'Natural Beauty' by Ling Ling Huang delves into the complex themes of beauty, race, class, and identity through a captivating storyline. The narrator, an unnamed Asian woman, undergoes a transformation at a beauty company called Holistik, where extreme beauty standards are enforced through their products. As she navigates this world of societal pressures and transformations, the book explores the impact of these standards on women's decisions and bodies. Through a mix of lyrical writing, social commentary, and elements of body horror, the book highlights the struggles faced by women in conforming to unrealistic beauty ideals.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include body horror, animal cruelty, themes of grief, and societal pressure surrounding beauty standards.
From The Publisher:
Longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Fiction
Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost.
Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents-also talented musicians-who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City.
Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures-from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk-and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and gives her a long-awaited sense of belonging. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik's charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister.
A piercing, darkly funny debut, Natural Beauty explores questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity-and leaves readers with a shocking and unsettling truth.
Ratings (6)
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Liked It (3) |
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2 comment(s)
Oh my, I really enjoyed this story. I like weird girl stories and this one was interesting.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
This is hauntingly beautiful and chilling. It really showcases this otherwordly experience the main character goes through at the expense of her health and beauty, and how damaging it all can be. It was bleak, but really atmospheric and almost luminous in a weird way. How things were described was really interesting and continued to draw me in further and further. A definite mind bender I plowed through in a day or two!
What can you read after
Natural Beauty?
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