Scan barcode
A review by stephh
House of Beauty by Melba Escobar
1.0
I was really excited to read this, and if I'm honest it's been one of my most disappointing reads of the year. I think it's probably this particular translation of the book that's largely the issue, bur it just didn't feel particularly thrilling, or well written.
House of Beauty is centred around a beauty parlour in Colombia. When one of the clients winds up dead, a therapist that also goes to House of Beauty for her treatment gets swept up in the story. Full of intrigue, plotting, and with a backdrop of massages and female relationships, the book takes us on a journey of finding out what happens when someone with a lot of power commits a heinous crime.
I took an almost instant dislike to this book. It kick started by listing all the issues with women that have a certain aesthetic (blond hair, implants, bold fashion style), suggesting that these women are ruining things for others because of the way they look. The translation I think I was reading was also not very good, and the characters all seemed a bit muddled. The book was mostly told from the perspective of the therapist, but sometimes slipped into being narrated by a woman working at the beauty parlour, and it wasn't always obvious when this happened.
House of Beauty is centred around a beauty parlour in Colombia. When one of the clients winds up dead, a therapist that also goes to House of Beauty for her treatment gets swept up in the story. Full of intrigue, plotting, and with a backdrop of massages and female relationships, the book takes us on a journey of finding out what happens when someone with a lot of power commits a heinous crime.
I took an almost instant dislike to this book. It kick started by listing all the issues with women that have a certain aesthetic (blond hair, implants, bold fashion style), suggesting that these women are ruining things for others because of the way they look. The translation I think I was reading was also not very good, and the characters all seemed a bit muddled. The book was mostly told from the perspective of the therapist, but sometimes slipped into being narrated by a woman working at the beauty parlour, and it wasn't always obvious when this happened.