Rouge is an inventive thriller following protagonist Belle, recently arrived in California in the wake of her mother's unexpected passing. Away captures the attention of the reader from the very beginning, with her exquisite style of writing and subtle weaving of the complex and confusing plot. Similar to Bunny, the novel seems relatively normal to begin with nothing too bizarre, but as time goes by things slowly deteriorate into a whirlwind of madness. At times it feels like a modern fairy-tale, at others, a horror story. I still don't really know what was going on after finishing it. Personally, I like for a novel to answer all (or at least most) of the major questions by the end, but I must say after reading Bunny, I wasn't expecting thus from Awad and definitely didn't get it.

In all, I really enjoyed the weirdness of this one, though I did feel like it could have been around 100 pages shorter and some parts felt a little repetitive and drawn-out. It's really hard to say much about the plot because it's so confusing, but if luxe skincare and unhinged women are your vibe, this might be a good fit for you!

I struggled a lot with this one, I just could not get into it and found myself constantly lost not really knowing what was going on and the point of it all.

This is lush and intense, very reminiscent of a Peter Strickland movie. But I don't like Peter Strickland movies! If you do, then I think you will really get into this.

Rouge was the first novel I've read by Mona Awad and I was not disappointed.

I devoured this fever dream of a book over two nights as I found it totally mesmerising. The writing is beautiful and the sense of underlying unease builds and wraps its tenticals around you, so you forget the world and time around you!

Strange, beguiling and brilliant!

It is thought provoking and relevant (delving behind the shiny facade of the modern day beauty industry and the pressure its unattainable standards create)

Throughly recommended for those that enjoy their books dark and delicious with a sprinkling of black humour.

Rouge follows Belle after the sudden death of her mother and leads her back to Southern California to deal with the aftermath. Belle finds herself drawn to the mysterious and sinister La Maison de Méduse, an exclusive spa that she finds out her mother was also a member in the lead up to her death.

Unfortunately, I did not fully connect with this book. The premise sounded really interesting with the mention of mother-daughter relationships, grief and the exploration of the beauty industry. The only other book I have read from this author before is Bunny, and whilst finding some aspects confusing when reading I found I did enjoy it and it was a book that stuck with me.

I found that I liked some parts of Rouge and I found it to be clever and insightful. I liked the fairy tale style aspects added into the story and links to social media. However, I also found some parts to feel repetitive and I can’t say I was that keen on the appearances of ‘Tom Cruise’! I was not particularly enjoying being inside the thoughts of the main character and whilst the claustrophobic feeling may have been intended, it was not making me want to pick the book back up to continue reading.

I would rate this book 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3 stars). I liked some parts but it did not fully work for me this time. I would still try other books by Mona Awad in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, Simon and Schuster UK, Scribner UK for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Another 5 star read from Mona. Rouge is trippy, confusing, surreal, unsettling, & a wild ride from beginning to end. It's a critique on the world's obsession with beauty & the quest to look younger, & the dire consequences that has. The characters are deeply flawed, but I found myself rooting for the protagonist nonetheless. I devoured this book.

Interesting exploration of the beauty industry as told through a fairy-tale like parable. The overall conceit is stretched a bit too thin but there is lovely use of imagery and a nice narrative arc.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me, and I DNFed at 35%. The characters seemed lifeless and I couldn't connect with them or with the story. I'm disappointed as I enjoyed Bunny.

Where, suddenly dyeing the blueness, delirium
And slow rhythms under the streaking of daylight,
Stronger than alcohol, vaster than our lyres,
The bitter redness of love ferments! (Rimabud - Le Bateau ivre )
This is one of those books you can love or hate depending on your mood. Great style of writing, a lot of imaginery and moments that you don't know if it's fantasy, magic realism or just allucination.
Sometimes you feel like being in a weird dream, sometimes it's like having very high fever.
I wasn't a fan of the FMC but somehow I enjoyed the story.
It's like trying to write a review of Le Bateau ivre by Rimbaud: I loved the feeling but it's hard to find the words to express the feelings
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I recently read both Bunny and All’s Well by Mona Awad. While I really liked the chaos and humour of Bunny, I was a bit disorientated and confused with All’s Well. So, I didn’t really know what I was going to think of her latest release Rouge but I know that lots of people have read this recently and with a cover like that, I’m sure many more will soon!

Belle has always been into skincare and looking good. When her mother dies in strange circumstances, she travels back to her mother’s flat to deal with the debts she left behind. But it appears that her mother may have been involved with some dark, mysterious people and sure enough, Belle finds herself lured to the lavish La Maison de Méduse spa and there the sinister truth about her and her mother’s lifelong obsession with beauty is revealed.

