Natural Beauty

Title: Natural Beauty 

Author: Ling Ling Huang

Publisher: Dutton

Release Date: 4.4.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost.

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.

My Review

I'm not even sure how to review Ling Ling Huang's debut. It's mind-boggling how she was able to combine the psychological aspects of being a child musical prodigy with a dark satirical analysis of beauty and wellness culture and expertly interweave both types of grooming. Part literary fiction and part horror, this fever dream novel is a mash-up of Botched and Black Swan. At around 270 pages, Natural Beauty is a shorter novel that really packs a punch. Read this if you are in the mood for something unique and a bit dark.