I do love a good historical horror since it's lesser explored. I just wish the story promised by the blurb didn't take so long to get going. We're so spoiled lately with so many good horror novels, that a story with such a slow start is hard to stick with. That said, it was still worth a read for the concept and vibes.

Possessed. Anatomical. Venuses.

I know, right?

And you thought haunted dolls were bad. Or good. I mean, they can keep burning plantations down for as long as they want, though I would prefer they maybe not take 911 lines down in my state of residence while I live here again.

Out of the gate: this is a disturbing book. There is grooming, implied rape, sexual assault, medical abuse, graphic descriptions of venereal disease, other graphic medical descriptions, descriptions of nausea and vomiting, discussions of pregnancy, graphic anatomical descriptions, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, animal abuse, animal death, murder, and non-voluntary sex work

Why then, would you want to read it?

It is also a book about women supporting women. Finding love in darkness. Finding a future. Realizing how strong you actually are. Realizing your value. About survival. It’s about making the choice to be kind when you could allow the cruelty done to you make you cruel in turn. Learning to forgive when hating would be easier. Trusting when it is the most dangerous thing in the world.

There are also witches. Really cool witches. Crazy spells. An epic magic battle. And did I mentioned the possessed anatomical Vensues?

I like horror with something to say. That’s why I like Stephen Graham Jones and Alma Katsu and Cassandra Khaw. This is horror with something to say. Take the warnings seriously but there’s a reason for what’s in Slashed Beauties. There was one thing I found a bit gratuitous but it’s a spoiler also - HMU in DMs on social if you want to know what it is.

My only real complaint is that I did feel as though the ending was a little rushed; personally, I would have dropped the reveal 20-30 pages sooner, integrated the backstory into some of the flashback chapters, and smoothed the transition out a little more but that is one hundred percent a me thing and the reveal was still fantastic and the ending was still perfect and I would still absolutely recommend Slashed Beauties. It’s also important to note that I read the ARC and a lot of book get another round of editing and polish after the ARC goes out so what you read on September 23rd or after may be a little different than I read (I’ve had this one waiting for a couple months).

Rating - 4 Stars

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

Slashed Beauties moves between two timelines, following present day Alys -a antique collector who is determined to collect three, lifelike anatomical wax models known as the Venuses- and Eleanor -a woman from 1763, and her two companions Emily and Elizabeth, all of whom modeled for the creation of the Venuses.

Mystery shrouds the Venuses. Men are drawn to them. Murder follows them. Magic may bewitch them. Alys seeks to destroy the Venuses once and for all, but the three women may not be so easily laid to rest...

Sometimes, people will read or blurb a book and say it is unlike anything they have ever read. Oftentimes, I dont believe them or find the words to be overblown. But i can wholeheartedly say that Slashed Beauties is, indeed, unlike anything I have read before. I was swept up in the story and setting and transported to London, both past and present.

The characters, much the Venuses, were lifelike and real. I found myself wanting to uncover their every mystery and learn their every secret. The setting was lush and full.

I did enjoy the past timeline a bit more than the present one. But the present timeline chapters were still engaging enough to carry me through the story! And the twists at the end were worth it all!

Fans of Butcher by Joyce Carol Oates and They Never Learn by Layne Fargo might enjoy this!

The elegant gilded cage on the cover makes light of the grotesqueness of the subject, but the title does it justice. Slashed beauties were the anatomical specimens of yesteryear, and the author squeezes out the most oomph out of the macabre pulchritude of them.

The dual timeline plot revolves around three women of the past, trying to make their way in a man's world by plying the world's oldest profession, and one woman in the present, determined to finally set them and their story to rest.

And yes, this is yet another one of those "wronged women fight back against wicked men" sort of book, but that's all the market seems to want these days. Gender dynamics stopped requiring nuance a while back - now it's all about the convenient, easily digestible binary of good and evil.

