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Rouge

Mona Awad

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100% of affiliate revenue supports Boundless Press

From the critically acclaimed author of _Bunny_ comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother's unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother’s fate—and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death.

The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted.

There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

Snow White meets _Eyes Wide Shut_ in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, _Rouge_ explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry—as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze.

Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, _Rouge_ holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.

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Posts about this title from Boundless Press

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Sep 11 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[🍂☕️ 40+ fall book recommendations 🎃👻 autumn books, vampires, haunted house, dark academia, witchy](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/6W8xpYLfuzrKdvJl39iE/)

Let me know your favourite fall books! 🍂

* * *

37 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Jul 8 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[If you like this, read this book! BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/K9wPLyHjyW8V60bqAznd/)

* * *

19 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Apr 9 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[fiction book recs for the girlies with mommy issues 👩🏾🤰🏾👵🏾](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/fa9c0n6unFDZNMdL2Azl/)

* * *

11 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Jan 2 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[every book i read in 2023 reviewed in one sentence 📚](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/NsIngPfWkOCOKIgID2Qx/)

hope you enjoy these super quick reviews!

* * *

17 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Nov 13 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[the books i read in october \| reading wrapup](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/Ue53yY1a61Ry2aT4kpK5/)

a little wrapup video :)

* * *

6 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Oct 18 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[a little fall book haul 🍂🍁☕️](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/c07eDEavVjhRlLuICn4U/)

the books I hauled for the fall!

* * *

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Sep 11 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/7FKNu7gswDNKTyrPCLKq/)

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc.
↳ rouge
↳ she walks in shadows
↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia
↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology
↳ vita nostra
↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror
↳ rebecca
↳ interview with a vampire
↳ dark tales

Real World Horror
↳ natural beauty
↳ lakewood
↳ her body and other parties
↳ bad cree
↳ weight of blood

Vampires
↳ vampires of el norte
↳ a dowry of blood
↳ masters of death
↳ house of hunger
↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books
↳ a house with good bones
↳ she is a haunting
↳ the hacienda
↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings
↳ a haunting on the hill
↳ the death i gave him
↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies
↳ legends & lattes
↳ the very secret society of irregular witches
↳ venco
↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies
↳ nettle & bone
↳ gods of jade and shadow
↳ juniper & thorn
↳the wolf & the woodsman
↳ the bone orchard
↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other
↳ my dark vanessa
↳ station eleven
↳ glass hotel
↳ sea of tranquility

socials
🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/
🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu
🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en
🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover
🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com
💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs
🤍 how do you pronounce your name?
\- my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc?
\- both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job?
\- aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

* * *

40 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

[Death by TBR Books\\
\\
Stephanie\\
\\
• Apr 27](https://deathbytbrbooks.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[I shared a post on Instagram recently but wanted to give even more book recs on here for Pocahontas characters and the reasons I chose each one. \\
\\
THOMAS \\
\\
The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling & Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid\\
\\
Both stories center control, repression, and systems that look orderly on the surface but are quietly rotting underneath. That tension between logic and something deeply wrong mirrors Thomas perfectly.\\
\\
KOCOUM\\
\\
Never Whistle at Night: Back for Blood & Bad Cree by Jessica Johns\\
\\
These both ground horror in ancestry, land, and generational memory. Together, they reflect Kocoum’s connection to community and the idea that the past is never truly separate from the present.\\
\\
JOHN \\
\\
The Hacienda by Isabel Canas & The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell\\
\\
Both books trap their characters in controlled, domestic spaces that slowly turn hostile. That loss of authority in the face of something supernatural lines up with John’s need for certainty.\\
\\
RATCLIFFE \\
\\
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin & The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson\\
\\
These are both brutal, society-breaking narratives where survival requires adaptation to constant violence. They match Ratcliffe’s world, where chaos isn’t an anomaly, it’s the baseline.\\
\\
FLIT \\
\\
Maeve Fly by CJ Leede & A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers\\
\\
Both lean into indulgence, performance, and female rage with a sharp, self-aware edge. That mix of chaos and control fits Flit’s unpredictable, almost theatrical energy.\\
\\
MEEKO \\
\\
Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas & Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson\\
\\
These stories start soft and intimate before shifting into obsession and transformation. That progression mirrors Meeko’s curiosity and loyalty evolving into something more complicated.\\
\\
PERCY \\
\\
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne + Rouge by Mona Awad\\
\\
Both focus on vanity, image, and identity unraveling under pressure. They reflect Percy’s arc from surface-level entitlement to a more self-aware, fractured perspective.\\
\\
POCAHONTAS \\
\\
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth + Shutter by Ramona Emerson\\
\\
These both center cultural memory, spiritual responsibility, and connection to land. Together, they align with Pocahontas’s role as someone who carries history rather than escapes it.\\
\\
I'm definitely going to do more of these types of posts. Everyone has their own niche on Instagram and I think since I love watching and reading so much it's a great way to combine the two. Also, the books for each character are readalikes so generally if you like one you'll like the other.\\
\\
Upgrade for $5 or login](https://deathbytbrbooks.binderybooks.com/item/skx65TIqIUzL5yBRLCkx/)