Belle’s fascination with beauty began when she was very young, as it almost certainly does with most women. As girls, beautiful princesses and maidens are the heroines of the stories we are told and it becomes apparent that being beautiful is a surefire way to be happy and successful. It’s these aspirational stories that most girls gravitate towards and therefore, it’s ingrained in our psyches as soon as we’re able to understand things.

There are several very strange, unsettling things about Belle’s return to her mother’s flat. It seems that her mother had a kind of boyfriend/handyman named Tad who Belle never knew anything about but he’s clearly very familiar with her mother’s flat. I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was -it was just a vague creepiness that surrounded the whole narrative.

Things get weirder and weirder and at some point, Belle becomes convinced that Tom Cruise is her boyfriend. It is obvious that it isn’t the real Tom Cruise (so, no, he doesn’t make a cameo but perhaps his presence within the whole cult situation is a tongue-in-cheek joke) and it makes for some extremely hazy, dream-like scenes. The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred continuously and much like with All’s Well, I had no idea what was actually going on.

I can see how Rouge is being categorised as a horror. It is very strange and unnerving but there are very few actual scares. I think actual horror fans may be disappointed by it but if you like very trippy, confusing, meandering narratives mixed with commentary on our ridiculous obsession with beauty and youth, Rouge is certainly for you.

“Mirabelle, through the looking glass...”
...

When I was intrigued enough to take a punt on this NetGalley 'Read Now' offer, I did take note that the author's previous book 'Bunny' was mentioned on several occasions. However, it wasn't until I checked out a few of the reviews for 'Rouge', that I realised just how intrinsically linked everyone felt the two books to be. So I went into this one, almost hoping against hope that 'Rouge' would work okay as a one-off story. However, I needn't have worried, as this is definitely a stand-alone novel unlike anything I have read before! - Let me try to explain...

...

Mirabelle is an only child, of mixed race parentage. Her dainty mother Noelle, being white with a French heritage, the complete opposite of her father, a sturdy of stature, swarthy skinned Egyptian, who had died when she was a small child, gifting Mirabelle only a gold bangle with an all-seeing eye as its centrepiece, to remember him by.

Noelle is obsessed with her facial appearance and her beauty regimen is exhaustive, time-consuming and often painful. Part of her envies Mirabelle's swarthy good looks, whilst at the same time she still surrounds her daughter with a plethora of dolls, all with the same perfect English Rose beauty as she herself has, leaving Belle, as young as she is, always feeling that she never wholly meets with her mother's approval. Noelle is also always looking for that big break, which will enable her to debut on the silver screen of Hollywood, to which end, Bella plays second fiddle to the long stream of men her mother entertains, whilst she is either left in the care of her grandmother, or alone in the house. Eventually, Noelle makes the decision to move to California and her plans initially don't include Bella, who is sent to live with her grandmother on a permanent basis, with the promise that she will send for her daughter when she has made a name for herself.

When, some ten years later Noelle finally sends for Belle, it is an obsessed and almost unrecognisable mother who greets her, so changed is she in appearance. Her treatments at the exclusive and secretive, La Maison de Méduse, which fronts as a spa resort, have left her face an almost translucent white and unbearable to any exposure to bright light or sunshine, rather like the very spooky mannequins with which she has populated her exclusive dress boutique in downtown La Jolla. Belle is forbidden to enter her mother's bedroom, so Noelle is distraught when, not only does Belle disobey her, but she also begins her own addiction to Marva's online skin ritual programmes, watching the channel constantly, whilst Noelle can only try, albeit very half-heartedly, to persuade her of the potential harm she is inflicting on herself. When events spiral out of control, both Noelle and Belle are hospitalised and once again Belle is sent to her grandmother, this time ostensibly for recuperation. Thus another extended period of separation between mother and daughter begins.

Now an adult and having made her life in Montreal, Canada, working in an exclusive boutique there, Belle once again needs to make the journey to La Jolla, when the sudden and unexplained death of her mother is announced, taking with her, her now constant assortment of facial scrubs, washes and acids. It seems that her mother had however, fallen on hard times and Belle is faced with a mountain of debt to clear, a boutique which she no longer has any share of, as Noelle had already sold out to her partner, and an apartment which is sadly neglected and under the care of Noelle's final gentleman companion Tad, who does offer to help Belle fix up the place ready for sale.

