400 pages, we follow her through a series of esthetic treatments stripping her of her natural appearance as well as her sense of self. Unfortunately, what’s intended to be a slow progression into Magnificence (Madness?) is a poorly paced trudge through a convoluted and unsubtle narrative, lacking intrigue entirely until the final two parts.

No one is as disappointed as me! Unfortunately, there are just too many moving parts. The mother-daughter relationship is, by far, the most (and only?) well-executed part of the novel. The flashbacks are compelling, but ultimately too brief and spread too far apart to pack enough of a punch. The Egyptian mythology is left out to dry, consistently mentioned but never afforded any real responsibility within the story. The commentary is plain as day, which I really would not have expected from her. There is an abundance of characters in the present day timeline who are given no individual purpose. I would call them puppets but, for the life of me, I cannot figure out whose hand is making Hud Hudson move and to what end??? What was he made for???

None of this would be so bad if only our first person narrator was as complex and interesting as a Miranda or a Samantha. But Mirabelle’s voice is desperately designless. She repeats the same ideas over and over and over for hundreds of pages. She, in present day, does not feel like a real person with a history. Further, her neuroses make it such that there is no stark contrast between reality and the fantastic realm of Rouge. It feels as though we’re underwater from beginning to end, dampening every potential climax or thrill we needed to hang onto the story. Despite all this, there are, of course, small golden moments. Noelle’s final words brought me to tears. Belle’s childhood is beautifully grounded in authentic feelings of isolation.

Overall, I’m sadly disappointed. Mona Awad is always polarizing, it’s just unfortunate I had to be on this side of the coin. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

After reading Bunny my expectations were high. The first few chapters of this I just flew through, the writing was amazing and I was intrigued by a lot of the themes of beauty and performance of it. The rest of the book just did not live up to it, I think many of the themes weren't delved into in a way that I haven't seen before and I struggled to finish the rest of the 2/3.

I’m pretty vocal about my dislike for Bunny—I thought the premise was solid but the narrative voice annoyed me to no end. So, I surprised myself by buying the hardcover of her new book immediately but dark fairytales are my siren’s call, I simply can’t resist.

Rouge is that dark horse.

I’m so drawn to and curious about Mona Awad’s mind—her imagination is beautiful, she has such fascinating ideas that she executes in such fun and unnerving ways. The woman takes risks, and I support it.

Awad sets her Snow White-inspired tale in the world of wellness, or rather it’s deep deep underbelly. I love all of the unexpected twists and flourishes she uses here—the man in the mirror, the skincare and YouTube fixations, the mother-daughter relationship that is part protection, part envy, and all toxic. The spa is depicted with just the right amount of creepiness, it definitely kept me guessing. I’m still guessing a bit, to be honest! I thought bouncing back and forth between the present and past was a lovely way to unlock the mystery of what happened to her mother, and what happened to their relationship. There was also a little side-story romance that I really really loved. Unexpectedly endearing.

But, what I loved most about this book was the way Awad plays with language, slips of the tongue, and coherence to illustrate the effects Belle’s “treatments” are having on her. I can’t really describe it, but when you read it you’ll see what I mean, and it was just so cleverly done.

I really enjoyed this one—I suppose my only issues were it felt a bit repetitive at times and as a whole I was left with too many unanswered questions for this to be a five star read for me.

Weird, unnerving, and devoted to the theme. It took me awhile to get into, but when I did I was hooked. I’m glad I gave it a chance.

I've read all of Mona Awad's books and this one is my favourite. It’s intense and intoxicating and it also feels very sultry and sensuous in an off-kilter and slightly disturbing way which, let’s be honest, is exactly what the Awad stans are here for.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Complete Disclosure: This was a DNF for me. I had a really hard time connecting with the writing style which, ultimately, led me to stop reading. I hate doing this but life is too short to read books that don't resonate with you.

“There was never anything to fear. Which is a little disappointing, frankly. Maybe I wanted to be obliterated.”