[Book Recs for Pocahontas Characters](https://deathbytbrbooks.binderybooks.com/item/skx65TIqIUzL5yBRLCkx/)

* * *

16 books

1

[Bookwyrm Ink\\
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Bookwyrm Ink\\
\\
• May 24 2025](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

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Join for free or login](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/item/KVHdRyRJy5NrkRZoyNa1/)

[Rat Girl Summer It Is](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/item/KVHdRyRJy5NrkRZoyNa1/)

What kind of summer are you planning to have?

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8 books

2

[Mood Reads\\
\\
Hannah\\
\\
• Feb 12 2025](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/)

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[January (and then some): A Moodreads Newsletter](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/CpvkCNENhgCcNzNHAcbc/)

A monthly(ish) newsletter.

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21 books

2

[1](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/CpvkCNENhgCcNzNHAcbc/#comments)

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Sep 11 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

Let me know your favourite fall books! 🍂

* * *

37 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Jul 8 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[If you like this, read this book! BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/K9wPLyHjyW8V60bqAznd/)

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19 books

[The Book Was Better\\
\\
Kayla\\
\\
• May 13 2024](https://thebookwasbetter.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[will need approximately 3-5 business days to recover !!! #monaawad #powells #bookstagram](https://thebookwasbetter.binderybooks.com/item/CmED4bTaG6oCwny6PWII/)

will need approximately 3-5 business days to recover !!! #monaawad #powells #bookstagram

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1 book

[Mood Reads\\
\\
Hannah\\
\\
• Apr 23 2024](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

\\
\\
Upgrade for $5 or login](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/8vfDlu63QpfTfwDxahqj/)

[10 lyrics from "The Tortured Poets Department" & the books they remind me of](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/8vfDlu63QpfTfwDxahqj/)

Random lyrics, random recs, all the love

* * *

12 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Apr 9 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[fiction book recs for the girlies with mommy issues 👩🏾🤰🏾👵🏾](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/fa9c0n6unFDZNMdL2Azl/)

* * *

11 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Jan 2 2024](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[every book i read in 2023 reviewed in one sentence 📚](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/NsIngPfWkOCOKIgID2Qx/)

hope you enjoy these super quick reviews!

* * *

17 books

[sunny thoughts\\
\\
Sunny\\
\\
• Dec 22 2023](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[Reading wrap up fall-winter: fiction books part 1](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/item/rkvFsriFNTksHLt3Glpf/)

catching you up on all the (fiction) books I've read in the last few months!! Including some lesbian classics, fantasies, a romance novel, and feminist historical fiction.

Hirbawi: https://www.kufiya.org

Timestamps
0:00 - 01:20 intro
01:20 - 05:10 Royal Assassin, Robin Hobb
05:10 - 06:01 Assassin's Quest Robin Hobb
06:01- 07:53 Rouge, Mona Awad
07:53 - 12:35 Kings of the Wyld (The Band, #1), Nicholas Eames
12:35 - 16:01 star-rating catch up
16:01 - 16:40 Bloody Rose (The Band, #2), Nicholas Eames
16:40 - 17:07 beauty break
17:07 - 20:57 kufiyah
20:57 - 26:06 The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff
26:06 - 30:05 The Unreal and the Real vol 2, Ursula le Guin27:01 The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas, Gertrude Stein
30:05 - 30:47 City of Incurable Women, Maud Casey
30:47 - 33:55 Liarmouth, John Waters
33:55 - 34:47 Galatea, Madeline Miller
34:47 - 37:36 Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date, Ashley Herring Blake
37:36 - 38:01 Where the Wild Ladies Are, Aoko Matsuda
38:01 - 39:28 Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
39:28 - 41:42 The Dead Take The A Train, Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey

Find me:
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/asunnybooknook
(I don't update my Storygraph profile, sorry!! only upload my goodreads data there once a year for data purposes :( too hard to keep up with 2 tracking apps and I'm more familiar with Goodreads at this point)
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/asunnybooknook
My Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sunnyinstlouis/
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/asunnybooknook
Business contact - asunnybooknook @ gmail dot com

🍑🍊🕊🌸🍓🍒🍇
Listen to me and my best friend's lesbian comedy media & pop culture commentary podcast, The Lavender Menace!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KoWHeYT8M0svZhvTsOUgt?si=LzGU-55zSOmbanf7-vlTMg&dl\_branch=1
Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/agmaoiRQRy?amp=1
Patreon, for exclusive bonus episodes & early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace

Us, elsewhere:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thelavendermenacepod/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiuLKSL75Tcd5Zu7DMnC5vQ
Letterboxd - https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/
Substack - https://thelavendermenace.substack.com/
Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thelavendermenacepod?\_t=8V5Ee2joahq&\_r=1

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14 books

[sunny thoughts\\
\\
Sunny\\
\\
• Dec 9 2023](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[very belatedly reacting to the Goodreads Choice Award nominations & winners of 2023](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/item/tmEbCzaOjS82HemxMIcD/)

back from my hiatus! To comment and bitch about the people's reading taste of course.

