A review by caitc90
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Gorgeous gruesome faces is a story about a K-pop inspired music show where 3 teen girls audition and become Sweet Cadence: Candie, Mina and Sunny. The story starts with Sunny upset they didn’t finish the ritual and that Mina is behaving oddly and she thinks that’s what caused Mina to jump off her balcony. So scary, I don’t know what I was expecting with a title like that but it definitely wasn’t what that: 

Horror x Romance wasn’t a genre I thought I’d ever read but 2023 being my year of going out of my comfort zone genres I’m so glad I did. it. I'm not a K-pop girlie, but I liked that she was able to discuss issues like racism, sexism, and body image within the K-pop industry. I never thought this would be a story I would be interested in and even though it was much scarier than I expected I was compelled to keep reading and couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what happened to Mina and what was happening with Sunny. It was so well written there were bits where I could nearly feel the cold hand on my skin giving me chills. Cheng is a brilliant writer and as scared as I am I would continue reading the series.


**This book was provided to me as an ARC on netgalley, and this is an honest review of the material. I was not paid or asked to supply a review for this book and am doing so because I enjoyed the content. Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Childrens group for the advance copy! 
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