This was a debut novel, and, as debuts often do, it tried to cram too much into itself. Some things worked better than others for me. The past timeline was much more compelling than the present. The witches thing came across nonsensical and unnecessary. The ending was way overexplained and dragged out. The final twist/character revelation was nicely done. As was the historical fiction aspect.
As a result, the read was a bit of a mixed bag. but overall, the writing was strong, and the book entertained sufficiently. So I'm going to round up my rating.
Thanks Netgalley.

I felt a bit lied to by this description. The premise sounded so cool: wax anatomy figures come to life, murdering sketchy men. That’s not really the story I got. This concept is only briefly mentioned in passing throughout most of the book and only an active plot line in the last quarter.

We follow two alternating POV’s and timelines. Each is frustrating in its own way. The past storyline follows one of the Venuses, Eleanor, but you learn everything that happens leading up to the point where she becomes a Venus and her life is mostly a bad time. Not the experience I was hoping for, considering what I had expected. The present day plot line is narrated by Alys, a mysterious figure who is somehow connected to the Venuses and determined to destroy them. I found her story interesting at first but it was so dragged out that by the time I was finally given some answers I didn’t really care anymore.

It takes a long time and quite a bit of backstory in which the ladies are horribly mistreated before you get to the part where they are exacting their revenge. Eleanor did not deserve any of the things that happened to her. However, I found her profoundly frustrating. She was a dope with stars in her eyes and no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. Her love, in my opinion, bordered on obsession. I eventually lost my sympathy for her. She’s the kind of person who, when help is offered to her, slaps it away. Then she complains that no one is saving her. There’s another character in the story who suffers horribly and almost seems to only exist for that purpose and I have to wonder why the book is so mean spirited. 

The writing itself is good, so I was torn about the rating. I wanted a horrific and fun tale about creepy wax beauties slaughtering men and instead I got a very sad story about the loss of bodily autonomy. There’s also a particularly heartbreaking moment involving an animal that is brought up repeatedly, as if I needed to be reminded.

The ending “twist” was not a big surprise and the actual ending scene was a confusing mess, featuring phrases like “I don’t know how she managed to ______, but she did. Somehow.” Really?

I do think this author has skill, but this particular story wasn't my fave, unfortunately. 

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Sexual Assault, Drunk Driving, Animal Cruelty/Death, Loss of Pregnancy

An absolute banger. I have found myself talking about this book to writers and students since reading it in one sitting. (Well, as much as a person with three young children can have one sitting.) A tantalizing story of the Venuses (a desperate madam and her two protégés who she scooped up from the London streets, who were then turned into enchanted waxworks by a deranged anatomist) and Alys, the character hunting them down to destroy them in the modern era because the bewitch and drive everyone who owns one mad. Alys has a killer family connection to them, and once these women were magically created, they spent their nights stalking bad men. Female rage—it's so hot right now. My only complaint with the book was that the final triumph and antagonist defeat relies on a VERY ACCURATE guess Alys makes about what must've happened that night, but since it happened behind closed doors and was never rendered on the page, it's one heck of a guess that ends up paying off. I wish that readers were somehow included in what happened in the black box, otherwise it feels a bit like hand-waving the solution and tying up a few magical loose ends. The characters were really painted into a corner, which is fantastic for the sake of tension and conflict, and I was really wondering how they'd get out of it. How'd they do it? Basically, the fictional equivalent of "trust me, bro." Otherwise, a truly imaginative speculative horror. I'll be recommending this one for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby.
After reading the synopsis and seeing the gorgeous cover, I was very excited to read this. However, the storyline fell flat for me. The historical sections with Eleanor were a bit repetitive and the chapters were oh so long. Sadly, nothing really happens until you are almost to the end. The idea behind the story was very promising, however the execution was not for me.

