Reviews tagging 'Death'

Rouge by Mona Awad

20 reviews

quotecj's review

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Body shaming, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism

aliyachaudhry's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

need to read mona awad's review of top gun: maverick

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Racism

devynreadsnovels's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug use, Dysphoria, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5

This was quite weird and unexpected, even for a Mona Awad book! I didn’t know anything going in to this, so to say this was a Journey may be an understatement. It’s a fever dream of a fairy tale and a grief-induced fugue state that analyzes a brutal mother-daughter relationship and the beauty industry, there was just a lot going on. And it was also way too long, there were multiple parts where I felt like I had already read a section almost exactly like it before, so I think it could have been paired down in the middle. The ending was satisfying and I came away from it feeling lots of feelings about how much we are forced to focus on beauty, on never aging, on “whitening and brightening,” on comparing ourselves to our mothers or our daughters and never quite feeling like you’re enough. Really interesting topics covered in this book, it’ll leave you feeling a bit disoriented (and feeling a bit weird[er] about Tom Cruise).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism and Medical content

katieb1034's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After reading Mona Awad's "Bunny," I was absolutely certain I had read a work of genius. That feeling only intensified with "Rouge." I have never been so deeply moved. It is so distinctly feminine and so beautifully and inventively captures the realities of womanhood, daughterhood, motherhood, and sexuality. It is a rare instance of surrealism that is easy to buy into, to make your reality, while still evoking the raw emotionality of hyperrealism. This book is like looking into a mirror: both haunting and dazzling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death of parent

Moderate: Death

Minor: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

angleslist's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Islamophobia and Fatphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse

asteinke's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book is a wild ride. A very dark and unapologetic look into the unrealistic beauty standards. I really wanted to love this book but it dragged a little bit for me and I found it hard to pay attention the whole way through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, and Death of parent

_bailey_reads_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was mind-bending, bone chilling, and the perfect level of creep for someone just getting into horror. 

Even though I barely had any grasp of what what happening most of the time I could not put it down! It was gripping! I am sad it’s over! 

Totally made me think of looking in a mirror in a whole new way! 

Mona Awad highlights the perils of vanity to the max! I loved every second! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

jediprincess's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

Mirabelle,  — a half-Egyptian, half-French Canadian, dress shopkeeper in Montreal, obsessed with her skin-care routine — returns to her mother’s home in California for her funeral. There she is drawn into a mysterious, elite spa where her mother seems to have been a member in her final months.  

This took me a long time to read. I think that I wasn’t sure where the story was going and couldn’t see the vision on how it was to become a horror, but once I did, wow! The descent into Mirabelle’s involvement with the spa crept up on me and each chapter had me more and more invested. The horror elements of Rouge are spectacular, I was so uncomfortable as I continued reading. 

Rouge is ultimately a story of grief surrounding the mother-daughter relationship. Mirabelle’s past and present intertwine to showcase the impossible beauty standards pressed upon young girls, how white supremacy shows itself in the beauty industry (and from your own family), desire, envy, and obsession (it wouldn’t be a Mona Awad novel without those three!) to create a surreal horror that was captivating to read! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism