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emma's Reviews > Rouge
Rouge
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by
emma's review
bookshelves: retelling, mystery-thriller-horror-etc, literary-fiction, 3-and-a-half-stars, recommend, reviewed, owned
Aug 22, 2023
bookshelves: retelling, mystery-thriller-horror-etc, literary-fiction, 3-and-a-half-stars, recommend, reviewed, owned
Read 2 times. Last read August 22, 2023 to August 25, 2023.
horror retelling of snow white focusing on the impossible beauty standards of today as unwillingly passed down from the women that came before us...
this was brilliant before i even started reading it.
i wish i hadn't read all's well before this, because the two are sadly very similar (with nearly identical protagonists, writing styles, and meltdown arcs) and this one is much more interesting to me.
instead, i felt pretty irritated by the middle of this book, which was not only a bit repetitive in and of itself but far too reminiscent of that one.
do i feel like it was necessary to make tom cruise and a surfer bro window-washer and a cop character with a romance hero's name major characters? no. but who am i to question whatever was going on here?
mona awad's writing is so, so weird. and if the beauty industry was any less freakish, it wouldn't work. but thankfully we don't have that problem, and the two fit well!
bottom line: in a weird-off, mona wins every time.
3.5
this was brilliant before i even started reading it.
i wish i hadn't read all's well before this, because the two are sadly very similar (with nearly identical protagonists, writing styles, and meltdown arcs) and this one is much more interesting to me.
instead, i felt pretty irritated by the middle of this book, which was not only a bit repetitive in and of itself but far too reminiscent of that one.
do i feel like it was necessary to make tom cruise and a surfer bro window-washer and a cop character with a romance hero's name major characters? no. but who am i to question whatever was going on here?
mona awad's writing is so, so weird. and if the beauty industry was any less freakish, it wouldn't work. but thankfully we don't have that problem, and the two fit well!
bottom line: in a weird-off, mona wins every time.
3.5
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
August 22, 2023
–
Started Reading
August 25, 2023
–
Finished Reading
April 8, 2024
– Shelved
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message 1:
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mitra.
(new)
Aug 22, 2023 06:51AM
omfg that sounds amazing 🤭🤭
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I can't wait to read this
agh i’m so excited for this one!! hope it’s amazing!
THAT SOUNDS SOOOO GOOD
i loved both bunny and all's well, i mean... mona awad can totally have my soul at this point if she wishes
The blurb actually says it's a retelling of Snow White.
I’ve been dying to read this for months
And the NYT review calls it "a surrealist take on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, in which first mother, then daughter is drawn into a cultish underworld that preys on feminine insecurity and narcissism."Either if it's none or all 3 of these iterations, I'm all for it
More Snow White than Beauty and the Beast
when i got the notification that Mona was putting out a new book i screamed. can't wait to read :>
I’m already over 40% in but it’s taking me awhile because as you said… it’s just been so repetitive. I’m waiting for something, ANYTHING, really, to happen already!
OMG totally agree about Tom, Tad & the cop! In reality, Tad and the cop really could have been omitted from the story and kept the same meaning! Tad made me so annoyed always washing the darn windows like STOP TAD
@skylar THAT MAKES THIS MAKE SENSE!
This is what’s bothering me 55% of the way though and boy I am struggling to stay invested
Sophie wrote: "This is what’s bothering me 55% of the way though and boy I am struggling to stay invested"it's tough at times!
Gillian wrote: "OMG totally agree about Tom, Tad & the cop! In reality, Tad and the cop really could have been omitted from the story and kept the same meaning! Tad made me so annoyed always washing the darn windo..."TAD ENOUGH WITH THE WINDOWS
Megan wrote: "I’m already over 40% in but it’s taking me awhile because as you said… it’s just been so repetitive. I’m waiting for something, ANYTHING, really, to happen already!"it takes a while!
MaxNeverhastimetoread wrote: "when i got the notification that Mona was putting out a new book i screamed. can't wait to read :>"she really rocks
@kia @skylar i can't believe i had the world's silliest brain slip in this review for literally years. fixed thank you!
Nice review. Was hoping for a bit more with this one but still enjoyed. The
These are my disconnected thoughts / theories on Rouge, which I thought was brilliant. SPOILERS AHEAD
The role of mirrors were essentially a vessel for backward desires to be reflected back onto the perceiver, embodied in Tom Cruise aka Seth (Egyptian god Set: god of death, chaos and destruction). Seth would plant a seed of envy/hate in the mind of an invidividual, causing them to act upon these thoughts in a violent manner, thus creating the traumatic memory making them vulnerable to "vanity pursuits" aka the 'perfect candidate' for literal soul sucking.
I really think it's an imperfect allegory for the beauty industry. That the cosmetic industry, fashion industry etc all feed on the insecurity and trauma of beauty standards and pressures on predominantly women, making them vulnerable to the marketing of beauty products and procedures. In turn, these industries make mega profits, literally feeding and feeding off the insecurity of others.
On the red shoes: the shoes were taking Mirabelle to the glass mansion to try to lead her towards the reason of her mum's death. That's why they followed the detective Hud Hudson the first time she visited the mansion, and tried to protect her at other times too.
I loved how the book depicted the relationship between Mirabelle and her mum, Noelle. Specifically around beauty. Initially, it is frustrating to witness Noelle's clear obsession with beauty, which sends implicit messages to Noelle about her own beauty or lack thereof. Simultaneously she discourages Mirabelle from doing any skin care routines, which initially I interpreted as a selfish, or competitive behaviour because that is how Mirabelle interpreted it through her child's mind. That her mother wished to be the only beautiful one. However we learn later that Noelle wished to protect Mirabelle from herself, explaining the contradiction in her behaviour. For me this really humanised Noelle by showing the pressures she faced from the beauty standard and how this chaffed up against her love for Mirabelle.
I also loved the addition of Tad, the mermaid like handyman, boyfriend of Noelle. He comes across a bit confusing through most of the plot, especially since it's not clear why he is being so helpful around the house. But when it is discovered that he was Noelle's boyfriend, his behaviour is almost explained. Except for the extremely clear windows. Why did he always clean them to a transparent degree? My theory is that because he understood how Noelle was tortured by the pressures of beauty, he cleaned them so they wouldn't become another mirror to reflect back her perceived inadequacies. Her whole house was covered in mirrors, creating a prison of looking-glass, aka mirrors. So Tad cleaned them so thoroughly that not even a reflection could be seen upon them, as a kindness to Noelle whom he loved. That might be a bit of a stretch, but I can't think of any other reason why this was included in the story.
