A plastic surgeon jailed for insurance fraud agrees to meet with a reporter and convinces him to collaborate on a book about her. The story is narrated by two voices: she tells us about her background and motivations; he tells us about the interviews and research he conducts. The final part is in third person, describing their actions once she is paroled.

The interesting structure well suits the interesting story about a girl dealt the less beautiful genetic hand, often in the shadow of her very beautiful sister (and mother), who makes herself over in her sister’s image and becomes a plastic surgeon to help other women. In this age of the Kardashians, butt implants, and “mommy makeovers,” the territory is familiar but the story is made more relevant by the way the surgeon justifies her actions.

Should only the rich have access to surgeries that make them feel better? Yet, even in countries where health care is more readily available, medical necessity is not the same as psychological need. It’s a bit far fetched but still entertaining. 3.8 rounded up.

My thanks to the author, @BlackstonePublishing, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook of #InPursuitofBeauty for review purposes. It is currently available.

This one was just ok. I need for audiobooks to really grab me from the get go and that didn’t happen. I still pushed through, but it didn’t get too exciting. I did find parts of Roya’s perspective to be interesting, but nothing over the top.

This is so interesting and difficult for me to rate because I've never read anything quite like it. I loved the unique storytelling but I found myself switching, equally, between fascinated and bored.

This is marketed as a thriller, but in my opinion, it reads much more like a mystery leaning literary fiction. The writing is solid, and the premise is definitely intriguing, but the pacing and tone didn’t quite match the tension I expect from a thriller. I usually love dual POVs, but in this case, I felt the main male character’s perspective took away from the story rather than added to it. Overall, it’s a solid read with some interesting themes, but not quite what I was expecting going in.

Thank you NetGalley & Blackstone publishing for the gifted copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Nikki Massoud and Evan Sibley narrate this story and I really liked their performance.

Dr. Rita Delshad is behind bars and finally telling her story as the infamous “Robin Hood of Roxbury Drive”, in which she explains her controversial past as a notorious plastic surgeon.

The chapters alternated between Rita's life and the investigative journalist's interaction with Rita and subsequent ghost writing of her memoir. I think its a true statement that this is a meditation on the values we place on the physical form, even if we say we don't. I preferred the chapters from the journalist's perspective as opposed to Rita's, which were slow and dry. I just kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. This is not what I expected.

This one just didn’t meet the expectations I had going in. Narrated by Nikki Massoud and Evan Sibley, it explores the value we place on physical beauty—even when we claim not to. The first half pulled me in, and I was totally on board, but then… not much happened. It’s solid as a reflective, character-driven piece, but I was hoping for more suspense or drama, and that never really materialized.

This was a victim of unmet expectations. Narrated by Nikki Massoud and Evan Sibley, this is a meditation on the values we place on the physical form, even if we say we don't. I was quite captivated by the first half or more, but then nothing really happened and I expected something to happen. For a reflective piece, this was great, but it did not become the suspense or drama that I hoped.

He said/she said is always a fun trope, especially when neither narrator is terribly reliable. This version featured two highly intelligent main characters, plenty juicy vocabulary, and a very clever, very modern story of benevolent-ish plastic surgery gone wrong (no gore, just good ol’ insurance fraud) This worked particularly well in audiobook form with two readers perfectly suited to their respective share of the story.

I just could not get into this one... The narrators were fine but the back and forth was not engaging for me. Both characters felt a little too enraptured with themselves - which I get, thematically, but which irritated me rather than drew me in. I just couldn't find my way in despite the intriguing concept and wasn't able to finish...

Audiobook Review 📚✨
Thank you so much partner @blackstonepublishing for the gifted copy!

In Pursuit of Beauty
by Gary Baum
Narrated by Nikki Massoud and Evan Sibley

About the book 👇🏽

What would you endure to fulfill your dreams?

What would you do to have the perfect body?

For Dr. Roya Delshad, the answers are anything and everything. A sought-after Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Roya is also the highest example of her craft. She’s had every inch of her own body sculpted, one procedure at a time. All to escape a painful and lonely past.

But when Roya gives the gift of beauty to those who can’t afford the cost, the media labels her “the Robin Hood of Roxbury Drive,” and she soon finds herself pleading her case from inside a prison cell.

Hoping to resurrect her reputation and obscure a trail of unhappy clients, Roya tells her story with the help of the blithely handsome Wes Easton, a journalist and failed screenwriter who agrees to ghostwrite her memoir. In a twistingly tense pas de deux, Wes struggles to tell fact from fiction, and Roya seeks to explode his notions about aspiration and desire, sending their collaboration off the rails.

🩺 My thoughts:

What a listen! The narrators were great choices for this book! I can definitely say I’ve never read a book like this before. The alternate point of views had me invested in this story, while the Britney Spears song titled chapters gave me a nice little giggle. What a sharp and thought provoking thriller, perfect for the summer! In Pursuit of Beauty is out TODAY, 7/1/25!

Happy reading! 📖✨

Both narrators captured the tone of this novel perfectly. I was easily able to switch back and forth between audio and print as necessary with ease. The story itself was extremely interesting. The only part I wasn’t a huge fan of was the romance near the end. This book’s dives heavily into the world of aesthetics and wealth disparity as well as differing morals within the plastic surgery world. I loved how the author was able to tackle these topics as a man. I was concerned prior to reading that it would be clearly through a male lenses but it definitely hit on some spots that I wasn’t expecting. I’m not sure exactly how I’d categorize this story. It hits a variety of genres and I enjoy that. I could not get a read on Roya. On one hand I understood her actions, related and empathized. on the other she occasionally felt like a completely different character. It may have been a conscious choice by the author but if not it lead to confusing character creation.