Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Rouge by Mona Awad

49 reviews

chaotic_tumbleweed's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I honestly don't know if this book was for me I don't know if I would have enjoyed it more if I read it over the audio version. I really love the beginning and the end the middle was pretty slow. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it as a lot of the book is internal dialogue of the main character.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Racism

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

So I liked the overall plot, it's wack made sense, I can see the parallels of snow white, while also being subverted

daughter being envious of the mother

, the skin care stuff was so intense and stressed me out

and I am confused about Seth... Did he actually visit her room???????? And I did a big gasp when her mum was like "im allergic to roses" after Bel was going to get some... It was a full (⁠・⁠o⁠・⁠) moment. Her being half Egyptian and not Christian till her grandmother did something about it was an interesting choice by the author, it would have been cool to see skin tone explained much more, like I know it came up but more when she was a child, not as an adult

but generally, this was an eerie read that will stick with me for a while 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

katie0528's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

After the death of her mother, Mirabelle flies to California to settle her estate. But almost immediately, strange things began to happen. People describe Mira's mother in ways that is totally unrecognizable to her, and Mira, who has always found herself obsessing over her skincare, finds herself drawn over and over again to a bizzare spa with dubious treatments that leave her memories fuzzy.

The book was solid overall, I'm just not a huge horror fan. But this could be a great pick for someone searching for a female, POC-led thriller!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Compulsive behavior, delusions

anneliseew's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

maziodynes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Read this one for book club!

I really enjoyed Ms. Awad's writing style paired with her unreliable narrator. This was a surreal story centering around a mixed race woman and her relationship to her white mother and the beauty industry. Over the course of the book, it spirals down into a warning of a metaphor about grief and owning our traumas to heal (rather than escape)

Belle has this ritualistic obsession with skincare and a society that fetishizes differences while trying to sell a fantasy of being perfect and uniform (young, beautiful, white) even though this is impossible. The cult in this book preys on people like her by GIVING them the fantasy - however, to do this, they

take away something that makes us who we are, that makes us human. They say this is what makes you "ugly."

I absolutely loved this concept and thought it was executed well. The ending was beautiful.

My biggest complain was the pacing. Her writing style is so good, so readable, there were just too many words for the story she wanted to tell. It could have been more concise.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and Grief

yilliun's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Awad is known for her “weird” stories that have the reader questioning what’s real and what’s imagined. This book definitely fits into that description.

The deeper Belle got into Rouge, the harder I found the storyline to follow. I just felt confused about the last quarter of the book. I was also expecting the body horror to be a bit more explicitly gross, but it was more of a mind trip than anything else.

I did think it was an overall okay commentary on the beauty/ skincare industry. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Racism

sp00ky_girl28's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Racism

Minor: Gore, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

makeintoall's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

ashyyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The only way I can describe this book is comforting horror. Like a blanket that's slowly suffocating you. The narrative voice is more poetic prose and leaves you unsure whether you've slept walked through one chapter or five chapters. It felt like a natural progression of the author's writing style from Bunny.

I didn't necessarily like the protagonist, but that doesn't mean I wasn't rooting for them. Same with the protagonist's mother. I went in loathing her and came out with an angry, but empathetic, outlook.

The whiplash ending was wild. From being tense about the treament to laughing about Tom Cruise to crying over grief in the shape of a jellyfish. What a time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Minor: Racism and Toxic friendship

There is a heavy obsession with skincare and looking "beautiful" throughout the book, including lightening darker skin.