2.5 stars. This started off so strong. You’ve got potentially possessed wax figures, women murderers seeking revenge, and witches. But nothing really happens. It’s so boring reading about vicious Elizabeth but Emily and Eleanor aren’t great people either. And the romance between Eleanor and Emily is pointless. Things start to pick up around 70% but by then I was just ready for all of it to be over. Again, such an interesting concept and start but such a slow read. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Slashed Beauties is dark, eerie, and completely addictive. It's a feminist gothic horror that’s about as unsettling as it is empowering. The story weaves between 18th-century London and modern-day Seoul, tied together by three haunting Anatomical Venuses—wax figures with a deadly legend and unfinished business.

Alys’s journey to break her connection to the cursed figures is tense, while the historical timeline slowly unravels a backstory full of betrayal, survival, and vengeance. This book doesn’t shy away from body horror or the violence of patriarchy, but it also pulses with female rage and resilience.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a unique read. Told in dual timelines, a bewitching story about three women in the sex trade in the past, and the woman who wants to destroy the anatomical Venuses in the present. I was drawn in by the cover and immediately grabbed by the first page. Alys is an antique dealer with a mysterious connection to the wax figures who were rumored to come alive at night to murder the men who wronged them. Eleanor ran away with the love of her life only for him to leave her alone and penniless. On her search for him, she meets Elizabeth and Emily who will change her life. Full of secrets, mystery, and revenge this is was such an entertaining gothic read I can’t wait to add to my shelves.

Thank you NetGally and Berkley for this ARC copy.

This book hit the majority of the boxes I had for it. The cover fits the book so well and it wasn't until writing this review that I realized it has such deeper meaning when you read the book -if you know you know- The premise is what drew me in originally and I fell for the characters. The 2 time lines were really interesting as well and the red haring was really well done in this book as well. If you are a fan of 'The Silent Companions' I think you will really enjoy this book. I would have loved to give it 5 stars but for me the ending conflict was over so fast, I wish such a threat had more than a few pages to be delt with as well as for me it wasn't as scary or body horror as it was advertised. Some of the descriptions left me confused on how things worked and how they could be outside of the their bodies and such. Once looking at real life photos of the venues I thought more could be done to make it creepy. As well as the creepy and body horror didn't show up until the last few chapters I wish it was kind of sprinkled through the book a bit more. I really enjoyed the story and will 100% be suggesting it and possibly re reading it in the future

'Slashed Beauties" was very unique. I enjoyed the story, the horror, and the twist. I call it that because for some reason, it just never crossed my mind to happen! The writing is fantastic, but I will say the description is a little misleading. It sounds as if the book is about women taking revenge on men, but that isn't exactly true.

For me, the pacing was a bit slow and the end wasn't very climatic, so I took a while to read it. Also, the magic does get confusing, so I just accepted that things were happening.

Overall, this is a very good and unique read.

Slashed Beauties is gothic horror at its most insidious, the kind of story that seeps under your skin and stays there. What sets this novel apart is not only the premise—three lifelike wax women that may be alive—but the way it confronts the historical exploitation of sex workers and complicates the idea of innocence and guilt.

The Anatomical Venuses were not simply modeled after the bodies of sex workers. They were living women, forcibly transformed in the name of science, profit, and spectacle. That alone would be enough to make this unsettling, but the book goes further, exploring how power can corrupt even those who have once been powerless.

Elizabeth, one of the three Venuses, has a particularly fascinating and disturbing role. Without spoiling too much, she is not entirely a victim, at least not by the end. Her involvement in the transformation of the other women gives the story a layered moral ambiguity. She is both a product of exploitation and, in her own way, complicit in perpetuating it. That tension makes her sections some of the most compelling and uncomfortable to read.

Alys, the present-day antiques dealer, is also caught in this web of complicity. She isn’t just trying to free herself from a curse. She is forced to reckon with the violence these objects embody and her own motivations for pursuing them. The Venuses feel more than haunted. They are a reminder of how easily the line blurs between preservation and possession.

