3.75 stars, but rounded up.

While I really enjoyed this, the pacing for the first 60% was very slow for me and some of the build up a bit repetitive. However, by the ending I did feel like sticking with this paid off a bit.

I appreciated the concepts touched on in the story — beauty standards (societal and internal), grief, mother daughter dynamics, colorism, cults, and mental health.

Rouge is a surreal psychological, fever-dream story with a lot going on that is definitely worth a read!

Thank you NetGalley and S&S for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Another book to add to my 'unhinged' bookshelf!

It's always hard to explain weird and campy unhinged books like this one since they leave a feeling of being almost...dizzy? You finish them asking yourself "what was that and why did I love it so much?" lol It all felt like a fun fever dream and I can't stop thinking about it. There's one side character that I need to discuss with everyone once release day is here. lol

That was one of the best books I've read all year. Honestly, I was a little unsure about it for the first 10-15ish% bc even though it's interesting, my investment was low and also bored. Once I moved pass that section, it put the foot on the gas and didn't let up. A unhinged and complex take on the main characters that I didn't even like going through grief, generational trauma, shame, self-hatred and delusion. Beauty giving a false sense of security.

In my opinion, the vibes were a mix of Death Becomes Her, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Witches, AHS: Coven, Wizard of Oz and Love Potion No.9 (the film from 1992). I know that's a lot 😂 but Rogue has a lot campy aspects like the first four and there were elements of the book that remind me of specific things in each media (ex: wardrobe, specific actors, sets, locations, etc.). The descriptions and details created a great atmosphere. The writing had Rouge flowing as its own movie in my head going nonstop without any blanks.

It's definitely one of those books that will get very mixed reviews. I recommend it to those that didn't care for Bunny (like me) and give this one a chance. It's still a weird time but Rouge is better than Bunny. Rogue felt like there was more purpose to the plot and themes.


Thanks to NetGalley and S&S for providing a copy for an honest review.

horror retelling of beauty and the beast focusing on the impossible beauty standards of today as unwillingly passed down from the women that came before us...

this was brilliant before i even started reading it.

i wish i hadn't read all's well before this, because the two are sadly very similar (with nearly identical protagonists, writing styles, and meltdown arcs) and this one is much more interesting to me. instead, i felt pretty irritated by the middle of this book, which was not only a bit repetitive in and of itself but far too reminiscent of that one.

do i feel like it was necessary to make tom cruise and a surfer bro window-washer and a cop character with a romance hero's name major characters? no. but who am i to question whatever was going on here?

mona awad's writing is so, so weird. and if the beauty industry was any less freakish, it wouldn't work. but thankfully we don't have that problem, and the two fit well!

I LOVE Mona's writing! This is another weird, quirky, and entertaining story. It makes you think about the obsession with beauty and aging and what it really costs us.

Mona Awad is back at it again with the books that feel like a fever dream in the most addictive sort of way. With each release she is becoming an instant-read author for me.

In Rouge, Awad dissects the beauty industry and dangerous beauty standards perpetuated to maintain perfection. She explores an obsession with whiteness in the industry and as a reader you can find where personal experience of identity is pulled in with a white mother and Egyptian father. This book tackles grief beautifully as well, and I was very pleasantly surprised with the emotions I was left with by the end - it held a sort of hope of healing.

The sequences in between are unsettling and peak eerie horror. The tone has dry humor and such a distinct voice. It feels like falling down the rabbit hole- like most of her books do, and I had to keep reading to find out what was going on and how it would all resolve.

PS I hope you all enjoy the 'Tom Cruise' of it all

This is a horrifying and alluring novel about a young woman, and her self destructive obsession with beauty standards that stem from her experiences with racism and the overtone of misogyny within the beauty industry.

Her mother has skin that’s “white as snow” and her father is Egyptian. She struggles with not seeing enough representations of non white people within the beauty industry, and how it harms her as a young girl.

Awad’s writing is gripping and plunges you deep into the psyche of the MC as you witness the deeply tumultuous struggle.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC to review!