It is soon apparent that Noelle had been clandestinely continuing to visit the ROUGE cult at La Maison de Méduse, where, according to those that knew her well, the treatments had not only continued to wreak havoc with her facial features, but had also affected her mind, to the point where all sense of reason and reality had ceased to exist. Against her better judgement, Belle also finds herself inexorably drawn to the mansion at the top of the cliff and is welcomed as one of the chosen few to receive their treatments free of charge, because of the esteem in which they had held her mother. But, nothing in this life comes for free and Belle is soon entranced and under the spell of this coven of strange and eerie characters, where the final leg of her transformative journey finds her having to make sacrifices she is unwilling to contemplate, but where rebellion is not to be countenanced at any price!

Can Belle escape their clutches and bring down the final curtain on this dangerous charade?

...

OMG! This book by new to me author Mona Awad, is so difficult to describe, so just how does one go about shoe-horning it to fit into any single genre, let alone having the temerity to believe that any review I write could truly reflect the multitude of emotional nuances contained within its pages? I am totally out of my depth and comfort zone, as ROUGE is just so far removed from any of my usual reading genres, therefore I can only base my rating on how the storyline and the style of writing made me feel. Dark horror is definitely a plentiful element in this work of metaphysical fiction (a new to me sub-genre which I needed to look up), mixed with some deadly gothic fantasy and a desperately grim take on a traditional fairy tale. Weave into all those elements the coercive and seductive nature of some very damaging social media, consciously meant to target the vulnerable; mix with the surreal, weird and eerie goings on behind the closed doors of an exclusive, yet far-reaching cult; add the already precariously distanced relationship between a mother and daughter, where the tenuous hold they both have on reality, is strained far beyond its limits and there you have the perfect cocktail for the disaster which inevitably presents itself.

Alongside this Mona Awad has written commentary which on a more serious note, intentionally holds the feet to the fire of unscrupulous companies and online influencers (apparently known as skinfluencers), loosely described as beauty and wellness specialists, where obsession with perfection is encouraged, even though it is seldom attainable and where self-worth, self-loathing, low esteem and insecurities, are exploited to the full.

I found the writing frightening and rather 'off the wall', yet totally beguiling and addictive, with the overwhelming importance of red, white and black colours, dominating the narrative and worming its way into my brain as I read. Narrated exclusively by Mirabelle herself, this dual timeline story is set mostly in the present day (2016), laced with intermittent extracts from various periods throughout her younger life leading up to and dovetailing with, current events. Mirabelle's memories of her childhood seem sketchy and her thoughts are often far from cohesive, only becoming clearer as the story progresses, which made that coming together of past and present, so much more satisfying, when I realised that I wasn't as far wide of the mark in my initial thinking as I had assumed.

Yet another book where I couldn't really relate to, or become invested in, any of the characters and I really did want to feel something for Mirabelle and Noelle. Mirabelle was someone I at first thought was very shallow, only concerned with her appearance and getting one over on her mother; but who, I ultimately came to realise, had feelings which went so much deeper and encompassed multiple conflicting emotions, many of which didn't become fully apparent to me until almost the end of her journey, which was all too little, too late. However, I believe the revelations she experienced in those final couple of chapters, were definitely going to change her and make her a better person going forwards. Hopefully a lot kinder to herself and able to understand and forgive her mother's shortcomings as a parent, whilst accepting that the love between them had never truly been lost, but simply buried deeply within themselves, along with the constant pain of separation, for far too long to break free. Noelle was perhaps the easier of the pair to understand, although for me there could never be any excuse for shunning then deserting a child who has lost one of its parents no matter what the circumstances. The complicated mix of love and loathing she feels for Mirabelle appears to have warped her mind, making her a susceptible candidate for the attention of a very unscrupulous organisation which has played on her vulnerabilities, making the separation from her daughter a background issue over which she has no control.

Both mother and daughter were unapologetically and very deliberately manipulated and taken advantage of, by a supporting cast of duplicitous, controlling and malevolent characters, whose true motives never really became apparent to me, for which I apologise to the author if my shortcomings were obvious to everyone else. They were described in full colour, freakish detail and I seemed to spend most of my time trying not to become too transfixed by them and sucked into their depraved and dangerous world.

That this story was set in a real physical location satisfied the 'armchair traveller' instinct in me. However, in reality it was really neither here nor there, as the action could have taken place just about anywhere, with neither time nor place being relevant to the plot. Overall, author Mona Awad used the full palette of words at her disposal to convey an atmosphere which was seductive, claustrophobic and cloying, which was all too easy to become immersed in, no matter how much against my better judgement or will, yet almost impossible to escape from, at least in one piece and without being broken either physically, mentally, or both. It's like a bad dream you can't wake up from, but nevertheless, you can't stop reading!