The horror in this novel works on several levels. Yes, there is the question of whether the Venuses are alive, and what they might want if they are. But the deeper horror lies in knowing exactly how they were created and realizing how many people stood by or benefited.

The historical chapters are some of the most harrowing and effective. The men responsible for the transformations are monstrous in their entitlement, but it is Elizabeth’s choices that haunt the narrative long after the last page.

The atmosphere is richly immersive without feeling overwrought. Picture rain-soaked Whitby streets, shuttered galleries, and private collections where the past is never really past.

If there is any critique, it is that the pacing sometimes slows as the narrative delves into the Venuses’ origins. But the writing is so assured and the themes so powerful that I didn’t mind spending time there.

Readers who appreciate feminist horror with moral complexity—think Nat Cassidy, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, or Sarah Waters—will find this deeply satisfying. Slashed Beauties is ultimately about reclamation, and about the rage and complicity that survive when women are reduced to objects.

This is a novel that asks what happens when the exploited seize back their stories, no matter the cost.

Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This one is probably closer to 3.5 because I almost stopped reading it a few chapters in, but something compelled me to keep reading. I'm glad I did. I had no idea what to expect from a description that included "body horror". I thought that I would have to skip over a lot and feel weird and all of that. Not at all! I suppose if you're extremely squeamish you might not enjoy this, but I don't think it would be on your list in the first place.

The story was well told. A few places where the author would remind you of what you had already read, but it wasn't overwhelming. The dialogue was a bit trite here and there.The concept of the story is fantastic and I won't spoil that at all. Nice world building. A protagonist you really rooted for. The author didn't treat me like I was an idiot, and I appreciate that.

If you liked The Night Circus, Night Film and/or My Best Friend's Exorcism, I think you'll find this one enjoyable.

This review contains slight spoilers.



Slashed Beauties is a gothic horror in which anatomical wax figures come alive at night to murder men who have wronged them...or so the synopsis says.

Technically, it is true, but the murders do not come until the third act of the book. I was disappointed to realize how little time would actually be spent with the characters as wax figures, especially considering the length of the book. I struggled to get through it since every scene felt irrelevant to the supposed main plot. Additionally, a lot of the magic was simply explained away as the main characters not knowing what happened thanks to their lack of knowledge surrounding magic or their absence from the room in which the incidents occurred.

All that being said, I did enjoy the book. It was a fantastic introduction to gothic horror and included social commentary on sex work and women's rights in the eighteenth century. I would still recommend this book, but I will be sure to give my own synopsis to my audience rather than sharing the official synopsis as it does not accurately reflect the book.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Slashed Beauties" is. a dual-timeline horror switching between the perspectives of an eighteenth century down-on-her-luck woman in London, and a modern woman trying to destroy cursed wax figurines. It starts off so strong - I read the first 40% in one sitting, really enjoying the story. Unfortunately, the former story was so much stronger than the modern one - the modern one felt very aimless at times, with very little happening, as the main character dithered about how to destroy the figurines. The one in the past was a fascinating story of abuse and seduction, and I was invested in it enough that I felt resentful about having to return to modern times. Unfortunately, when the two stories finally started merging, the plot fell apart completely - a twist that didn't entirely pay off, and some action that just didn't feel entirely baked.

What a beautiful, but gut-wrenching story. Having this story listed under the horror category, while correct in some ways, does a great disservice to the overall experience that this book gives. It is so much more than a horror story about killer wax models. It explores themes of love, loss, regret, and suffering in a way that is both heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.

Having the two different timelines in the book added another level of interest to the overall story. It was fascinating to see the past and the present come together to eventually present the whole picture. I definitely loved the dual timeline format and think it was done very well.

The author has a beautiful prose and very engaging way of storytelling that made it hard to put the book down at times.

