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matchamarimo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Gore, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Sexual content
wiitchycats's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This story had so much to say about the beauty world, homogenization, white supremacy, and capitalism. It was such a devastating read and the ending was too real. The writing and craft of this was artfully done and absolutely beautiful.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Suicide and Pedophilia
caroisreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Our narrator is a Chinese-American daughter of immigrants, two pianists who escaped the Cultural Revolution. She's absorbed their passion for the instrument and art, and rises as a talented young prodigy, enduring bullying for being praised, different, and poor. After tragedy, she has to give up piano for odd jobs to survive, and finds herself working in retail at Holistik, a beauty shop that feels surreal with its elite clientele, innovative services and beautiful staff of women. As she literally drinks the Kool-aid, she mentally and physically becomes the same brand of beauty, at a huge cost.
This is a disturbing story, a little too real in its descriptions of an unrelenting capitalist society, with beauty and youth reserved only for the 1%, and a dismissive eye toward the basic healthcare and wellness of the lower and middle class. It sarcastically mimics the marketing extremes of what it means to be "organic" and "zero waste" to the point of nauseating realism. It serves up, very simply, the erasure of ethnic beauty and backgrounds in favor of a homogenous Nordic-type everygirl. It shows us nature's brutality and retaliation when man tries to bend it to his will. It explores the relationship between art and pain, and the sacrifice of self for something to be considered beautiful.
This is a must-read, for a reality check on many of the rights we see ourselves being stripped of, and issues our society are grappling with today. Definitely check the content warnings.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexism, Vomit, Fatphobia, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gore, Racism, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Animal death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape
whitneymouse's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Dysphoria, and Death of parent
Moderate: Vomit, Fatphobia, Racism, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, Cannibalism, Xenophobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Miscarriage
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia
wilhelmena's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence
baguettekelly's review
4.5
Graphic: Body horror and Xenophobia
agavette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Gore, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Drug use, Pregnancy, Grief, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Blood, Vomit, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Child abuse
Various levels of questionable/lack of consent, including outside of a solely sexual context. General exploitation and manipulation. Lots of themes around beauty standards and "healthy" lifestyles, including unhealthy levels of adherence thereto.livlamentloathe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a grotesque dissection of beauty, marginalization, and the dangers of the male gaze. It was more than that too, I can’t exactly summarize this book into a sentence. The ending felt akin to Carrie Narby’s “Indescribable,” in It Came From the Closet. The nonexistence of beauty, of perception, grants a form of freedom. There is a queerness to ugliness.
Natural Beauty captured the dangers of beauty well. It spoke to the “feminism” of beauty and the cage that surrounds conformity. Reading this was an experience I can’t truly describe in words. But I enjoyed this a great deal. Another example of how the greatest horror stems from reality.
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Stalking
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Sexual violence
Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Murder, Vomit, and Excrement
ariizolas's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship