A review by abbie_
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

I keep unintentionally picking up books with very similar themes in quite close succession, and then the second one always ends up getting compared to the first and doesn’t quite match up. Natural Beauty’s contender was Rouge by Mona Awad which I read at the end of December. Both books deal with the wellness beauty trends, consumerism and western beauty standards which prey on young women of colour. The protagonist of Natural Beauty is Chinese-American, a former prodigy pianist now working at Holistik, a high end health & beauty store, to pay for her parents’ medical care. As she progresses further into the company, the darker side of Holistik is revealed.

Honestly I liked the book just fine, but it didn’t blow me away. Perhaps it would have worked better for me in print, but I also had issues with some of the supporting characters who just come and go, conveniently moving the plot along but not offering much else. The horror elements were really well written though - very creepy, icky, gross.