Thank you so much to NetGalley and Soho Press for an ARC of youthjuice, in exchange for an honest review.

Sophia, a young woman on the brink of her 30s, gets a job working at this new up-and-coming beauty brand, HEBE. Her whole life, she has been kind of plain, and has a horrible habit of chewing her nails to the point where her hands are completely scarred. Once she is accepted into the HEBE culture, the CEO gives her samples of a new product - called "youthjuice," which has the promise of anti-aging and beauty. Once she starts using youthjuice, her life completely changes and Sophia is sucked into the beauty culture...and will do anything to keep this newfound youth and beauty.

I thought this story sounded really interesting, particularly because I'm around the age that Sophia is, and I understand the pressure society puts on us women to remain beautiful. This generation and the younger ones are constantly exposed to social media and influencers who promote and sell beauty products. Social media has pushed this idea even more over the years; everything is about beauty and aesthetics. Celebrities get plastic surgery and promote or sell all kinds of products, which are made to prolong skin elasticity, clear your pores, remove fine lines and wrinkles, etc. These companies even target women as young as their 20s as a "preventative" measure.

Although this concept isn't groundbreaking, I haven't read many books about the beauty industry, much less horror books about it. I loved this concept of a company creating a moisturizer that keeps you young. The characters were shallow and only cared about themselves, making them unlikable, which I thoroughly enjoy. All these characters were beautiful, but beauty was only skin-deep for them. They were unhinged and willing to do anything to stay young and relevant. What started out as something meant to help others became infested with greed and selfishness. The tension throughout was built really well, and the horror was definitely more of a slow burn. The last quarter of the book really picked up, and the body horror was a gruesome trainwreck that I couldn't look away from. I enjoyed how delusional and unhinged Sophia had become over time; it was kind of fun to see what would happen next. The horror elements in this really reminded me a lot of A Cure for Wellness, but the characters reminded me a lot of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Norman Bates from Psycho, and Countess Bathory, who was essentially a serial killer in the 1500s.

I did kind of expect more gruesome body horror; I feel like the author held back a bit. The concept was highly dark and disturbing, so a little more body horror could have made this even more terrifying. However, it was still enough to make me feel a bit squeamish at parts, and I'm sure other people will think this pushes boundaries a bit as it is. I also didn't like the character (Sophia) enough to feel vindicated for her by the end of the novel, so that "good for her" feeling was more of a "meh," since she was so horrible, like everyone else in this story. Overall, I had fun reading this one and sped through it within a couple hours.

A wild ride. This is true beauty horror. I was left reeling with every choice and decision our character made along the way. This came from the mind of Guillermo del Toro

WTF did I just read? But in, like, the best sense. The entire time I devoured this book (one sitting) I felt like I couldn’t quite catch my breath. Which, coincidentally, I imagine the main character feels a lot of the time too.

The writing is so descriptive that I had actual visceral reactions in places. As someone who reads (and watches) a lot of thrillers, supernatural, horror, things of that ilk, not much has that sort of reaction on me but there were a few times in this book where passages had actual effects on me. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say I always found nail biting incredibly gross before. Now? I find it downright harrowing, the stuff of nightmares. Hey, I told you it was weird around here. Intrigued yet?

The manic passages had me feeling manic, the ones where Sophia is on top of the world had me right there with her, when she was nervous I was too. The writing here really grabs your hand and takes you alongside every feeling, not just a “watch from afar” feel. The power of words, eh?

So. If you want an absolutely insane read at a breakneck speed, based around glossy wellness brands owned by people with ridiculous names and impossibly perfect influencers like you see all over social media, but with the feeling like you can’t look away from an inevitable gruesome, fiery accident, all wrapped up in a package of ‘unsettling and weird’ this is probably your book.

It’s really more like 3.5 stars. I’d say overall, I enjoyed it, but I felt like it didn’t really do anything new or audacious with the premise to fulfill its potential as social commentary (read Mona Awad’s Rouge for a novel that does!), and it also failed to establish the tension necessary to make it effective as a horror novel. It did have some deliciously gross imagery, especially in the second half of the book, and a unique dream-like storytelling voice. I’m curious to see what comes next from Sathue as she hones her craft!

