Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

38 reviews

rice_cooker's review

4.5

one of the scariest books i've read in my life 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Gore, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Racism, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Murder, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

matchamarimo's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Gore, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Sexual content

danimacuk's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

I had a great time with this book up until about 3/4 of the way through it. The climax felt rushed and messy, with so many questions left unanswered (and not in a mysterious, intentional way). Overall, it was a decent read but a letdown towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Vomit, Pregnancy, Classism, Medical trauma, Animal death, Racism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Grief

punk_flower_child's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Oh my God, once I got about halfway through this book I just couldn't stop. This was such a profound commentary on beauty standards and so much else I couldn't even begin to express. One of my favorites so far this year

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Rape, Grief, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Gore, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Cannibalism

caroisreading's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

What a wild ride. And what a hell of a debut novel by Ling Ling Huang. I'm still processing the many layers that the author has sliced open, with all its grotesque detail, what it means to be a woman stripped of her own nature, power, choice, financial security, fertility, ethnicity, family and body. Essentially, the reality we live today, only digestible as a work of dystopian fiction. 

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.

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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

skogsheks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Racism

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Cannibalism

aleesquer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Car accident, Drug use, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

mudlizard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

perfectly meh. I was somewhat interested in its surrealness and I am a fan of literary horror, but I feel like the explorations of beauty and ugliness and 'wellness' were hit and miss. how that intersects with race and class being quite well executed, but the ending left me conflicted (along with other aspects throughout the book) on how other characteristics are being perceived. characters were kinda dull and indistinct. still I can see its appeal and am curious to see what else the author writes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Racism, and Medical content

Moderate: Body shaming and Body horror

Minor: Cannibalism

sam_smith_of_tencendor's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Classism, and Racism

Minor: Body horror, Trafficking, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

bt_wannabe's review

dark fast-paced

4.0

I can’t stop thinking about it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body shaming, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Car accident