Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Rouge by Mona Awad

11 reviews

vikarts's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was nothing like I expected it to be at the very start, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Happy to have picked this up after putting it in my TBR last year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

glitterghostreads's review against another edition

4.25

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was an unexpected win for me. The link between

memory

and aging is one that I think doesn't get explored enough. Additionally, although not perfect the underlying story of generational trauma, grooming, and internalized racism are very interesting. It was a little hard to follow and scattered at times, but I think that also makes sense given the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Grief

Minor: Dementia

vixenreader's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Obvious metaphors aside, this novel explores the envy and self-loathing that can estrange mothers and daughters, how we can lose our identities for the facade of perfection, and how toxic traits die hard. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting

Minor: Racism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry

Be aware that this novel features poisoning someone who an allergy, dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships, envy and jealous, obsession with youth and beauty, toxic beauty standards, an adult figure manipulating a young girl, vampirism of the mind, and an evil Tom Cruise.

junowo's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Reading Rouge felt similar to how I felt when I watched Suspiria (1977). I felt immersed in a strange world I didn’t understand, but I was fascinated by what might come next.

I did have a lapsing moment about 75% of the way through wherein it started to drag on a bit in the insanity, but I’m glad I pushed through and got to the ending.

This book didn’t go quite as far into the evils of skincare influencers and such as I expected, but I really enjoyed the direction it took instead, and I found myself not missing that particular commentary. I highly recommend the audiobook—there were many moments where I felt I was more connected to the scene because of the power of Sophia Amoss’s powerful voice work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting

Moderate: Islamophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Classism

tmichele's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Grief, Death of parent

neymarsseveredoutie_2's review against another edition

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Terrifying and confusing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Recently, I watched the movie The Substance, and I loved its depictions of beauty standards, and the way women internalised them. Soon after, I started reading this book, and I saw The Substance on nearly every page. Rouge not only shares subject matter, but also metaphors and other storytelling devices with that film, down to referencing The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it was super interesting to see. 

I do think the eventual goal of this book was slightly different to that of The Substance, and I will stop talking about that movie, because Rouge definitely stands on its own. Yes, it critiques the beauty industry, but this is also a story about grief, generational trauma, and the desire to belong. The relationship between mothers and daughters is central to this story, and was devastating to read. 

I really enjoyed the writing in this book, and I really liked what it was trying to say. However, towards the ending, it got a little too cheesy for me. Everything was wrapped up too neatly for my taste, and

the soul-eating demons were a bit cliché, and took away from the greater point of the novel for me.

Actually, the beginning of this book was also very cheesy, with on-the-nose references to Snow White and the like. But the middle 250 or so pages, that’s where the magic lies. 

I would highly recommend this book if you liked Bunny, or if you liked the movie The Substance (okay this is really the last time I’m mentioning it!); but if you are stricly looking for a horror novel, look elsewhere. Or get your scares somewhere else, and then come back here for the social commentary and the beautiful writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

This book is about an obsession with beauty, and this beauty entails "whiteness" among other things; as such, there is a racist undertone that isn't explicitly addressed.

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A weird fever dream/nightmare about one woman’s decent into a cultish spa after her mother dies.  It’s weird, it has a lot of trigger warnings, but I think Mona Awad does a great job of handing the topics well, with sympathy to her characters. It’s beautiful, the prose changes with the different states of mind Belle goes through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

sydresnik's review

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria

kittiesss's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Dementia, Death of parent