I think this book is totally worth picking up if you’re a fan of Bunny, or if you just generally love unhinged woman books! As expected from Mona Awad, Rouge took me on a trip, a weird, twisted up fairytale with themes of girlhood and relationships with our mothers and the lens pointed directly at beauty industry, white supremacy, the patriarchy… jellyfish…

For the first half or so I was not super invested but by that point I was so eager to learn what the hell was actually going on I couldn’t stop reading. I’m still not entirely sure I know what was going on but I’m still not entirely sure I know what was going on in Bunny either LOL

3.5 rounded up to 4, I had fun and it was a wild ride. I loved the jellyfish motif. I loved the setting and the vibes. I loved the weird beauty cult in a mansion on the beach.

Belle has lived her whole life trying to match her mother’s beauty, but when her mother mysteriously dies, she’s finally let in on her mother’s secrets and they’re darker than she ever could have imagined.

This book reads like a fever dream - mysterious veiled people in a cliffside spa, red jellyfish in giant tanks, reflections that have minds of their own. And then Tom Cruise shows up. It was fascinating, but I felt removed from the story because of the weirdness. Then I was suddenly moved to tears. This book is strange and creepy, but it's also a really beautiful story of a complicated mother/daughter relationship.

Rouge follows Belle, a skincare and beauty obsessed woman whose mother dies, leaving her having to travel from Montreal to sunny California to settle her mother's affairs. Once she's there, she finds her mother's last days were unsettling and unlike her. On her journey towards trying to figure out what happened to her mother, Belle happens across a strange spa that her mother had become infatuated with before her untimely death.

In its simplest form, Rouge is about the relationship between a mother and a daughter, and how the perseverance for youth, beauty, and whiteness affects this relationship. It's a slow burn and deliciously gothic in its fairytale-esque whimsy. There are some great conversations about the beauty industry and its role in being biracial (we're just brightening our skin, not whitening it) that were handled well, especially alongside the more gothic/dark fairy tale elements.

The story is told in dual timelines, the present and Belle's childhood, and I thought that worked well. Just something to note going into the novel, as I know some readers don't love a dual timeline.

The writing in this is also perfect for its genre. It's a bit purple and a bit chaotic, but in ways that just work alongside the story that's being told.

I do think some parts got a bit repetitive, and there were some plot points that either just didn't work for me or I felt needed a bit more explanation.

That said, this would be a wonderful cold fall evening read. I'll definitely be buying a copy to have on my shelves.

Rogue was my first Mona Awad novel. I have Bunny, but have yet to read it because I heard very iffy things. However, I was excited to receive the ARC for Rogue because the premise sounded excellent. I can honestly say although I found this book trippy and delightfuly strange, I couldn’t put it down. Awad has a very unique writing style that at first I wasn’t sure about, but it works for this story. An occult story with modern and relatable twist was a clever idea and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm a big Mona Awad fan (I just discovered Bunny earlier this year and immediately consumed All's Well afterward), so I was delighted to get an ARC of Rouge.
This was such an intriguing book--I had no idea where it was headed, but I was definitely along for the fever-dream ride. Rouge has more of a fairy tale vibe than her other books, and I found this one darker and more disturbing; Awad does an amazing job with visceral descriptions. This is definitely not a book for everyone (I could see it being rather divisive) and it doesn't quite feel like her other books so I could see some fans thinking "what the heck did I just pick up?" but it worked for me. It left a strong impression, and it is a book I will certainly not forget. The writing didn't feel quite as "clever" as I have come to expect from Awad's other books, but it is more evocative and powerful. I was not disappointed; Awad will definitely continue being a top author for me.

Bunny by Mona Awad is a literary cult favorite, and a book I enjoyed, so I was excited to try this.

Like Bunny, Rouge has a bit of a fever dream quality. The story focuses on mother/daughter relationships, and the dark side of the beauty industry and the pursuit of youth. It's a deeply symbolic/allegorical book and you have to buy into that.

Bunny also had a similar dark fairy tale feel, but I connected more to the elements in Bunny than in Rouge. I did find the mother/daughter element of Rouge compelling and have been reading a bunch of mother/daughter themed stories lately.

