Youthjuice

3.5 stars

Sophia starts a new job at cosmetics and skincare company, Hebe (whose baby pink branding is very on par with Glossier), and soon finds out some of the horrors that go on behind the scenes in Hebe's mission to develop the ultimate anti-aging product.

This was a very gloopy horror novel with some incredibly vivid body horror and gore but isn't at all scary. It's not the kind of horror that fills you with dread but instead you're thrown into the mind of Sophia as she slowly unravels. I feel like this will do incredibly well in the Booktok community upon its release especially with "weird girl" book readers. Our main character Sophia isn't particularly likeable and is completely unhinged but I think that works because it makes more sense that she makes the decisions she does.

It's flooded with modern-day references and trends that make it very relatable to a millennial that's chronically online (a.k.a. me) and whose algorithm is constantly spoon-feeding me ways to avoid fine lines and cases for Botox.

The language in the book is very flowery but I dig that. The intricate detailing of morning routines is so vivid and I really enjoy Sathue's way with words. The only thing that I did find a bit confusing was the way things jumped around. I'm not sure if it was the e-copy I received which was a bit messy but I sometimes ended up a bit lost.

I am excited for its release and anticipate everyone's thoughts on it.

A slick and clever horror read that felt fresh and relevant particularly with the "horror" towards ageing. I felt drawn into the novel immediately, the pacing was good and the horror was so brilliantly done - not your typical scary read - this one goes a little deeper with nudges to societies obsession with youth and wellness culture. I always enjoy a morally grey main character, as it gives you more twists and this novel had a great one where my opinions changed rapidly as I read the book. There are some scenes in the book that are pretty graphic in terms of body horror - and also as another trigger quite a few mentions of vomiting. I liked the glimpses into the main characters history which helped give understanding to her actions. The setting and very close to reality/dystopian "world" made it feel very Black Mirror-esque. Overall I felt it was a story that gets under your skin, makes you think - with an ending that I found very satisfying. This would be a good read for anyone who enjoys a horror with a dash of reality, pokes at wellness culture and beauty standards - but reads like a contemporary fiction. 5/5 - thanks to the publishers for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really good modern female centred horror.
Reminds me of Boy Parts, American Psycho etc
Loved some of the body horror aspects and the theme of youth and vanity especially as someone who loves skincare!
Would definitely read more by this author.
Solid 3.75 stars from me x

A really enjoyable book touching on elements of youth, vanity, the beauty industry as a whole with an added sprinkling of creepy elements.

Told from the POV of Sophia, our main character it follows her present, her past and her slow decline as a seemingly normal new job all of a sudden gets a little bit weird. I felt really engaged with Sophia's mental state and thought process throughout the read, this was amplified by the somewhat choppy writing style and regular flashbacks.

It had a nice balance of mystery, body horror, and popular themes (skincare and beauty) to be a highly recommended read on my list.

this book definitely made me question the beauty industry, the story really resonates with a reality that is similar to where we are headed with the beauty industry and multi level marketing / pyramid schemes.

Has HEBE, a cosmetics company for the GOOP generation, solved the problem of ageing forever? Testing a new moisturiser, recent hire Sophia thinks they have. But she discovers that ageless founder Tree is hiding something sinister. As is Sophia when she falls out with a school friend and her flatmate. Juxtapose Gen Z's obsession with healthy, trendy eating against gore and blood, and you get a novel that's deliciously different.

Thanks to NetGalley, Soho Press and EK Sathue for the preview copy.

A glam horror for the TikTok generation, Youthjuice manages to achieve a compelling yet repulsive story whilst also critiquing the beauty industry and society’s obsession with perfection.

I really enjoyed this, I am not normally a horror reader but the book had me hooked and struggling to look away even when it was far more gory than I am normally comfortable with.

When I read Yellowface (R.F. Kuang) earlier this year, I loved how unhinged the main character and now I am so glad that I have found another main character like that in Youthjuice. The story is told from the perspective of Sophia, a 29-year-old former barista who has started working in the storytelling department at a major luxury beauty brand HEBE and has a damaging habit of overly picking her skin (including one vivid description of her peeling back a hangnail to her wrist which made me feel quite ill). Soon, Sophia starts using HEBE's new product which seems to heal her hands magically and the story really picks up when she figures out what the main ingredient is and starts putting things together about the potentially creepy company she works at. The ending felt a bit too easy but I found the rest of the story perfectly paced with wonderfully written yet at some points flowery prose which really helped give an insight into Sophia's mental state throughout the story.
Thankyou so much to netgalley and the author for the arc. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and am so excited to read more from this author in the future.

