Natural Beauty

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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 gives her 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. 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 gives her 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.

Reviews

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick

A New York Times Editors Choice

One of WIRED's Best Books of 2023

A SELF Well-Read Book Club Pick

One of the New York Post's "best new books to read"

One of Bustle's 36 Best New Books Of Spring & Summer 2023

One of the New York Public Library's "Engrossing Thrillers To Put Into Your Beach Bag This Summer"

Featured in Book Riots 25 Best Horror Books of 2023

One of Powells Books Hot Book Summer recommendations

One ofKatie Couric Medias 13 Books by AAPI Authors To Read This May and Beyond

An April LibraryReads Pick

Her talentsharmonize most seamlessly when she writes about music, managing the near-impossible feat of crafting descriptions of the compositions that are as airy and adroit as the melodies themselves. And she is at her best when she skewers the narcissistic, corrosive version of self-care that can be mistaken for empowermentThe novel is a meditation on vanity, the ways in which the pursuit of physical beauty can betray the other sources of beauty in ones life, and how horror can lurk beneath the surface of even the most poreless skin. Jazmine Hughes, The New York Times Book Review

Absorbing . . . Natural Beauty starts out frothy, offering an enticing dip into how tech could beautify and perfect our bodies and faces in the near future . . . It quickly veers into subversive horror, turning into a cautionary tale on societal themes were currently seeing IRL. Vogue

The promise of self-improvement is darkly seductive. In Ling Ling Huangs Natural Beauty [] a former pianist working at a biotech-funded wellness store initially thrills at her regimens effects (defined eyelids, opalescent skin). By the end, her dismissal of rigid aesthetics is what lingers: That fine line between beauty and ugliness, ripeness and rot, is what keeps an audience listening with held breath.Vanity Fair, The Pursuit of Beauty Fuels a Dark Streak in Fiction

A must-read . . . Wed recommend it to anyone intrigued by girlboss discourse, sci-fi, love triangles, mysteries, and injectables, or who has ever thought,What if there was an episode ofBlack Mirrorinspired by GoopSELF, A Well-Read Book Club Pick

A thriller mixed with horror and laced with a biting dose of social commentary, Natural Beauty is a book you wont be able to stop thinking aboutGlamour, New Thriller Books of Summer 2023

This is a darkly absurd and hilarious skewering of the luxury beauty industry, as well as a heart-wrenching story of a woman left alone in the world. Its definitely not one to miss. Buzzfeed, 30 Books Coming Out This Spring That Youll Love

Goopcore body horrorNatural Beauty is a delightfully baroque grotesque. It can achieve a folkloric power in its creepiest momentsa scary story youd tell in a posh spas sauna instead of around a campfire. Kate Knibbs, WIRED

Natural Beauty is a cautionary tale about wellnessintriguing from page onegreat for book clubs, prompting discussions of beauty standards, where to draw the line and how the growing industry is unregulated. Associated Press

Natural Beauty is a horror novel that digs deep into the evils of exploitative industries. Shondaland

Natural Beauty is a satirical horror that brilliantly skewers the beauty and wellness industries, specifically their participation in white supremacy and anti-fatness. Autostraddle, "65 Best Queer Books of 2023"

"A propulsive, captivating read, Natural Beauty pulled me into its world like a fever dream. A prescient look at the dirty underbelly of society's beauty standards, it also carries a moving reminder that true beauty is often found in the very things we've been taught to abandon." Constance Wu, star of Crazy Rich Asians and author of Making a Scene

Insidious Western standards, fears about bodily autonomy, and queer desire intersect as Huangs precise and subtle portrayal of the beauty industry builds to an explosive climax. Alternatingly poignant and deeply unsettling, this is an outstanding first outing for an immensely talented author. Publishers Weekly, *starred review*

Haunting and immersive . . . The novel seamlessly blends sci-fi, literary fiction, suspense, and body horror while also exploring the oppression of the beauty industry and the Chinese immigrant experience in America. The writing is lyrical even when plot events are profoundly tragic, and the protagonists journey will captivate readers throughout. Highly recommended. Booklist, *starred review*

This is a smart, savage book about the horrors of the modern beauty and wellness industry, and how capitalism can twist anything to look like a good idea. Written by a musician with immigrant parents, the novels visceral depiction of growing up poor and musical feels absolutely lived in, as does the examination of what our protagonist needs to do to survive living in the big city.Criminal Element

"This horror story is scarier than the latest celebrity after alleged buccal fat removal. Explore the darker side of beauty obsessed culture."Betches, "Best Summer Reads"

"Precise, unflinching, and utterly unforgettable, Natural Beauty is both a razor-sharp critique of the beauty industry and a startlingly tender story of family and sacrifice. This book will swallow you whole." Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

A surreal, dreamlike thriller where art and darkness are woven together in unexpected ways. The main character is tortured and brilliant, and possesses immense appeal and heartbreak. The cinematic storytelling shows what happens when businesses trade on the most extreme levels of human desires. Gripping! Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face

"A modern-day Picture of Dorian Gray shot through a Cronenbergian lens, Ling Ling Huang's Natural Beauty has big things to say about art, society, and the obsessive pursuitof youth. Huang's writing is as austere as a flawless arpeggio, but there is great warmth in Huang's portrayal of her characters."Nick Cutter, author of The Troop, The Deep, and Little Heaven

Huang frets the fine line between beauty and ugliness, ripeness and rot in this alluring tale of estrangement, body horror, and possibly a new genre, Dark Wellnesspierced through by a daughter's love for her immigrant parents. Ardent and unsettling. Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of Activities of Daily Living

Eerie and entertaining, Natural Beauty intertwines a terrifying critique of the beauty industry with a poignant ode to the power of music and the devotion of immigrant families. Ling Ling Huang is a fearless storyteller, and this book is as luminous as it is thrilling. Pik-Shuen Fung, author of Ghost Forest

Ling Ling Huang amplifies and expands the future of horror fiction with a book so riveting it is impossible to put down. Rikki Ducornet, author of Phosphor in Dreamland

Natural Beauty uses elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and body horror to cut to bone-deep truths about consumerism, race, identity, appearance, and the exhausting pursuit of perfection. Jessica DeFino, The Unpublishable

"Gaudy consumerism and body horror at face value, the true terror resides in the predatory nature and question of other peoples desires. How much of our lives are a result of other peoples desires What does it mean to seek beauty... I recommend this novel for Capitol residents of 'The Hunger Games' series, and those who want to be ahead of the game, because this story is meant for the screen."Mochi Magazine

Author Bio

Ling Ling Huang is a writer and violinist. She plays with several ensembles, including the Oregon Symphony, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, ProMusica, Chamber Orchestra, and the Experiential Orchestra, with whom she won a Grammy Award in 2021. Natural Beauty is her first novel.