Sathue is going to be big on the horror scene, especially with such a satiric and feminist take on vampires, the beauty industry, and getting the eyes of other horror greats on it (see: Rachel Harrison).

A young woman works for a shady cosmetics company. Simple enough premise, right? Definitely not what you think, though! Beautifully written prose, with a b-plot that I wasn't specifically sure where it was heading. A little on the anti-climactic side, sure, but definitely worth a read. This short book has moments of humor, bougie references, some great imagery, and feels, in what I think might be part of the point, a little detached from the main events. This mostly works in its favor. You have only as much of an idea as Sophia does.

How far would you go for eternal beauty and youth?

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was fun! In terms of the trend of beauty being killer in fiction, I thought the writing in this really differentiated it from the pack. It was lyrical, beautiful and haunting, and it really gave a kind of dreamlike quality to the book.

here we go, another entry in the ever-growing pantheon of beauty-related horror books, joining the likes of Rouge, Aesthetica, and so on.

in this story, we have sophia bannion, new employee at a new york-based skin company called HEBE. after meeting the company figurehead tree whitestone, sophia is given a new product to try - youthjuice - a serum that has absolutely incredible impacts.

this story oscillates between two timelines - her current day job at HEBE and hanging out with her ridiculously wealthy addict best friend and beauty influencer roommate dom, then back in 2008 where she and her frenemy? mona discuss boys (a specific line about pete wentz made me side-eye) and try to navigate the world without catching the negative attention of the mean girls in town.

right off the bat, you know that sophia's past is important and something within it contributes to the fact that she's always in gloves; her hands are scarred and replete with self-inflicted wounds. pretty soon into her youthjuice skincare regimen, sophia realizes that the scars on her hands are... healing? no, they're disappearing. what's in that sauce?

you may have heard the name elizabeth bathory referencing this one and if so, you already know where this one is going. (soylent green is people, etc.)

there was some weird, unhinged stuff in this to be sure, especially what's going on with sophia and her roommate in her roommate's bathroom. honestly though, with a comp title like american psycho, i think i was expecting this to go a little bit harder than it did.

i'm a big fan of books like Kill for Love and Boy Parts, both of which felt like they'd have a similar vibe to this book. this book, for me, ended up being just okay, like a thriller author tried to dabble at horror and couldn't quite escape the confines of their original genre. like, don't get me wrong - this is a good book, but i do think that the horror could have been more horrific. i wanted to be surprised. i wanted to be horrified! i was neither of those things and felt like i was calling every reveal before i read them.

let's bright side this, though - if you're not a horror person, this is the book that you need on your radar. you'll get the creeps and it'll work for you. good for me, great for most.

This is a fun horror. It's kind of exactly what I was hoping for when I requested it something where I don't exactly love or relate to the characters but I'm here for the plot and the juice.
Feels like a guilty pleasure horror book!
I say pick this up if you're looking for something kind of fun and grotesque and creepy that'll make you think twice about your skincare regiment.

"youthjuice" by E.K. Sathue offers an intriguing exploration of society's constant obsession with eternal youth. It's body horror and the beauty industry. The concept is engaging, but this just didn't work for me as much as I hoped it would.

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

Body horror meets the beauty industry in this tense little story about a girl who takes a job at a prestigious beauty company. Quickly pulled into the upper circle of the company, Sophia is let in on the company's secrets, secrets that can stop aging in its tracks, secrets that come at a cost. As her status rises and her long-suffering skin-picking habit quells, Sophia will do anything to stay where she is. It's a slow-growing tense book that exposes the darkness lurking beneath the desperate scrambling to stop the visual aspects of aging before they ever begin.

I really enjoyed Sathue's fresh and unhinged (in the best way!) voice, but the overall story didn't do it for me. This was my first foray into the body horror genre and it's not for me but I can see how the right audience would devour this one right up!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending an ARC.

Like a cross between American Psycho and Mona Awad's Rouge. I loved this horrifying take on the beauty industry. A life-changing skincare routine that will having you seeing red... A gruesome, batshit in all the best ways read.

One of 2024's best horror novels!

I found the characters very hard to connect with. The writing was monotone and the storyline was predictable.