I will say though, on a technical note, having my kindle tell me that some of the chapters were 45-50 minutes long was very intimidating. I don’t mind long chapters, but I often struggled with finding the time to sit down and read the very long ones because I don’t like stopping mid chapter. I feel like I lose the inform I retained when I have to do that, but with how bulky some of the chapters were I didn’t have a choice. Making them tad more digestible would be my only note.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were so many different themes and elements to it that made it a fantastic read and I can’t wait for other people to read it as well so I can praise it to whoever will listen.


I will be making an instagram post/review for this book as well a little closer to the release date!

I can honestly say this is unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

I need to sit down and process everything that happened. The horror in this book was unexpected, while there was gore and typical body horror. It was the oppressive claustrophobia that made me the most uncomfortable. Uneasiness will always be a mark of a successful horror for me. If I’m not uncomfortable then it didn’t serve its purpose.

Slashed Beauties is gothic feminist horror at its peak and the betrayal and tragedy in this story was truly enthralling to watch unfold. The legend of the venuses; Emily, Elizabeth and Eleanor was so well framed and the dual timeline just worked so well with the narrative. The relationships between the women and the complicated web they all found themselves in, by the end of it all was fascinating.


While this book at its core to me is about disgusting and evil men and how their hate can warp women into something equally as monstrous. I love a story that leaves me thinking and asking question, even when I’ve finished it. If you like unique magic, history, gothic horror and a truly unique premise- I urge you to read Slashed Beauties!

This was such an interesting read that’s going to stick with me for awhile. The cover is what immediately piqued my interest in this book and the cover really reflects the story pretty well. This is a fictional story but the Anatomical Venuses- or Slashed Beauties are wax figures of women that were used for medical education throughout history.

The story is a dual POV which I really enjoyed. We have Eleanor’s perspective from 1769 and then we have Alys’s story from present day. Eleanor is a sex worker taken in by Emily and Elizabeth in hopes to join their lifestyle in its entirety. Alys is an antique dealer who has been offered a high sum of money to move one of the anatomical venuses to London. She knows of their cursed history of coming to life at night and unaliving men who have wronged them and plans to destroy all three of the figures.

Slashes Beauties is a gothic feminist horror that portrays both sisterhood and betrayal. The plot twist was 🤌

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. Slashed Beauties releases on September 23rd, 2025.

Slashed Beauties is a book that IMMEDIATELY caught my attention, between the cover and the title, then later the description. I mean, LOOK at her- she is STUNNING! But, underneath all of that, what awaits you? Revenge, devastation, violence, strength, and a bit of chaos- just the way I like it!

In the spirit of full transparency, I did struggle with the pacing of this book. While the dual timelines were cohesive and interesting enough, it felt like I spent a large part of the first half of the book waiting for things to happen. Now, once they DID, the rest of the book played out like a whirlwind, so there is a payout for patience. The ending was a bit anti-climactic for my tastes, and there were a few points I'd have loved more elaboration on, which also hindered my enjoyment a bit.

The characters in this book definitely deserve some conversation about them, because they are honestly fascinating. They're well-written and unique, and are fleshed out well in terms of who they are- both individually and as a group- with strong emphasis on what motives them, what they value, etc. It's easy to fall into their story, especially knowing how real (for the most part) the circumstances they were subject to really were during that time frame.

This book also sent me into such a research spiral, looking into more historical detail about anatomical Venuses. The fact that I found my way out of that rabbit hole in order to write this review is nothing sort of a miracle. ((And, honestly, I'd really encourage you to read into the topic for yourself, as well.))

While I do recommend this book, one expectation I want to adjust a bit here is around the vengeance addressed in this book. Without giving things away, I'd encourage readers to keep in mind that revenge may look different to different people, and if you're coming to Slashed Beauties looking for a "good for her" story, I'd encourage you to dig into more reviews to make sure youre getting what you want.

All in all, Slashed Beauties is an intriguing book and one I'm interested in hearing more opinions on. If you pick it up for yourself as an ARC or at release, be sure to share!

((While the viewpoints shared are my own, I want to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, & A. Rushby for this complimentary copy.))