Rouge

A horror story, but isn`t reality the real horror? Awads hypnotic writing style sucks me in like no other, telling us the story of Mirabelle, Mira, Belle, however you want to call her. It´s about the broken relationship between a mother and a daughter, envy, beauty and the demons inside you....or your mirror. This is for everyone who loves a book that scratches your soul, in the right and wrong places. I liked this even better than Bunny! Fantastically weird!

Honestly, I can't quite put my thoughts about this book into words. I hadn't read anything else by the author before, so I had no idea of what I was getting into. But somehow, Awad completely captivated me with her writing. Belle and her mom have always been obsessed with skincare and beauty ideals, even though Belle has distanced herself from her mother as an adult. When her mother suddenly passes away, Belle is drawn back to her hometown and lured into a cult-like spa where all her skincare dreams are supposed to come true—a place her mother had frequented just before her death. She feels magically attracted to this place, while her obsession spirals into something darker. The book is like a twisted retelling of Snow White. It explores what it means to be beautiful in today's world and sheds light on society's obsession with beauty and youth. Alongside mirrors, youth, and beauty, it also tackles themes like heritage, mother-daughter relationships, and self-discovery. The big question hanging over everything is: How far will you go for your own beauty? While Belle would sacrifice everything to look “beautiful” and young, she completely loses herself and her grip on reality. She's so trapped in her delusions that she can barely distinguish dreams from reality, and as a reader, it felt like I was losing my mind along with her. At one point, I started to wonder what was actually real and what was just Belle's imagination. Some truly bizarre things happen that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around, especially towards the end, which gets absolutely wild, but somehow I loved it. I do have to admit that some elements in the middle felt repetitive, which made it drag a bit, but nonetheless I was absolutely captivated. You can definitely feel the critique of today’s beauty madness; Awad holds up a mirror to us and shows just how absurd this obsession really is. The atmosphere in the book is dark, mysterious, and confusing, and the writing style is truly unique and utterly captivating. I seriously couldn't put it down and I'm completely fascinated by the crazy plot that Awad has crafted. It’s definitely not a book for everyone, but if you like strange and horrific stories, I bet you'd like this one. It won't be my last book by this author, I’m super excited to check out her other stories.

I wanted to like this so desperately but I just couldn't ... After I read "Bunny" by Mona Awad I just had to read another of her books, but Rouge really dissappointed me. Not because of the story, because that was actually interesting and quite unsettling, but because it was just so boring to me. The story took so long to unfold and I just wanted it to be over... The topic of longing for beauty so much that you loose yourself and give up your memories and life to "glow" was actually really interesting and disturbing, but still the book didn't give me the mysterious and horror esque vibes that I hoped it would.