A great selection for a book club discussion read.

You scared the bejesus out of me, Mona, but I love you for it!

Glorious, bizarre and thrilling exploration of gothic themes and suffocating relationships. Belle is struggling in the wake of her mother's unexpected death, and as she works through her feelings strange things begin to happen to her.

Absolutely delicious, totally off the wall and well worth taking time to let it all sink in.

Beauty is more than skin deep, but to Mirabelle and her mother it takes acids, sealers, mists, exfoliaters, lightners, brightners, lifts and many, many hours work. So when Belles mother dies and she flys to California for the funeral her mind is on two things, her face and her mother. The world thinks grief is having a strange effect on Belle but the truth is much worse, with her mothers red shoes leading her to a mysterious house spa on the cliff edge and the people running it insisting she’s a ideal candidate for their treatment, Belle is about to relive and forget her life, leading down a dangerous path all in the name of beauty and one’s best self

I really enjoyed this title, it was horror but not quite as we know it. It would have been 5 stars but I found the pacing to be a little slow in places.

This is a fantastic, dark fairy tale with particular references to Snow White, though there are several little nods to other well known tales too. There is a definite sinister feel throughout the story but also some light humour satirising unrealistic beauty aspirations and vanity.

A wonderful surreal fantasy of beautiful insanity

There seems to be a bit of a trend for re-imaginings of classic stories and this one is a retelling of a couple of familiar stories - with a bit of a gothic horror bent to them.
We start with Mirabelle (AKA Belle or Mira) as she travels back to San Diego from her new home in Montreal as her mother, Noelle, has just died. Belle is obsessed - and I mean that in the strongest sense - with skincare - regime and products and she is forever watching skincare videos online in the hopes of chasing beauty perfection.
It is at the funeral where she meets a stranger in a red dress. Who goes on to tease her both about her mother's death and also a spa her mother attended. And it is at this spa, when Belle attends it, that she starts to realise where her mother's (and in turn her) obsession with mirrors and beauty came from.
This book is many layered and can be read on several levels depending on how heavy you want to go into things. It is a cracking story in itself but it can also contain commentary on the ins and outs of the beauty industry and judging people by appearances. It is also about the relationships between mothers an daughters, specifically that of Belle and Noelle which is complex to say the least.
But it's also quite funny in places, with some rather dark humour thrown in too. As already mentioned, there is a lot which is thought provoking and would definitely make for a cracking book club, or buddy read. I know that I wish I had someone in real life to discuss certain things after I finished and I will definitely be recommending it to my local book club.
All in all, a poignant book, often heavy, but with enough light relief to get through. I am definitely putting this author on my watchlist. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Okay, I don't really know what I have just read to be honest. Rouge is the story of Belle who is dealing with the loss of her mother. That is about as much as I got from this story.
It was just plain weird.

The magic realism elements were beyond my understanding, I know they are a metaphor but I just sat perplexed as I read it. The whole Tom Cruise thing. I don't know what I was expecting but needless to say I don't think I got what the point of the novel was.

I really don't know what to say about this book.

It has an enticing cover.

Rouge by Mona Awad is available now.

For more information regarding Simon & Schuster (@SimonBooks) please visit www.simonandschuster.com.

<i><blockquote>In the Journey of Beauty, after all, the ridicule is key. Ritual. Though it’s going to be hard to improve upon what I’m seeing up there. If that’s me.

Of course that’s you, the jars seem to whisper. Who else would it be?

I derange—arrange the jars into exfoliants and mists, into toners and essences, into serums and emulsions, and finally moisturizers and oils, which are the somethings of the skin. Capes? Cardigans? Some sort of outerwear, anyway. The jars have no labels or instructions, which is funny, so I do it by texture or by guess. As I derange, I smile to myself. I keep thinking it’s Mother I see there in the insanity mirror, what a strange trick. Wait, not a trick. It is Mother! She’s back, oh joke! I mean, joy. Joy. Are you back to do the morning ridicule with me, Mother?</blockquote></i>


I've never read a Mona Awad book before but I know of her and I knew, roughly, what I was getting myself into with this book: something probably surreal, likely a literary horror of some kind, something that would fuck with my head. This is my first book by her because I got it off Netgalley as an arc but didn't get round to reading it before publication. I have now and BOY...was this a fucking trip.

