A review by ariadiamond
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

dark mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was an incredible book! I think it got a little more literal at the end (which perhaps cut off some of the metaphor in favor of pressing certain interpretations (ie

love as a force strong enough to sacrifice power for, and counter of complacency sowing greed

)), but I don’t think it’s bad the direction the author went. Quite understandably, there is a lot of trauma when

you are in a cult, so it makes sense to demonstrate there is unconditional love and support when your world turns upside down.

I really liked all the themes about body dysmorphia, conformity, particularly within K-Pop, and the way that social media has made most everyone (including those with traditional media popularity) into constantly receiving validation or hate and the way they impact self perception. I know this book says it’s YA, but honestly I think that’s just because the protagonist was young, and there was so much more depth than most YA books.