Belle has always been obsessed with skincare. When her mother suddenly dies, Belle finds herself in California, ruminating on why her mother died. Then a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, claiming to be from the culty spa that her mother was devoted to. Belle ends up falling into the deep end and on the other side of her mother’s–and her own–demons.

It’s 6am when I’m finishing this book, heart aching, eyes watery. I loved Bunny for its weirdness, but I loved Rouge for its absolute devastation of my emotions.

Sometimes skincare is about grief and mourning? Who else was really close to reaching Rouge status this year? Raise hands. If I layer myself with these lotions and mists, can I truly cover up the abyss that floats inside me? Can I NOT face what’s inside me? Belle thinks so, and she covers and covers, trying to hide herself from own grief and guilt.

The heart of this story is the mother-daughter relationship. The envy, anger, hurt, and of course, overall complexities. Like I can’t relate to everything Belle underwent, but goddamn, some of it really went hard. Sometimes that mother-daughter relationship is like: god, I know there is love here, but I am truly at odds with you.

Rouge also brings the critique of the beauty industry and how toxic it can be. Why are we so obsessed with fairness/whiteness/brightening? Belle’s half-Egyptian heritage is never forgotten. Why must we have bouncy, youthful skin? Will retinol truly fix me? At 29, I wonder if I should begin to implement anti-aging into my routine. OH HOW WE ENVY, Belle is told, for her perfect skin.

Word play is so fun in this book. Lonely/lovely; kiss/kill; personal/perilous. Religious tones when talking about skincare too.

tom cruise was really creepy in this book; on brand really???

Besides Tom Cruise, the men in this book were truly endearing. Something about them made me hurt. Especially Tad. I went insane reading about Belle and Hud Hudson. I didn’t expect a love story here but that, too, made me ache. Thanks for making me cry Mona, xoxo, bunny ily.

Also, finally, thank you to NetGalley for the arc

“There was never anything to fear. Which is a little disappointing, frankly. Maybe I wanted to be obliterated.”

Belle has always been obsessed with skincare. When her mother suddenly dies, Belle finds herself in California, ruminating on why her mother died. Then a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, claiming to be from the culty spa that her mother was devoted to. Belle ends up falling into the deep end and on the other side of her mother’s–and her own–demons.

It’s 6am when I’m finishing this book, heart aching, eyes watery. I loved Bunny for its weirdness, but I loved Rouge for its absolute devastation of my emotions.

Sometimes skincare is about grief and mourning? Who else was really close to reaching Rouge status this year? Raise hands. If I layer myself with these lotions and mists, can I truly cover up the abyss that floats inside me? Can I NOT face what’s inside me? Belle thinks so, and she covers and covers, trying to hide herself from own grief and guilt.

The heart of this story is the mother-daughter relationship. The envy, anger, hurt, and of course, overall complexities. Like I can’t relate to everything Belle underwent, but goddamn, some of it really went hard. Sometimes that mother-daughter relationship is like: god, I know there is love here, but I am truly at odds with you.

Rouge also brings the critique of the beauty industry and how toxic it can be. Why are we so obsessed with fairness/whiteness/brightening? Belle’s half-Egyptian heritage is never forgotten. Why must we have bouncy, youthful skin? Will retinol truly fix me? At 29, I wonder if I should begin to implement anti-aging into my routine. OH HOW WE ENVY, Belle is told, for her perfect skin.

Word play is so fun in this book. Lonely/lovely; kiss/kill; personal/perilous. Religious tones when talking about skincare too.

tom cruise was really creepy in this book; on brand really???

Besides Tom Cruise, the men in this book were truly endearing. Something about them made me hurt. Especially Tad. I went insane reading about Belle and Hud Hudson. I didn’t expect a love story here but that, too, made me ache. Thanks for making me cry Mona, xoxo, bunny ily.

