youthjuice

This is a disturbing little book. More of a horror novel than a thriller, and I don’t typically read much horror! That being said, I was super intrigued as it was described to me as American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada. Besides being a horror novel, it’s also a satire of NYC It-girl culture and I absolutely loved that part of it. Sophia is twenty nine years old, with dark secrets of her own and a career that feels non-existent. She’s also got a brutal nail biting habit, to the point where she has to wear gloves. Thanks to her best friend Dom, she’s able to live in a gorgeous apartment, but her life doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. She lacks purpose, routine… and outside of her friendship with Dom, she doesn’t have her people. Until she gets a job on the storytelling (content) team, a hot beauty start up (picture Glossier or even Rhode and you have it). When Sophia starts working at HEBE, she feels like her life finally has purpose. Her coworkers feel like family and they are all united in their mission to make beauty possible. The founder, Tree Whitestone (a glamorous, mysterious former beauty blogger who bares a startling resemblance to Emily Weiss) takes Sophia under her wing, even letting her test a brand new product, youthjuice, set to revolutionize beauty forever. But when Sophia learns about the gruesome secret ingredient in youthjuice, what will she do? How far is she willing to protect the company she’s grown to love (and stay beautiful forever!?). The book takes dark turn after dark turn. It goes pretty far off the rails. If you are easily grossed out, don’t read this. If not, it will make for a fun (albeit scary) fast beach read.