A stomach-turning work of corporate horror with a sharp focus on satirizing the beauty industry and its influencers.
A young woman’s career in the beauty industry takes a gruesome turn when the luxury brand she works for develops a product—with questionable ingredients—that can miraculously preserve youth.
It’s clear from the very first pages that there’s something wrong with HEBE, the SoHo-based skincare company where Sophia Bannion works. Sophia herself isn’t particularly concerned with HEBE’s cultlike following, her boss’ obsession with eternal youth, or the fact that the company’s interns keep going missing. Haunted by some shocking events in her youth and suffering from a violent nail-biting habit—“I’ve stripped a hangnail from thumb to wrist. Crimson beads collect in the divot of shiny, wormy skin”—Sophia cares more about fitting in with her beautiful co-workers than anything else and is willing to turn a blind eye to the strange goings-on. When her boss, Tree Whitestone, asks her to try a new product called youthjuice, Sophia jumps at the opportunity. The result is nothing short of miraculous as, virtually overnight, the cream erases the scars from her nail-biting. Soon, what began as just a job for Sophia becomes a full-blown obsession. There’s nothing particularly subtle here: From the name of the company where Sophia works (a reference to the Greek goddess of youth), to her detached, Patrick-Bateman-meets-Amy-Dunne It-girl voice, to the intense images of body horror that combine the beautiful and the grotesque, Sathue’s story is bold and brash and can be extremely uncomfortable to read. Although she overuses similes, it’s a fault that can be overlooked when the plot is as audacious and thrilling as this one. With an ending that will no doubt divide its readers, this novel is perfect for fans of Mona Awad and Emily Danforth.
A stomach-turning work of corporate horror with a sharp focus on satirizing the beauty industry and its influencers.Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781641295925
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Hell's Hundred
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
