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lowbrowhighart's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Medical trauma, Vomit, Eating disorder, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Drug use, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Body horror, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Sexual content, and Cancer
Minor: Car accident and Infertility
tigger89's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is a lot in a very small package. I went into it thinking it would be more of a sci-fi medical horror title, but there was very little focus on the Aesthetica procedure itself. Rather, the focus of the story was on Anna's descent into social media addiction, body alteration and abuse. Aesthetica was an off-screen plot device, a method by which to press a magical reset button.
Something I appreciated about this title was how realistic the portrayal of social media addiction was, specifically the slide into seeing everything — no matter how personal — as something to be exploited for internet points. I've never gone for instagram, but I've experienced enough dopamine hits on other platforms to recognize the danger there. She was also spot-on when describing diet culture, particularly how it's passed inter-generationally from mother to daughter. The way this was written was chilling enough that it could be a source of horror to some, though it was a little too close to my own experiences growing up for it to land that way for me.
I don't think that I agree with what appears to be the author's message, that women can't be truly empowered when under misogynistic influences — which is all of us, everywhere, all the time. But this argument winds up removing agency from the oppressed even as it claims to protect it, as it merely replaces those harmful influences with a different set of boilerplate rules for "how to be empowered," which might not be a good fit for every individual! I think the concerns raised in this book are good to be aware of, as it certainly is a thing that happens, but there's no clear answer here with regard to what to actually do to fight this effect.
Something I appreciated about this title was how realistic the portrayal of social media addiction was, specifically the slide into seeing everything — no matter how personal — as something to be exploited for internet points. I've never gone for instagram, but I've experienced enough dopamine hits on other platforms to recognize the danger there. She was also spot-on when describing diet culture, particularly how it's passed inter-generationally from mother to daughter. The way this was written was chilling enough that it could be a source of horror to some, though it was a little too close to my own experiences growing up for it to land that way for me.
I don't think that I agree with what appears to be the author's message, that women can't be truly empowered when under misogynistic influences — which is all of us, everywhere, all the time. But this argument winds up removing agency from the oppressed even as it claims to protect it, as it merely replaces those harmful influences with a different set of boilerplate rules for "how to be empowered," which might not be a good fit for every individual! I think the concerns raised in this book are good to be aware of, as it certainly is a thing that happens, but there's no clear answer here with regard to what to actually do to fight this effect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Grief, Rape, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Infertility
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