You might call me a connoisseur of unhinged women protagonists. I am lured to their stories like the proverbial moth to a flame. Their wildness, their unhinged-ness, it calls to me and makes me feel light and airy.

Sophia, light and innocence and forced smiles as she may seem, is made almost purely of this wildness. And when an unhinged woman starts working at a company owned and operated by women even MORE unhinged, that's when the real weird shit begins.

You'll likely read many reviews about how this is a critique of the modern beauty and wellness community. How young influencers are devoured for their beauty and easily discarded the second they have a frown line. And on the surface, that is exactly what's happening in this story.

But Sophia's story goes much deeper than that. And we are treated to an additional 2008 timeline, where 16-year-old Sophia first unfurls her own wildness, takes chances, and pushes her own boundaries.

I loved this book from start to finish. I love any story where you know people are doing objectively bad things but you can't help but root for them anyway. Those are my women. Those are my ladies. So get yourself a night cream and an oat milk latte and settle in for this look into the dark and horrible female subconcious.

I was provided a copy of youthjuice through NetGalley in return for my honest review. My thanks to NetGalley and E.K. Sathue.

This was so Glossier coded!!

As someone who works in the beauty industry, for a beauty publication, this book hit too close to home for me, despite it being categorized as horror story. And while I love beauty industry hot takes and exposures, this one fell a little flat and felt like this was a story that’s already been told. I read Natural Beauty late last year, and this book felt eerily similar. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy this story because I did!

It’s dramatic and graphic, and the FMC is trash and her boss is an even bigger dumpster fire. Must love detailed descriptions of blood, biting, peeling, etc., to get through this one.

(Thank you, Soho Press and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

”The blood is the life!”
Poor old Renfield knew it. Dracula stole his sanity but left him with the knowledge that blood has magic properties and it will keep you young.
According to legend the Countess Elisabeth Bathory also knew a lot about the rejuvenating powers of human blood. The story (as you probably already know) tells us that she slaughtered hundreds of servant girls to bathe in their blood and keep herself young forever.
The blurb on this book talks about it being “American psycho meets The devil wears Prada.” The countess is a much more important inspiration than Bret Easton Ellis fames serial killer.
Sophia and the other women at HEBE are monsters but hey are another breed of monster than Patrick Bateman.
I must confess that this book is rooted in a culture I´m not very well versed. I´m a man, 50+, and the only skincare product I use is my son’s moisturizer. I don´t follow influencers and I only have a TikTok account to keep an eye on book trends. This did not in fact hamper my ability to enjoy the book. E. K. Sathue has crafted a novel that works without any deep knowledge about makeup and the wellness industry.
I had actually hoped for a bit more horror in the book. Some parts lean into body horror but to be fair I was expecting worse. It´s well written and the parts that takes place in 2008 helps round out Sophias character and helps the reader understand her motives.
A good debut and I will definitely keep my eye on E. K. Sathue. I see great promise here.

This book was WEIRD, in a wonderful way! I loved the concept and the weirdness throughout. While it won't be a fan favorite at our library, I believe we will be able to find an audience that loved it as much as me!

Beauty company HEBE is working on a new product called youthjuice, which promises to grant someone beauty and youth forever. but at what cost? Sophia spends the novel navigating the cost of beauty while simultaneously remembering her complex relationship with Mona, Her childhood friend.

The novel does a wonderful job alternating between the two timelines, which complement each other well, especially as it relates to themes of youth, beauty, and superficiality. though the novel falls under the horror genre, we don’t see too much horror until the latter half. The criticism of the beauty industry is clear and hints of the faults of late-stage capitalism peak through too.

Here’s a great quote: “in the future, age will be a myth; we will speak of wrinkles and turkey necks the way veterans on the winning side of the war speak”. The beauty industry, according to Sathue, is so intense that the characters feel comfortable comparing it to war. This itself is a great moment of commentary on the beauty industry itself. There is a lot to be said about this novel, especially after some analysis.

I wanted this to take to me places of sinister intent like "Tender is the Flesh". Overall, I enjoyed the book, it was slightly predictable, however, the art of story telling kept me going! Definitely not for everyone, but if the summary of the book hooks you, give it a try!