A dreamy exploration of... well... girlhood? Rouge covers guilt, shame, envy, glamour in the face of men. It analyzes a messed up mother-daughter relationship and the beauty industry (but actually patriarchy and white supremacy), sure, but it really follows a former-dreamer of a girl through the most intense grief she will ever experience. All about obsession and possession, all of my favorite things. The experience of reading it is almost arcane, always infused with that signature Awad magic. I was stopped in my tracks multiple times by the skill of this prose... some of the most gorgeous writing from her. On the other hand, I think this has the scariest scene I've read from Awad, and the gothic structure really takes you there. Rouge lures you in and sedates you only to subject you to a girl's deepest horror--- abandonment.

I thought it was mostly me, but, based on skimming early reviews of Rouge, I think people are going into this book with the wrong expectations. It is a true gothic (which people tend to review poorly) with real fairy tale elements. At points, I wanted more explicit horror, I wanted more obscurity, but Awad is always true to writing what she wants to. After All's Well (2021), Awad herself seems to be treating this as her return to Bunny (2019), which I also think could lead readers astray. I would say this book really is a perfect fusion of Mona Awad's writing, combining a tact examination of mother-daughter relationships from 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (2016), the cultish almost drooling-over sensation of reading Bunny, and all of the strange under-explained magic of All's Well.

Go into this expecting nothing... and wow I am so excited to hear what people think of this.

(also entering my darkwave/goth era because of this)

(also also reminded me somewhat of Come Closer by Sara Gran and the "we" chapters of Bunny <iykyk>... if that entices you)

(thank you thank you to netgalley and simon & schuster for this arc in exchange for a june review!)

Mona Awad's "Rouge" is a haunting and mesmerizing tale that weaves together beauty, obsession, and the complexities of mother-daughter relationships. Set against the backdrop of the beauty industry, the story delves into the treacherous path Belle navigates after her mother's unexpected death. Awad skillfully crafts an eerie and surreal narrative, inviting readers into a world where appearances deceive and secrets lurk beneath the surface. The juxtaposition of California sunshine and chilling darkness creates a captivating atmosphere that lingers, while Belle's journey into the enigmatic La Maison de Méduse serves as a chilling exploration of our culture's fixation on beauty. With its blend of gothic fairy tale and psychological horror, "Rouge" challenges readers to confront their own reflections and the price of pursuing youth and perfection. Awad's prose is both lush and razor-sharp, painting a vivid portrait of a woman's descent into a world that blurs the lines between reality and nightmare. As Belle grapples with her mother's legacy and the allure of the mirror, the narrative dives deep into the complexities of identity, obsession, and the insidious influence of societal pressures. "Rouge" is an unsettling and thought-provoking read that offers a chilling reflection on the lengths we go to in search of beauty and the unsettling truths that lie beneath the surface.

Mona Award does it all - not only is Rouge a heady critique of the oft cultish beauty industry, infused with layers upon layers of magical realism, but at its core its a family novel, dwelling on what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and what it means to grieve.

I received an ARC from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating = 1.5, rounded to 2

Rouge is clearly a Very Smart Book but it just didn't work for me. I'm typically here for a psychotic fairy tale but I'm kind of bored with the "crazy bitch" narrator trope, which is very much present. Rogue is definitely funny and it's not lacking in atmosphere. Maybe if I was more involved in the beauty-influencer space I would've connected to the MC more, but she was vain and desperate to the point of caricature, not character. This is clearly intentional, I just didn't like it.

This book does a lot and has a lot to say. Some of which I didn't fully understand.

If you enjoyed Bunny, for the absolute mind fuckery and "wtf is going on-ness" of it then you should pick this up. I notoriously don't seem to enjoy books that are written in nothing but long paragraphs with no breaks in between. I can't remember if Bunny was also set up in that same style since it's been a few years since I've read it but that's how this book is written. I find it so difficult to follow when it's written like that but I do get why it's written like that and it does add something to the story. The writing style itself is easy to get lost in and confused while reading that I often had to re-read the same paragraph or the same page multiple times before I fully understood what was happening in the scene. That combined with the magical surrealism throughout the story made for a very mind bending, confusing, and interesting read. Not to continually compare this book to the author's previous works but much like with Bunny, I feel this book requires a re-read or even a third-read before full comprehension of the story can take place.