🍉🕊️🫒
donation info: Please DO NOT mention PaIestine in your donation.
VENMO: @three-dee or @Lina-Shahid
PAYPAL: @deesturbance
ZELLE: 720-240-1108

last year's vid:
https://youtu.be/VBSOGbDJloM?si=XSDL\_LNyMF2sMoSf

Find me:
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/asunnybooknook
(I don't update my Storygraph profile, sorry!! only upload my goodreads data there once a year for data purposes :( too hard to keep up with 2 tracking apps and I'm more familiar with Goodreads at this point)
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sunnyboxhouse
My Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sunnyinstlouis/
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/asunnybooknook
Business contact - asunnybooknook @ gmail dot com

* * *

29 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Nov 13 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[the books i read in october \| reading wrapup](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/Ue53yY1a61Ry2aT4kpK5/)

a little wrapup video :)

* * *

6 books

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Oct 18 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[a little fall book haul 🍂🍁☕️](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/c07eDEavVjhRlLuICn4U/)

the books I hauled for the fall!

* * *

[The Inky Phoenix\\
\\
Kathryn Budig\\
\\
• Oct 10 2023](https://inkyphoenix.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[My Current TBR Pile](https://inkyphoenix.binderybooks.com/item/mawK24PlqiHfqbd77dWm/)

What’s next? My current TBR pile:

ROUGE by @misss\_read
THE FRAUD by Zadie Smith
THE HOUSE OF DOORS by @tan.twan.eng
STARLING HOUSE by @alix.e.harrow
BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by @jessicaknollauthor

* * *

[Boundless Press\\
\\
Jananie\\
\\
• Sep 11 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/7FKNu7gswDNKTyrPCLKq/)

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc.
↳ rouge
↳ she walks in shadows
↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia
↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology
↳ vita nostra
↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror
↳ rebecca
↳ interview with a vampire
↳ dark tales

Real World Horror
↳ natural beauty
↳ lakewood
↳ her body and other parties
↳ bad cree
↳ weight of blood

Vampires
↳ vampires of el norte
↳ a dowry of blood
↳ masters of death
↳ house of hunger
↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books
↳ a house with good bones
↳ she is a haunting
↳ the hacienda
↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings
↳ a haunting on the hill
↳ the death i gave him
↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies
↳ legends & lattes
↳ the very secret society of irregular witches
↳ venco
↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies
↳ nettle & bone
↳ gods of jade and shadow
↳ juniper & thorn
↳the wolf & the woodsman
↳ the bone orchard
↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other
↳ my dark vanessa
↳ station eleven
↳ glass hotel
↳ sea of tranquility

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com
💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs
🤍 how do you pronounce your name?
\- my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc?
\- both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job?
\- aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

* * *

40 books

[sunny thoughts\\
\\
Sunny\\
\\
• Jul 11 2023](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/)

Join for free

[mid-year book freakout tag](https://sunnythoughts.binderybooks.com/item/pmlSKknbghBSyO3XoJUG/)

checking in on my 2023 reading with the classic Booktube tag! featuring bookshop.org #sponsored for Anti-Prime day. Get free shipping today on July 12th and a tote bag if you spend over $100, all while supporting independent bookstores!! Also, I forgot to answer Kayla’s second tag question but here are my Booktube faves: @mynameismarines for her critical reviews of booktok darlings, @caricanread for her wholistic vlogs and recaps of things I will never read, and @rinceyreads for her thoughtful reviews.

(another disclaimer-- I meant to get this video up yesterday but like it's fine! lol)

My letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sunnyinstlouis/

Find me:
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/asunnybooknook
(I don't update my Storygraph profile, sorry!! only upload my goodreads data there once a year for data purposes :( too hard to keep up with 2 tracking apps and I'm more familiar with Goodreads at this point)
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sunnyboxhouse
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/asunnybooknook
Business contact - asunnybooknook@gmail.com

🍑🍊🕊🌸🍓🍒🍇
Listen to me and my best friend's lesbian comedy media & pop culture commentary podcast, The Lavender Menace!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KoWHeYT8M0svZhvTsOUgt?si=LzGU-55zSOmbanf7-vlTMg&dl\_branch=1
Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/agmaoiRQRy?amp=1
https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace

* * *

11 books