Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom

  

I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Aesthetica 

Author: Allie Rowbottom

Publisher: Soho Press

Release Date: 11.22.22

Publisher’s Summary 

In a debut novel as radiant as it is caustic, a former influencer confronts her past—and takes inventory of the damages that underpin the surface-glamour of social media.

At 19, she was an Instagram celebrity. Now, at 35, she works behind the cosmetic counter at the “black and white store,” peddling anti-aging products to women seeking physical and spiritual transformation. She too is seeking rebirth. She’s about to undergo the high-risk, elective surgery Aesthetica™, a procedure will reverse all her past plastic surgery procedures, returning her, she hopes, to a truer self. Provided she survives the knife.

But on the eve of the surgery, her traumatic past resurfaces when she is asked to participate in the public takedown of her former manager/boyfriend, who has rebranded himself as a paragon of “woke” masculinity in the post-#MeToo world. With the hours ticking down to her life-threatening surgery, she must confront the ugly truth about her experiences on and off the Instagram grid.

Propulsive, dark, and moving, Aesthetica is a Veronica for the age of “Instagram face,” delivering a fresh, nuanced examination of feminism, #metoo, and mother-daughter relationships, all while confronting our collective addiction to followers, filters, and faux realities.

My Review

Rarely when I read about "behind the scenes" work for influencers or the adverse effects of social media on body image, am I shocked or surprised. I can psychoanalyze and apply rational thought through personal experiences, education, and years of work as a social media manager. However, I am aware my outlook and vision are vastly different now versus if I would have been dealing with social media as a teen or twentysomething. This is why Aesthetica really hit the mark for me. I saw myself in Anna and her desire to present herself in a particular way. I also felt her emptiness and the ease at which she made what can be labeled by many as "bad" choices in order to fill that void. 

I could write an entire thesis on the topics of this novel (especially feminism's generational divides) and go on and on about each of the characters, but instead of reading more paragraphs of my writing, I highly suggest you read this book. 

5 stars all the way.