It's a Gothic inspired horror-satire, focusing on women and the beauty industry. I've seen alternately that this book is inspired by Beauty and the Beast, by Snow White, that there's elements of The Red Shoes and Wizard of Oz and all sorts. It's all there, of course. The book plays with tales and totems of culture, twisting them to help Awad tell her story. I found this so deftly hilarious at times, particularly at first. Mirabelle -- or Belle -- is so obsessed with how she looks that she locks herself in the bathroom after her mother's funeral and watches her favourite skincare guru videos. She goes to sleep watching her videos and she wakes up and watches them. There are whole parts of this novel wherein she lists the products that she would put on her face and in what order. Multiple times, she insists that she isn't crying but, rather, it's the formula she uses on her face because it tends to bleed and gets into the eye. There's a constant skipping around and slippage of the word "skin" and "sin." To be obsessed with the skin is a sin, obviously, but it seems almost inevitable within the world of this story.

There's a complicated mother-daughter relationship here. It's so obvious that Belle's mother both loved her and passed down her neuroses onto her. Belle has learned to hate herself and want to improve herself and it's partially intergenerational. There's a huge element here w/ how it plays with race: Belle's mother is white, while Belle herself is mixed-race with an Egyptian father. As the novel continues and the slippage of words gets worse and worse, the novel stops referring to "brightness" of the skin and eventually goes to "whiteness." Belle becomes one of two noted characters who its specifically remarked upon change their skin colour to be thought of as more beautiful, of having "the Glow" and becoming their "Most Magnificent Self." There's several passages, too, where Belle simply refuses to believe her mother about wishing she had her skin. (Also, I thought it was kind of funny that Awad had a character's mother be called Alla and be clearly racist and hateful towards Bella because she was brown and not a Christian.)

I found this a harder read than I imagined it would be. It's not very literal and because it so quickly becomes fantastical and hard to follow, it can feel a bit like living in a fever dream. Belle becomes v quickly swept up in the cult-like beauty spa that may or may not be the reason that her mother is dead, looking for fantastical treatments to try and give her "the Glow." The skewering here is obvious and sustained. There's a trance-like feel to it, leading to surreal stretches within the novel. Tbh, I'd say that the pacing can be a bit off and I found some bits too repetitive. I'd have liked there to be a bit less of that but it does add to the ominous atmosphere and the confusion. There's a specific character who always shows up in disguise, never looking the same, and it adds to the absurdity of this so much. I thought it was funny!

There's also parts of this where Belle sees mannequins as her sisters too which, again, really fucking funny.

I didn't always feel like I knew exactly what was happening, but my chest always felt like this was digging around in it. This isn't the kind of book that sets out to shock or surprise you. I feel like it's such an odd rake of an experience, but it's so fucking funny. Like the quote above, the further into the book this gets the more words get transplanted. It's clear that the characters subconsciously are aware that something is wrong but are reluctant to put a name to it, the need to be Beautiful and White and Bright and Glowing is so all-consuming. Beauty is a metaphorical and literal consumption here and it's hard to read but I also genuinely found it kinda hilarious?

And then I found myself actually sobbing a few times at the end of this. I don't really want to go into it, because it's a huge spoiler, but it's the mother-daughter relationships for me. I also found that this book ended on a great note, that I really enjoyed -- strange and haunting and loving and surreal.

Despite all this -- and this is a VERY effusive review I know, lol -- I think that the repetition and the strangeness of this put me off just enough that I honestly thought it'd be like a 3.75, but that's so pernickety so I'm rounding it up. I feel like I'll think about this for a while. If I reread, I may reconsider but this was so beautiful and so haunting. Sharp and bold. Really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc even though I read it so late!!!!!!!!!

Although I'm a fan of the deranged female main character trope (think 'Boy Parts') this took the weirdness a little too far for me. and I found it so hard to get through. This was a hugely anticipated release for me and I'm so disappointed that I didn't enjoy it. I can see why it's getting good reviews and I 100% think it is a 'me problem' rather than the book itself.
Following Bella and her obsession with skin care as she comes to grips with her mother's death and their strained relationship. I found the line between reality and her delusions ultimately too confusing to enjoy the plot of the book. Upon reflection I did enjoy the plot and the actual story however I didn't enjoy this as I was reading it.. it was a bit of a slog.
2.5 stars

This book feels like a pure fever dream. As do all of Mona Awad's books! I loved the conversations around the beauty industry and the toxic culture. Do I know what went on, no but that is usually the case for all of Mona's books and I loved it!!