Rouge

This book pulled out an unexpected gut punch and got me REALLY teary-eyed at the end but that???s what makes it GOOD.
So there???s layers to this. The first, obvious one is that a huge portion of this book is an enormous send-up of the beauty industry and beauty influencers. There???s already plenty of commentary out there, both in fiction and nonfiction, about the ways the beauty industry harms people, but the way Awad uses Snow White and Beauty and the Beast is what adds a little extra punch. So many people, especially women, grow up believing that physical beauty is vitally important, that it makes one a ???good??? and/or ???worthwhile??? person, because from childhood we are fed this belief via fairytales and - mostly notably here - Disney movies. Awad takes this belief and turns it into a chilling nightmare as the protagonist (who is named Belle, incidentally - another nod to Disney???s take on Beauty and the Beast) attempts to become ???beautiful??? by following the advice of an online beauty influencer whom she follows with almost cult-like (another reference to the way the term ???cult??? has been adopted by both influencers and the beauty industry) devotion. Later on this obsession with becoming ???beautiful??? leads Belle down a very dark road that forms the novel???s main plot.
Awad also absolutely does not shy away from portraying the terrible effect all of this has on the protagonist???s mental health, most clearly shown in how the plot plays out. Nor does she shy away from showing how racist the beauty industry is, with its emphasis on how beauty products whiten skin - excuse me, call it ???brightening???, because that???s how it???s marketed nowadays to avoid racist implications, and which is ANOTHER thing Awad points out in the novel. This racism is also shown in how the protagonist (who is mixed race, half-French Canadian and half-Egyptian) compares herself constantly to her white French mother and finds herself ugly in comparison. But at the same time, Awad points out the mother???s fear of growing old: another fear the beauty industry preys upon by offering products and procedures that offer to maintain, or even restore, youth.
But while all of that is interesting and pretty damn creepy in the way Awad???s incorporated all of it in the plot, the emotional core of this novel lies in the way it looks at grief, and the complex relationship between Belle and her mother. Once again Awad nods to fairytales in portraying their relationship: specifically Snow White, with Belle meant to stand in for Snow White and her mother standing in for the Queen - there???s even a mirror in this story that plays a rather significant role, and a prince too. But Awad laser-focuses on the connection between Belle and her mother, on the complexities and nuances of their relationship, wrapping it all up in a climactic scene that basically had me crying when I got to it. My relationship with my mother might not have been exactly like Belle???s, but in the general shape of it - especially the inability to be honest about my thoughts and feelings - well??? It didn???t hit me right away, as the story was progressing, but when the climax of the novel happened it hit me all at once and had me crying, which is something I haven???t done since my mom passed.
Overall, this was a creepy, and towards the end, heart-wrenching read. Awad???s prose evokes obsession in a way that feels very visceral, while also evoking the sharp, tender emotions of a complicated mother-daughter relationship. Might not be the fastest, easiest read, but it???s certainly very rewarding.