Harare Review of Books

272 pages.

First published on Apr. 4, 2023 (Dutton)

Horror.

I kept lingering over the passages in this book, when I was not gagging over the body horror, or being weirded out by the weird sex. I discovered quite late (when I was about to finish it) that it’s classified as horror, because then I would probably have avoided it; thank goodness I missed that, though, because it’s been a very cool read.

The basic plot: a man is obsessed with beauty, and has the money and connections to make beauty happen around him–only in women, though, which is a red flag, innit. The protagonist is a gifted piano player, an actual prodigy who is granted a scholarship, as a child, to study at a prestigious music school. We meet her later, when she is ruining her hands washing dishes in blistering water at a restaurant, where she is recruited by a mysterious woman to work at a company that sells–it must be said, ostensibly–beauty products.

Even though that’s the plot, I can assure you this book is like nothing you expect. It’s apparently set in the near-future, with genetic modification/gene therapy, but also a lot of the things that are used in the beauty industry already (making me wonder if the novel is an indictment of it, as well as the other things it is). It is a super weird book, in some places a kind of extended meditation (in a good way), in others the story of poverty among Chinese immigrants, and othering (in the US, especially), and also parental love and sacrifice, with a child coming to understand just how much her parents gave her. 

As you can tell, it’s an impossible book to describe. Even with the horror elements, I love how mind-bending and fantastical it was, and it was such a good story. It ends on a good note, or at least I felt good at the end, which is excellent. So, if you’re looking for weird fiction with a speculative horror element, I recommend this highly.

Oh, and there are some really funny moments too, especially in the earlier parts of the book.

Thank you very much to Dutton and to NetGalley for access to this ARC.

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