A review by farrahwho
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Holistik has changed everything. Natural beauty doesn’t exist here—it’s created.

i really wanted to be more invested in this story, but i just couldn't bring myself to care more. the pacing is all over the place, the chapters are broken up in a way that ruins the flow of certain scenes, and the mc is so frustratingly passive at times making this whole reading experience more arduous than it should have been. the "action" towards the end felt shoehorned due to a lack of sufficient build-up and the ending wasn't satisfying
(despite being somewhat hopeful/optimistic)
. doesn't really bring anything new to the table in terms of commentary on consumerism and beauty/wellness culture. if anything, this is just a slightly more grotesque, unnecessarily sexual version of rouge by mona awad (which i didn't really vibe with either!) 

i will say, the body horror in this was well done (i.e., managed to actually gross me out)
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