What in the Elizabeth Báthory did I just read?!

The plot of the book was not what I had expected. Although some parts of it were as I had anticipated, it certainly took me in a different direction. However, I must say that I did enjoy reading it.

Initially, I was drawn to the main character Sophie and hoped to like her, but as the story progressed, I realised that it was her who would be the Patrick Bateman from American Psycho references!

The book is not exactly a horror story, although the theme of horror is predominant throughout. The story delves into some dark and unsettling themes, and there is a strong presence of weird girl vibes.

While I had high hopes for the book, I believe it fell a little short of my expectations. Nevertheless, I still found it enjoyable. I needed more background to many of the characters including Tree the brainchild of Hebe, and I would have liked more detail into the process of how they got rid of their evidence.


I have to say the vegan tee totalers with a side hustle for young blood was a hilarious twist to the story.


Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. My review is my own opinion.

youthjuice is one of many intriguing books inspired by the wellness culture of Goop. If you're a fan of Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang or Goddess by Deborah Hemming, then be sure to check out youthjuice!

Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc!

A creepily macabre teenage trauma and hilarious ride. Read this at your leisure the writing stays with you. Fun from the outset but gradually turning dark and twisted. Original.

<i> Faces come alive in the candlelight. Restylane-puffed lips and feline eyes stretched out of propration, set into contoured cheeks, noses restricted so they point upwards at the ends. No one here is the way God made them, and, really, why should they be? Reinvention is the point of living. </i>

Sophia Bannon joins goop-esque skincare and wellness brand HEBE aged 29 with a compulsive skin-picking habit. she feels out of place in this world, wearing her rich friend’s expensive skirt, but she is desperately hungry to fit in. the company has countless clean girl, rich brat interns and a Miranda Priestley CEO. Sophia edges closer to uncovering the dark truth of HEBE, she descends into chaos.

i will always greatly enjoy books about weird girls doing weird things. this novel is exactly that. grotty and pathetic, Sophia is an unlikeable protagonist surrounded by even more loathable people. it transforms from Vogue beauty editorial to hot girl horror, and i would love to see a trippy horror film adaptation by the same people as Pearl and X. youthjuice feels like a perfect mix of My Year of Rest and Relaxation meets Boy Parts. unlike those two novels, though, Sathue paints her characters in a softer, more forgiving light.

<i> A tiny kernel juts from the skin, growing as I maneuver my tongue into the space where it lifts from my finger, a plane taking flight. Fluid takes longer to surface. Perhaps it’s a confusion of the cells, which sense danger, and relax when they see that I’m an agent of my own destruction. The blood hits my tongue in a hot wave. </i>

two things to note: while TikTok is never mentioned by name, the countless beauty and fashion micro-trends it had produced over the last two years appear, which may fade into irrelevancy in another two years, leaving this novel at risk of feeling dated. also, i’m sure remember a supervillain with a skincare brand from the 2004 Catwoman film..

regardless, youthjuice was a highly enjoyable read and fully took me along for the ride. there were some genuinely stomach-turning scenes, so it took a hard stomach. if you like weird girl fiction, i definitely recommend reading youthjuice. it releases in the UK in June with Dialogue Books.

with thanks to Dialogue Books and Net Galley for the ARC (:

content note: if you’re squeamish about picking, biting, ripping skin especially around your nails, just avoid this book — many, many detailed descriptions about this. extensive drug misuse. she recounts a romantic relationship she had with an adult when she was sixteen. disordered eating is hinted at.

Overall I enjoyed this book, I loved the contrast of the obsession with wellness and clean eating against the gore and grotesque desperation to stay youthful. From the first chapter something is noticeably off with Sophia and this builds dramatically through the book, from her relationships with Dom and Richard to her acceptance of Tree's methods. I loved the flashbacks to Mona and how they contextualised her relationship with Dom, who appears to be everything Sophia is against. I would have loved to see Sophia commit to the darker side of her personality fully- I feel like the ending fell a bit flat for me, everything very conveniently went away.
The writing was medium-fast paced and I LOVED the imagery, the body horror aspect, the pretty-priviledge way Sophia explains away the problems at HEBE. I will definitely be interested in other books from the author, especially if they are as gross and well-written as this one.