Also, finally, thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

What can be said about a Mona Awad book? Expect the unexpected? Be prepared for confusion? Have absolutely zero expectations, and don’t think you’re so smart nothing will get past you? All of the above. Mona Awad has the uncanny ability to tell a story so deeply meshed in metaphors that the reader can only hang on tight and wait for the ride to come to a standstill. Rouge is no different.
With Rouge, we get a sense of how the beauty industry is doing it’s absolute worst against anyone and everyone who’s willing to doubt themselves even for a second.
As the reader, I’m out here screaming at the character to turn away, don’t go down that hallway, GO BACK! So it felt like a mix of an indie film, a documentary, and a slasher flick.
All in all, I feel like it was a solid 3.5 star read, because it was a bit hard for me to understand at times. I’m not always great with metaphors.

Rouge, by Mona Awad

Mona Awad has returned with Rouge a follow up from her acclaimed novel Bunny Mona sets to pick up where she left off by telling surreal stories with dark underpinnings cloaked in metaphors. Rouge seeks to pull back the curtain on the beauty industry and how it preys on and consumes its customers. Cosmetically lifting up one’s confidence all the while poisoning you with self doubt and loathing.

Conceptually I enjoy this novel, however, because of the overuse of metaphors layered upon further metaphor, I found it at times confusing and cumbersome. It is also possible that I was just not in the right frame of mind to be reading such a novel.

As one reviewer stated, I too, was all at once “intrigued, perplexed and mesmerized.”

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my digital copy of this novel to read and review.

Following her mother's mysterious death, Belle slowly becomes entranced by a cult-like spa, trying to find answers. With glimpses of envy, grief, humour and horror, this novel takes you into a surreal and intriguing path of discovery.

The novel is filled with a depth and mysteriousness that I had yet to experience. I found that on the surface, the novel was wonderfully told, but dig deeper into the meanings found within and it goes beyond profound. It was definitely a book a may not have picked up without knowing about the author's previous works and other reader's accolades. This was my first Mona Awad novel and I enjoyed the experience. I will definitely be picking up more of her work.

This was my second Mona Awad book after reading and loving Bunny, and this didn't disappoint. Like with Bunny, Awad's writing style in Rouge requires a bit more focus for me to read than most other books, which isn't a bad thing but somewhat contributed to how quickly I was able to get into this book. Awad's commentary on the beauty/skincare industry, beauty "influencers", and the way social media has affected women's relationship with beauty standards was genius and hit very close to home. This book is a fever dream, at many points it will have you wondering what is reality. The ending left me satisfied and craving more of Mona Awad's words, and so I will be reading All's Well and probably re-reading Bunny to fill that void.
I will be recommending this title to customers who are fans of whimsical literary fiction, magical realism, and female protagonists descending into madness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Rouge is a horror retelling of Snow White using women’s relationship with the beauty industry as the main focus. How far will one go to achieve beauty and youth - and at what point does it become obsession.

This was an extremely entertaining, thought-provoking read that I couldn’t put down. I can’t wait for Awad’s next book to grace my shelf.

I have not been able to read this one yet, however, I will be doing so in December! Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC I am so excited for Rouge by Mona Awad.

What are you willing to sacrifice for beauty?

True to Mona’s style of writing in ‘Bunny’… the reader is led along a dark, strange road. The reader is often intrigued, perplexed and mesmerized. A mother-daughter relationship and dynamic and a struggle for beauty and youth…
I enjoyed this, but I was more often confused and feeling a sense of wonder.
I wanted more thrill, and yearned for clarity.

I enjoyed Bunny. I quite liked it even. I was enthralled with the writing style, the prose, the story telling- but this? This was… a masterpiece. I could not put it down. This was an absolutely brilliant work of fiction and has rocketed Mona Awad up to one of my favourite authors of all time.

I never know what’s happening in Mona Awad’s books but I’m here for the vibes. Still not sure she can ever top Bunny, but this was still trippy and fabulous.

Some books aren't meant for certain people and this was one of them for me. I found the plot to be very slow moving and just couldn't make myself care enough about Belle and what was going to happen to her. Perhaps if it was shorter or there was less about her daily skin regiment (I know that is part of the point of the story and points out the unhealthy hold the beauty industry has on society but do we need to know the whole process every time?) it may have been more enjoyable for me.