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 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.

“Beauty has always been one of the only ways women have been able to access power, and I can’t fault any of them for wanting more of it.”

Ling Ling Huang’s Natural Beauty has fast risen to become one of my all time favourite novels. The more time that passes after my initial reading, the more I am haunted by it.

The emergence of the Goop-core wellness horror subgenre examining the shallow and shadiness of modern beauty culture has long fascinated me and Huang’s novel raises several important questions. For centuries, us gals have to endure strange, expensive and occasionally painful treatments in the quest for beauty. How many of us know what is in the products we use? Do we care? What are we willing to pay to achieve perfection?

I was instantly obsessed by the atmospheric writing and compelling characters, particularly resonating with our narrator as she navigated diaspora and juggling two different worlds. There were many moments in the story that were packed with raw and relatable emotion, causing me to burst into tears.

In many ways, Natural Beauty was a cathartic experience both as a woman in general and then as a mixed race woman existing in Western society. Many of themes Huang explores around the obsession with beauty, the individual and familial immigrant experience, womanhood and grief hit close to home – and it’s so seamlessly done by Huang. Despite all these different dynamics at play, Huang manages to weave this into the plot and characters naturally without feeling like an essay or lecture. It flows like a perfect piece of music, which is incredible considering it’s Huang’s debut novel.

Natural Beauty has guts. For all its heart, it’s still an eerie and horrifying read that examines corruption and capitalism surrounding the wellness industry along with canabalism and human cruelty. I had my heart in my mouth the entire time – gasping out loud as Huang delivered soul-crushing plot twist after plot twist. At times, it’s incredibly dark, disturbing and, well, gross. There’s plenty of unsettling moments in Natural Beauty – I won’t give too much away but the Everlasting project had me gagging. Sage and Victor make excellent and unnerving villains.

That being said, it’s not horror for horror’s sake, which is why I think this novel really worked for me. Huang’s use of monstrous and grotesque body horror serves as a cautionary tale for those chasing unattainable beauty standards and I shed endless tears at what was a rather beautiful ending to this fantastic frenzy of a story.

A day hasn’t passed where I don’t think about this book. It really touched something within me. It was terrifying and soul-destroying but it was also a very freeing experience as both the reader and narrator reach a conclusion of radical self-acceptance, unshackled by the society’s beauty constraints.

Natural Beauty is creepy, horrifying, gorgeous, heart-breaking and SO MUCH FUN. What a feat! I am so excited that Constance Wu is set to produce this for television – it’s such a visceral and visually vivid novel and I cannot wait to see how that translates to the screen! I’m seated. I’m simply too seated.

RATING

★★★★★