HOWEVER, although the story was difficult to follow (for me) both in plot and in writing style, there are some really interesting things being said in here. The big conversation being had in here is that of the beauty industry / beauty standards. This part of the story is a bit...too on the nose for me. Like, there's no digging for a deeper meaning it's all just right there on the surface in your face. There's a whole lot of telling but not a lot of showing. (I may just be a too dim witted to get any deeper meaning) But that might be the point, honestly. Because the beauty industry is everywhere, right? You can't escape it. It's so in your face every second of every day so maybe that's what Awad is trying to convey. But, IDK! Again, it was hard to follow for me so I don't think I was able to personally find deeper meaning in stuff. The conversation about mother + daughter relationships is really what I enjoyed. Belle's relationship with Mother is so intriguing the more you learn and discover. What it means to be a mother and to be a daughter especially with the beauty standards of today and the idea of growing older and youth and everything. I think on a re-read that aspect is what I'd focus on the most.

Overall, I do recommend this. I didn't think I enjoyed it that much during reading and right after finishing but having this time to get thoughts out and really think about what the book is saying made me realize I did really enjoy this. I think that's what Awad is best at. Upon reflecting, you realize that there was a whole lot more going on than you had originally thought and that's what makes a damn good book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The suspense and thrills are rightly palpable in this story of beauty and envy. The author does a fantastic job of horror-fying societal views of “perfection” and I was all for it. I think the characters are a bit vapid but it kinda fits the mold here. High recommendation from me

The vibes of this were so good--a surrealist horror tinged with fantasy elements with plenty of commentary on the way the beauty and fashion industries influence the way we think. Having read three of Mona Awad's works now, I found myself intrigued the same way I did with <i>Bunny</i> as both are books where you're never 100% sure what exactly is going on, what plot points to take literally and what not to, but somehow it's enjoyable to be along for the ride. I would recommend this to readers who like literary fiction with surrealist elements and enjoy a highly atmospheric read.

I feel like I need someone smart to fully break down this book and spell everything out for me. Because it really did not do much for me, and honestly I’m a bit confused by that after loving Mona Awad’s novel Bunny so much.

To start on a positive note: I loved the discussions on race that are peppered into the story, specifically reflections on cultural appropriation, whiteness in beauty spaces, and the frustrations and ambiguity that comes with being a mixed race person. Going into the novel, I knew from listening to author interviews that Mona Awad herself is mixed race, so these conversations really felt nuanced and like they were coming from a really personal place. These quick snippets quickly became my favorite part of the book, and while I don’t necessarily think Awad needed to take them any further or dig any deeper, I found myself wanting to stay in these bits that were rooted in reality rather than be thrown back into the fever dream that was the rest of the book because I found them way more interesting than anything else that was going on.

I also enjoyed the horror elements and scary imagery throughout the book. Specifically the opening scene, the scenes where Belle’s reflection goes rogue, and basically any scene where something different is happening in the mirror…really spooky shit, and a really excellent device to illustrate Belle’s descent into madness, especially as it pertains to the beauty space.

Past that, I was definitely intrigued by the mystical and gothic vibe Mona Awad created at first, but talking in circles got old for me after a while. Which is interesting, because the not knowing what’s real and what’s not for basically the entire book was something I really enjoyed about Bunny, but really disliked in Rouge, and I can’t put a finger on why. Maybe the lack of plot and concrete characters kept me feeling really detached throughout my reading experience, but either way this book started to feel like a chore to finish, even when it was ramping up at the end, which is one of my least favorite types of reading experiences.

Overall, I think Mona Awad does a really fantastic job with keeping her stories open ended in a way that lets the reader formulate their own interpretation of “what really happened,” but I actually think Rouge was *too* open ended for me in a way that wasn’t enjoyable or satisfying. I’m looking forward to reading more reviews and listening to interviews when the book releases, because I’m sure there’s a lot of metaphor that just went completely over my head.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc (advanced reader’s copy) in exchange for an honest review! Rouge publishes on September 13, 2023.